Summary Perspective
The Quince Orchard cluster comprises nine schools, all located in Gaithersburg under ZIP code 20878, according to the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for 2023-24. The cluster enrolled 7,367 students across one high school, two middle schools, and six elementary schools in that year. Quince Orchard High School serves 2,150 students in grades 9 through 12. Lakelands Park Middle School enrolls 1,014 students in grades 6 through 8, and Ridgeview Middle School enrolls 749 in the same grades. The six elementary schools range from 449 students at Fields Road Elementary to 674 at Rachel Carson Elementary. Brown Station Elementary serves 631, Diamond Elementary serves 653, Thurgood Marshall Elementary serves 594, and Jones Lane Elementary serves 453. All enrollment figures are from NCES for 2023-24.
The feeder chain consolidates students as they advance. Six elementary schools feed two middle schools, which feed a single high school. Five of the six elementary schools serve pre-kindergarten through grade 5. Diamond Elementary serves kindergarten through grade 5 and does not offer pre-kindergarten. Two of the cluster's nine schools are shared with the Northwest cluster. Lakelands Park Middle and Diamond Elementary both send some students to Northwest High School rather than to Quince Orchard, because MCPS splits articulation at these buildings. NCES reports that 1,667 students attend these two shared schools. Their enrollment is counted in full within the Quince Orchard cluster total and also in full within the Northwest cluster total, so the figures overlap and must not be summed. For families living in the attendance zone for Diamond Elementary or Lakelands Park Middle, the specific address determines which high school their child will attend.
The capacity situation shows a split condition. MCPS reports in its FY2027 Capital Improvements Program, using 2025-26 as its base year, that Quince Orchard High School enrolled 1,989 students against a capacity of 1,783, a utilization rate of 112 percent. MCPS projects the school will remain above capacity at 107 percent in 2031-32. Ridgeview Middle School enrolled 684 students against a capacity of 955, a utilization rate of 72 percent. Brown Station Elementary enrolled 558 against a capacity of 725, a utilization rate of 77 percent. The high school is overcrowded while one of its middle schools and one of its elementary schools operate below capacity.
Several changes are scheduled. The Montgomery County Board of Education adopted new boundaries for upcounty secondary schools on March 26, 2026, with phased implementation beginning in the 2027-28 school year. The Board also approved the relocation of Thomas S. Wootton High School to the Crown Farm site in Gaithersburg, with an opening scheduled for August 2027. Beginning in the 2027-28 school year, the Board's adopted regional programs model takes effect, organizing high schools into six regions. Quince Orchard High School falls within Region 5. A separate countywide elementary and middle school boundary study is underway. Phase 1, a portfolio review examining potential consolidations and closures, has a Superintendent's recommendation targeted for January 2027. Phase 2, a boundary study, has Board action targeted for May 2028, with approved changes taking effect in the 2029-30 school year. All six Quince Orchard cluster elementary schools fall within the Phase 1 review universe. Both middle schools fall within the Phase 2 boundary study universe. As of July 16, 2026, MCPS had not named any specific Quince Orchard cluster school as a closure or consolidation candidate.
MCPS is a fiscally dependent, county-wide system; see the MCPS district overview for the full budget process.
Key takeaways for families
The cluster enrolled 7,367 students across nine schools in 2023-24, according to NCES. All nine schools are located in Gaithersburg, ZIP code 20878.
Quince Orchard High School enrolled 1,989 students against a capacity of 1,783 in 2025-26, a utilization rate of 112 percent, according to MCPS's FY2027 Capital Improvements Program. MCPS projects the school will remain above capacity at 107 percent in 2031-32.
Two of the cluster's nine schools are shared with the Northwest cluster. Lakelands Park Middle and Diamond Elementary both feed Northwest High School as well as Quince Orchard High School, because MCPS splits articulation at these buildings. NCES reports 1,667 students attend these two shared schools in 2023-24. A family's specific address within the attendance zone for either school determines which high school their child will attend.
The Montgomery County Board of Education adopted new boundaries for upcounty secondary schools on March 26, 2026, with phased implementation beginning in the 2027-28 school year. The adopted changes affect the Quince Orchard High School service area and related upcounty feeder areas.
The Board approved the relocation of Thomas S. Wootton High School to the Crown Farm site in Gaithersburg on March 26, 2026, with an opening scheduled for August 2027. MCPS describes this as adding regional high school capacity tied to the upcounty boundary changes.
Beginning in the 2027-28 school year, the Board's adopted regional programs model takes effect. Quince Orchard High School falls within Region 5. The model changes how students access specialized programs housed at other schools but does not alter address-based assignment to Quince Orchard High School.
A countywide elementary and middle school boundary study is underway. Phase 1, a portfolio review examining potential consolidations and closures, has a Superintendent's recommendation targeted for January 2027. All six Quince Orchard cluster elementary schools fall within this review. Phase 2, a boundary study covering both cluster middle schools, has Board action targeted for May 2028. Approved changes would take effect in the 2029-30 school year.
Ridgeview Middle School enrolled 684 students against a capacity of 955 in 2025-26, a utilization rate of 72 percent, according to MCPS's FY2027 CIP. Brown Station Elementary enrolled 558 against a capacity of 725, a utilization rate of 77 percent. MCPS projects Quince Orchard High School will remain above capacity at 107 percent in 2031-32.
Quince Orchard High School reported a total SAT score of 1,104 for the 2021-2022 school year, with 49.7 percent of students participating, according to the school's MCPS At a Glance profile.
MCPS screens all Grade 2 students for enriched and gifted instruction for the 2025-2026 school year and reviews certain Grade 4 and Grade 7 students, according to the system's enriched-instruction policy. The Grade 7 review is the one closest to the high-school transition.
At a glance
The following tables present key dimensions for the Quince Orchard cluster. Enrollment figures are from the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for 2023-24. Capacity and utilization figures reflect MCPS calculations for 2025-26. The enrollment figures MCPS uses for capacity calculations differ from NCES counts because they reflect a different collection year. MCPS attributes a systemwide projected enrollment decline in part to a continued decline in resident births, yielding smaller entering cohorts.
Two of the nine schools in this cluster are shared with the Northwest cluster. Lakelands Park Middle and Diamond Elementary both send some students to Northwest High School rather than to Quince Orchard High School, because MCPS splits articulation at these buildings. Their enrollment is counted in full within the Quince Orchard cluster total and also in full within the Northwest cluster total, so the figures overlap and must not be summed across clusters. The MCPS School Assignment Tool returns the assigned elementary, middle, and high school for any county address.
The cluster's aggregate demographic profile, as reported by NCES for 2023-24, was 33.2 percent Hispanic, 30.5 percent White, 15.9 percent Asian, 14.3 percent Black, 5.5 percent two or more races, 0.2 percent American Indian, and 0.1 percent Pacific Islander. The free and reduced-price meal rate for the cluster was 35.1 percent. These figures are cluster-wide aggregates that combine all nine schools and do not represent the demographic composition of any individual school.
How to read Maryland accountability and star ratings
MSDE publishes a Maryland School Report Card for each public school. The report card includes a one-to-five star rating that MSDE assigns based on multiple indicators: academic achievement on state assessments, academic progress, English language proficiency, graduation rate for high schools, and measures of school quality and student success. The star rating summarizes these indicators into a single composite. It does not capture course-taking patterns, college credit earned, program participation, or post-secondary outcomes. MSDE released the 2024 Maryland School Report Card and followed with a 2025 release, according to MSDE's 2025 announcement. MSDE's Report Card Overview describes the indicators and methodology in detail.
State assessments in 2020 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a gap in the longitudinal data series that MSDE uses to calculate growth and trend measures. Growth measures published in report cards after 2021 compare against baselines that begin with the 2021 test administration. Any comparison of current results to pre-pandemic performance must account for the missing 2020 data point.
MSDE publishes the school-level report card for Quince Orchard High School through the MSDE Report Card portal. Report cards for other schools in the cluster are accessible through the same portal using school-specific identifiers. The star rating is an action MSDE took, not a property of the school itself. This publication does not compare schools by star count.
In February 2024, MSDE's Maryland School Review team conducted a site review of Quince Orchard High School on February 21-22, 2024. MSDE published findings in two reports: a Domain 1 report summarizing domain ratings and a Domains 2 and 3 report documenting the site review process. The Maryland School Review is a state-level evaluation distinct from the annual report card. It provides qualitative findings organized by domain, supplementing the quantitative indicators in the report card. The review produces ratings by domain, not a single composite score.
MCPS identifies schools designated for Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) on its Title I schools page. ATSI is a designation under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. MSDE applies the designation to schools where specific student subgroups perform below state thresholds on accountability indicators. The designation triggers a school improvement process that includes a needs assessment, an improvement plan, and monitoring by the district. The designation applies at the school level, not the cluster level.
How this cluster fits into MCPS
MCPS is a fiscally dependent, county-wide system: the Board of Education adopts a requested budget, the County Executive recommends a funding level, and the County Council appropriates under Maryland's Maintenance of Effort law. See the MCPS district overview for the full budget process.
