Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, you are correct. Those schools are very heavily chinese first generation immigrants, along with the other Wootton feeder schools (Travilah, etc).
Everyone is polite and friendly, but if you desire a sense of "community" where families hang out together, you won't get it as much at these schools.
If you go closer into Potomac, at a school such as Wayside, the demographics are a little more even there. Still very heavily asian with a large jewish population as well.
For the true "community" experience, you will have to move into bethesda, or if that is out of your budget, somewhere such as Rachel Carson ES or Jones Lane ES in 20878.
Come on, many of those other Bethesda or Potomac neighborhoods are heavily white and if you're Asian no you probably won't find that "community" there either. You can tell just by looking at the elementary sports teams at those schools which are parent-formed and they are almost exclusively white. We know a child who is Chinese-American and asked for years if he could be on one of the teams and was always told they were full even when new white kids came on the team all the time.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, you are correct. Those schools are very heavily chinese first generation immigrants, along with the other Wootton feeder schools (Travilah, etc).
Everyone is polite and friendly, but if you desire a sense of "community" where families hang out together, you won't get it as much at these schools.
If you go closer into Potomac, at a school such as Wayside, the demographics are a little more even there. Still very heavily asian with a large jewish population as well.
For the true "community" experience, you will have to move into bethesda, or if that is out of your budget, somewhere such as Rachel Carson ES or Jones Lane ES in 20878.
Come on, many of those other Bethesda or Potomac neighborhoods are heavily white and if you're Asian no you probably won't find that "community" there either. You can tell just by looking at the elementary sports teams at those schools which are parent-formed and they are almost exclusively white. We know a child who is Chinese-American and asked for years if he could be on one of the teams and was always told they were full even when new white kids came on the team all the time.
Our family is asian american in a predominantly white school and my child is on all the school teams. When we initially joined the school, we too were excluded from many things, but we didn't use our race as an excuse. There is definitely an subconscious barrier that makes it harder for non-whites to break into white neighborhood cliques... but I don't like it when asians use that as an excuse for not getting in with the cool crowd in a white neighborhood. As long as you have decent social skills and aren't a weirdo, people are generally very friendly and welcoming, regardless of what race you are.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, you are correct. Those schools are very heavily chinese first generation immigrants, along with the other Wootton feeder schools (Travilah, etc).
Everyone is polite and friendly, but if you desire a sense of "community" where families hang out together, you won't get it as much at these schools.
If you go closer into Potomac, at a school such as Wayside, the demographics are a little more even there. Still very heavily asian with a large jewish population as well.
For the true "community" experience, you will have to move into bethesda, or if that is out of your budget, somewhere such as Rachel Carson ES or Jones Lane ES in 20878.
Come on, many of those other Bethesda or Potomac neighborhoods are heavily white and if you're Asian no you probably won't find that "community" there either. You can tell just by looking at the elementary sports teams at those schools which are parent-formed and they are almost exclusively white. We know a child who is Chinese-American and asked for years if he could be on one of the teams and was always told they were full even when new white kids came on the team all the time.
Anonymous wrote:OP, you are correct. Those schools are very heavily chinese first generation immigrants, along with the other Wootton feeder schools (Travilah, etc).
Everyone is polite and friendly, but if you desire a sense of "community" where families hang out together, you won't get it as much at these schools.
If you go closer into Potomac, at a school such as Wayside, the demographics are a little more even there. Still very heavily asian with a large jewish population as well.
For the true "community" experience, you will have to move into bethesda, or if that is out of your budget, somewhere such as Rachel Carson ES or Jones Lane ES in 20878.
Anonymous wrote:OP, you are correct. Those schools are very heavily chinese first generation immigrants, along with the other Wootton feeder schools (Travilah, etc).
Everyone is polite and friendly, but if you desire a sense of "community" where families hang out together, you won't get it as much at these schools.
If you go closer into Potomac, at a school such as Wayside, the demographics are a little more even there. Still very heavily asian with a large jewish population as well.
For the true "community" experience, you will have to move into bethesda, or if that is out of your budget, somewhere such as Rachel Carson ES or Jones Lane ES in 20878.
Anonymous wrote:I'm moving to the DC area this year and in the market for a house in the Rockville/Potomac area. I'm curious about Lakewood and Stone Mill. The % of Asians at both is around 50% which is quite high, and I've heard there's a large Chinese community. Does anyone know whether it's mostly first generation immigrants? Asking as a 2nd generation Chinese American who mostly speaks English at home, and doesn't intend to foster the same type of academic intensity as 1st generation immigrants may be inclined to do (like my parents did with me).
Is there a reason to be dissuaded from moving into the school zone based on the demographics? I don't want to throw my kids into an overly competitive environment in elementary school. What are people's experiences who have kids who went here?
I hope this doesn't come across as racist or insensitive in any way...I'm genuinely wondering about how it might impact the school and my kid's experience. I have plenty of Asian friends, both first generation and not, but 50% just seems like a lot.