Schools: Rockville, N Bethesda, SS (Silver Spring, North Bethesda: rental, neighborhood, school rankings)

[ednastvincent]

We are relocating from New England and looking for a place with great schools and a reasonable (for DC) rental housing. We are coming to MontCo but the huge school district thing is confusing and I don't know which neighborhood / city to pick. The following questions come to mind:

-- SS is more expensive and closer to the city but the schools have lower ratings. Why?

-- What is the deal with North Bethesda? Is it more like Bethesda, more like Rockville or is it something else entirely?

-- If Wheaton is a such a nice area (see previous threads) why is the HS lower rated?

-- How big is the gap in terms of academics and environment between the different high schools in MontCo? Say Blake and Wheaton and Einstein vs. Rockville High vs. Walter Johnson or Wootton?

As you can tell from the questions, we are looking at the closer in areas of MontCo while excluding the areas which are way out of our price range like Bethesda / CC. In terms of schools, we take education seriously and hope to be in a district with like minded parents of all backgrounds. That said, Harvard is not the goal so we are not looking for a place where everyone is super competitive and uber achievement oriented.

[bufflove]

Originally Posted by ednastvincent

We are relocating from New England and looking for a place with great schools and a reasonable (for DC) rental housing. We are coming to MontCo but the huge school district thing is confusing and I don't know which neighborhood / city to pick. The following questions come to mind:

-- SS is more expensive and closer to the city but the schools have lower ratings. Why?

-- What is the deal with North Bethesda? Is it more like Bethesda, more like Rockville or is it something else entirely?

-- If Wheaton is a such a nice area (see previous threads) why is the HS lower rated?

-- How big is the gap in terms of academics and environment between the different high schools in MontCo? Say Blake and Wheaton and Einstein vs. Rockville High vs. Walter Johnson or Wootton?

As you can tell from the questions, we are looking at the closer in areas of MontCo while excluding the areas which are way out of our price range like Bethesda / CC. In terms of schools, we take education seriously and hope to be in a district with like minded parents of all backgrounds. That said, Harvard is not the goal so we are not looking for a place where everyone is super competitive and uber achievement oriented.

Silver Spring and Wheaton are diverse areas, economically and racially. Households are largely middle class and up, but there are lower-income and ESOL students, as well, and the standardized test score averages reflect that when comparing them to MCPS clusters that are less diverse.

All high schools in the county are well-funded, have highly trained teachers and administrators, extensive course and program availability, excellent facilities and resources, etc. etc. etc. so it's hard to go wrong. My child is nowhere near HS aged, but speaking as a decently recent MCPS alumnus, I don't believe attending a diverse cluster with a middling test score average had a negative impact on my education.
There are so many courses offered and so much differentiation that, for better or worse, there's effectively zero interaction between students that drag averages down and the rest of the school's population. Does that mean Wheaton HS is as good as any other county HS? I have no idea; I just wouldn't rely on the school ranking/standardized test score average as an accurate indicator of the school's quality.

[dkf747]

North Bethesda is the area between Rockville and Bethesda. That's it. It's a nice area with good schools.

[ednastvincent]

Thanks everyone. I will try to stop looking at the Great Schools numbers, which are generally speaking less important to me than simply having a good and diverse school environment.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by ednastvincent

Thanks everyone. I will try to stop looking at the Great Schools numbers, which are generally speaking less important to me than simply having a good and diverse school environment.

The better place to look for school rankings is the Maryland State Department of Education website or the individual school's site which has the MSDE rankings.

Montgomery County : 2017 Maryland Report Card

[terps1894]

Here's another resource you should consider looking at during your search. The MCPS "At a Glance" will give you information specific schools and the county as a whole. At a Glance Reports - Office of Shared Accountability (OSA)- Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, MD

I work at a college in the area and the schools that have a higher percentage of students that are college ready are, Churchill, Wootton, Walter Johnson and Whitman.