The Quince Orchard cluster is one of MCPS's standard high school attendance areas. Families living within the cluster's geographic boundaries are assigned to Quince Orchard High School by address, not through a lottery or choice process. The cluster is not part of the Downcounty Consortium or the Northeast Consortium, the two areas of Montgomery County where students select among several high schools through a choice process. Assignment here follows the traditional model: a family's street address determines which elementary school their child attends, which middle school follows, and ultimately which high school. Beginning in the 2027-28 school year, the Board of Education has adopted a regional programs model under which high schools are organized into six regions and the consortium lottery ends. This reorganization will change how MCPS structures high school programs and administration county-wide.
All nine schools in this cluster are located in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in the 20878 zip code, according to the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for 2023-24. Gaithersburg is one of several municipalities wholly within Montgomery County, as listed in the Maryland State Archives manual of local government. The cluster's enrollment of 7,367 students spans one high school, two middle schools, and six elementary schools.
Quince Orchard High School serves 2,150 students in grades 9 through 12. Two middle schools feed into it: Lakelands Park Middle, with 1,014 students in grades 6 through 8, and Ridgeview Middle, with 749 students in the same grades. Six elementary schools feed the middle schools. Brown Station Elementary serves 631 students in pre-K through grade 5. Rachel Carson Elementary serves 674 in the same grade range. Diamond Elementary serves 653 students in kindergarten through grade 5. Fields Road Elementary serves 449 in pre-K through grade 5. Jones Lane Elementary serves 453 in pre-K through grade 5. Thurgood Marshall Elementary serves 594 in pre-K through grade 5. All enrollment figures are from NCES for 2023-24.
Two of the cluster's nine schools are shared with the Northwest cluster. Lakelands Park Middle and Diamond Elementary both send some students to Northwest High School rather than to Quince Orchard, because MCPS splits articulation at these buildings. According to NCES, 1,667 students attend these two shared schools. Their enrollment is counted in full within the Quince Orchard cluster total and also in full within the Northwest cluster total, so the figures overlap and must not be summed across clusters. For families living in the attendance zone for Diamond Elementary or Lakelands Park Middle, the specific address determines which high school their child will attend, because the articulation split occurs within the school's attendance area rather than at its boundary.
MCPS does not organize this cluster as a formal feeder system. The district operates as a single PK-12 county-wide system with its own elementary, middle, and high schools, according to MCPS district information. No tuition-student arrangement exists with partner districts, and the district boundary is coterminous with Montgomery County. The cluster designation functions as an attendance and administrative unit within that system, not as a semi-autonomous sub-district with its own governance.
The Board of Education that governs MCPS consists of seven members elected to four-year terms under a mixed election structure, with the next election scheduled for June 23, 2026, according to MCPS Board of Education information. Board members set policy for the entire county-wide system, including all schools in this cluster. The cluster has no separate governing body, no independent taxing authority, and no budget of its own. Administrative decisions about staffing, curriculum, and facilities flow through the MCPS central office in Rockville.
Under Maryland law, the geographic boundary of MCPS is coterminous with Montgomery County. Changing the district boundary would require action by the Maryland General Assembly to alter the county boundary itself. There is no mechanism for the school board or county council alone to redraw school district boundaries. Within the district, however, MCPS adjusts school attendance boundaries through its own administrative processes, and the Board of Education approves boundary studies that can reassign students among clusters. A boundary change within MCPS moves a child between clusters, not between districts, because Montgomery County has only one school system.
Academic outcomes at these schools
The Quince Orchard Cluster has no Maryland accountability label because clusters are attendance-area groupings, not MSDE accountability entities. MSDE assigns accountability labels, growth measures, and report card ratings to individual schools and to the district as a whole, which is Montgomery County Public Schools (NCES LEA ID 2400480). No cluster-level growth or value-added result is published for the Quince Orchard Cluster, according to MSDE's Report Card Overview. Academic outcome data for the schools in this attendance area is therefore available only at the individual school level and at the MCPS district level, not as a cluster aggregate.
What MSDE publishes for individual schools
MSDE publishes a Maryland School Report Card for each public school. MSDE released the 2024 Maryland School Report Card and followed with a 2025 release, according to MSDE's 2025 announcement and MSDE's 2024 announcement. The report card includes a one-to-five star rating that MSDE assigns to each school based on multiple indicators: academic achievement on state assessments, academic progress, English language proficiency, graduation rate for high schools, and measures of school quality and student success. The star rating summarizes these indicators into a single composite. It does not capture course-taking patterns, college credit earned, program participation, or post-secondary outcomes. MSDE publishes the school-level report card for Quince Orchard High School through the MSDE Report Card portal, and report cards for other schools in the cluster are accessible through the same portal using school-specific identifiers.
State assessments in 2020 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This cancellation created a gap in the longitudinal data series that MSDE uses to calculate growth and trend measures. The gap affects every public school in Maryland, not only those in this cluster. Growth measures published in report cards after 2021 compare against baselines that begin with the 2021 test administration. Any comparison of current results to pre-pandemic performance must account for the missing 2020 data point. MSDE's report card definitions describe the methodology for growth calculations, including how the interrupted trend line is handled.
Maryland School Review of Quince Orchard High School
In February 2024, MSDE's Maryland School Review team conducted a site review of Quince Orchard High School. The review took place on February 21-22, 2024. MSDE published the findings in two reports. The Domain 1 report summarizes domain ratings issued by the review team. The Domains 2 and 3 report documents the site review process and findings for those domains. The Maryland School Review is a state-level evaluation distinct from the annual report card. It provides qualitative findings organized by domain, supplementing the quantitative indicators that appear in the report card. The review produces ratings by domain, not a single composite score.
Additional Targeted Support and Improvement
MCPS identifies schools designated for Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) on its Title I schools page. ATSI is a designation under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. MSDE applies the designation to schools where specific student subgroups perform below state thresholds on accountability indicators. The designation triggers a school improvement process that includes a needs assessment, an improvement plan, and monitoring by the district. The designation applies at the school level, not the cluster level. Whether any individual school in the Quince Orchard Cluster currently holds this designation is published on the MCPS page linked above. MSDE's 2023 list of CSI and ATSI schools provides the statewide context for these designations.
System-wide academic reports from MCPS
MCPS publishes reports on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exam enrollment, participation, and performance at the school and district levels. The most recent report covers 2024 data and was published by MCPS in 2025, according to the MCPS AP/IB report. MCPS also publishes a report on SAT and ACT participation and performance for 2024, released in 2025, according to the MCPS SAT/ACT report. These reports present data at the school and district levels. They do not present cluster-level aggregates. The district-level figures in these reports provide the county-wide context against which individual school results can be compared.
Quince Orchard High School offers Advanced Placement courses, as listed on the school's AP page and in the MCPS course bulletin. The course bulletin for Quince Orchard High School, maintained on a separate site, lists offerings in English, mathematics, science, social studies, and world languages. MCPS also offers AP courses through its online learning program, which is available system-wide.
MCPS operates a dual enrollment program with Montgomery College, allowing high school students to earn college credit, according to MCPS and Montgomery College. A Middle College program is also available, according to MCPS. These are system-wide offerings, not specific to the Quince Orchard Cluster. Participation data appears in the school and district-level reports referenced above.
MCPS also operates special programs that affect academic pathways, including magnet programs and International Baccalaureate programs. Admission to these programs is managed through a centralized application process. The Board of Education has adopted a regional programs model beginning in the 2027-28 school year, under which high schools are organized into six regions, according to MCPS. This change will restructure how specialized programs are organized and accessed across the district.
Enrollment and demographic context
The enrollment figure for the cluster, 7,367 students across nine schools in 2023-24, comes from the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data. NCES reported that 35.1 percent of students in the cluster qualified for free or reduced-price meals in 2023-24. The demographic composition, as reported by NCES for 2023-24, was 30.5 percent white, 33.2 percent Hispanic, 15.9 percent Asian, 14.3 percent Black, 5.5 percent two or more races, 0.2 percent American Indian, and 0.1 percent Pacific Islander. Two of the nine schools in the cluster are shared with other clusters, with 1,667 students enrolled in those shared schools. Because MCPS splits articulation at several buildings, enrollment totals across clusters overlap and must not be summed.
The MCPS at-a-glance report for Quince Orchard High School provides a school-level summary that includes enrollment, staffing, and assessment data. This document is published by MCPS and updated annually. It is distinct from the MSDE report card, which is published by the state. The MCPS 2024-2025 annual report provides district-level context for academic outcomes across all schools.
Variation between the schools in this cluster
The nine schools in the Quince Orchard cluster differ in enrollment size, grade configuration, and articulation structure, according to 2023-24 data published by the National Center for Education Statistics. All nine schools are located in Gaithersburg, zip code 20878. The cluster enrolls 7,367 students across one high school, two middle schools, and six elementary schools.
Enrollment at the elementary level ranges from 449 students at Fields Road Elementary to 674 students at Rachel Carson Elementary. That is a spread of 225 students, meaning the largest elementary school in the cluster enrolls roughly 50 percent more students than the smallest. Brown Station Elementary enrolls 631, Diamond Elementary enrolls 653, Thurgood Marshall Elementary enrolls 594, and Jones Lane Elementary enrolls 453. The six elementary schools together account for 3,454 students.
