Moving to Maryland (Bethesda, Rockville, Olney: transporting, how much, house)

[locketr]

My family and I are moving to Maryland, I have 2 children, one will need a French school, the other a good high school with an IB program.
My husband will be working in Fort Meade. I need help knowing where would be a good place to live to be able to accommodate all three.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by locketr

My family and I are moving to Maryland, I have 2 children, one will need a French school, the other a good high school with an IB program. My husband will be working in Fort Meade. I need help knowing where would be a good place to live to be able to accommodate all three.

Here is a list of Maryland scholls with IB programs: Mid-Atlantic Association of IB World Schools - Maryland Schools It includes Meade Sr. HS in Anne Arundel. I also know the Montgomery County Schools are excellent.

By a French School, do you mean one conducted entirely in French? If so, there is the Lycee Rochambeau in Bethesda, Md, but I am not sure of any place closer to Ft. Meade. It is K-12, and also called the French International School. If you lived in Rockville, you could see if your husband finds the commute tolerable.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by locketr

I need help knowing where would be a good place to live to be able to accommodate all three.

You don't mention a housing budget, but some high schools that might work for you are Richard Montgomery in Rockville and Bethesda-Chevy Chase. If you include Catholic schools, Good Counsel in Olney, and the Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington (girls only). Albert Einstein, Springbrook and JF Kennedy have IB programs, but they are more average-rated schools otherwise. I mention the budget issue because Bethesda and Chevy Chase housing is super-expensive ($600K plus). I am not familiar enough with the other IB schools to recommend them.

[sobo16]

Old Mill High School in Anne Arundel County has an IB program as well. The areas that feed into Old Mill aren't too far from Fort Meade.

[carroll4628]

There are some French dual immersion programs in the Prince George's county school district and they have 5 IB high school programs. But if you look on this site long enough, you won't find many people that recommend living in PG or sending your kids to PG schools. The commute to Ft. Meade wouldn't be bad either. So it's probably the most of what you want.

If you go the Montgomory County route, the commute to Ft. Meade will be much longer and your IB school and the French school in Bethesda may be some distance apart so you need to see if you can handle the traffic and if the school schedules fit. Also, your housing prices and general cost of living are going to be much greater the closer you are to Bethesda.

[rsh56]

This is difficult because I live near Lycee Rochambeau (the only French international school I know of) and having been to Ft. Meade at least once, I can't imagine what the commute would be like.

And no, not all of PG is a bad area, you just have to do your research. The Northern PG area shouldn't be written off but do research with diligence.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by carroll4628

... If you go the Montgomory County route, the commute to Ft. Meade will be much longer and your IB school and the French school in Bethesda may be some distance apart ...

If the family lived in the Richard Montgomery HS zone, would the husband be able to commute part-way to Ft. Meade along the Intercounty Connector? Otherwise, he's on Route 28, Norbeck Road, and Route 198 to I-95, and it could be an hour trip.

I looked at Howard County for IB schools but I could not find confirmation that there were any.

[locketr]

Originally Posted by carroll4628

There are some French dual immersion programs in the Prince George's county school district and they have 5 IB high school programs. But if you look on this site long enough, you won't find many people that recommend living in PG or sending your kids to PG schools. The commute to Ft. Meade wouldn't be bad either. So it's probably the most of what you want.

If you go the Montgomory County route, the commute to Ft. Meade will be much longer and your IB school and the French school in Bethesda may be some distance apart so you need to see if you can handle the traffic and if the school schedules fit. Also, your housing prices and general cost of living are going to be much greater the closer you are to Bethesda.

You say the commute to Ft. Meade would be much longer, do you know how much longer, perhaps if we were in Burtonsville, or Calverton, somewhere around there, would the commute be as long?

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by locketr

perhaps if we were in Burtonsville, or Calverton, somewhere around there, would the commute be as long?

Yes the commute to Fort Meade will be shorter (and housing prices lower), but transporting the younger child to Bethesda would be a major haul. BTW, parts of Calverton are in Prince George County, while Burtonsville is in Montgomery County. You would have to check the school zones, and if you are in the Paint Branch HS zone, it does not have the IB program option.

[goldenage1]

There is also a French Immersion program in the Montgomery County public schools in kindergarten thru grade 5. Details here: French Immersion

The upper county program is at Maryvale Elementary School at 1000 1st Street in Rockville. This school might feed into Richard Montgomery High School nearby, which has the IB program for your high-schooler. However, you would have to confirm with the county exactly which schools you are zoned for when you locate a house. (They have an online school locator, but it will not be up-to-date for next year.) Note that there are open house days for the program over the next few weeks, and the deadline for applying for the lottery is April 8, 2012.

If the family lived near the Maryvale Elementary School, the husband's commute to Fort Meade is about 30 miles, or 49 minutes. It sounds feasible to me, but the family has to prioritize their needs.