cww
Active Member
- Jan 28, 2010
- 539
That really depends on where in Howard. Columbia or Glenelg, for example of a big difference. A friend of mine has kids in the glenelg system and is extremely happy.
Carroll County School System - need advice
- Thread starter fabsroman
- Start date
The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast
Member Benefits:
No ad networks! Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership Discuss anti-gun legislation Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses Discover free outdoor shooting areas View up to date on firearm-related events Share photos & video with other members ...and so much more!
Member Benefits:
That really depends on where in Howard. Columbia or Glenelg, for example of a big difference. A friend of mine has kids in the glenelg system and is extremely happy.
Ammo Jon
Ultimate Member
- Mar 3, 2008
- 20,963
Look north, 83 corridor, ideally Sparks to PA line.
fabsroman
Ultimate Member
Too far from my parents. The move to Carroll would be a 50 minute drive to my parents and that is stretching it. If my parents were not around, I would be asking about schools in the Carolinas and Georgia.
fabsroman
Ultimate Member
I am just up the road from Glenelg with my kids going to Marriott's Ridge for high school when the time comes. We aren't so much fed up with the actual education that our kids are getting, but more so with the school board, the continuous redistricting discussion, and the sheer and utter stupidity with school overcrowding, etc. I don't think Glenelg is over crowded right now, but neither was my kids' elementary school 3 years ago. It went from 75% utilization to 105% utilization based upon a redistricting last years. Now, we have another redistricting being discussed to take place in the 20/21 school year. Overcrowdling is probably coming to the western most schools sometime soon as these morons cannot figure out that a new ES, MS, and HS need to be built because of the developments that have been approved in Turf Valley and the old Carroll Farm.
If the youngest of my kids was about to start high school, I would stick it out. However, the oldest is in 7th grade and the youngest is turning 2 pretty soon. So, I would have to stick out 16 more years of this BS, and the past 8 have been enough to make my head spin and my stomach churn.
Just want to do some due diligence before moving to Carroll and finding out that I am out of the pot and into the fire.
Ammo Jon
Ultimate Member
- Mar 3, 2008
- 20,963
They aren’t willing to move, real estate above Sparks isn’t terribly high. I think it’s a hidden gem up there and schools Sparks/Hereford rank at the top of GreatSchools.org
Listen to this guy. The best schools in the state. Carroll County schools don't come close
Really? Aren't you a tax attorney? You are willing to leave all your clients and start over?
fabsroman
Ultimate Member
My parents talk about downsizing. My mom is on the condo in Bethesda/Chevy Chase kick because she is more like my sister who lives in Chevy Chase. My dad is shaking his head and saying rancher close to fabs on acreage with one hell of a shed and no trees on the property. So, until one of them passes on, they will not be moving. Plus, two sons live by them in the Colesville area, one daughter lives in Chevy Chase, another daughter lives in Annapolis, and then there is me.
If I was the only child in the area, I am sure they would move right next to me. However, that just is not the case and they cannot even agree on what they want.
So, this really screws with everything. Wish I could get all my siblings and parents to agree to an out of state move, but the husband of my sister in Annapolis is pretty much married to Annapolis with his business, contacts, parents, a brother, and a sister all living in Annapolis and his father being well connected in Annapolis.
Then, my wife works at a place in Eldersburg that she really likes. So, south Carroll might be the best I can do until retirement.
fabsroman
Ultimate Member
Yeah, and then I hear that Howard County schools are the best in the state.
The current schools that my kids are slated for are all 9/10 for ES, MS, and HS.
Where we are looking at in Carroll, the schools would be 7, 10, 8 respectively and some of their terrible scoring is for a lack of "diversity". We know there is GT classes in Carroll and our two oldest are already in the program here in Howard, which we would assume would be the same in Carroll.
Where are you guys getting this information that the public schools in Sparks/Glencoe are some of the best in the state?
fabsroman
Ultimate Member
Well, nowadays a lot of this stuff is done over the internet. Some of my clients I rarely even see nowadays. My wife is worried that I will lose some of my MoCo clients if we move to Carroll. This was actually a topic this morning. I reminded her of how many new clients I picked up when we moved to Howard and how they would all pretty much remain my clients even though the distance from them would be greater. Same goes for my current MoCo clients. When I was in MoCo, I got some HoCo, FredCo, and WashCo clients. They are still my clients today.
If we could move to the Carolinas or Georgia, which probably is not even close to being in the cards, I would probably do it. In 3 years, the youngest would be in school and if my clientele at that point is abysmal, I could just interview at H&R Block. lol My wife would just need to transfer from her CVS up here to one down there and pass the pharmacy law exam. Yeah, I think I would do it if it was in the cards.
Sirex
Powered by natural gas
I can't compare Carroll to Howard county, but I can compare them to Baltimore county schools, and Carroll is less political/left, from what I have seen.
Sirex
Powered by natural gas
Carroll County schools did me alright. They learned me good an stuff. Carroll isn't #1, but is good, and students will do as well as they apply themselves.
https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-school-districts/s/maryland/
https://backgroundchecks.org/top-school-districts-in-maryland-2018.html
Here they are at #1
https://www.schooldigger.com/go/MD/districtrank.aspx
Of course, take them all with a grain of salt.
https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-school-districts/s/maryland/
https://backgroundchecks.org/top-school-districts-in-maryland-2018.html
Here they are at #1
https://www.schooldigger.com/go/MD/districtrank.aspx
Of course, take them all with a grain of salt.
