Anonymous
06/05/2025 10:45
Subject: Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I just hope they don't redistrict QO with any striver schools. Purposely avoided buying in Wootton and Walter Johnson because of all the tiger moms and academic culture. Football, D1 sports, and parents who like to hang out at the beach and tanning salons for fun is the vibe. I think everyone chose their school and neighborhood because it matched their vibe, and they should be allowed to say.
While I agree that we bought where we did because of these factors and don't want to change that, if it ultimately MAKES SENSE to change, then it needs to. The problem is that these options operate under the improper constraint that ES boundaries cannot change.
Yes and as a result this process is like trying to solve one of those puzzles where when you put a piece in another pops out elsewhere. Some ES are wacky and large. In Wootton, Churchill, RM alone the following elementary schools should be redrawn. These are all significantly under capacity.
- Potomac
- Wayside
- Coldspring
- Beverly Farms
- Seven Locks (weird Avenel island)
- Travilah
I remember when they were doing redistricting for the new Rustin ES and for years Ritchie Park was severely overcrowded with 6 portables. And so were many other RM ES and Cold Spring was a possible closure for severe under-enrollment. Someone brought up why are you looking to move Horizon Hill (the neighborhood behind Wootton and walkable to Cold Spring, to Rustin in one plan?!? Further than both Ritchie and Cold.
Like why is RP sitting a few hundred over capacity and a school closer and walkable a few hundred under capacity. And the first thought is let’s bus them further away to a new ES.
These boundary maps have always been insane and with no common sense.
That was option 4 and it was to bus us to twinbrook
Anonymous
06/05/2025 10:38
Subject: Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
If the price you want to pay for a building to live in is tied so closely to the school it is zoned for, maybe that same logic should factor in the fact that those school zones can change.
Oh, wait, it already does. In a world where those zones never can never change, the premium would be much higher. Consider yourself to have been operating at a discount.
Oh, wait, it already does. In a world where those zones never can never change, the premium would be much higher. Consider yourself to have been operating at a discount.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 10:37
Subject: Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Travilah and dufief should go to QO and Kentlands should go to Crown with all the other City of Gaithersburg schools.
That is very logical. North Potomac, Travilah, and Darnestown go to Ridgeview / QO. The City of Gaithersburg schools go to Lakelands / Crown. Falls Grove and Ritchie Park to Wooton.
I have said this for a long time, before any boundary discussion. It is the most elegant contiguous solution. Of course people have their preferences based on past experience but none of that matters in these discussions. Now Kentlands leaving is a new topic of course with Crown, but agree with City boundaries being logical here, and having enough students to fill Crown in one swath.
Yup. Same reason why Fallsgrove and Ritchie Park should go to Wootton and all of King Farm to RM.
RM parent here and I would totally support that. Lets be real, "unofficially" most of King Farm goes to RM, even the Gaithersburg HS part. So tired of RPES parents whining about Wootton. I get it, you want to go to W school and not RM.
Nah. I'm in the RPES cluster, and a lot of parents here would rather stay at RM than go to Wootton. I'm the PP who has stated repeatedly that MCPS is not going to move RPES to Wootton. And I'm fine with that.
RM Main Street is really nice. They did a great job. Kids love having open lunch. My kids enjoy/ed their time at RM. Many years ago when we moved here, we looked at homes from N. Potomac down to Kensington (I think we looked at over 40 homes). We could afford homes in Potomac. We chose the RM cluster for a reason.
Wootton is also falling apart (shame on MCPS).
I am the PP you are responding to. We were in the same boat. Chose RM over W/Potomac schools and I am actually happy we did.
Ok simmer down lol. If RM didn’t have the IB program it would be a trash. It brought in RPES to make it better and home equity is 70-100K less in many SFH neighborhoods. So then added IB. Then they added Fallsgrove. But the school can’t hide its core issues
Why don’t you simmer down? Wootton is the most irrelevant W school that everyone forgets exists. Parents from Churchill are revolting against their kids attending Wootton. It has an ugly building, is located in a terrible town/zip-code, and is all the way out in the middle of nowhere. If the plastics were W schools, Wootton would Gretchen Wieners. Wootton is truly the worst. Too poor/low income to be a real W and exists in the shadows of Whitman and Churchill, and too rich to be interesting enough to have scandalous incidents and fights.
