Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just like Blair, the magnet is super but that’s about it. Non magnet portion is like any other MCPS HS (not counting BCC and w schools).

Yup, they add the magnets to the schools that need the most boost in test scores. QO is just as good as RM without the magnet. Cheaper real estate too. Rockville is trying to improve Twinbrook, but I don't see it turning even after all the massive construction.

It isn't a bad school, but it sure is cliquey. They try to say it is diverse and it is, but they all hang out with their own at RM.

Agree with this. I am in RM cluster and all this talk of diversity is fine in theory, but practically kids segregate themselves.

If them school is really diverse, then no, they dont. At least not in elementary. My (white) DS has 2 besties - chinese and south american descent ones. Plus rest of his friends can probably form a UN session (Zimbabwe, Russia, Japan, Ireland, England, Mexico, etc)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thinking about buying a home in that cluster. I know it's not Wootton but is it at least better than average?

OP, when you say good school, what specifically do you mean? What makes a school a good school, in your opinion?

OP here. That’s a really good question. My kids are 12 months and 3.5. So I don’t know a whole lot about schools here. I didn’t attend HS here. I guess when I said I mean a school that focuses on academic achieving, preparing students for college vs graduating students, good PTA, a place where mi kids will thrive? I’m afraid I didn’t give a good description.

As CGES parent, I would highly recommend our school. When we were looking, we passed up on house in RP feeder zone due to school reputation, however I am sure there are nice things about it. New ES has recently opened in the cluster and I have heard fantastic things about it from Chinese immersion families that were reassigned there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I imagine those 2000 families will walk to certain nearby businesses. But they are also going to be adding lots of cars to Rockville Pike. No one is biking from Twinbrook to Pike and Rose, Rockville Town Center, Montgomery Mall. I live near Rockville Town Center. If I want to go to Wegmans I will drive. Will I walk and bus to Rockville Metro, metro 1 stop, shop and carry my items home on the metro/bus and then walk home. No! I wonder how many people take Metro to Rockville Town Center. Not many I would guess.

? Plenty of people are biking. And more people will do it once the city starts adding bike infrastructure.

I don't know why people so often say "Nobody will do this" when they mean "I don't do this."

(Montgomery Mall?!?!)

Plenty of people are biking on Rockville Pike to do their shopping??

No. Plenty of people are biking, NOT on Rockville Pike, because Rockville Pike is a lousy place to bike (and walk, and take a bus, and drive). To get from Twinbrook Metro to Pike & Rose on a bike, you'd ride on the Bethesda Trolley Trail.

Which unfortunately uses Rockville Pike at Twinbrook...anyways way off topic for the thread.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&id=0D603FE4F8E8A243BE99F7D7652B8CE50010CC82&thid=OIP.PaEkawytDDKa1JHQyCC1WQHaMj&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobilemaplets.com%2Fthumbnails%2F5861_thumbnail-1024.jpg&exph=1024&expw=604&q=bethesda+trolley+trail&selectedindex=3&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,2,6

I think the topic can be summed up as: People zoned for RM think it's a good school. People zoned for Wooton think RM sucks and everyone should buy a house in their neighborhood even if they cost more than the person can afford or aren't interested in living there.

What do you expect RM zoned people to say? RM sucks? Those who think non magnet portion of RM is nothing special is more than Wootton zoned families. I really don’t think Wootton zones families really care about RM as much as some people here think. And no, we are not in w district, Wootton or else.

DP... and if a W school sucks, would most W zoned people say so?

People who live in the cluster are the ones with first hand knowledge and experience. If they are happy with it, then who are you to gainsay what these folks say? If a non W parent says that a W school sucks, the response is always.."oh, you're jealous". But if a W parent says RM sucks with no first hand knowledge, then of course, it's true.

RM cluster is not perfect. There is no perfect cluster. Look at the MD forum and the issues at W schools. But RM cluster has great diversity (doesn't matter if your child chooses to self segregate or not), IB, AP, honors, and regular classes. It has over 300 clubs. RM has about a 20% FARMs rate, so it doesn't have as much of the wealthy school problems or the low income school problems. The housing stock is pretty decent, and the price range is pretty wide. Personally, we chose RM for the IB program. One DC is in the program, but if the other decides not to be in the program, then there is AP/honors or regular track. We like the wide variety.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I imagine those 2000 families will walk to certain nearby businesses. But they are also going to be adding lots of cars to Rockville Pike. No one is biking from Twinbrook to Pike and Rose, Rockville Town Center, Montgomery Mall. I live near Rockville Town Center. If I want to go to Wegmans I will drive. Will I walk and bus to Rockville Metro, metro 1 stop, shop and carry my items home on the metro/bus and then walk home. No! I wonder how many people take Metro to Rockville Town Center. Not many I would guess.

