Marriotts Ridge VS Mt Hebron VS Centennial VS Glenelg (Ellicott City: new home, school districts)

[DallisGrass]

We are new to Ellicott City, and now are looking for our new home around Ellicott City and Western Howard. Any parent can share thoughts and comments about any of the high, middle and elementary schools would be much appreciated. Thank you so much.

[J_Lurk]

There aren't a lot of Howard County people on this board, and even fewer parents. I'd try greatschools or schooldigger for specific comments, but all of those schools are well regarded, and all Howard County schools are on the same curriculum. I would personally not want my kids in Centennial because I think the level of competition is too intense, but that's very much a personal preference thing. The elementary schools and middle schools in Howard County are carved up differently from the high schools, so it is possible to have classmates in elementary school who do not go to the same middle school as you, and to have classmates in middle school that will not go to the same high school. Note that Howard County will be undergoing middle school redistricting this year, though it is not going to have a significant effect on the western part of the county.

[newhart]

These are all very good school districts, elementary through high school. Glenelg is the least diverse. It's very white. Centennial has a very large percentage of Asians. The free-and-reduced lunch rate at Hebron is a little higher than the other three but still lower than many of the other schools in the county. My kids went to Centennial. It's competitive, but I wonder if that reputation is due to the large Asian population. We liked it fine and never wished we were at a different school. If it matters, Marriotts Ridge is a significantly newer building than the other three high schools. Centennial is currently the most over capacity. MR and Glenelg are well under capacity, and MH is pretty much spot on. At any rate, I think you would be happy at any of the schools in these districts. They're all great.

[macroy]

As J_Lurk indicated, all four are great. I think if you've narrowed to those four, you will be looking at other factors - type of house you want, locations, specific school programs you're looking for etc.

Our kid will feed to MR (in Manor Woods Elementary now), and we did consider Centennial based on the long standing reputation. But we found THE HOUSE for us. I don't think we would be any less happy in any of the other three areas.