Wootton is 168 nationally, QO is 243. Very similar rankings, plus QO is a better environment. Meanwhile, NW is unranked...

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts in the group re: which areas in NW are most likely to be districted for the newly expanded Seneca Valley HS? Thank you.

Nobody knows. If you want to speculate, or you want to hear other people's speculations, feel free to start your own thread.

(Also, there's only one school district in Montgomery County: Montgomery County Public Schools.)

Does anyone here have first-hand experience with Diamond Elementary?

It almost looks too good to be true on paper. Excellent academics and a small achievement gap. Relatively affordable housing, diverse, close to amenities we use. Great neighborhoods, pools, parks. Parents I asked uniformly praise the school and the teachers.

If you are willing to share, I would love some first-hand stories, both good and bad.

Also, do you know whether the placement rate from Diamond to a local CES center been affected by the "peer group" measures? What about Lakelands to Clemente? Northwest to Poolesville?

OP, think carefully about what price point you plan to buy at and how long you will be in the house. There is a reason why you have more options and prices are lower in Diamond Elementary. Make sure you research comps for sold prices (not list prices) and average days on the market. There is a premium in this area for QO over NW and a bigger premium for Wootton over QO/NW. If you are looking at less expensive but not TH options then you may be fine but avoid being top of market. A 1.2M house will sell fast in the spring market in an area like Lakewood but a 1M house will sit for months in QO or NW. You can't a lot more for your money in Diamond ES but when you go to sell you may not recoup your investment which is fine if you plan for this.

Anonymous wrote:Keep stomping your feet and standing on your head to say rankings and performance are meaningless. I agree with the poster upthread that said no parent believes that QO or NW is anywhere near the same caliber as Wootton or Churchill.

You're actually making the point that there are fewer smarter folks up county than down county.

Explain to me how the difference in rankings is statistically significant. I want you to post numbers with statistical analysis. I’ll wait.

Anonymous wrote:Keep stomping your feet and standing on your head to say rankings and performance are meaningless. I agree with the poster upthread that said no parent believes that QO or NW is anywhere near the same caliber as Wootton or Churchill.

You're actually making the point that there are fewer smarter folks up county than down county.

Man, I hope MCPS completely redraws the HS boundary lines someday.

Funny how people talk about how liberal and progressive MOCO is, but if the school boundaries DARE CHANGE, the fight will be 100x more worse and vicious than the fight Trump's current border wall.

Why don't you get started on a wall right now just to make sure the W schools never mix with those outside of boundaries.

Keep stomping your feet and standing on your head to say rankings and performance are meaningless. I agree with the poster upthread that said no parent believes that QO or NW is anywhere near the same caliber as Wootton or Churchill.

You're actually making the point that there are fewer smarter folks up county than down county.

Anonymous wrote:

So if a dumb kid from upcounty moves to Cold Spring, they'll be smarter? Wow, it's that simple!?

A dumb kid wouldn't move to Cold Spring. His/her parents wouldn't want him/her to be at the bottom of the class or struggling. They wouldn't get the same value as a family with a really smart kid would get.

Affinity attractors are a big driver for who buys a house where and this shapes the community. Parents who don't care about being in the top school and want something more well rounded look for schools clusters that match that perspective. Parents that are very smart and often competitive look for school clusters that match that perspective.

Our kids are bright but more athletic than studious. QO is a better fit. If my kids were more studious and much smarter, we'd be looking in Cold Spring.

You’re an idiot if you think QO isn’t for really smart kids, just like the W schools. Why the hell do people think the parents who care about academic excellence are exclusively downcounty, while upcounty parents want “well-rounded,” which seems to always be a euphemism for academic mediocrity?

Once again: QO is in the top 1% of high schools in the country. Poolesville is in the top 0.5%. Neither school is statistically different from the W schools (QO in terms of the non-magnets and Poolesville in terms of the magnets). Any difference in scores can be explained by demographics and not by differences in academic standards or quality.

I know it’s tough for elitists to think otherwise, but it’s simply true.

So if a dumb kid from upcounty moves to Cold Spring, they'll be smarter? Wow, it's that simple!?

A dumb kid wouldn't move to Cold Spring. His/her parents wouldn't want him/her to be at the bottom of the class or struggling. They wouldn't get the same value as a family with a really smart kid would get.

Affinity attractors are a big driver for who buys a house where and this shapes the community. Parents who don't care about being in the top school and want something more well rounded look for schools clusters that match that perspective. Parents that are very smart and often competitive look for school clusters that match that perspective.

Our kids are bright but more athletic than studious. QO is a better fit. If my kids were more studious and much smarter, we'd be looking in Cold Spring.

Anonymous wrote:Northwest doesn't even compare to Wootton or QO. I live in Darnestown and DD goes to QO. Barely anyone from Darnestown goes to Northwest, they just use it to bring up the average home price in the school district, make more white kids, etc. I wish we just zoned for QO so I did't have to go through so much trouble getting her in.

Whew! we were looking at Darnestown but ended up in Clarksburg. If this is the attitude held by many in Darnestown, I am glad we ended up elsewhere! Glad you're not my neighbor, PP!

Anonymous wrote:Northwest doesn't even compare to Wootton or QO. I live in Darnestown and DD goes to QO. Barely anyone from Darnestown goes to Northwest, they just use it to bring up the average home price in the school district, make more white kids, etc. I wish we just zoned for QO so I did't have to go through so much trouble getting her in.

there were plenty of kids who lived in darnestown and went to northwest -signed recent NW graduate

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cold Spring kids are smarter than up county kids.

Stop trying to pretend that every kid is the same and every school is the same. Its far from reality.

So if a dumb kid from upcounty moves to Cold Spring, they'll be smarter? Wow, it's that simple!?

It’s magical!

Also, did you know that the upcounty parents don’t care about their kids’ educations? We’re ok with mediocre schools and gangs, while the downcounty parents want the best for their kids. Really, they should be giving us parenting classes.

Anonymous wrote:Cold Spring kids are smarter than up county kids.

Stop trying to pretend that every kid is the same and every school is the same. Its far from reality.

So if a dumb kid from upcounty moves to Cold Spring, they'll be smarter? Wow, it's that simple!?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cold Spring kids are smarter than up county kids.

Stop trying to pretend that every kid is the same and every school is the same. Its far from reality.

lol!!!! you are hilarious.

Yes! Somehow only those with enough money to buy into Cold Spring produce the smartest kids. If you don't have enough money, you get dummies. Got it!

Of course. The upcounty kids are just naturally stupider.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cold Spring kids are smarter than up county kids.

Stop trying to pretend that every kid is the same and every school is the same. Its far from reality.

lol!!!! you are hilarious.

Yes! Somehow only those with enough money to buy into Cold Spring produce the smartest kids. If you don't have enough money, you get dummies. Got it!

Anonymous wrote:What actual data does anyone have that QO is worse than Wootton, other than that QO has more minority kids who unfortunately tend to score lower on tests? What evidence is there that QO serves kids less well than Wootton?

Also, what the hell is with the comment above that Poolesville magnet programs are not as competitive as downcounty magnet programs? Poolesville is 116 in US News, only three spots below Churchill and the 2nd highest ranked high school in Maryland. But I guess downcounty elitists can’t accept that it might be an excellent school; you all have to disparage it.

There is no data. It is just that QO has a higher farms rate and traditionally a lot of Farms parents can’t pay for private tutoring which doesn’t make their score as high.