Howard school ratings (Baltimore, Columbia, Ellicott City: how much, house, safe neighborhoods)

[ymd]

We are looking to buy or build a house in Howard county. I hear that all the schools in the county follow the same curriculum. I also see that the school ratings differ considerably on greatschools.org. How much should we be concerned about the school ratings? As the school ratings depend on the students' standardized test scores, would not the school ratings change year to year? Is it worth paying more for a house assigned to a higher rated school and then find that the rating has gone down when the time comes to sell the house? Also, I find that schools are being re-zoned next year. Would it affect property values?

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

[dcmetrobaseball]

Any school but Howard high or Wilde Lake high should be great. There are a few elementary schools and middle schools in Columbia that can be a tad sketchy so as long as you are out of the city of Columbia the schools are top notch.

[ymd]

Why do you consider Howard High school bad? It has a score of 10 on Greatschools.org. Is it your personal opinion or a widely held view?

Originally Posted by dcmetrobaseball

Any school but Howard high or Wilde Lake high should be great. There are a few elementary schools and middle schools in Columbia that can be a tad sketchy so as long as you are out of the city of Columbia the schools are top notch.

[bus man]

Originally Posted by dcmetrobaseball

Any school but Howard high or Wilde Lake high should be great. There are a few elementary schools and middle schools in Columbia that can be a tad sketchy so as long as you are out of the city of Columbia the schools are top notch.

Originally Posted by ymd

Why do you consider Howard High school bad? It has a score of 10 on Greatschools.org. Is it your personal opinion or a widely held view?

I live in the area zoned to Howard High, and I've had extensive discussions with my young-adult neighbor (who graduated from there a few years ago) about it. She says that it was a wonderful school and she has nothing but good things to say about it.

In terms of reputation, the high schools to avoid are Wilde Lake, Long Reach, and Oakland Mills. I am familiar enough with some of the neighborhoods that feed into those schools that I would not want to attend them. That said, you are sure to find graduates from any of those schools who will tell you that they are not as bad as their reputations would suggest. To put it in perspective, you can probably assume that the worst Howard County schools are on par with the best, or second-best, ones in Baltimore.

[bus man]

Originally Posted by ymd

Is it worth paying more for a house assigned to a higher rated school and then find that the rating has gone down when the time comes to sell the house? Also, I find that schools are being re-zoned next year. Would it affect property values?

Lots of people around here try to buy homes in certain school districts, especially Centennial and River Hill (high schools). Problem is, the boundaries do get changed every now and then, as the school district tries to match the student population with the available capacity in each school. So there's no guarantee that your district will stay the same. I know that in the 14 years we've lived at our location, we've been zoned to two different middle schools, and are about to be redistricted to a third one.

Assuming that you're not going to homeschool or send your kids to private school, the best you can do is try and pick a house pretty deep within the territory assigned to your preferred schools, and/or try to avoid not only the areas zoned to your non-preferred schools, but also the areas immediately adjacent to those areas. It's not a guarantee, but it's something.

The Howard County Public School System website has maps which show the attendance areas for all schools, as well as a "polygon planning" map which shows the "building blocks" for determining the overall boundaries. That is to say, each "polygon" is a unit that will not be further subdivided when determining boundaries; all areas within each polygon will be zoned to the same school.

[gingergonzo]

I was born and raised in Howard County -- Ellicott City to be specific. It's a tad overpriced but, you're paying for good schools and safe neighborhoods.

[J_Lurk]

Originally Posted by ymd

Also, I find that schools are being re-zoned next year.

I am not sure where you heard that, but it is not correct. The elementary schools were re-districted this year. The middle schools have some re-districting for next year, but the neighborhoods affected have already been announced. The school system has not announced any plan for re-districting high schools any time soon. Since elementary schools and middle schools were just re-districted, you can expect that it will be at least a few years before they change again.

Having lived in other areas of the country, I find calling any school in Howard County "bad" kind of amazing. Every high school in this county sends plenty of kids to Ivy League universities. You couldn't say that of the "bad" high schools where I grew up.

[KLynch10]

Howard County is a well rated school system, with that said, there is a very wide variety of individual schools. As said earlier, Oakland Mills, Long Reach, and Wilde Lake are probably the ones to avoid. To be safe, I might stay out of Columbia proper, seems most outside is very solid, but always take a closer look.

[freeazabird]

Basing your assessment of school quality on great schools ratings is not recommended. I'm an educational professional and can tell you first hand that the best way to assess a school is to visit.

[james777]

Originally Posted by freeazabird

Basing your assessment of school quality on great schools ratings is not recommended. I'm an educational professional and can tell you first hand that the best way to assess a school is to visit.

As an education professional, could you please tell us some things that parents should look for when visiting a prospective school? Thanks in advance.