How to go about finding great schools- Are local/national ranking the answer? (Columbia: to rent)

[PAFAMILIY]

I am looking to relocate from Philly, PA suburbs to MD. My husband has started a job at DOJ in DC. My son and I are planning to move end of school year. Where you ask?? Good question. I am jewish and people are saying Rockville area...but I do want a nice family oriented neighborhood where my son can safely go out to play (he will be 6yrs). It sounds like Howard County has more of that feel than Rockville..True?? Are there any synagoges in Howard County?
Schools are extremely important. I want my son to be challenged and yet have extra curricular opportunities as well. When I looked up the Washingtonpost.com I found rankings on area high schools and found that there are WAY MORE Montgomery County schools than Howard COunty getting better test scores. In particular, Centennial in Elliott City was ranked 40 locally and 143 nationally, Richard Montgomery was ranked 2 locally and 24 nationally and H-B Woodlawn in Arlington was 1 locally and 12 nationally. Should I even be focusing in on this? My son is only in Elementary schools. Should I initally just be concerned with elementary...How do I find out which high schools are linked to which elementary and middle schools without knowing the area?...I am quite overwhelmed.
I feel I need to first decide on area (because of schools) and THEN find a place to live.. Anyone have to relocate to MD with young kids? Anyone have the same concerns as I? Just some additional info-household income will be 125,000 (until I get a job), I have large dog and 2 cats. If you see any family that meets this description on your corner come September...It is probably ME because I can't make up my mind...
(Sorry so long winded, Sorry for repetion in my posting and most importantly-Thanks for listening)

[AlicynD]

I am a Howard County resident and there are synagogues in this area.

In regards to which high schools are linked to what elementary and middle schools...often times, several - not just one, elementary and middle school will feed into a high school. Just because you go to elementary and middle school with a group of kids, you may not end up all going to the same high school. Also, you say your son is in elementary school. Many counties redistrict so by the time he gets to high school, it may be a different high school than the one he was districted to previously.

Have you visited any of the areas in Maryland? Driven through? Spoken with local residents?

[PAFAMILIY]

Thanks..No, I work fulltime and am essentially single mom her in PA while my husband works in DC (living in someone's basement in ALexandria, VA). I have only been out to VA 2 times. Before I go to MD, I wanted to kind of get an idea of which neighborhoods have the great schools and of course are affordable, THEN I was going to go out and seem them and then TRY to find a place (preferably a house) to rent initially.

[PAFAMILIY]

which cities in Howard County are linked to the nicest areas? I gather Elliott City seems good (without seeing it, of course)

[jessy0780]

It depends, some Ellicott City neighborhoods feed to Columbia schools. There was some weird redistricting, and they've recently built at least one new elementary school, so they will probably change again soon. Two elementary schools that I know are good are Rockburn and Ilchester. The areas that go to these schools are some Elkridge neighborhoods, and several Ellicott City neighborhoods in the 21043 zip code.
Do some house hunting, a lot of the home sites list what schools are in that district, and if they don't, you should be able to call the school board to find out. If you find a neighborhood that you like, someon on here may have some experience on it.

[AlicynD]

PA - I sent you a message

[PAFAMILIY]

thanks, I will look into Elkridge and Ilchester...Elkridge got ratings of 7 and the other got 9 ratings on GreatSchools.net Thanks

[newhart]

I try to avoid talking about specific schools on this board because it can be a volatile issue in the county. The national rankings of high schools that you mentioned are ONLY based on AP and IB programs. Some areas and some schools have more of a history of pushing their students to take these tests and to offer the classes than others do. Some school systems pay for the test fees so that more students will take them. Howard County does not do that. It has nothing to do with how good the instruction at the school might be. Yes, Centennial HS has more students taking AP tests and that school offers more AP classes than any other county school. That is why it leads the county in that ranking. That particular national list is VERY misleading. But Centennial also has the highest SAT average in the county, so who knows if that really means anything. If you're talking high schools. the schools in the county that have the highest academic reputation are (in my opinion) Centennial, River Hill, Mariotts Ridge, Mt Hebron, Atholton......

Everyone has their favorite schools for different reasons. High end students will find something for them at all schools, even those with not the highest test scores. The amount of diversity is what will vary greatly. And the top ranked academic schools won't be as diverse. For what it's worth, the highest ranked schools also have the highest number of Asian students.

Knowing what schools feed into other schools is hard. Especially since the county is so good at redrawing the boundary lines every few years. If you find a home you like that's fairly close to a highly ranked high school, the chances are the elementary and middle schools will also be decent. Anything in the 21042 zip code of EC and the Clarksville area should be fine. Schools in other areas can be great also, but you might need to be a little more careful and look at the individual schools. A new elementary school (Veterans) opened this year serving part of the 21043 zip code and from what I've heard, I'm not sure I would recommend it at this time.

And yes, Columbia does have a very strong Jewish community.

[PAFAMILIY]

Thanks, newhart! I appreciate your honesty!

[newhart]

Just wanted to add that Richard Montgomery HS is a type of magnet school for the IB program that draws top students from all over Montgomery county. That is very different from Howard County where you only attend the school to which you are districted. There is no magnet program.