Centennial and Howard HS (apartments, to rent, condos)

[profesora]

Hi,

Need information on Centennial and Howard high schools in Howard County - good/bad, which is better, demographics info, etc. Coming up to interview next week and want some background details first.

Thanks for any responses and details. Any info about where to possibly consider living in the area would also be helpful - to rent first till sell TH here.

[newhart]

Here is some demographic information. Just check under the Fast Facts.
Centennial
Howard

My kids go to Centennial and I know people at Howard. They are both very good schools. Centennial has had a reputation for years as being the top school in the county, mostly based on school performance on standardized tests and on SATs. Much of its success can be attributed to demographics - there have been fewer lower performing students in its district, fewer townhomes and apartments which might house more transient students. Centennial probably has more AP classes offered than any other school. If you have a student who is gifted in math and science, they could do well there and will most likely have lots of company. It's Math and It's Academic teams are perennial champions and there is a lot of student interest in those programs. At the same time, some parents feel it is too competitive. Other than infill, there hasn't been much new construction within the Centennial district in a while. Some townhome communities on the north side of Rt. 40 were redistricted a couple of years ago, but you probably aren't going to see any completely new neighborhoods. But there's a lot of variety of homes in the district, from 40+ year-old traditionals to mini-mansions. Centennial's location is very suburban, on a through 4-lane residential street, with a lot of open space around the school. It's not much of a football or basketball school, but usually does well in soccer, lacrosse, tennis, golf and baseball, and it's a girls volleyball powerhouse.

I'm not as familiar with Howard. From what I hear it's a very good school. The area around it has changed a lot over the past 15-20 years. There's been a lot of new development in the district, with a variety of housing, from condos and townhomes, to a lot of upscale single family. I've heard complaints from parents there about it's location not being ideal, right by Rt. 100, with the substation out back. It's an older school, but has had many renovations. From what I've heard, it's an excellent school and I think it's reputation is higher now than it was 20 years ago, probably because of higher income families moving in. Hopefully, someone with more knowledge of Howard will chime in.

[profesora]

Thanks for the information - glad someone replied . Will be coming up there to interview today/tomorrow and see how things go at both schools.