At the middle school level, the gap between the two schools is 265 students. Lakelands Park Middle enrolls 1,014 students in grades 6 through 8. Ridgeview Middle enrolls 749. Lakelands Park is the larger of the two and is one of two cluster schools shared with another cluster. Ridgeview Middle is not listed as shared.
Quince Orchard High School enrolls 2,150 students in grades 9 through 12, according to NCES. The high school is the destination for all students in the cluster's attendance area. Families in this attendance area are assigned to Quince Orchard High School by address, not through a choice or lottery process. The cluster is not part of the Downcounty Consortium or the Northeast Consortium, where students select among several high schools through a choice process rather than being assigned by address.
Grade configuration varies at the elementary level in one respect. Five of the six elementary schools serve pre-kindergarten through grade 5. Diamond Elementary serves kindergarten through grade 5 and does not offer pre-kindergarten. The grade range difference means that Diamond Elementary's youngest entering students are kindergarteners, while the other five elementary schools in the cluster also enroll pre-kindergarten students.
Two of the cluster's nine schools are shared with the Northwest cluster, according to NCES. Lakelands Park Middle and Diamond Elementary both appear in the Quince Orchard cluster and the Northwest cluster. Their combined enrollment of 1,667 students is counted in full in this cluster's totals. The same enrollment also appears in the Northwest cluster's totals. This overlap means that summing enrollment across all MCPS clusters would double-count these 1,667 students. MCPS splits articulation at these buildings, so some students from the same elementary school proceed to different middle schools or different high schools depending on where their address falls within the attendance zone. Because Lakelands Park Middle and Diamond Elementary also feed the Northwest cluster, some students who attend those schools will proceed to Northwest High School rather than to Quince Orchard High School. MCPS is a single county-wide system, so a boundary change moves a child between clusters within the same district rather than between separate districts.
The cluster's aggregate demographic profile, as reported by NCES for 2023-24, shows a student body that is 33.2 percent Hispanic, 30.5 percent White, 15.9 percent Asian, 14.3 percent Black, 5.5 percent two or more races, 0.2 percent American Indian, and 0.1 percent Pacific Islander. The free and reduced-price meal rate for the cluster is 35.1 percent. These figures are cluster-wide aggregates. They describe the combined enrollment of all nine schools and do not represent the demographic composition of any individual school within the cluster.
The structural pipeline consolidates students as they advance through the levels. Six elementary schools, averaging approximately 576 students each, feed into two middle schools. Those two middle schools, with a combined enrollment of 1,763 across three grade levels, feed into a single high school of 2,150 across four grade levels. The consolidation from six buildings to two to one follows the MCPS cluster design, in which multiple elementary schools feed fewer middle schools, which in turn feed a single high school.
One academic outcome is reported for this cluster. Quince Orchard High School reported a total SAT score of 1,104 for the 2021-2022 school year, with 49.7 percent of students participating, according to the school's MCPS At a Glance profile. The evidence-based reading and writing sub-score was 542 and the math sub-score was 562. This figure describes the high school only.
The Board of Education has adopted a regional programs model beginning in the 2027-28 school year, under which high schools are organized into six regions and the consortium lottery ends. The Quince Orchard cluster is not part of the Downcounty Consortium or the Northeast Consortium, and its students are currently assigned to Quince Orchard High School by address.
Advanced academics and pathway access
MCPS publishes Quince Orchard High School's course-bulletin pages for 2026-2027, which list Advanced Placement courses across English, social studies, world languages, mathematics, and science. A prior official booklet documented a minimum of 24 AP courses. Current department pages on the course bulletin corroborate broad AP availability across these subject areas. The course bulletin, hosted on MCPS infrastructure, serves as the school's published catalog of course offerings. It is the document through which families can see what advanced coursework is available at the building.
No International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme operates within the Quince Orchard Cluster. Students residing in the Quince Orchard attendance area may apply to the regional IB Diploma Programme at Watkins Mill High School. MCPS publishes IB program information stating that the regional IB Diploma Programme accepts applicants from listed clusters, including Quince Orchard. Admissions are criteria-based. Criteria-based admission means the program evaluates applicants against published standards rather than assigning seats by lottery or by address.
Research and capstone programs at Quince Orchard High School
The Quince Orchard course bulletin lists several programs that allow students to pursue advanced, independent, or project-based work within the school. These include AP Seminar and AP Research, which are listed as a sequence. Project Lead the Way: Advanced Engineering is also listed, along with Engineering Independent Study. The bulletin additionally lists the Quest/Capstone Project in the Social Sciences. These programs are available to students enrolled at Quince Orchard High School and do not require a separate application to an external school or program.
Dual enrollment with Montgomery College
MCPS operates a dual-enrollment partnership with Montgomery College through which approved courses can earn both MCPS high-school credit and Montgomery College credit. According to MCPS, dual enrollment allows college-ready students to take limited college courses at no cost. The mechanism works as follows. A student who meets college-readiness benchmarks enrolls in designated Montgomery College courses. Upon successful completion, the credit appears on both the MCPS high-school transcript and the Montgomery College transcript. Montgomery College is the system's identified partner for this program.
Gifted identification and middle-school mathematics placement
MCPS identifies students for enriched and gifted instruction through universal screening rather than through a family-initiated test-in or lottery. For the 2025-2026 school year, MCPS screens all Grade 2 students and reviews certain Grade 4 and Grade 7 students, according to the system's enriched-instruction policy. This screening takes place during the school day and does not require a family application. The identification occurring in Grade 7 is the review closest to the high-school transition.
MCPS uses multiple measures and professional review for middle-school mathematics placement. Schools review student data annually to determine the path to Algebra I by Grade 8. The system's mathematics department describes this as a process that draws on more than one data point rather than relying on a single test score. On May 8, 2026, the Montgomery County Board of Education received an update on the rollout of a new math curriculum and acceleration model, according to a Board update published by MCPS. A parent-facing document on mathematics course groupings, dated May 2026 and posted by MCPS, describes the structure of course pathways under the new model. The Board has adopted this curriculum and acceleration model, and the May 2026 update concerned its implementation.
Regional programs model and changes beginning in 2027-28
The Montgomery County Board of Education has adopted a regional programs model that reorganizes how students access specialized academic programs across the county. Beginning in the 2027-2028 school year, MCPS will organize high schools into six regions. Quince Orchard High School falls within Region 5 under this model, according to MCPS's regional-model overview.
MCPS states that the shift to a six-region model is designed to broaden access to specialized programs and bring them closer to students' homes. Under the current system, some specialized programs require students to travel to schools outside their home cluster. Admission to certain programs operates through application and selection processes separate from the address-based assignment that governs regular enrollment.
Students who will be in Grade 8 during the 2026-2027 school year are the first cohort to apply for regional programs under the new model, for programs beginning in 2027-2028. For Quince Orchard, the regional model changes the mechanism by which students access specialized programs housed at other schools. Quince Orchard High School itself remains an address-assigned school. Families in the attendance area are assigned to it by address, not through a lottery or choice process. The regional model does not alter that assignment. What changes is the pathway by which a Quince Orchard student applies for a specialized program that may be housed at another school within Region 5. Under the regional model, application for these programs occurs within the region, and the set of available programs is defined by Region 5's configuration.
The system-wide change also ends the consortium lottery that currently operates in the Downcounty Consortium and the Northeast Consortium. In those consortia, students select among several high schools through a choice process. Quince Orchard is not part of either consortium and has never used that mechanism. Its students are assigned by address to Quince Orchard High School.
Enrollment, capacity, and boundaries
The Quince Orchard Cluster enrolled 7,367 students across nine schools in the 2023-24 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data. The cluster comprises one high school, two middle schools, and six elementary schools, all located in Gaithersburg, Maryland (ZIP 20878). Families living in this attendance area are assigned to Quince Orchard High School by address. This is not a consortium cluster. There is no lottery or choice process for the high school. A student whose home address falls within the Quince Orchard High School service area has a zoned seat there once enrollment and residency are verified.
The feeder chain
Six elementary schools feed two middle schools, which feed Quince Orchard High School. The elementary schools are Brown Station Elementary (631 students, pre-K through grade 5), Rachel Carson Elementary (674 students, pre-K through grade 5), Diamond Elementary (653 students, kindergarten through grade 5), Fields Road Elementary (449 students, pre-K through grade 5), Jones Lane Elementary (453 students, pre-K through grade 5), and Thurgood Marshall Elementary (594 students, pre-K through grade 5). The two middle schools are Lakelands Park Middle (1,014 students, grades 6 through 8) and Ridgeview Middle (749 students, grades 6 through 8). Quince Orchard High School enrolled 2,150 students in grades 9 through 12. All enrollment figures are from the NCES Common Core of Data for 2023-24.
