Montgomery County public schools

[Walosi]

Are the public schools in Montgomery County really that bad? From what I have read they are among the best in the state. My son will be entering kindergarten next year (2004-2005) and I was planning on applying to one of the magnet programs.

I have been warned away from the middle schools, but I don't think we will be in the area long enough for that to be a concern.

Can anyone give me feedback naming specific schools with specific benefits/problems? My son seems more sensitive than my daughter and I worry about him. My husband and I both had bad elementary school experiences, which adds to my concern. He also has some minor speech issues and I could use some feedback and information about the quality of their speech services. We haven't found a place to live yet so this information would help me in my housing search as well.

[Mama2PudgyBunns]

Hi there,
Your location says you're in upstate NY. Do you mean Mont County, Maryland?

If so, I found the elementary schools to be pretty nice. We lived in Gaithersburg and DS1 attended Gaithersburg ES and Strawberry Knolls ES. DS is very sensitive and seems to be the kid everyone picks on. We did have problems with kids saying mean things and just being rude in general. While the school staff was supportive, I think change in the kids only comes when the parents care enough to address the behavior. He was never physically assaulted and the picking on was usually just a few kids in the class.

Howard County and Anne Arundel County are also supposed to have excellent school systems. We live in Frederick County and have been pleased with the system. We homeschool now only because DS has some issues we need to address 1 on 1 for at least a year.

HTH

[Walosi]

No, we're still in Upstate New York, but we will be moving to Montgomery County in or about January. My husband just accepted a job in College Park. I have two children, Teigue born 12/98 and Molly 10/01. I'm not planning on working but I will be going back to school, hopefully summer '04, and things will be busy. The schools will be a large part of our housing decision. Thanks for your reply :-).

[mother]

It's a huge county. You can check out their webpage http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/

I have found going through the washingtonpost.com web site in the education section to be helpful. They have lots of statistics on school - size (number of students), ratios, how many students on free and reduced lunch (lower income), PTA involvement rates, test scores, etc. This area is test score crazy, a big problem in my opinion because there is a real academic push.

I think most of the elementary schools are excellent, but of course there is a lot of variation. I used to teach in the county and my mom is a teacher in the county, so i've seen a lot from the inside. If you have a specific school in mind, I can ask around about it. There are almost 300 schools in the county I believe so there are many I don't know about.

Feel free to send me a private message if you want to know more.:thumb

[3boysmom]

We're in Montgomery County. I've found that there are huge differences in schools around here. We actually moved a few years ago from one area to another based solely on schools. (Mama2PudgyBunns - my kids used to go to Strawberry Knoll, we hated it and moved to attend different schools. I had to get out before my oldest was subjected to Gaithersburg Middle). If you do your research, you will find that there are some spectacular schools in this county , but the house prices in those areas reflect it...you really have to pay to get into one! We are extremely happy with our schools now...but there is a huge spectrum of quality in this county for sure. Good luck!

[Fleurette]

I teach in Montgomery County and it really depends on WHERE you live within the county. If you're moving to the College Garden's area, your son should be fine. I teach at the feeder MS (Julius West) and we get kids from Beall, Twinbrook, Ritchie Park and College Garden's. I wouldn't recommend Twinbrook. Ritchie Park is ok, Beall and College are good schools. I love our MS as it's very diverse and I feel very welcoming. That doesn't mean that there aren't "issues" that arise, but all in all, it's a good school area. Our MS is also the first in MD to have a Middle Years Programme that is part of the International Baccalaurete Program and it continues into Richard Montgomery HS we feed into.

Good luck deciding.

F.

[koofie]

I am in school right now and will be returning to Mont Co MD next year to teach in the County Schools. I have lived in FL and now in TN and I have to say that kids are so much better educated after coming out of that school system than any I have seen in FL or TN. I recieved all of my schooling in Mont Co and really felt good about it - thats why I am going bayk - for my daughter. I lived in Silver Spring and went to Montgomery Knolls (K-2), Pine Crest (3-6), Eastern Int (7-8) and Montgomery Blair (9-12) and I felt that all those schools were great! Blair is often called a "bad" HS, but I really enjoyed the diversity and I think the problems were often overplayed by the media. I also have to say that my Mom works at Garrett Park ES in Kensington and that is a great school too! I think for the most part, all of the schools in Mont Co are better than at least 50% of the schools I have seen here in the South.
Well, good luck with the move, and if you are buying a house, check out Woodmoor in Silver Spring. I grew up there and it is a really unique neighborhood. Its at the corner of University Blvd and Colesville Rd.
:thumb