ACTION: Take the New Woodward Boundary Survey by Nov. 25 - Keep KP Together

[Elaine Liao Avin]

Dear KP Families,

A quick update from my update last week, our WJ Cluster Coordinator and fellow KP parent alum Joseph Finneran gave a wonderful testimony at the Board of Education CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) meeting.  This is a meeting to discuss the recommendations and prioritization of MCPS capital budget which includes major expenditures like school renovations and repairs, building a new school, and conducting a boundary study.  You can find the testimony, which includes an eloquent and compelling ask to keep the KP and Garrett Park from splitting, here.

As a reminder to everyone as to where we are in the Boundary Study Journey, MCPS recently released a new set of four options for the Woodward High School Boundary study, which will directly impact future school assignments for Kensington Parkwood (KP) students. We are grateful to MCPS and the Board of Education for considering our community's feedback and revising the initial options to ensure that most KP students remain together. However, with every new option, the Tuckerman community is split off from KP — despite the fact that most Tuckerman families want to remain with KP.

Continued advocacy from our community is necessary to keep KP together at our current schools (North Bethesda Middle School and Walter Johnson High School), and we need your help to keep the momentum going.

**Please take the new Woodward boundary survey by November 25.**

Your participation is essential to show MCPS that KP families are engaged and united in keeping our community together at our current schools. We have included suggested survey responses below to make it quick and easy to participate--please take a few minutes to complete the survey today!  

We also encourage you to share this information with friends, neighbors, and community members, and invite them to take the survey as well. 

Let's continue to ensure MCPS hears from KP loud and clear. Each completed survey strengthens our collective voice. 

Thank you for supporting our school community! 

-- KP WJ Cluster Reps and Advocacy Committee

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Woodward Boundary Study Round 2 Survey Feedback Guidance

This document provides guidance and suggestions on how to complete the boundary study survey. It reflects the majority sentiment of the KP community and focuses on stability, straight articulation, and maintaining continuity in our current Walter Johnson High School (WJ) cluster. You can use this as-is, as a baseline to then add your additional commentary, or you can also refrain from using it if it does not align with your feedback.

Take the survey!
Learn more about the Woodward boundary study.

Question: Which factor(s) do you consider the most important for boundary reassignments?

The KP community can select multiple factors at their personal discretion. Given that these new options do not put North Bethesda or Walter Johnson above capacity, we recommend at least selecting ‘Stability of School Assignments Over Time,’ but you may select as many as you see fit.

Question: Which option(s) do you prefer?

Note: Technically, we are not required to answer this question to submit the survey. All 4 options (A, B, C, and D) keep the majority of KP at our current schools, but split off the Tuckerman community. There are some nuances to be aware of:

• MCPS updated the projected facility utilization numbers as of 10/29/2025. Projected facility utilization has decreased for North Bethesda and Walter Johnson across all options (North Bethesda remains the same at 91%, which is a decrease from 104% in the prior estimate).

• Option B and Option D have higher utilization for Walter Johnson, with Option B consisting of existing WJ cluster elementary schools articulating (KP, Wyngate, and Ashburton) and Option D consisting of the same schools plus Viers Mills Elementary (a split articulation for them from Loiderman MS).

Please be aware that all 4 options keep most of KP together, but split apart the Tuckerman community. It will be important to note this in your comments. Please use your own discretion on this question. If you would like guidance, we suggest that you select Option B (which has maximum utilization with current schools articulating) 

Question: Additional Feedback: Please feel free to share any additional feedback about the option(s) you prefer and which option(s) you do not prefer. 

Note: While all 4 of these options keep most KP students at our current schools (North Bethesda and Walter Johnson) there is a notable exception: the Tuckerman community is split off from KP in middle and high school in each option. Recently, we surveyed Tuckerman families on their feelings about the 4 options. There was an overwhelming consensus (95% out of 80 unique responses) that the Tuckerman families want continued advocacy to keep Tuckerman with the rest of KP. The KP PTA has also consistently advocated through the boundary study to keep our community of children together.

We recommend incorporating the following feedback points in your survey response, including giving feedback on the need to slow down the timing of the secondary programming analysis, which is now happening in parallel to the boundary study.

• We appreciate the effort it takes to conduct a boundary study of this scale, and we want to thank MCPS and the BOE for listening to our community’s feedback after round one by keeping the majority of Kensington Parkwood (KP) students articulating together to North Bethesda Middle School and Walter Johnson High School, alongside our North Bethesda Middle School Community neighbors at Ashburton and Wyngate Elementary Schools.
  
  

• We ask that MCPS keep the Tuckerman community (also known to MCPS as the Tuckerman Island assignment) articulating with the rest of Kensington Parkwood to North Bethesda and Walter Johnson. This area is not an island but an integral part of our school community.  With only 90–100 students at the elementary school level, 50-60 at the middle school level, and ~70 at the high school level, the Tuckerman area is too small to justify split articulation to middle and high school and would benefit far more from the stability and continuity of staying with the full Kensington Parkwood cohort and our community at North Bethesda Middle School.
  
  

• We also support the MCCPTA resolution to extend the secondary programming analysis by at least one year, ensuring MCPS conducts additional rounds of proposals and community feedback before finalizing any program changes.

[Elaine Liao Avin]

KP Community -

Someone had asked for a comparison chart of the options which we did not create this time since all the options were the same for all the WJ cluster schools (except GP) but I am including a map view that I created so you can see the variation of the Garrett Park split to WJ in these options and the new utilization percentages (MCPS updated late last week based on lated projections which shows utilization going down (!))

There are also a couple of new updates (this is constantly evolving) that impact time boundary study timeline but does not directly impact KP and our current options:

1. There is talk of potentially closing Silver Spring International Middle School which is part of the Woodard Boundary Study. BOE passed a resolution that requires additional options to show where students from SSIMS would go (Eastern or Sligo). This is 2 NEW options in addition to the current 4 options

2. In the same BOE resolution, the date for when the Superintendent will provide boundary recommendations to the BOE is now moving from December to early Feb (Feb 4th I think) to give time for this recent change and additional options

3. The survey will likely evolve or get added to or the deadline will extend. It's all very fluid. It's important to provide your feedback NOW and you can provide it again if anything changes or new information is presented.

Thanks

Elaine

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gwxsBo8FnMr7gH9xtGThWGV6C57USWB8poAD5Oe8wQU/edit?usp=sharing

Woodward Boundary Options Summary

Option A (WJ a 71.5%)	Option B  (WJ at 77.7%)	Option C (WJ at 70.2%)	Option D (WJ at 82.6%)
white shade = Woodward green shade = WJ black circle = KP Tuckerman red circle = GP going to WJ	white shade = Woodward green shade = WJ black circle = KP Tuckerman red circle = GP going to WJ	white shade = Woodward green shade = WJ black circle = KP Tuckerman red circle = GP going to WJ	white shade = Woodward green shade = WJ black circle = KP Tuckerman red circle = GP going to WJ pink circle = Viers Mill going to WJ

[Elaine Liao Avin]

KP Community

This is a reminder to review the Woodward Boundary Options and submit survey feedback. The study, timeline, and inputs continue to change, but while things are in flux it's still very important to submit your feedback via the survey. 

There will be more opportunities to submit additional feedback when additional options come out, which we will cover in the in-person PTA meeting on December 2nd. Please check out Insta for the PTA RSVP link (@kpes_PTA) and the email sent from KP PTA Directory for PTA meeting details.

Feedback Guidance

Options Summary Map View

Thanks

Elaine