Two schools in this cluster are shared with the Northwest Cluster. Lakelands Park Middle School feeds both Quince Orchard High School and Northwest High School. Diamond Elementary School also feeds into both clusters. The NCES data report 1,667 students enrolled in these two shared schools. Because MCPS splits articulation at these buildings, an elementary school name alone does not guarantee a single high school assignment. Families should verify the assigned high school for a specific address using the MCPS School Assignment Tool.
The cluster's internal structure includes two middle-school articulation areas. The Lakelands Park Middle School articulation area is shared with the Northwest Cluster, meaning families should verify final high-school assignment by exact address. The Ridgeview Middle School articulation area serves multiple Quince Orchard Cluster elementary schools as the primary feeder. The Quince Orchard High School service area is the address-defined zone that yields a zoned seat at the high school, subject to Board-adopted phase-ins.
Building capacity and utilization
MCPS publishes capacity and utilization figures in its FY2027 Capital Improvements Program report. The base year for current utilization is 2025-26, with projections extending through 2031-32. Quince Orchard High School is over capacity. MCPS reports 1,989 students enrolled against a capacity of 1,783 in 2025-26, a utilization rate of 112 percent. The district projects enrollment will remain above capacity at 107 percent in 2031-32. The high school is operating beyond the student count its building was designed to serve, and MCPS does not project that gap closing within the six-year planning window.
Two schools in the cluster are below capacity. Ridgeview Middle School enrolled 684 students against a capacity of 955 in 2025-26, a 72 percent utilization rate. MCPS projects that figure declining to 69 percent by 2031-32. Brown Station Elementary School enrolled 558 students against a capacity of 725 in 2025-26, a 77 percent utilization rate, projected to fall to 73 percent by 2031-32. These figures come from the MCPS FY2027 CIP Quince Orchard Cluster chapter.
Systemwide, MCPS attributes projected enrollment decline in part to a continued decline in resident births, yielding smaller entering cohorts, according to the FY2027 CIP systemwide chapter. That decline does not offset the overcrowding at Quince Orchard High School, which persists in the district's projections through 2031-32.
Assignment mechanics and transfers
MCPS assigns students to schools based on home address. To identify the assigned elementary, middle, and high schools for a specific address, families enter the address in the MCPS School Assignment Tool. If the address is in the Quince Orchard High School service area, the student has a zoned seat there after enrollment and residency verification.
Attending a different MCPS school generally requires an approved Change of School Assignment, or COSA. Families register at the address-assigned home school first, then submit a COSA request in ParentVUE during the designated window. Decisions consider defined criteria and available space. Transportation is the family's responsibility for any approved COSA. Sibling situations can be considered in COSA transfer reviews but do not override address-based assignment. Transfers are case-specific and space-dependent. The COSA process is described in the MCPS COSA booklet for 2026-2027.
MCPS does not offer general interdistrict open enrollment. Nonresidents may request tuition-paying enrollment through International Admissions and Enrollment, using MCPS Form 335-73. Certain statutory categories have separate rules. The district's enrollment FAQ is available on the MCPS student services page.
MCPS enforces residency requirements. The district may withdraw a student found to be a nonresident. During any appeal, attendance may require nonresident tuition status. Families must provide proof of residency: a property-tax bill for owners, a current lease or utility bill for renters, or a shared-housing form with host proof plus three supporting documents. MCPS may verify residency schoolwide or by grade. When ordinary documents are insufficient, staff may document a home visit using Form 560-34. These requirements are detailed in MCPS policy JEA-RB.
Active boundary studies
Two boundary-related processes are active and touch the Quince Orchard Cluster. The Board of Education approved the scope for both on March 26, 2026.
The first is the School Consolidations and Closures Study for elementary and middle schools. This is a two-phase countywide process. Phase 1 is a portfolio review that may identify elementary and middle schools for consolidation, closure, or program adjustment. Phase 2 is a countywide elementary and middle school boundary study that will develop new attendance boundaries. The Board approved the study scope on March 26, 2026, and previewed the process and timeline on July 16, 2026, according to a Board presentation. The Board's action to approve the consultant contract is documented in the Board meeting file.
The timeline proceeds in stages. Phase 1 data gathering and community engagement begin in August 2026. The superintendent's Phase 1 consolidation and closure recommendation is targeted for January 2027. The Board's decision on Phase 1, following public hearings, is targeted for May 2027. Phase 2 boundary options and a public feedback window are scheduled for December 2027 through March 2028. The superintendent's boundary recommendation is targeted for April 2028. The Board's decision on boundary changes is targeted for May 2028. Approved closures, consolidations, and boundary changes would take effect in the 2029-30 school year.
All six Quince Orchard Cluster elementary schools are within the Phase 1 portfolio review universe. No specific Quince Orchard Cluster elementary schools have been named as closure candidates as of July 16, 2026. Lakelands Park Middle School and Ridgeview Middle School are within the broader Phase 2 study universe. No specific middle school candidates have been named as of that date.
The closure and consolidation framework centers on eight factors: utilization and enrollment, facility condition and expansion potential, geography and transportation, receiving capacity, feeder alignment, fiscal and operational efficiency, demographics, and community impact.
Recent boundary changes and the 2027-28 transition
On March 26, 2026, the Board of Education adopted new boundaries for upcounty secondary schools, with phased implementation beginning in the 2027-28 school year, according to a Board update. The affected areas include the Quince Orchard High School service area, the Northwest High School service area, and related upcounty secondary feeder areas. Current students may remain at their current schools during the phase-in period, per the Board's action. The upcounty high school boundary study is documented on the MCPS planning page.
The Board of Education has also adopted a regional programs model beginning in the 2027-28 school year. Under this model, MCPS organizes high schools into six regions, and the consortium lottery that governs school selection in the Downcounty Consortium and the Northeast Consortium ends. The Quince Orchard Cluster is not part of either consortium. Students in this cluster are assigned by address, and the regional model does not introduce a choice process where one did not exist. The regional reorganization changes how MCPS administers special programs and groups schools for planning. It does not alter the address-based assignment that governs Quince Orchard High School attendance.
A new high school facility is scheduled to open in August 2027 at the Crown Farm site in Gaithersburg. The project relocates Thomas S. Wootton High School to a new building at that location, funded through the capital budget. MCPS states that this project adds regional high-school capacity tied to the upcounty boundary changes. It is not a direct relief of current Quince Orchard Cluster feeder enrollment, but it is part of the adopted upcounty realignment. The Board's action on the Wootton relocation is documented in a Board meeting file.
What would signal further change
The countywide elementary and middle school boundary study is the active process most likely to alter attendance boundaries within the Quince Orchard Cluster. The next signal to watch for is the superintendent's Phase 1 recommendation in January 2027, which will identify specific schools proposed for consolidation or closure. The subsequent signal is the Board's decision in May 2027. For boundary changes specifically, the public feedback window in December 2027 through March 2028 and the superintendent's boundary recommendation in April 2028 will identify which streets and neighborhoods are proposed to move. Until those recommendations are published, no specific Quince Orchard Cluster school has been named as a candidate for closure, consolidation, or boundary change beyond the upcounty secondary boundaries already adopted in March 2026.
The fiscal picture for these schools
The Montgomery County Council appropriated $2,457,319,156 as the local contribution for MCPS in FY2027, exceeding the state Maintenance of Effort floor of $2,295,778,996 by $161,540,160, according to the MCPS FY2027 operating budget. The total adopted operating budget was $3,724,289,307, a 3.6 percent year-over-year increase, with a published per-pupil amount of $22,660.
The Quince Orchard cluster enrolled 7,367 students across nine schools in 2023-24, according to the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data. Two of those nine schools are shared with other clusters, accounting for 1,667 students. Because MCPS splits articulation at several buildings, enrollment totals across clusters overlap and must not be summed. The cluster comprises one high school, two middle schools, and six elementary schools. Families in this attendance area are assigned to Quince Orchard High School by address rather than through a choice process.
Capital improvements for all MCPS schools, including those in this cluster, are funded through the county Capital Improvements Program. MCPS cannot issue bonded debt. Montgomery County issues general obligation bonds for school construction and modernization, and the cost of that borrowing is governed by the county's bond ratings. Moody's affirmed an Aaa rating on October 29, 2025, according to a county press release. S&P affirmed a AAA rating with a stable outlook on April 1, 2026, according to S&P. Fitch affirmed a AAA rating with a stable outlook on October 28, 2025, according to Fitch.
The Superintendent's FY2027-2032 capital plan, published October 7, 2025, proposed a $2.704 billion six-year CIP and described the backlog of critical infrastructure and school-replacement projects as "extensive," according to MCPS capital plan documents. Even the proposed spending did not address the full need, the plan stated. No single quantified deferred-maintenance estimate was published in the reviewed MCPS plan.
Outstanding obligations reported by MCPS totaled $332,195,754 as of June 30, 2025, consisting of finance agreements, leases, and subscription liabilities, according to the MCPS ACFR for FY2025. These obligations are distinct from county general obligation debt. FY2025 principal and interest debt-service expenditures were $35,363,050, though MCPS did not publish that figure as a percentage of its budget.
