Stratford Landing vs. Waynewood Schools
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Anonymous
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Hi,
Our DC is a couple of years away from K and we are stating to look at houses in the Fairfax Co section of Alexandria. Can someone share the differences between Stratford Landing vs. Waynewood school districts? I thought that Waynewood was supposed to be the best but then I thought I saw a ranking where Waynewood was not even in the top 100 schools in Fairfax Co. but Stratford was rated highly. I know that both now have full day K. I am interested in the following info as well as any other insights: -class size -number of classes per grade -specials like art, music etc. and how many times per week -extracurricular activities -school leadership -over all impressions of each school Thanks! |
Anonymous
| Don't worry, those nasty poor and non-white people won't bother you until you hit Sandberg. There's really not that much difference as far as I can see. |
Anonymous
| OP here...I would love any feedback from people who would like to actually be helpful and not nasty about neighborhoods that you apparently don't like. |
Anonymous
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Stratford Landing Elementary has a GT center.
Waynewood--would not recommend it, unless you really enjoy being around pretentious people whose homes are really nothing special. The location is OK for jobs in DC or Arlington, but a bit isolated if you need to get to other parts of Fairfax County. |
Anonymous
| So no GT talented center at Waynewood? I thougth these were standard for FFX County? |
Anonymous
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The center for Waynewood is Stratford.
BTW, anyone know about the quality of SACC at Waynewood and Stratford? |
Anonymous
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I live in WW, kids have gone to both WW and SL, and now Sandburg. Don't know about rankings - if that's important to you, look elsewhere in FC - up toward McLean, out toward Reston etc.
If you believe that schools are much more than rankings, this area may be for you. It is true that WW is not very diverse, Sandburg and WestPo are. SL is more diverse both socio-economically and racially than WW. WW is no more "pretentious" than most other areas of FC that are economically similar. Many 2 working parent households but also a sizable stay at home group. Same at SL. Yes, Sandburg and WestPo draw from lower income and more racially diverse Rte. 1 and get routinely bashed here along with WW, but the reality is that the education is better than fine and yes, the kids who are college bound do actually get into great colleges and go off and generally become productive citizens. These schools also do a really good job at educating those who may not go as far academically - hence the lower test scores/rankings. -class size - SL - about 26 per class grades 3-6. WW a bit higher. Principals at both schools seem to work the system as much as possible to keep class sizes down but lots of older "original" owners are moving on/passing away so the houses are turning over to families with younger kids so class sizes have crept upward some the past few years. -number of classes per grade, WW 3-4 classes, SL 5-6 because of the center, usually 3 AAP and 2 GE per grades 3-6 -specials like art, music etc. and how many times per week, WW has 1 more PE per week, I think art is same for both schools. Not sure why there's a difference -extracurricular activities, SL has more activities than WW. Parents seem more into volunteering to make that happen. Kiwanis, OM, geography club, chess club, robotics, Mad Science type classes, languages, running club. WW, running club, girls on the run, soccer, sometimes robotics, sometimes OM, Mad Science type program. -school leadership, WW currently has more personable principals than SL. SL seems to have a bit more teacher turnover. Principals at both seem to turn over every few years although WW's may stay put for a while. -over all impressions of each school - there are pros to both. We prefer the diversity at SL and that there are more activities offered after-school. WW is smaller in overall number of students. Kids at both schools come mainly from educated, fairly high income families. WW has lots of assistance for special needs kids and SL has a special needs preschool. -AAP/GT classes - you didn't ask but here it its. WW is trying to do what it can to keep AAP eligible kids at WW. Some years lots of AAP kids stay at WW, other years they leave for SL. There are differences to be sure between level 4 centers and the in school services. WW has pull-out and compacted math but lacks some of the academic offerings of AAP. Both groups of kids do fine and likely end up in the same place when it's all said and done. That said, we're grateful there are AAP centers available - for some kids they are the right place. Finally, there are lots of students at both schools who are the grandchildren of original owners - people love the area and often come back to raise their kids here. Yes, the houses are pretty basic but it's a really nice place to raise your kids. HTH |
Anonymous
| Thanks PP for a great posting. I wish all schools had this much information shown up front so that people could really see what they are like. |
Anonymous
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So then...would those who have real knowledge of both schools now say that Stratford is the better school. We are getting a lot of the "you WANT to be in the Waynewood school district". Is this just a case of everyone thinks their school is the best and they are both the same?
Someone told us that Waynewood was just like a private school. Not really sure what that means. |
Anonymous
| They are both good schools. It will come down to your child and personal preference. As a West Potomac graduate, I was always adamant about my kid not going to a school like Waynewood and then ended up in Eagle View in Fairfax. Honestly, it doesn't feel much different. But I love the school and the education my child is getting. In other words, you can't go wrong with either. |
Anonymous
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13:48 here again. 8:14 - Honestly I believe that is a veiled comment for people who aren't in to diversity. They are both great schools. We don't have experience with the GE classes at SL but our kids made friends with the GE kids and they all seem as well-educated as the WW kids.
Truly it all boils down to the teachers and you really don't have a lot of control over that at either school. Teachers come and go for various reasons. You hope that for every year with an inexperienced or just plain not great teacher you have a few with good to excellent. |
Anonymous
| The WW = private school comment may also refer to cliques who can boss the principal around, etc. |
Anonymous
As a parent of a WW student, I would think this is what the comment means as well. That and that there are a lot of parents that seem somewhat infatuated with the school. While I am very happy with the school, I think there is this weird cult-like, lovey "Waynewood is the best" atmosphere to it. But honestly, the parents like that really are a minority. A vocal minority, but a minority. Most of the parents I know are pretty down to earth. |
Anonymous
I was concerned with this as well as I had heard so many similar comments on DCUM before our DC started at WW. Now we only have a K student there, but so far I really like the school. They do offer a few after school activities and the SACC program has been pretty good so far. They are starting the OM program up again as well. Most parents we have met seem really down to earth as well. As for the diversity issue, well the fact is that it's not diverse. It really doesn't matter to us if it is or not, but I liked WW over SL due to the size. Even though the class sizes might be slightly larger, the school and student body is much smaller which we feel more comfortable with. Our kids have plenty of time to learn about diversity. |
Anonymous
| They will learn plenty about diversity in middle school. |