? Plenty of people are biking. And more people will do it once the city starts adding bike infrastructure.

I don't know why people so often say "Nobody will do this" when they mean "I don't do this."

(Montgomery Mall?!?!)

Plenty of people are biking on Rockville Pike to do their shopping??

No. Plenty of people are biking, NOT on Rockville Pike, because Rockville Pike is a lousy place to bike (and walk, and take a bus, and drive). To get from Twinbrook Metro to Pike & Rose on a bike, you'd ride on the Bethesda Trolley Trail.

Which unfortunately uses Rockville Pike at Twinbrook...anyways way off topic for the thread.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&id=0D603FE4F8E8A243BE99F7D7652B8CE50010CC82&thid=OIP.PaEkawytDDKa1JHQyCC1WQHaMj&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobilemaplets.com%2Fthumbnails%2F5861_thumbnail-1024.jpg&exph=1024&expw=604&q=bethesda+trolley+trail&selectedindex=3&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,2,6

I think the topic can be summed up as: People zoned for RM think it's a good school. People zoned for Wooton think RM sucks and everyone should buy a house in their neighborhood even if they cost more than the person can afford or aren't interested in living there.

What do you expect RM zoned people to say? RM sucks? Those who think non magnet portion of RM is nothing special is more than Wootton zoned families. I really don’t think Wootton zones families really care about RM as much as some people here think. And no, we are not in w district, Wootton or else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drive around the area if you’re interested. Tons of empty, new units that will eventually fill up. Plus more development promised. Look for those white large signs that detail how many units are going up.

Not really. The amount of new apartments (and housing in general) isn't much above replacement rate. There are also many neighborhoods in the area where larger homes are occupied by empty nesters nowadays - less kids in those houses than you were seeing 25 years ago.

in our neighborhood on the (nowhere near there) empty nesters are constantly being replaced by young families

In our neighborhood, empty nesters are being replaced by multiple families. An investor buys the home and rents it out to multiple families.

So, in a house where there were zero kids last year, there are now 6.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drive around the area if you’re interested. Tons of empty, new units that will eventually fill up. Plus more development promised. Look for those white large signs that detail how many units are going up.

Not really. The amount of new apartments (and housing in general) isn't much above replacement rate. There are also many neighborhoods in the area where larger homes are occupied by empty nesters nowadays - less kids in those houses than you were seeing 25 years ago.

in our neighborhood on the (nowhere near there) empty nesters are constantly being replaced by young families

Anonymous wrote:Drive around the area if you’re interested. Tons of empty, new units that will eventually fill up. Plus more development promised. Look for those white large signs that detail how many units are going up.

Not really. The amount of new apartments (and housing in general) isn't much above replacement rate. There are also many neighborhoods in the area where larger homes are occupied by empty nesters nowadays - less kids in those houses than you were seeing 25 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How old are your kids OP?

Be aware that the school is already overcrowded and there is a ton of overdevelopment scheduled for that cluster. There will be a boat load of new housing going up in the area, and there are no plans to alleviate the already overcrowded HS.

Can someone elaborate what is scheduled to be build in the RM cluster and where?

There are three new buildings in the town center. Only one of those will have a lot of units (the one that takes up the last half of what used to be the regal parking lot). That's not what people are upset about though, they're upset about the "Twinbrook Quarter". 90% of those students will be zoned for WJ if the boundary is the same when they are complete. It's a good thing for the city because it's going to put housing close to the Metro. For reference, look at this street view image. Everything on the North side (left in the image where the mattress store is) will be demolished all the way to Party City (second google street view image). They're going to have just under 2,000 units built along with a Wegmens, some businesses in mixed use buildings, parks, and a new walk/bike friendly road to take instead of walking/biking on Rockville Pike. It's a huge project that they have 30 years to complete. People are up in arms because of WJ, almost none will go to RM and those that will are slated to be last to be built.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0618405,-77.1241019,3a,75y,67.31h,76.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2jijKbFqfVaFtmZAjocMOg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0651115,-77.1265455,3a,75y,72.27h,75.99t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sWOX73EzEOheumrfLTUyPQQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

People are also upset about the projects that are currently being built, plus the several already built apartment complexes that are not yet up to capacity and will mean even additional students, once they are full.

Drive around the area if you’re interested. Tons of empty, new units that will eventually fill up. Plus more development promised. Look for those white large signs that detail how many units are going up.