Over three audited years, the district's unassigned General Fund balance rose from $8.2 million in FY2023 to $11.9 million in FY2024 to $21,478,157 in FY2025, according to the same ACFR. At June 30, 2025, the Board of Education reported a net pension liability of $327,438,904 and a net OPEB liability of $1,780,817,031. These are MCPS obligations reported in its ACFR. State on-behalf support and plan-specific accounting should not be confused with county general obligation debt.
The adopted FY2027 budget is balanced as an appropriation but is not fully balanced on a recurring basis, according to MCPS budget documents. It uses a one-time $25 million OPEB Fund allocation to support the Employee Benefit Plan Fund. Future planned lapse-and-turnover reductions of up to $30 million over three years are identified in the budget, along with Employee Benefit Plan deficit-recovery amounts of $70 million in FY2028 and $40 million in FY2029. The budget also projects enrollment down by 4,956 students for FY2027.
When federal ESSER grant funding ended, MCPS stated that it moved resources and services from the discontinued grant into the recurring operating budget, according to MCPS. The adopted FY2025 budget nevertheless required $30,592,295 of reductions, including 122.7 FTE from raising class-size guidelines, reduced staff-development allocations, central-office position cuts, elimination of the Montgomery Virtual Academy, delayed pre-K expansion, and contractual-service reductions, according to MCPS.
The municipal and land-use context
Three annexation proceedings in the municipalities of Rockville and Gaithersburg bear on land use within or near the Quince Orchard cluster attendance area. Each proceeds under Maryland municipal annexation law and intersects with school capacity planning through the Adequate Public Facilities school test and the county's school impact tax system.
The City of Gaithersburg holds an approved annexation agreement for the Crown Farm site. Under its terms, the City will transfer the Crown Farm High School site to Montgomery County Public Schools once two years of construction funding have been secured. The City of Gaithersburg documents this condition on its project page as of July 2026. The site represents a pipeline high school facility. The City states the transfer mechanism explicitly: under the terms of the annexation agreement, the City will transfer the site to MCPS when two years of construction funding has been secured. The Crown Farm site, once transferred and funded, would add a high school facility to MCPS inventory. Until the funding milestone is met, the site remains in City of Gaithersburg ownership.
The City of Rockville is advancing two separate annexation petitions. The first, designated ANX2023-00147, concerns land near the Shady Grove Metro Station at approximately 15903 Somerville Drive. The City of Rockville announced on March 31, 2025 that it was advancing the proposal. A consultant presented annexation plans to the Mayor and Council on April 30, 2025. The City issued a public hearing notice on February 17, 2026, scheduling hearings for March 9, March 23, and April 13, 2026. The petition remains under City review.
The second Rockville petition, designated 2026-234-ANX, concerns approximately 10.45 acres at 1000 Westmore Avenue. The petitioner is Interstate Westmore, LLC. The Mayor and Council introduced the proposal on February 2, 2026. City staff released a report on March 25, 2026. The City issued a public hearing resolution in March 2026 and announced neighborhood meetings on April 9, 2026. This petition also remains under review.
Both Rockville annexation petitions intersect with the City's Adequate Public Facilities school test. According to resolution descriptors published by the City of Rockville, annexation petitions may require an MCPS determination on school adequacy. The Adequate Public Facilities mechanism functions as a gate on development. Before residential projects proceed, the relevant jurisdiction assesses whether school capacity in the affected area is sufficient to absorb the students the project would generate. Where capacity is insufficient, the mechanism can delay project approval until capacity is added or the project is modified.
Montgomery County sets school impact taxes on new residential development using student-generation rates published by the Montgomery County Planning Department. These rates estimate how many students per dwelling unit a given type of housing will produce, differentiated by housing type. The impact tax revenue flows to MCPS capital and operating capacity planning. The County's Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit mandate requires developments of 20 or more units to set aside 12.5 to 15 percent of units as moderately priced. Projects with at least 25 percent MPDUs or Workforce Housing Units receive an exemption from the development impact tax. No official source quantifies the net fiscal impact on MCPS of the MPDU mandate or the impact-tax exemption.
The fiscal relationship between these development mechanisms and MCPS capacity operates through the county's budget structure. MCPS is a fiscally dependent local education agency. The Board of Education adopts a requested budget. The County Executive recommends a funding level. The County Council appropriates the final amount. For fiscal year 2027, MCPS reported that the County Council's action left approximately a $36 million gap relative to its original request. The Board of Education then adopted a final spending plan of $3.72 billion that included reductions affecting 415 positions. County fiscal materials report AAA general-obligation bond ratings and reserve levels near policy targets, while fiscal year 2027 recommendations note revenue enhancements and cost pressures. As a fiscally dependent agency, MCPS experiences County fiscal conditions through the Council's annual appropriations to its operating and capital budgets.
Real estate and the price of admission
The Quince Orchard Cluster draws students from addresses in the Gaithersburg area of Montgomery County. MCPS assigns students to schools by address, and the cluster's attendance boundary defines which homes feed into Quince Orchard High School and its feeder schools. That boundary does not follow ZIP code lines. A single ZIP code can contain addresses assigned to multiple clusters, and the cluster's attendance area can span portions of more than one ZIP code. A Gaithersburg mailing address does not by itself determine cluster assignment. The MCPS service area maps provide address-specific assignment information.
The residential development pipeline within the cluster's attendance area includes a 302-unit apartment building at 913 and 917 Quince Orchard Road in the Kentlands section of Gaithersburg. The Gaithersburg City Commission approved the final site plan on February 4, 2026, authorizing construction of apartments with an underground garage. The City of Gaithersburg's project listing does not specify tenure structure, bedroom mix, or a projected student-generation count for the development. A public works report cited in the commission's meeting record found limited traffic impact from the project, as reported by Citizen Portal.
Montgomery County government publishes an annual rental survey covering multifamily and single-unit rental properties. The survey, maintained by the county's Department of Housing and Community Affairs, collects rent-level data from landlords across the county. This survey is the county's primary published source for tracking rental costs over time. The survey focuses on rental rates and does not publish ZIP-code-level home value assessments. For owned housing, the state's assessment appeals process governs how property owners can challenge assessed values that determine property tax obligations. The county's Department of Finance publishes county tax information describing the property tax rates and structures governing residential and commercial properties.
The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development released the 2025 Statewide Housing Needs Assessment in July 2025, as announced by the state's news release. This document provides housing market analysis at the state and jurisdictional level, including Montgomery County. The assessment identifies housing supply gaps and affordability conditions that contextualize the development activity within the Quince Orchard attendance area. Montgomery Planning also maintains real estate and land use research tools and a housing development tracker that catalog active projects across the county.
Montgomery County uses Payments in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, agreements with certain multifamily housing developments. Under a PILOT, a development makes a negotiated payment to the county instead of paying standard property taxes. The county's Department of Housing and Community Affairs administers PILOT rental agreements and compliance for multifamily housing. The county also maintains a general PILOT information page. These agreements affect the property tax revenue generated from participating developments, which is relevant to the county's fiscal capacity to fund MCPS.
Montgomery Planning publishes student generation rates that estimate how many school-age children new residential units are expected to produce, broken down by housing type. These rates inform the county's Annual School Test, which evaluates whether development in a given cluster will exceed school capacity. The Annual School Test guidelines are published by the Montgomery Planning Board. The 302-unit Kentlands apartment project approved in February 2026 will generate students according to these rates, though the City of Gaithersburg's approval record does not state a projected student count for the project.
The Montgomery County Board of Education adopted boundary changes on March 26, 2026, as part of the Crown High School project, according to a Board update and the MCPS capital improvements program chapter for the Quince Orchard Cluster. The Quince Orchard Cluster was included in the boundary-study scope. The Crown High School project also involves the relocation of Thomas S. Wootton High School to the Crown site. The MCPS published summary of the adopted changes does not specify the number of Quince Orchard-specific reassignments. Boundary changes adopted in 2026 may alter which high school a given address feeds into, and the MCPS service area maps provide current address-specific cluster assignment.
The City of Gaithersburg advertised construction for the Quince Orchard Boulevard Shared Use Path on March 19, 2026. The project plans a 10-foot-wide shared-use path along Quince Orchard Boulevard within the Quince Orchard High School service area. The City of Gaithersburg's project listing does not state school-specific access or enrollment effects from the path.
A proposed 10,000-square-foot restaurant building at 151 Lakelands Drive is under review by the City of Gaithersburg as of the published project listing. Commercial development of this type contributes to the property tax base that supports county revenues, including the portion allocated to MCPS through the county budget process.
Montgomery County's fiscal structure for school funding operates through a dependent budget model. The Board of Education adopts a requested budget. The County Executive recommends a funding level. The County Council appropriates the final amount. State law requires the county to meet a Maintenance of Effort floor, which mandates per-pupil funding at least equal to the prior year's level. Funding above that floor is discretionary. The property tax base, shaped in part by residential and commercial development within cluster attendance areas, contributes to the revenue available for that appropriation.
