best elementary school/school system? (Baltimore, Towson: housing, work, high schools)

[mrpostmaster]

I'm looking at possibly moving to a baltimore suburb, and have a 8 yr old and a 4yr old. Where should I go looking for best school for my kids? The work place is in owings mills, so I guess any place between there and the city itself (I like less commute rather than more 8-))

Thanx!!

[passdoubt]

There are four elementary schools in Owings Mills.

Percentage of students scoring at or above MSA (math, reading):
Deer Park Elementary School 75% 95%
New Town Elementary School 93% 94%
Owings Mills Elementary School 63% 74%
Timber Grove Elementary School 84% 91%

All of Baltimore County is in the same school district.

(Baltimore City is a separate district, as it is not a part of the County.)

[passdoubt]

BTW, I don't mean to advertise, but you can research school performance at greatschools.net

[Darren1701]

If you are looking to the future, you definitely don't want your kids going to Owings Mills High School or Randallstown High School, either of which could be in the area you live in. If you want to be in that part of town, there are sections of Owings Mills where Pikesville HS is the school, and that is one of the best. My recommendation is the Cockeysville/Lutherville/Timonium area. The primary schools are great and Dulaney HS also has an excellent reputation.

[jlsmbran]

HI there,

Re. school systems:
I would highly recommend Lutherville, which is north of Towson and very burby & quiet yet very accessible and easy on the commute. Lutherville Laboratory for Science, Mathematics and Communication has been voted as a National Blue Ribbon School, and this year Ridgely Middle School (in the same district) was voted a National Blue Ribbon School. To be clear - this is a public school system. There is a before- and after-school drop-off childcare program offered RIGHT THERE at the school, with terrific hours. The home prices are not too terrible right now, the crime is very low and the schools are great. Prices for an apt can be had for around $1000 mo, and prices for a SF home can vary depending on whether you go to the pricier "historic side" or the newer side of town constructed post-war. In the newer side of town you can pick up a nice 4 BR 1960's split level for 320-350K or so, or a slightly smaller home for 280-320. Taxes are so-so - I think ours run about 210/mo, but the communities are pretty strong and it feels stable. Also check out Timonium and Hunt Valley. Cockeysville can be iffy.

Best of luck!

[le19555]

Severna Park school system is the best in the state in my opinion ocnsidering the also low crime rate. I live in Shipley's Choice. We have our own elementary and feed into the Severna Park Middle and High School. Shipley's Chpice averages a 99% scoring in english and math. The middle and high school are all in the 90's.

[tmorrisn]

The best high schools in Baltimore County are: Towson, Dulaney, Hereford which all lie on the york road corridor basically.
Any elementary school which feeds directly into any of these schools is a good one.

[emsgoof]

I'd recommend Carroll County. Westminster to Owings Mills will be about 25 minutes normally (but 2 hours when someone wrecks their car, but that's typical of the entire Baltimore / DC area!) and better schools, nicer neighborhoods, and more affordable housing (for the moment, but it isn't by much.)

[mcbwhite]

Can anyone tell me some things about Overlea or Parkville High School in comparison to Perry Hall High?

[trickymost]

Can anyone tell me some things about Overlea or Parkville High School in comparison to Perry Hall High?

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There is really no comparison between Overlea/Parkville and Perry Hall High. This is exacerbated by the 'gerrymandering' of school districts which is funneling kids from newer housing developments to Perry Hall or Parkville which is further worsening Overlea over time.

Overlea is a very marginal school - the areas from where it feeds are increasingly distressed (several homeless shelters and public housing type developments), their test scores are consistently among the lowest in the county, and they have more than their share of troubles (fighting, drugs, crime, literacy, etc etc etc). If you look at new construction in the area the same houses from the same builders cost 100-300k more in Perry Hall than in the Overlea area because the school is that much worse. Avoid at all costs!

A few people in my family work for Baltimore County Public Schools and I have seen and heard some horror stories from this school that are what you'd expect from a Baltimore City high school. My favorite, and this is true, is last week I drove by and some students and teachers were painting a sign for a school event which spelled 'vendors' incorrectly (they spelled it 'venders'). Another story which I recall from the news a couple years back was from a school in this area (it may have been a middle or elementary school feeding Overlea) was a pregnant teacher was beaten in the stomach by a student which resulted in a loss of the pregnancy, and she was pretty far along. The student was not right mentally but simply slipped through the cracks because of the amount of challenges they face at this school.

Parkville is a very good school IF your student is in a good program at the school (eg their magnet program) but many people who have kids which would attend Overlea move to Parkville or have their kids bused and bring problems with them. As a result kids can fall in with the wrong crowd. But overall, a solid school. Personally I would not want to send my kids there if I could avoid it.

Perry Hall is overcrowded no doubt, but it is a solid school which should improve over time as it adjusts to the population growth and kids get more of the attention they deserve. It also has a diverse student body. The best in terms of scores, programs, and teacher quality of the 3 you mentioned.

As other posters have said, though, the best high schools are along the 83 corridor and none of the other schools (high school or otherwise) can compare.