Yes let’s go to RM, where it is “interesting and poor enough” to have incidents and fights daily on top of the locked bathrooms. Are you for real?!?
Wootton doesn’t care about anything but academics and a few sports. It is not entitled, basic MC/UMC and has no daily issues. That’s why home prices right next to the RM district that look identical are 100K more expensive. Families will pay to get into a decent school that prefers academics over scandals.
I mean your post is just laughable. I think you proved the PP point about RM.
Is this a joke? Wootton is so cheap. Your cluster consists of nothing but a bunch of NV homes. Wootton neighborhood is just Bowie with no Black people and a pool in the backyard. Most people in RM could sell their house and move to Wootton or even Whitman tomorrow. Homes near the town center are much more expensive than anything Wootton has. You’re the only W cluster where the median home price is below $1M. Wootton is a fake and wannabe W. Now go back to your dilapidated strip malls on a road that looks like Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie and your dusty, old high school.
from that nearly 40 year old newspaper article... Now RM has the 'new' school and Wooton is aged. My oldest just graduated RM yesterday. She could walk to school, had open lunch, and great teachers. She didn't do IB but like half her friends did. I'm glad we arent being moved.
Not to mention that most of these W parents sneering at RM will soon attend schools with similar demographics, and in the case of WJ parents who will be redistricted to Woodward, a school that is far more socio-economically disadvantaged than RM.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 10:26
Subject: Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Although I don’t love it, I feel the same. The kids will still be at a W school and my property value remains the same.brightwood wrote:
It’s a win for us.
This "W" school thing is such BS. I was at a non-W MCPS high school and I have a fantastic career and multiple gradate degrees. I have friends who went to "W" schools and are no more successful than I am, many less successful. Even the "worst" high school in Montgomery County is better than 99% of the schools around this country. People need to chill out. Your kids will be just fine at Crown. There are kids at RM and Rockville and Gaithersburg who will go on to be doctors, lawyer, and scientists. People need to get over themselves.
My spouse went to one of the high schools that many people on this board declare as one of the worst in the county. And we've lived in areas that feed into the not so great schools. As well as know people who have worked in multiple schools and can compare how well the students at the different schools know the actual content for the same course.
Based on what we've seen and heard, schools in the county are not the same. My spouse always talks about how it was a shock to go to college and see how they were far behind the rest of their classmates. And they were considered pretty advanced at their high school. The same goes for some of the kids we've seen in our previous neighbhorhoods. They studied all the time, played a string instrument, got straight As in all of their AP classes. You could easily plug them into any W school. But they couldn't pass any of the standardized tests and didn't go the traditional route after high school. I see it as the school and school system failing those students because the students and their families made every effort in their academics.
Yeah we do know of some cases of students who come out and do just as well or better than other people that went to a W school. But some of those people do say that they're the exception.
This is why having our kids go to a W school was a big deal to our family. So that they could have a better education and opportunity then we did.
With all that being said, I don't think Crown will be bad school and I'm not totally against sending my kids there.
We did pay the premium to live where we do. When we were looking, it was about 50k more than an equivalent home in the New Mark Commons area and about 100k more than a home in a neighborhood a little bit further down Darnestown Road near where that new park is. While disappointed, the home values aren't that big of a factor for me.
The major factor for me is that my kids would be a small handful of students split from their elementary school classmates. As well as being designated in a walk zone that requires a 45 minute walk along and crossing busy commuter routes.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 10:19
Subject: Re:Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:52 portable classrooms in use in high schools in the study area:
Clarksburg: 13
Churchill: 4
RM: 9
Northwest: 11
QO: 15
https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP26_AppendixH.pdf
Alright, move students in these schools to crown. Wootton doesn’t need to be split up.
That’s not how it works. The boundaries are changed to make the pattern and articulation more workable for all. Not the current options take into account a lot of key things like space for special programs or the countless new construction projects going on. The Upcounty definitely wants to know who is coming up with these crazy ideas.
This is absolutely not true. All four options mess up the pattern and create more split articulations, especially option 2 and 4. It’s a nightmare and I can’t imagine how MCPS manages so many different split articulations with almost every school splitting up.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 10:13
Subject: Re:Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:52 portable classrooms in use in high schools in the study area:
Clarksburg: 13
Churchill: 4
RM: 9
Northwest: 11
QO: 15
https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP26_AppendixH.pdf
Alright, move students in these schools to crown. Wootton doesn’t need to be split up.
