We, the residents of the Hunting Woods, Potomac Country Corner, Potomac Pointe, and Nolan Drive, urgently call on the Montgomery County Board of Education to reject any redistricting plan that removes our community from the Wootton High School cluster and reassigns it to Crown High School. Options 2 and 4 in Crown High School boundary proposal (announced on June 2nd, 2025) unjustly target our small neighborhoods— approximately 5-10 students per grade—forcing our children to be separated from their peers in the tightly knit Lakewood Elementary community, where they have built strong academic and social bonds over years. This arbitrary split threatens our children’s education, fractures long-standing community ties essential to their well-being, and compromises their safety. With such a minimal number of students affected, this change would have negligible impact on school capacity but a profound, negative effect on our children. We urge that all Lakewood neighborhoods remain in the Wootton cluster, keeping our Lakewood community intact, and that the unsafe walk zone designation for Crown High School for our neighborhoods be eliminated.

Why This Matters:

For decades, Hunting Woods and adjacent neighborhoods have been an integral part of the Wootton High School cluster, with our children progressing through Lakewood Elementary, Frost Middle, and Wootton High School. This continuity fosters strong academic and social bonds, ensuring our students’ success. The proposed redistricting would unfairly isolate our small community by reassigning us to Crown High School, while the vast majority of Lakewood Elementary students remain at Wootton. This split disrupts our children’s social and academic stability, severing their connections with peers they’ve grown up with and creating unnecessary hardship for a negligible capacity benefit.

Even more concerning, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has designated Hunting Woods and adjacent neighborhoods as a walk zone for Crown High School in the planning options. The approximately 45-minute walking route is dangerous and impractical, requiring students to cross major highways like Great Seneca Highway, MD-28, and Darnestown Road with heavy traffic, inadequate sidewalks, and no safe crosswalks in many areas.  Not all homes in our neighborhoods fall within the 2-mile radius, and expecting children to walk this route endangers their safety. This designation must be rescinded to prioritize student well-being.

Our Call for Action:

 1. Keep Hunting Woods and adjacent neighborhoods in the Wootton High School cluster to maintain our children’s academic and social continuity within the Lakewood Elementary community.
 2. Remove the Crown High School walk zone designation for Hunting Woods, recognizing the unsafe and impractical 45-minute walking route.
 3. Prevent the fragmentation of the Lakewood Elementary community, ensuring equitable treatment by keeping our small neighborhood with the majority of Lakewood students.

We cannot allow a small group of students to bear the burden of redistricting that disrupts their education, safety, and community ties while offering minimal benefit to school capacity. By signing this petition, you support keeping Hunting Woods and adjacent neighborhoods in the Wootton cluster, preserving the unity of the Lakewood Elementary community, and eliminating the dangerous walk zone designation. Together, we can protect our children’s education, safety, and community bonds.

Sign Now to urge the Montgomery County Board of Education to prioritize our students’ well-being and make equitable decisions for Lakewood families!