Augie
Ultimate Member
I find it interesting that in this link you posted that shows Howard at #1 and Carroll #4 that the start of the description shows Howard stressing diversity and Carroll stressing academics.
https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-school-districts/s/maryland/
I know that if I'm sending kids to school my #1 concern is academics and diversity and other left wing bs ranks pretty far down the list.
fabsroman
Ultimate Member
That is one of the lists that my wife showed me. We were actually thinking about Worchester County, but that would have been way too far from my parents.
Howard is stressing "diversity", "equity", and "desegregation". It isn't stressing the best out of every child possible.
I went through the redistricting BS just 2 years ago. Fought the closing of my kids' elementary school 6 years ago based upon a feasibility study recommendation and then 3 years into that fight they figure out, "Oh, we cannot close that ES because we need it for all the kids that are coming in." Very next year, the redistricting had the ES go from 75% to 105% capacity. Then, if I get started about the entire "equity" song and dance that I was given as the PTA President, I will be typing for a week. Short story is, 6 ESs on the east side have interactive projectors in every classroom. When I heard about this and told the PTA Board, we decided to do a fund raiser for a single interactive projector for the technology room in our kids' ES and some area rugs for the kids to sit on so we could donate them to our kids' ES for the remodel the school was going through. The then principal was and still is a friend of mine, and he accepted them. Found out the following year from the new admin that it got the old principal in some hot water because "equity" does not allow the wealthy parents to donate money to help the school out. Found out yesterday that the same BS happened several years ago regarding lights on the football field for River Hill HS when the booster was going to pay for them. Back then, all the schools had to have lights, or no schools were allowed to have lights. However, that does not appear to apply to interactive projectors. Just some nice buzzwords to make people feel good, but lacking in application.
Between the constant redistricting issue and "diversity, equity, and desegregation", I think it is finally a couple straws too much.
Alright, rant over.
Biggfoot44
Ultimate Member
- Aug 2, 2009
- 33,107
Are there no Catholic Schools in HoCo ? ( A good 50% of the students are non Catholic , there for the quality education .)
fabsroman
Ultimate Member
I am not paying the amount of property taxes that I pay just to send my kids to private school. If that is the case, then we should move to Carroll County anyway and live right next door to my wife's work. I believe in owning a house in a great school district and recouping my investment upon the sale of my home. Cannot believe that MoCo and HoCo are the only places in Maryland where my kids can get a great education.
Biggfoot44
Ultimate Member
- Aug 2, 2009
- 33,107
Do you want to make a symbolic point about your local tax burden, or get your kids the best possible education ?,
fabsroman
Ultimate Member
What is the "best possible education"? I think I need to figure that one out. Will my kids really end up with less of an education in Carroll County versus Howard County, versus Bethesda/Chevy Chase? Will it be better for them to grow up in a much more rural, conservative setting, versus a much more crowded liberal setting?
There is a lot that goes into a child's total education, and it isn't just math, English, social studies, and science.
I know the oldest three are pretty smart, at least according to HoCo test results, report cards, etc. My son scored as high as possible on the Cogat exam for GT and my daughter tested just barely high enough to get into GT.
Will they really be worse off somewhere else.
Then, we can get into the entire private school thing and how my buddies went to private school at Good Counsel but could barely crack 900 on the SAT back in the late 80's. They could not get into UMCP, but I got accepted to UMCP on an early decision and the letter arrived in the mail on Christmas Eve.
Would it be better for me to save money on property taxes and put that money in a 529 plan so my kids can go to college and graduate debt free?
Lots of variables here, and I am not a firm believer that private school is all it is cracked up to be. Heard too much about a private school "B" being the equivalent of a public school "A" while growing up, and then seeing too many private school kids at Montgomery College and other colleges that I deemed lesser than where me and my high school friends went. Then again, maybe I was just hanging out with the morons that went to Good Counsel and the brightest that went to Springbrook.
I would have to look at the overall graduation rate, college attendance rate, etc., which my wife has been doing for Carroll County schools versus Howard County schools. She has given me the green light on Carroll County schools in that regard. I just want to make sure that we are not stepping into a pile of poo like we did here in HoCo after she gave me the green light for western Howard County.
I mean, to move here and then read the county ordinances about firearms threw me for a loop. I know there is nothing like that in Carroll County. The past couple of election cycles here has been disheartening too.
There is a lot I do not like right now about Howard County. At first, I was devoting a lot of time, effort, and money into fighting this stuff. However, I think it is a lost cause here. So, I have to decide if it makes sense to stay here and live with it or to go elsewhere, and the schools are a part of that decision.
My main worry was that we would be moving to Carroll and I would be right back into redistricting issues, "equity" stupidity, etc. with the school system. That does not seem to be the case though based upon the replies I have seen here.
bkuether
Judge not this race .....
Howard County teachers and administration spends an awful lot of effort "managing" the after effects of all the "illegal,broken, and dysfunctional" families that live in that district. I know an assistant principle from one of the HC middle schools who lives here, and the stories he tells..... And not unlike police reports from from Columbia that get censored, the school issues do as well.....
Do CC schools have some of those issues? Sure. But not to the extent of HC.
Do you want your kids trying to learn in a dysfunctional environment, or in a more functional environment where learning, and not peacekeeping is the objective?
Fabs, if you want to talk to him, let me know I can setup a meeting at a bar in the 'Burg. PM me if interested. His kids go to all three of the schools I mentioned above, and his wife teaches in one of them......
Do CC schools have some of those issues? Sure. But not to the extent of HC.
Do you want your kids trying to learn in a dysfunctional environment, or in a more functional environment where learning, and not peacekeeping is the objective?
Fabs, if you want to talk to him, let me know I can setup a meeting at a bar in the 'Burg. PM me if interested. His kids go to all three of the schools I mentioned above, and his wife teaches in one of them......