Can you cite a few specific examples of new apartments that will fill up and bring a lot of kids to the RM district?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I imagine those 2000 families will walk to certain nearby businesses. But they are also going to be adding lots of cars to Rockville Pike. No one is biking from Twinbrook to Pike and Rose, Rockville Town Center, Montgomery Mall. I live near Rockville Town Center. If I want to go to Wegmans I will drive. Will I walk and bus to Rockville Metro, metro 1 stop, shop and carry my items home on the metro/bus and then walk home. No! I wonder how many people take Metro to Rockville Town Center. Not many I would guess.

? Plenty of people are biking. And more people will do it once the city starts adding bike infrastructure.

I don't know why people so often say "Nobody will do this" when they mean "I don't do this."

(Montgomery Mall?!?!)

Plenty of people are biking on Rockville Pike to do their shopping??

No. Plenty of people are biking, NOT on Rockville Pike, because Rockville Pike is a lousy place to bike (and walk, and take a bus, and drive). To get from Twinbrook Metro to Pike & Rose on a bike, you'd ride on the Bethesda Trolley Trail.

Which unfortunately uses Rockville Pike at Twinbrook...anyways way off topic for the thread.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&id=0D603FE4F8E8A243BE99F7D7652B8CE50010CC82&thid=OIP.PaEkawytDDKa1JHQyCC1WQHaMj&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobilemaplets.com%2Fthumbnails%2F5861_thumbnail-1024.jpg&exph=1024&expw=604&q=bethesda+trolley+trail&selectedindex=3&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,2,6

No, Chapman. The Bethesda Trolley Trail is not good bike infrastructure, but it's still better than biking on the sidewalks that are right next to the road on Rockville Pike.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How old are your kids OP?

Be aware that the school is already overcrowded and there is a ton of overdevelopment scheduled for that cluster. There will be a boat load of new housing going up in the area, and there are no plans to alleviate the already overcrowded HS.

Can someone elaborate what is scheduled to be build in the RM cluster and where?

There are three new buildings in the town center. Only one of those will have a lot of units (the one that takes up the last half of what used to be the regal parking lot). That's not what people are upset about though, they're upset about the "Twinbrook Quarter". 90% of those students will be zoned for WJ if the boundary is the same when they are complete. It's a good thing for the city because it's going to put housing close to the Metro. For reference, look at this street view image. Everything on the North side (left in the image where the mattress store is) will be demolished all the way to Party City (second google street view image). They're going to have just under 2,000 units built along with a Wegmens, some businesses in mixed use buildings, parks, and a new walk/bike friendly road to take instead of walking/biking on Rockville Pike. It's a huge project that they have 30 years to complete. People are up in arms because of WJ, almost none will go to RM and those that will are slated to be last to be built.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0618405,-77.1241019,3a,75y,67.31h,76.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2jijKbFqfVaFtmZAjocMOg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0651115,-77.1265455,3a,75y,72.27h,75.99t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sWOX73EzEOheumrfLTUyPQQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

People are also upset about the projects that are currently being built, plus the several already built apartment complexes that are not yet up to capacity and will mean even additional students, once they are full.

Drive around the area if you’re interested. Tons of empty, new units that will eventually fill up. Plus more development promised. Look for those white large signs that detail how many units are going up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I imagine those 2000 families will walk to certain nearby businesses. But they are also going to be adding lots of cars to Rockville Pike. No one is biking from Twinbrook to Pike and Rose, Rockville Town Center, Montgomery Mall. I live near Rockville Town Center. If I want to go to Wegmans I will drive. Will I walk and bus to Rockville Metro, metro 1 stop, shop and carry my items home on the metro/bus and then walk home. No! I wonder how many people take Metro to Rockville Town Center. Not many I would guess.

? Plenty of people are biking. And more people will do it once the city starts adding bike infrastructure.

I don't know why people so often say "Nobody will do this" when they mean "I don't do this."

(Montgomery Mall?!?!)

Plenty of people are biking on Rockville Pike to do their shopping??

No. Plenty of people are biking, NOT on Rockville Pike, because Rockville Pike is a lousy place to bike (and walk, and take a bus, and drive). To get from Twinbrook Metro to Pike & Rose on a bike, you'd ride on the Bethesda Trolley Trail.

