Hello moms,

I am a mom of an almost 2 year old son and my family may be locating to the area. We are looking at Wheaton, Silver Spring and Rockville. Is there anything that you can tell me about the elementary schools? As we try to go house hunting, our lack of familiarity with the area hampers us a bit and I know that within these towns there are many different areas. Where do you live and how do you like it? Finally, any day care recommendations or places to avoid?

Thanks for sharing!

Layla 

Hi Layla! We live just inside the Beltway in Silver Spring and love it here for the diversity and proximity to major roads, downtown DC, and Metro stations. We live in a neighborhood with old houses and beautiful tree lined streets. There are many things close to our home within walking distance including a park and many businesses,

As you consider relocating, the following resources are often very helpful:

Montgomery County Public Schools Schools at a Glance provides information about enrollment, staffing, facilities, programs, outcome measures and operating costs for each county school:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance

The Silver Spring Moms Listserv is a great community of moms in and around Silver Spring. To join contact, Amy at amyjmaurer @ verizon.net

Jessica's own A Parent in Silver Spring site is a great way to familiarize yourself with the greater Silver Spring area. Reviews of restaurants, places to play, etc in and around Montgomery County are featured on her site.

As a former Montgomery County first grade teacher, I have to say that we have wonderful schools in the county that are well staffed and funded. Send me an e-mail if I can help you wade through the information you find in the Schools and a Glance document,

Good luck with your move to MoCo!

-Leticia

Join my Lilagroup:

http://www.lilaguide.com/groups/techsavvyparent

Thanks Letitia for your helpful reply! Would you mind telling me what the area you live in is called? Those look like great resources you have shared with me. I was also wondering, sice my son will be 2 when we move, do many of you have your 2 year olds in preschool? He has been in day care until now.

Layla, We've been living in Wheaton for about two years now and I have to say I love it.  There are a lot of great parks nearby, fantastic restaurants... and most things are family friendly. 

My son is only about 6 months old, so I haven't focused on schools yet -- only to know that the school down the street from us isn't known for being too great (Highland Elementary).  But, MoCo schools are, in general, known for being very good -- so not that fantastic in MoCo, would likely be considered good in another district.

 Good luck!  And tech savvy moma, I haven't heard of the Silver Spring Moms listserv is it a MOMs club thing, or something separate?

Hi Layla,

Welcome. 

My husband and daughter(7) live in historic Forest Glen.  It's a wonderful little pocket in Silver Spring close to the Forest Glen Metro, and directly inside the beltway.  We send our daughter to a parish school however I have heard our elementary school Woodlin is wonderful.  I have also heard Oakland Terrace is equally terrific (Kensington, MD - close to Wheaton/Silver Spring area).

 Michelle

Hi CurlyGayle! The Silver Spring Moms listserv is a yahoo group that is not affiliated with MOMs Club. It is completely independent and has over 300 members the last time I looked. It is a great resource and you can join by e-mailing Amy.

-Leticia

 Hi Layla,

I just moved here in the fall myself, so I know how painful the process is! We're in northern Silver Spring, just near Wheaton, and have enjoyed it so far - Wheaton Regional is a fantastic park, the area is diverse, and seems to be revitalizing but keeping an eye on preserving the older, small businesses. I'm not sure about the schools, our impression when we looked up all the stats was they were on the low end for MoCo, which is on the high end nationwide - the schools are quite diverse, and I think that scares people off. Just my thinking, my kids are too young to go yet so I have no firsthand knowledge.We are near the Glenmont Metro, so that is great - the trains fill up so early in the morning, being the first stop is the only way my hubs gets a seat so he can do work. 

It took awhile to find my son a preschool with openings, but you'll be better off if you get on lists now. For preschools/daycares, I use the NAEYC list to find centers (http://www.naeyc.org/academy/search/)- they have such a tough accreditation process, I trust schools that go through it much more than others.

My son is doing great in a small program, and I looked at several others that also looked nice but didn't have openings when I looked (I liked Horizon Child Care, Silver Spring Child Care, Bright Horizons, and the YMCA, but you'd have to decide based on what's near you, what's comfortable when you go look, and who has openings!)

  Hope this helps! Good luck!

Sara 

Thanks to everyone for all the helpful and friendly messages! We are officially moving and I am looking forward to visiting sometime soon for a little house hunting :) 

I've heard that your kid may need to be potty trained before they can go to preschool. Is that right? 

Unfortunately, that's true. I found it to be the case at most childcare centers I looked at that didn't have an infant program (the ones that had infant programs being maddeningly hard to get into). I think Silver Spring Child Care Center was the only one that didn't require it - they just gave a discount when the child was trained.

 It is definitely something you'll want to ask each center when you call. My son was close so I spent two weeks really focusing on it and got him out of diapers (basically, I just put him in underwear, had him try every hour, and encouraged a lot - and used a lot of clorox wipes on the floor).

I did find they allow for some imperfection - I told his school when he started, he gets focused on playing and forgets to go, and they understood and made him go every hour and a half. He had accidents but they didn't make a big deal.I think they know at this age potty training is an imperfect science, and there's not a two year old I know who doesn't have accidents now and the, even the "trained" ones.  

 Good luck!