Choice and alternatives to the assigned school
Families in the Quince Orchard attendance area are assigned to Quince Orchard High School by address. This cluster is not part of the Downcounty Consortium or the Northeast Consortium, the two MCPS groupings in which students select among several high schools through a ranked lottery rather than receiving a single assignment. Assignment here follows the standard feeder pattern: the elementary and middle schools feeding Quince Orchard High School send their students there by right of address.
The Board of Education has adopted a regional programs model beginning in the 2027-28 school year. Under that model, high schools are organized into six regions and the consortium lottery ends. The implications for address-assigned clusters like Quince Orchard will depend on how the region boundaries are drawn and what programs are sited where. The structural change is scheduled, and families tracking choice options should watch for Board action on region definitions as that date approaches.
Countywide application programs are available to students in this attendance area through MCPS's special programs system. According to MCPS, K-12 options include elementary immersion and enrichment centers, middle school magnets and consortia, and high school application and signature programs. High school examples include International Baccalaureate, STEM, the Visual Art Center, P-TECH, and career academies. The Visual Art Center, a portfolio-preparation program, is located at Albert Einstein High School. The A. Mario Loiederman Middle School Creative and Performing Arts Magnet is another signature option. Neither is located within the Quince Orchard cluster. Both are countywide or regional programs that students apply to rather than attend by address.
Families apply through ParentVUE during posted application windows. Consortia use ranked Choice lotteries. Criteria-based programs use defined admissions criteria. Immersion programs use a lottery for entry grades when demand exceeds capacity. MCPS states that transportation is provided per program rules: local and consortium routes use neighborhood stops, while regional and countywide programs may use central stops rather than door-to-door service.
Career and technical education options include a Cybersecurity regional program offering preparation for CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+ credentials, and Dual Enrollment pathways through Montgomery College that allow students to earn college credit. These are application or registration-based programs, not assigned by address.
Home instruction is available under Maryland law. MCPS tracks homeschooling and provides information through its curriculum pages. Families choosing home instruction follow state requirements for portfolio reviews and regular instruction.
The BOOST program, Maryland's publicly funded scholarship program for nonpublic school students, operated in 2025-2026 with an application window from March 9 to May 8, 2026, with priority for current recipients and siblings. A 2026 fiscal note from the Maryland General Assembly described priorities and prospective funding, but no MCPS-specific recipient count or current local fiscal effect was published as of that document.
Under Maryland law and MCPS Policy CFB, the Montgomery County Board of Education serves as the primary local charter authorizer. The Board voted 6-2 on April 30, 2026 to revoke a charter school's charter effective June 30, 2026, in a matter involving special-education compliance, student-privacy, staffing, and financial concerns, Bethesda Magazine reported. No later stay or appeal disposition was located through July 26, 2026. This action concerns a system-wide authorization function, not a program sited in the Quince Orchard cluster.
Programs, logistics, and special populations
The Quince Orchard cluster comprises nine schools in the 2023-24 school year: one high school, two middle schools, and six elementary schools, according to the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data. Total enrollment across these buildings was 7,367. Two of the nine schools are shared with other clusters, meaning they also feed one or more additional high school clusters, because MCPS splits articulation at several buildings. Enrollment in those shared schools was 1,667, and NCES notes that this enrollment is included here in full, so unit totals across the county overlap and must not be summed. The NCES data also report a free and reduced-price lunch rate of 35.1 percent across the cluster for 2023-24.
Special education
Special education in MCPS is a system-wide function, not a cluster-specific one. The district's notable special education programs include the Home School Model, LAD/Resource Services, Learning for Independence, School Community-Based Services, Autism services, Deaf/Hard of Hearing and vision services, and the Preschool Education Program. These programs are distributed across MCPS buildings according to student need and program capacity. A student's placement depends on their Individualized Education Program rather than their cluster of residence.
MSDE has required corrective actions from MCPS in two recent matters. In Complaint 26-390, MSDE amended an April 30, 2026 finding on the provision of speech-language services and required corrective actions with completion documentation deadlines. In Complaint 26-361, MSDE issued findings on service-plan goals, progress measurement, and annual review timeliness, and required determinations and staff guidance by June 18, 2026. Both matters concern system-wide compliance, not the Quince Orchard cluster specifically. The Board of Education's Special Populations Committee addresses these issues at the system level.
English learner services
English learner services are also system-wide. MCPS provides English Language Development services, Spanish-English Two-Way Immersion using a 50/50 model, and one-way world-language immersion in Chinese, French, and Spanish. The Two-Way Immersion programs are sited at six elementary schools: Brown Station, Kemp Mill, Gaithersburg, Oakland Terrace, Rolling Terrace, and Washington Grove. None of these six schools is in the Quince Orchard cluster. They are located in other parts of the county. MCPS indicates that English-Multilingual Learner enrollment data are presented to the Board, but no single current districtwide EL count or percentage was located on the cited official pages.
Bell times and transportation
Bell times in MCPS vary by level and by school. The district posts bell-time sheets by school that are subject to change near the start of the year. Examples from the system include Rockville High School at 7:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Kingsview Middle School at 8:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Beall Elementary School at 9:00 a.m. to 3:25 p.m. These illustrate the three-tier structure: high schools start earliest, middle schools next, and elementary schools latest. Families in the Quince Orchard cluster should confirm their specific school's current schedule on the MCPS bell-schedules page, as times are posted by school and updated periodically.
Transportation eligibility follows distance thresholds set by MCPS. Elementary students living more than 1.0 mile from their school are eligible for bus service. Middle school students must live more than 1.5 miles away. High school students must live more than 2.0 miles away. Hazardous conditions and transportation required by an Individualized Education Program may override these distance thresholds. MCPS indicates that regular education bus schedules are available but some routes may experience delays. Updated route sheets are uploaded daily by school, and route and stop information is available through posted route sheets on the MCPS transportation page.
Class size
Class sizes in MCPS follow staffing guidelines, not hard caps, according to the district's 2024-2025 figures. For elementary grades, the guidelines are 25 for kindergarten, 26 for grades 1-2, 27 for grade 3, and 29 for grades 4-5. For Focus and Title I schools, the guidelines are lower: 19 for kindergarten through grade 2, 25 for grade 3, and 27 for grades 4-5. For middle and high school, the guidelines are 30 for English courses and 33 for other courses. These are staffing guidelines, meaning they inform how teachers are allocated rather than imposing a legal maximum on any given classroom.
Before and after care
Before and after school care in MCPS buildings is operated by external providers, not by the district itself. Two providers appear in MCPS's childcare information: Bar-T Kids Club and the Montgomery Child Care Association. Bar-T reports serving 33 MCPS schools. MCCA lists specific elementary sites. Availability is provider- and site-specific, and no districtwide waitlist is published. Pricing is not set by the district; provider-operated programs vary by school, schedule, and subsidy eligibility. Montgomery County's Working Parents Assistance program may offset costs for eligible families. Families should apply directly with providers and ask about current waitlists well before the school year.
Pre-Kindergarten
Pre-Kindergarten in MCPS uses a mixed model of school-based and partner-delivered programs. It is not universal. Eligibility depends on age, residency, income, and space availability. After registration through ParentVUE, eligible children are assigned to a school location based on space and eligibility rather than every neighborhood school offering a seat. No districtwide seat or waitlist total is published on the cited MCPS pages.
Calendar
The traditional 2026-2027 student calendar runs from August 25, 2026 to June 11, 2027, according to MCPS. Two schools, Arcola Elementary and Roscoe Nix Elementary, operate on the Innovative extended calendar instead. MCPS does not operate any four-day-week schedules.
Safety, climate, and community
MCPS publishes school-level safety data in its "School Safety and Security at a Glance" report. The most recent published edition for Quince Orchard High School covers the 2021-2022 school year. MCPS describes the document as a compilation of reported incident and event counts by category, noting whether police were called. The figures are not counts of unique students. Bullying entries distinguish reports from confirmed cases.
For the 2021-2022 school year, MCPS reported the following serious incidents at Quince Orchard High School for which police were not called: alcohol 2, fighting 7, drugs 23, hate incident 1, and serious injury 1. For incidents where police were called, MCPS reported: fighting 1, drugs 3, hate incident 2, theft 6, physical or verbal threat 1, suicide-related 3, vandalism 3, and weapon 2. Bullying incidents submitted totaled 0, with 0 confirmed. MCPS records show the school conducted 5 fire drills and one each of evacuation, shelter-in-place, reverse-evacuation, severe-weather, and lockdown drills that year.
On October 24, 2025, a water-main break affected building systems at Quince Orchard High School, sending water into hallways and prompting evacuation and early dismissal. School communications reported by WJLA and WUSA9 state that the school evacuated the main building, supervised students in an alternate area, paused classes, told families not to come to campus, and coordinated a building assessment with Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.
Quince Orchard High School does not have a school resource officer stationed on site. Under an April 2022 memorandum between MCPS and the Montgomery County Police Department, traditional school-stationed SROs were replaced by Community Engagement Officers assigned by cluster. These officers coordinate with schools and respond as needed but are not stationed at the school. MCPS states that the primary purpose of any disciplinary measure is rehabilitative, restorative, and educational. The 2025-2026 MCPS Code of Conduct emphasizes restorative approaches, graduated interventions, accountability, and skill-building, reserving exclusionary responses for higher-level conduct or serious risk.