Which unfortunately uses Rockville Pike at Twinbrook...anyways way off topic for the thread.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&id=0D603FE4F8E8A243BE99F7D7652B8CE50010CC82&thid=OIP.PaEkawytDDKa1JHQyCC1WQHaMj&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobilemaplets.com%2Fthumbnails%2F5861_thumbnail-1024.jpg&exph=1024&expw=604&q=bethesda+trolley+trail&selectedindex=3&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,2,6

I think the topic can be summed up as: People zoned for RM think it's a good school. People zoned for Wooton think RM sucks and everyone should buy a house in their neighborhood even if they cost more than the person can afford or aren't interested in living there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I imagine those 2000 families will walk to certain nearby businesses. But they are also going to be adding lots of cars to Rockville Pike. No one is biking from Twinbrook to Pike and Rose, Rockville Town Center, Montgomery Mall. I live near Rockville Town Center. If I want to go to Wegmans I will drive. Will I walk and bus to Rockville Metro, metro 1 stop, shop and carry my items home on the metro/bus and then walk home. No! I wonder how many people take Metro to Rockville Town Center. Not many I would guess.

? Plenty of people are biking. And more people will do it once the city starts adding bike infrastructure.

I don't know why people so often say "Nobody will do this" when they mean "I don't do this."

(Montgomery Mall?!?!)

Plenty of people are biking on Rockville Pike to do their shopping??

No. Plenty of people are biking, NOT on Rockville Pike, because Rockville Pike is a lousy place to bike (and walk, and take a bus, and drive). To get from Twinbrook Metro to Pike & Rose on a bike, you'd ride on the Bethesda Trolley Trail.

Which unfortunately uses Rockville Pike at Twinbrook...anyways way off topic for the thread.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&id=0D603FE4F8E8A243BE99F7D7652B8CE50010CC82&thid=OIP.PaEkawytDDKa1JHQyCC1WQHaMj&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobilemaplets.com%2Fthumbnails%2F5861_thumbnail-1024.jpg&exph=1024&expw=604&q=bethesda+trolley+trail&selectedindex=3&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,2,6

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I imagine those 2000 families will walk to certain nearby businesses. But they are also going to be adding lots of cars to Rockville Pike. No one is biking from Twinbrook to Pike and Rose, Rockville Town Center, Montgomery Mall. I live near Rockville Town Center. If I want to go to Wegmans I will drive. Will I walk and bus to Rockville Metro, metro 1 stop, shop and carry my items home on the metro/bus and then walk home. No! I wonder how many people take Metro to Rockville Town Center. Not many I would guess.

? Plenty of people are biking. And more people will do it once the city starts adding bike infrastructure.

I don't know why people so often say "Nobody will do this" when they mean "I don't do this."

(Montgomery Mall?!?!)

Plenty of people are biking on Rockville Pike to do their shopping??

No. Plenty of people are biking, NOT on Rockville Pike, because Rockville Pike is a lousy place to bike (and walk, and take a bus, and drive). To get from Twinbrook Metro to Pike & Rose on a bike, you'd ride on the Bethesda Trolley Trail.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I imagine those 2000 families will walk to certain nearby businesses. But they are also going to be adding lots of cars to Rockville Pike. No one is biking from Twinbrook to Pike and Rose, Rockville Town Center, Montgomery Mall. I live near Rockville Town Center. If I want to go to Wegmans I will drive. Will I walk and bus to Rockville Metro, metro 1 stop, shop and carry my items home on the metro/bus and then walk home. No! I wonder how many people take Metro to Rockville Town Center. Not many I would guess.

? Plenty of people are biking. And more people will do it once the city starts adding bike infrastructure.

I don't know why people so often say "Nobody will do this" when they mean "I don't do this."

(Montgomery Mall?!?!)

Plenty of people are biking on Rockville Pike to do their shopping??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
So what if it was 1987. What difference does it make who was in power and who was a pop star? The point is that MCPS has done this kind of thing before.

RMHS was under capacity. It was majority low income. They rezoned a wealthy neighborhood that had a walkable HS to RM, added a magnet, and now it's one of the most diverse HS clusters in the county. Why wouldn't MCPS do it again, but the other way around?

MCPS has also had de-jure segregated schools before. So what if that ended in 1961? What difference does it make who was in power and who was a pop star?

wow.. you're dense.

MCPS and MoCo being a very progressive liberal area isn't going to segregate, rather the opposite as we have seen, and TB going to Wootton or Churchill to address over crowding at RM and create diversity in those W schools is a win win for MCPS's resolution of focusing looking at diversity and adjacent clusters when rezoning.

I wouldn't want to guess where or if Twinbrook would be moved out of RM but there are definitely a lot of people in the W schools that are in total denial. The school board literally said they want to consider diversity so it's foolish to assume that they won't do so. I think it's safe to assume that each of the W schools will have at least one lower income or minority ES reassigned to them. They aren't going to be flooded with them or anything like that. People don't need to be terrified because one ES with brown people are going to their high school no matter how much they act like it's the end of the world. From my perspective it's actually a good thing because when you go about your daily life, you aren't only going to run into or work with all white and Asian people.