That’s not how it works. The boundaries are changed to make the pattern and articulation more workable for all. Not the current options take into account a lot of key things like space for special programs or the countless new construction projects going on. The Upcounty definitely wants to know who is coming up with these crazy ideas.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 10:13
Subject: Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:https://chng.it/yt6S8FLCyD
To Stone Mill and Wayside families,
Please help us by signing this petition to oppose the current school reassignment plans. Right now, the options either move Stone Mill out of Wootton or break our articulation path.
Many of us have worked hard to move into this community so our kids can get the best education possible. Being reassigned to Crown means losing much of what we moved here for.
Wayside families—we need your support too. If Stone Mill stays in Wootton, there’s a better chance that Wayside can stay in Churchill.
I would like to sign and share this petition but can't find the option to sign it when I click the link. Can't figure out if it's a me problem or a problem with the petition itself.
I think I figured it out, it looks like the petition was already closed, it needs to be reposted to allow more people to sign it.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 10:12
Subject: Re:Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:52 portable classrooms in use in high schools in the study area:
Clarksburg: 13
Churchill: 4
RM: 9
Northwest: 11
QO: 15
https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP26_AppendixH.pdf
These portables not only take away space for use on the campus, but make kids travel times between classes longer, not to mention its makes safety (which everyone is always clamoring about) more difficult.
And they cost money which could be better spent.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 10:05
Subject: Re:Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:52 portable classrooms in use in high schools in the study area:
Clarksburg: 13
Churchill: 4
RM: 9
Northwest: 11
QO: 15
https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP26_AppendixH.pdf
These portables not only take away space for use on the campus, but make kids travel times between classes longer, not to mention its makes safety (which everyone is always clamoring about) more difficult.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 10:04
Subject: Re:Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:52 portable classrooms in use in high schools in the study area:
Clarksburg: 13
Churchill: 4
RM: 9
Northwest: 11
QO: 15
https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP26_AppendixH.pdf
Alright, move students in these schools to crown. Wootton doesn’t need to be split up.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 10:03
Subject: Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:https://chng.it/yt6S8FLCyD
To Stone Mill and Wayside families,
Please help us by signing this petition to oppose the current school reassignment plans. Right now, the options either move Stone Mill out of Wootton or break our articulation path.
Many of us have worked hard to move into this community so our kids can get the best education possible. Being reassigned to Crown means losing much of what we moved here for.
Wayside families—we need your support too. If Stone Mill stays in Wootton, there’s a better chance that Wayside can stay in Churchill.
Why do you think Crown will not be a good school? Its literally brand new and when a brand new school opens you get the best principal and teachers. Right now it is an empty building so what about it makes you think you will lose "what you moved here for"
Some of the arguments on this thread make sense, but this one does not.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 09:58
Subject: Re:Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
52 portable classrooms in use in high schools in the study area:
Clarksburg: 13
Churchill: 4
RM: 9
Northwest: 11
QO: 15
https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP26_AppendixH.pdf
Clarksburg: 13
Churchill: 4
RM: 9
Northwest: 11
QO: 15
https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP26_AppendixH.pdf
Anonymous
06/05/2025 09:58
Subject: Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:https://chng.it/yt6S8FLCyD
To Stone Mill and Wayside families,
Please help us by signing this petition to oppose the current school reassignment plans. Right now, the options either move Stone Mill out of Wootton or break our articulation path.
Many of us have worked hard to move into this community so our kids can get the best education possible. Being reassigned to Crown means losing much of what we moved here for.
Wayside families—we need your support too. If Stone Mill stays in Wootton, there’s a better chance that Wayside can stay in Churchill.
I would like to sign and share this petition but can't find the option to sign it when I click the link. Can't figure out if it's a me problem or a problem with the petition itself.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 09:56
Subject: Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Travilah and dufief should go to QO and Kentlands should go to Crown with all the other City of Gaithersburg schools.
That is very logical. North Potomac, Travilah, and Darnestown go to Ridgeview / QO. The City of Gaithersburg schools go to Lakelands / Crown. Falls Grove and Ritchie Park to Wooton.
I have said this for a long time, before any boundary discussion. It is the most elegant contiguous solution. Of course people have their preferences based on past experience but none of that matters in these discussions. Now Kentlands leaving is a new topic of course with Crown, but agree with City boundaries being logical here, and having enough students to fill Crown in one swath.