Quince Orchard High School implements an "Away All Day" phone model, according to the school's website. Devices must be off and away during instructional time but may be used during lunch and transitions. This aligns with MCPS Regulation COG-RA for high schools, which permits limited use at lunch and during transitions, as well as before and after school and on MCPS buses, subject to defined exceptions. Maryland enacted the Joanne C. Benson Maryland Phone-Free Schools Act (HB 525, Chapter 596) in 2026, signed on May 26, 2026. The law requires each county board to develop and implement a compliant student device policy by the 2027-2028 school year. MCPS continues to implement its systemwide regulation while the high school applies the high-school rule locally.
MCPS administers climate surveys for students, parents and caregivers, and school-based staff. For the 2025-2026 fall administration at Quince Orchard High School, participation was 819 students (41%), 82 parents and caregivers (4%), and 130 school-based staff (56%). MCPS notes that the very low parent response rate limits interpretability. For the 2024-2025 administration, participation was 376 students (18%), 126 parents and caregivers (6%), and 98 school-based staff (43%). No school-level item scores are published on the survey results page for that year.
In 2024, MSDE conducted a Maryland School Review at Quince Orchard High School using classroom observations, focus groups, document analysis, and interviews. MSDE reviewers observed a positive and supportive classroom atmosphere in all 15 observed classes. Students and teachers raised concerns about bathrooms and other non-classroom areas. Parents sought clearer communication about safety responses.
During the Crown and Damascus boundary study, some parents and community groups disputed proposed assignment, transportation, capacity, and demographic effects involving Quince Orchard High School. The Montgomery County Board of Education adopted final boundaries and a regional secondary-program plan on March 26, 2026, following a public process. Phased implementation is scheduled to begin in the 2027-2028 school year.
Leadership and community
Superintendent Thomas W. Taylor began a four-year term on July 1, 2024, according to MCPS. His employment contract runs through June 30, 2028, with a starting annual salary of $360,000, according to the superintendent's employment contract. Before joining MCPS, Taylor served as superintendent in Stafford County and Middlesex County, Virginia, and had more than 25 years of experience as a teacher, coach, principal, and district leader, according to MCPS.
Taylor's appointment followed a period of leadership turnover at the superintendent level. Monifa B. McKnight served from June 1, 2021 until February 2, 2024, according to MCPS. Her departure included a reported $1.3 million separation payment, according to WUSA9 and MyMCMedia. Monique Felder then served as interim superintendent beginning February 6, 2024, according to MCPS. Before McKnight, Jack R. Smith served as superintendent until his retirement on June 1, 2021, according to MCPS and the Maryland State Archives.
At Quince Orchard High School, MCPS announced a new principal on August 27, 2025, as part of a system-wide announcement welcoming 24 new principals, according to MCPS. The school's administration page reflects the appointment, according to MCPS.
The Montgomery County Board of Education sets policy for the district and consists of eight members. Grace Rivera-Oven, first elected in 2022, serves as President and represents District 1, with a term expiring in 2026. Brenda Wolff, first elected in 2018, serves as Vice President and represents District 5, with a term expiring in 2026. The remaining adult members are Rita Montoya (At Large, first elected 2024, term expires 2028), Karla Silvestre (At Large, first elected 2018, term expires 2026), Laura Stewart (District 4, first elected 2024, term expires 2028), Julie Yang (District 3, first elected 2022, term expires 2026), and Natalie Zimmerman (District 2, first elected 2024, term expires 2028), according to MCPS. A student member elected in 2026 serves a term expiring in 2027.
Recent Board elections have been contested. In the November 8, 2022 general election, Karla Silvestre won At Large, Grace Rivera-Oven won District 1, Julie Yang won District 3, and Brenda Wolff won District 5, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections. In the November 5, 2024 general election, Rita Montoya won At Large, Natalie Zimmerman won District 2, and Laura Stewart won District 4, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections. In the June 23, 2026 primary, Brenda M. Diaz and Omar Lazo advanced for At Large, while Sally A. McCarthy and Cassandra Sung advanced for District 3, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections. The general election remained pending as of July 26, 2026.
MCPS labor relations involve three recognized bargaining units. The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) represents approximately 14,000 members under a contract expiring June 30, 2027, according to MCEA. SEIU Local 500 represents support professionals. MCPS posts an agreement that ended June 30, 2026, and no successor agreement was located as of July 26, 2026, according to MCPS. The Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals / Montgomery County Business and Operations Administrators (MCAAP/MCBOA) operates under a 2025-2028 agreement, according to MCPS. MCEA publicly describes 2026 as an active bargaining year, according to MCEA. The last MCPS strike occurred in 1968, lasting 10 days from February 2 through February 11, according to the Montgomery County Historical Society.
Risks and watch items: the forward calendar
MSDE issued a final special-education complaint finding, numbered 26-361, on April 17, 2026, and required MCPS to submit corrective-action documentation by June 18, 2026, according to MSDE. The finding required MCPS to document required funding and IEP-team determinations and school-staff notifications. MSDE is the body that monitors and enforces special-education compliance for Maryland school systems.
SEIU Local 500's most recent posted agreement with MCPS ended June 30, 2026, and no successor agreement was located as of July 26, 2026, according to MCPS. SEIU Local 500 represents support professionals across the district. The Board of Education is the body that approves collective bargaining agreements. The period between the prior agreement's expiration and a successor leaves terms of employment for support staff not governed by a current ratified contract.
The 2026 general election for Board of Education seats remained pending as of July 26, 2026. Four members have terms expiring in 2026: Grace Rivera-Oven (District 1), Brenda Wolff (District 5), Karla Silvestre (At Large), and Julie Yang (District 3), according to MCPS. The June 23, 2026 primary advanced Brenda M. Diaz and Omar Lazo for At Large, and Sally A. McCarthy and Cassandra Sung for District 3, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections. The voters of Montgomery County decide these seats, and the outcome affects budget priorities, boundary decisions, and policy adoption across all clusters.
The MCEA contract expires June 30, 2027, according to MCEA. MCEA represents approximately 14,000 members and publicly describes 2026 as an active bargaining year, according to MCEA. The Board of Education approves any successor agreement. Open bargaining creates a period in which compensation, working conditions, and staffing levels for teachers may shift.
The Board of Education adopted Crown and Damascus-related boundary and regional-program changes on March 26, 2026, according to MCPS. Quince Orchard High School was within the study scope. The first phase of these boundary and regional-program changes is scheduled to begin in the 2027-2028 school year, according to MCPS. The Board of Education is the deciding body for boundary changes in Montgomery County. The adopted changes can affect which schools a given address is assigned to.
The Crown site is scheduled to open as the relocated Wootton High School in the 2027-2028 school year, with Damascus expansion and boundary implementation occurring in the same window, according to MCPS. These changes emerged from a boundary study that included Quince Orchard and can affect articulation patterns and enrollment at cluster schools.
The Board of Education has adopted a regional programs model beginning in the 2027-2028 school year. Under this model, high schools are organized into six regions and the consortium lottery ends. This is a system-wide structural change affecting how students are assigned to high schools. The Board of Education adopted this change.
Maryland's Phone-Free Schools Act sets a county boards' implementation deadline in the 2027-2028 school year, according to the Maryland General Assembly's fiscal note for House Bill 525. MCPS implemented revised systemwide personal-device rules for 2025-2026, with Quince Orchard High School describing its local implementation as "Away All Day," allowing devices only during lunch and transitions, according to MCPS. The state law may require MCPS to revise its current high-school device rule to align with statewide requirements and exceptions. The Maryland General Assembly enacted the legislation, and the Montgomery County Board of Education is the body that would implement any required changes.
Superintendent Thomas W. Taylor's contract runs through June 30, 2028, according to the superintendent's employment contract. The MCAAP/MCBOA agreement also runs through June 30, 2028, according to MCPS. The Board of Education decides whether to renew the superintendent's contract.
Best fit: who this cluster serves well
Quince Orchard High School lists a minimum of 24 Advanced Placement courses, according to a prior official booklet, and current course bulletin pages list offerings across English, mathematics, science, social studies, and world languages. The number of AP offerings at a single building means that a student seeking advanced coursework across multiple subject areas can access it without transferring to another school or applying to a separate program. The catalog includes AP Seminar and AP Research as a two-year sequence, which provides a structured research experience within the school.
The school also lists Project Lead the Way: Advanced Engineering and Engineering Independent Study on its course bulletin, along with the Quest/Capstone Project in the Social Sciences. These programs allow students to pursue project-based and independent work in STEM and social science without leaving the building. MCPS operates a dual-enrollment partnership with Montgomery College through which approved courses earn both high school and college credit at no cost. This partnership is system-wide, but its availability means that a Quince Orchard student can accumulate college credit while remaining enrolled at the home school.
What the cluster does not provide is an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. No IB programme operates within the Quince Orchard cluster. Students residing in the Quince Orchard attendance area may apply to the regional IB Diploma Programme at Watkins Mill High School, according to MCPS, but admission is criteria-based and requires leaving the home school for the program. A family seeking an IB pathway within the assigned school will not find one here.
