Anonymous wrote:Sometimes when I see what people write about Potomac, I wonder if they have ever been here or just watch tv about rich people. It is not Beverly Hills. There are women who run around in designer things with hair done and mess up their faces but it is not the great majority of people. You would consider us rich but besides living here we don't live as described. We exercise on the canal with no make up. We go to local places to eat like Gregorios Pizza or Renatos. Yes we have nice cars but our kids share an older SUV. It certainly depends on your group but my daughter has some friends who are pretty fancy and some who are totally regular. All the parents get along. We are friendly but not regular friends but we are in contact when there are events and I could count on any of them in an emergency. There is a large contingent of people who won't indulge any of that Real Housewives showboating and bickering nonsense.

Churchill has a fantastic PTA president who is deeply committed to social justice and a huge volunteer contingent in every part of the school. Yes there are kids who drink and do drugs but there are a lot of kids who do not. Is it the best school? No, as others have said, good and bad teachers. I am not thrilled about the new Principal, but the important part is that my daughter likes her school and most of her teachers. I don't have to go there, she does.

Overall I have found Potomac to be one of the most lovely, supportive and community minded places I have ever lived. Just because people are rich does not mean they are jerks. I am friends with some of the uber rich here and guess what, they throw great parties! The cool ones amongst them don't care if you have been to Zermatt or not - the uncool ones do and they would be jerks too if they weren't rich. I have seen this community pull together to support so many families in so many different ways in times of need. It is a real place filled with real people. Also you might see Ted Koppel in the Giant once in awhile.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're looking at houses in the Potomac area and while I can see that the test scores and Great Schools info suggest Churchill is a great school academically, all the info here is about how the students are all rich and materialistic. Can anyone with firsthand experience of the school culture comment on how kids who come from more laid back families manage at Churchill? It's a big school so I would hope that there are all types of kids and surely not everyone fits the stereotype? We like the bigger lots of Potomac, but not sure it's a great fit culturally.

Yes, there are all types of students in Churchill HS. Most of people who live in houses on bigger lots In Potomac send their kids to private schools.

I posted earlier. There are lots of kids who live in $2M plus homes who attend public schools. These are families that don't prioritize education in their families and prefer to spend on cars, homes, vacations, etc. We live in a smaller home (under $1M) with a half acre lot...so not tiny. Not sure how big a lot the OP is looking for, but there are plenty of more modest homes on larger lots. They might be differentiating Potomac from places like Bethesda and Chevy Chase, which have very small lots...sometimes with no back yards.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the input from those who have first-hand experience. I should have known that this had the potential to devolve into ugly commentary about what constitutes wealth, but those without experience relevant to my question - can you take it elsewhere?!

We're early in our search and just trying to figure out where to focus. Looking for bigger lot (~1+ acre) and about $1-1.3m budget, which is why that area is appealing. Commutable to DC but only need to go in about 1-2x week.

You will not find a 1 acre lot in Churchill cluster commutable to DC with for $1.3M unless it is a tear down or needs a lot of work.

Right here. A bit overpriced. Amazing neighborhood. https://www.redfin.com/MD/Rockville/12413-Beall-Spring-Rd-20854/home/10612140?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=1021578&utm_term=kwd-845751835175&utm_content=438961599343

Seriously overpriced...and this is not exactly close in Potomac.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the input from those who have first-hand experience. I should have known that this had the potential to devolve into ugly commentary about what constitutes wealth, but those without experience relevant to my question - can you take it elsewhere?!

We're early in our search and just trying to figure out where to focus. Looking for bigger lot (~1+ acre) and about $1-1.3m budget, which is why that area is appealing. Commutable to DC but only need to go in about 1-2x week.

You will not find a 1 acre lot in Churchill cluster commutable to DC with for $1.3M unless it is a tear down or needs a lot of work.

Right here. A bit overpriced. Amazing neighborhood. https://www.redfin.com/MD/Rockville/12413-Beall-Spring-Rd-20854/home/10612140?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=1021578&utm_term=kwd-845751835175&utm_content=438961599343

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Anonymous wrote:but that 800K house is very comparable to a 500K house in other dc suburbs or a 200K house in middle America.

This is why people say "don't send your kids to Churchill" and I am not really going to be able to explain it to you. But you just don't get it if you think living in a $800K house is the same as a $500K house in Gaithersburg or a $200K house in Tulsa Oklahoma.

... and then you pass that same attitude and worse to your children.

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Re: 2 -- have their been a rash of hit and runs with Churchill families attacking people from other schools?

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Churchill is one of the segregated schools with a well-documented pattern of racist incidents. The sooner the county diversifies these boundaries the better.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/784059.page

Actually, the only reason those incidents make the news is because a mom of one of the students works for a news publication and as soon as she hears something from her kids or the principal send out an email she passes it on to the news staff and it is posted on that news organizations twitter feed. Sadly, incidents like these happen at a lot of school. They just don't get as widely publicized.

That and people like to take particular delight any time something bad happens at a school like Churchill because, as this thread demonstrates, there are lots of people who like to tear it down. When the same or worse things happen at other schools, these same people don't care because they can't rejoice in taking a crack at "rich" people.

Eh. I don't like to tear it down, and I don't sit there waiting to take a crack at rich (not "rich") people. There are two things that bug me. No, actually, three things.

1. People at Churchill who don't recognize their affluence compared to the rest of the county and the region.
2. People at Churchill who run down other kids at other schools.
3. People at Churchill who don't know anything about the history of Scotland.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the input from those who have first-hand experience. I should have known that this had the potential to devolve into ugly commentary about what constitutes wealth, but those without experience relevant to my question - can you take it elsewhere?!

We're early in our search and just trying to figure out where to focus. Looking for bigger lot (~1+ acre) and about $1-1.3m budget, which is why that area is appealing. Commutable to DC but only need to go in about 1-2x week.

You will not find a 1 acre lot in Churchill cluster commutable to DC with for $1.3M unless it is a tear down or needs a lot of work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Churchill is one of the segregated schools with a well-documented pattern of racist incidents. The sooner the county diversifies these boundaries the better.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/784059.page

Actually, the only reason those incidents make the news is because a mom of one of the students works for a news publication and as soon as she hears something from her kids or the principal send out an email she passes it on to the news staff and it is posted on that news organizations twitter feed. Sadly, incidents like these happen at a lot of school. They just don't get as widely publicized.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Churchill is one of the segregated schools with a well-documented pattern of racist incidents. The sooner the county diversifies these boundaries the better.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/784059.page

Actually, the only reason those incidents make the news is because a mom of one of the students works for a news publication and as soon as she hears something from her kids or the principal send out an email she passes it on to the news staff and it is posted on that news organizations twitter feed. Sadly, incidents like these happen at a lot of school. They just don't get as widely publicized.

That and people like to take particular delight any time something bad happens at a school like Churchill because, as this thread demonstrates, there are lots of people who like to tear it down. When the same or worse things happen at other schools, these same people don't care because they can't rejoice in taking a crack at "rich" people.