Yup. Same reason why Fallsgrove and Ritchie Park should go to Wootton and all of King Farm to RM.
RM parent here and I would totally support that. Lets be real, "unofficially" most of King Farm goes to RM, even the Gaithersburg HS part. So tired of RPES parents whining about Wootton. I get it, you want to go to W school and not RM.
Nah. I'm in the RPES cluster, and a lot of parents here would rather stay at RM than go to Wootton. I'm the PP who has stated repeatedly that MCPS is not going to move RPES to Wootton. And I'm fine with that.
RM Main Street is really nice. They did a great job. Kids love having open lunch. My kids enjoy/ed their time at RM. Many years ago when we moved here, we looked at homes from N. Potomac down to Kensington (I think we looked at over 40 homes). We could afford homes in Potomac. We chose the RM cluster for a reason.
Wootton is also falling apart (shame on MCPS).
I am the PP you are responding to. We were in the same boat. Chose RM over W/Potomac schools and I am actually happy we did.
Ok simmer down lol. If RM didn’t have the IB program it would be a trash. It brought in RPES to make it better and home equity is 70-100K less in many SFH neighborhoods. So then added IB. Then they added Fallsgrove. But the school can’t hide its core issues
Why don’t you simmer down? Wootton is the most irrelevant W school that everyone forgets exists. Parents from Churchill are revolting against their kids attending Wootton. It has an ugly building, is located in a terrible town/zip-code, and is all the way out in the middle of nowhere. If the plastics were W schools, Wootton would Gretchen Wieners. Wootton is truly the worst. Too poor/low income to be a real W and exists in the shadows of Whitman and Churchill, and too rich to be interesting enough to have scandalous incidents and fights.
Yes let’s go to RM, where it is “interesting and poor enough” to have incidents and fights daily on top of the locked bathrooms. Are you for real?!?
Wootton doesn’t care about anything but academics and a few sports. It is not entitled, basic MC/UMC and has no daily issues. That’s why home prices right next to the RM district that look identical are 100K more expensive. Families will pay to get into a decent school that prefers academics over scandals.
I mean your post is just laughable. I think you proved the PP point about RM.
Is this a joke? Wootton is so cheap. Your cluster consists of nothing but a bunch of NV homes. Wootton neighborhood is just Bowie with no Black people and a pool in the backyard. Most people in RM could sell their house and move to Wootton or even Whitman tomorrow. Homes near the town center are much more expensive than anything Wootton has. You’re the only W cluster where the median home price is below $1M. Wootton is a fake and wannabe W. Now go back to your dilapidated strip malls on a road that looks like Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie and your dusty, old high school.
from that nearly 40 year old newspaper article... Now RM has the 'new' school and Wooton is aged. My oldest just graduated RM yesterday. She could walk to school, had open lunch, and great teachers. She didn't do IB but like half her friends did. I'm glad we arent being moved.
We absolutely chose an RM neighborhood over Wooton when buying houses. Both were affordable to us. We had 1 in IB and one not. Both had great experiences.
Anonymous
06/05/2025 09:51
Subject: Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study
Anonymous wrote:Cold Spring ES has a capacity of 460. It has a total enrollment of only 350. Worse, because it is a CES location, something like 100 of those students are out of the boundary area. So only about 250 students even come from the boundary itself. That means parents with elementary-school-age children are not buying there. When they do get older and go to Cabin John, they stay with the kids from Stone Mill ES at least when they then move on to Wootton. So it seems that there is trouble selling in this neighborhood for the elementary school at least, though many factors play into that. At least they have had a little bit of a cohort that stays together through high school.
Cold Spring here. Most of our neighborhood are original owners or those who bought in the 80s/90s. Interest rates almost certainly locking owners in. Anticipate it’ll turn over in the next 5 yrs.
This is also happening in my RPES neighborhood. In the past 3 years, 3 of our long timer neighbors literally around my house have moved. The people who moved in all have young kids. When we first moved here, we were one of a handful of families with school aged kids. Our bus stop was just us. Now a days, the bus stop is teeming with kids. After my kids hit MS, I stopped going to the bus stop. One morning I drove by, and I was floored at how many kids there were.
This is part of the problem. As retirees move out, more families with children will move into the sfh, thus impacting the capacity of the schools. This will impact ES all the way up to HS. Not to mention all the multi unit housing that's being built all over MoCo.