The high school's physical capacity constrains what the building can deliver. MCPS reported Quince Orchard High School at 112 percent utilization in 2025-26, with enrollment of 1,989 against a capacity of 1,783, according to the FY2027 CIP. MCPS projects the school will remain above capacity at 107 percent in 2031-32. Utilization above 100 percent can affect class size, scheduling flexibility, and access to specialized spaces such as laboratories. The Board of Education adopted new upcounty secondary boundaries on March 26, 2026, with phased implementation beginning in 2027-28, and approved the relocation of Thomas S. Wootton High School to the Crown Farm site, scheduled to open in August 2027, according to the Board's adopted recommendation. These actions add regional capacity but are not described by MCPS as direct relief for Quince Orchard's current feeders.
The cluster's elementary and middle schools present a different capacity picture. Ridgeview Middle School operated at 72 percent utilization and Brown Station Elementary at 77 percent in 2025-26, according to the same CIP. These figures indicate available capacity at the lower grades. MCPS identifies students for enriched and gifted instruction through universal screening in Grade 2, with reviews in Grades 4 and 7, rather than through a family-initiated test-in process. This screening takes place during the school day. The system's middle-school mathematics placement process uses multiple measures and annual data review to determine the path to Algebra I by Grade 8.
Beginning in the 2027-28 school year, the Board of Education's adopted regional programs model places Quince Orchard High School in Region 5. Under this model, students apply for specialized programs housed at other schools within the region through a centralized process. The regional model does not change Quince Orchard's address-based assignment. What it changes is the pathway by which a Quince Orchard student accesses programs that are not offered at the home school. The set of available programs is defined by Region 5's configuration, which MCPS has not yet fully detailed.
Surprising insights
The cluster's capacity problem is concentrated at a single level. Quince Orchard High School operated at 112 percent utilization in 2025-26, according to MCPS's FY2027 Capital Improvements Program, while Ridgeview Middle School operated at 72 percent and Brown Station Elementary at 77 percent. MCPS projects the high school will remain above capacity at 107 percent in 2031-32. The middle and elementary schools that feed the high school operating above capacity have available seats. This split condition means that capacity pressure in this cluster does not flow evenly across grade levels, and a family whose child attends an elementary school below capacity may still send that child to a high school above capacity four years later.
Two schools in the cluster split articulation within their own attendance areas rather than at their boundaries. Lakelands Park Middle School and Diamond Elementary School both feed Northwest High School as well as Quince Orchard High School, according to NCES for 2023-24. MCPS splits articulation at these buildings, so two homes on the same street, both zoned for the same elementary school, can be assigned to different high schools. Nationally, most school systems draw attendance boundaries around entire schools. MCPS draws them through schools, which means that a school name alone does not determine a family's high school assignment. The MCPS School Assignment Tool is the authoritative source for address-specific assignment.
Every elementary and middle school in this cluster is under review for potential consolidation, closure, or boundary change through a countywide process the Board of Education approved on March 26, 2026. This process is separate from the boundary changes the Board adopted the same day for upcounty secondary schools. Phase 1, a portfolio review of all elementary and middle schools countywide, targets a Superintendent's recommendation for January 2027 and Board action after public hearings in May 2027. Phase 2, a boundary study, targets Board action in May 2028, with changes taking effect in 2029-30. As of July 16, 2026, MCPS had not named any Quince Orchard cluster school as a candidate, according to the Board's July 16, 2026 preview presentation.
The FY2027 MCPS operating budget of $3,724,289,307 is balanced as an appropriation but not fully balanced on a recurring basis, according to MCPS budget documents. It uses a one-time $25 million OPEB Fund allocation and identifies future Employee Benefit Plan deficit-recovery amounts of $70 million in FY2028 and $40 million in FY2029. The budget also projects enrollment down by 4,956 students for FY2027. This structural gap means the district is funding current operations partly with non-recurring resources, which affects all schools in the system.
Diamond Elementary School is the only school in the cluster that does not offer pre-kindergarten. Five of the six elementary schools serve pre-kindergarten through grade 5, according to NCES for 2023-24. Diamond serves kindergarten through grade 5. Families in Diamond's attendance area who need pre-kindergarten must look to a different school, while families in the other five elementary zones have pre-kindergarten at their assigned school.
Questions parents should ask
For the MCPS Division of Planning
How will the boundary changes adopted by the Board of Education on March 26, 2026 affect my child's specific address and feeder chain, and what are the phase-in terms for the 2027-28 implementation?
Is my child's elementary or middle school under consideration in the Phase 1 portfolio review, and when will the Superintendent's January 2027 recommendation be made public?
What capital projects, if any, are planned for Quince Orchard High School to address the 112 percent utilization rate reported in the FY2027 CIP?
How will the relocation of Thomas S. Wootton High School to the Crown Farm site, scheduled to open in August 2027, affect enrollment projections and articulation for schools shared between the Quince Orchard and Northwest clusters?
For MCPS International Admissions and Enrollment
Which high school does my exact street address feed to, given the articulation split at Lakelands Park Middle School and Diamond Elementary School?
What proof of residency is required for enrollment, and what additional documentation is needed in a shared-housing situation?
What is the process and timeline for a Change of School Assignment for the 2026-27 cycle, and what criteria determine approval?
For the Quince Orchard High School counseling department
What AP courses are currently being offered at the school, and are there enrollment caps or prerequisite requirements for specific courses?
How does the AP Seminar and AP Research sequence work, and in which grade do students typically enter the program?
What is the process for dual enrollment with Montgomery College, and what college-readiness benchmarks must a student meet to participate?
How does the Project Lead the Way: Advanced Engineering pathway sequence from year to year, and what are the entry points?
For the MCPS Department of Curriculum and Special Programs
How does the regional programs model beginning in 2027-28 affect a Quince Orchard student's access to specialized programs housed at other schools within Region 5?
What is the application process and timeline for the IB Diploma Programme at Watkins Mill High School, and what criteria are used for selection?
How does the new mathematics curriculum and acceleration model, presented to the Board of Education on May 8, 2026, change course pathways for students currently in middle school?
Scope, method, and sourcing notes
The information presented here describes the Quince Orchard high school cluster within Montgomery County Public Schools. It covers enrollment, capacity, academic programs, boundary processes, fiscal context, and residential development as published by the bodies that produce those figures. It does not cover individual teacher assignments, day-to-day school operations, extracurricular activities, transportation routes, or school-specific disciplinary data beyond what MCPS publishes in its Safety at a Glance documents.
Enrollment and demographic figures come from the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for the 2023-24 school year. NCES is a federal statistical agency that collects data from state education agencies. Capacity and utilization figures come from MCPS's FY2027 Capital Improvements Program, which uses 2025-26 as its base year and projects through 2031-32. The CIP is published by MCPS and reflects the district's own enrollment projections and capacity calculations.
Fiscal figures come from several MCPS publications. The FY2027 operating budget, published by MCPS, reports the appropriation made by the Montgomery County Council and the Maintenance of Effort floor established under state law. The MCPS Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for FY2025, published by MCPS, reports fund balances, outstanding obligations, and pension and OPEB liabilities. Bond ratings come from Moody's, S&P Global, and Fitch Ratings, each published on the dates cited in the text.
Academic outcome data comes from MSDE. MSDE publishes the Maryland School Report Card, with releases in 2024 and 2025, and conducted a Maryland School Review of Quince Orchard High School in February 2024. MCPS publishes system-wide reports on AP and IB exam participation and performance, SAT and ACT participation, and school-level at-a-glance profiles. Course offerings come from the Quince Orchard High School course bulletin, hosted on MCPS infrastructure.
Boundary and facilities decisions come from Board of Education actions and MCPS planning documents. The Board adopted upcounty secondary boundary changes on March 26, 2026, and approved a countywide elementary and middle school boundary study on the same date. The countywide study timeline, as presented to the Board on July 16, 2026, runs through May 2028 for boundary action and 2029-30 for implementation.
Residential development information comes from the City of Gaithersburg and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. State legislative information comes from the Maryland General Assembly. County fiscal actions come from the Montgomery County Council and the County Executive.
Figures carry the vintage of their publication. Where a more recent official revision exists, it supersedes older federal collections of the same measure. NCES figures for 2023-24 may differ from MCPS enrollment counts for the same period because the two bodies collect and report data on different timelines and using different definitions. MCPS's own CIP enrollment figures for 2025-26 reflect the district's most current projections and supersede the 2023-24 NCES counts where both address the same school.
About SchoolDecision.com
SchoolDecision.com publishes neutral, source-attributed descriptions of public school districts and school clusters for families evaluating housing decisions. It does not rate, rank, or recommend schools or districts. Every figure in its reports is attributed to the public body that published it, including the National Center for Education Statistics, the Maryland State Department of Education, Montgomery County Public Schools, the Montgomery County Council, and other government agencies. The publication describes what is known and lets families decide.
Covered in this report
The schools and districts below are part of the source record used in this report.
- Montgomery County Public Schools