General Fairfax schools question

[Anonymous]

Hi, I'm moving to the area and have heard that Fairfax county schools are great. It's such a big area though. Is this true across the board, or are there schools within the county that really aren't "acceptable". Also, how do I find out which schools to avoid without living in the area first, i.e. is there a non-biased website that ranks schools?

Thanks for any help and sorry I'm starting off with so little info!

[Anonymous]

OP here:
I should clarify that what I consider acceptable includes safety, good teachers, challenging curriculum, schools in good condition/new text books/computers, etc.

[Anonymous]

In general, the all of the schools in Fairfax County are good. There are regions which have better test outcomes, but that may be more of the demographics of the school...In my experience, the quality of the schools is proportional to the housing prices...areas which (IMHO) have better schools are:
Vienna, Eastern Fairfax (e.g., Woodson), Mclean, Fall Church Area.

[Anonymous]

to 13:15: I know of very few safety issues in fairfax county. However, there are gang issues is some areas...Bailys Cross Roads, Rt 1 Corridor, Parts of Reston/Herndon.

Curriculum, etc are county wide standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In general, the all of the schools in Fairfax County are good. There are regions which have better test outcomes, but that may be more of the demographics of the school...In my experience, the quality of the schools is proportional to the housing prices...areas which (IMHO) have better schools are:
Vienna, Eastern Fairfax (e.g., Woodson), Mclean, Fall Church Area.

Agree with this completely and I teach in FCPS. The curriculum is the same across the county. Like everywhere, there are both good and bad teachers. Some schools in FCPS are newer so they will have more technology, better facilities, etc. but that doesn't necessarily mean they are better schools. Some schools are more diverse than others and some are not. It really just depends what you are looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, the all of the schools in Fairfax County are good. There are regions which have better test outcomes, but that may be more of the demographics of the school...In my experience, the quality of the schools is proportional to the housing prices...areas which (IMHO) have better schools are:
Vienna, Eastern Fairfax (e.g., Woodson), Mclean, Fall Church Area.

Agree with this completely and I teach in FCPS. The curriculum is the same across the county. Like everywhere, there are both good and bad teachers. Some schools in FCPS are newer so they will have more technology, better facilities, etc. but that doesn't necessarily mean they are better schools. Some schools are more diverse than others and some are not. It really just depends what you are looking for.

Falls Church has separate schools. They are good. FX area of Falls Church includes Luther Jackson etc. Put it this way. When and if FCPS does boundary changes people fight to NOT attend. Go to the FCPS website and look up test scores. Go to the CIP and see what has been renovated and what has not. If you can avoid stay away from schools where your child would attend during the renovation and additions. Some high schools have IB and some AP. Woodson was given IB and the parents fought hard to get it out. One school is so huge it has both. Most IB went into schools that needed to be turned around -AKA put a carrot out there so middle class parents don't leave. Read Supertest by Jay Matthews.

[Anonymous]

Go to the fcps.edu web site. They have a wealth of info on each school. You can pull up charts of all the test scores, demographics, safety, etc. It's all fact-based data, unlike other sites where there is a lot of parent opinion (not necessarily a bad thing, just very different).

You can also see what schools are coming up for renovation, or have them in progress, but I would not say this is a true measure of the quality of a school. There are some that are considered top-notch that are real need of some reno.

In general, I would suggest steering clear of Rt. 1 corridor, Bailey's Crossroads, etc. Real estate prices in NoVa are very tied to the quality of schools. A house that feeds to Langley HS or Mclean HS is going to cost a boatload more than a comparable house feeding into Stuart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, the all of the schools in Fairfax County are good. There are regions which have better test outcomes, but that may be more of the demographics of the school...In my experience, the quality of the schools is proportional to the housing prices...areas which (IMHO) have better schools are:
Vienna, Eastern Fairfax (e.g., Woodson), Mclean, Fall Church Area.

Agree with this completely and I teach in FCPS. The curriculum is the same across the county. Like everywhere, there are both good and bad teachers. Some schools in FCPS are newer so they will have more technology, better facilities, etc. but that doesn't necessarily mean they are better schools. Some schools are more diverse than others and some are not. It really just depends what you are looking for.

Falls Church has separate schools. They are good. FX area of Falls Church includes Luther Jackson etc. Put it this way. When and if FCPS does boundary changes people fight to NOT attend. Go to the FCPS website and look up test scores. Go to the CIP and see what has been renovated and what has not. If you can avoid stay away from schools where your child would attend during the renovation and additions. Some high schools have IB and some AP. Woodson was given IB and the parents fought hard to get it out. One school is so huge it has both. Most IB went into schools that needed to be turned around -AKA put a carrot out there so middle class parents don't leave. Read Supertest by Jay Matthews.

Yes, Falls Church City has separate schools and they are supposed to be very good. The Falls Church part of Fairfax County covers a lot of area and many different schools. In general I would agree with avoiding the Bailey's Crossroads area of Falls Church (22041), but other parts of Falls Church (22043) have very good schools.

[Anonymous]

There are some great schools in Falls Church but in Fairfax County. I agree with posters who said to avoid 22042 and 22044, but you can't get much better than 22043. Haycock is arguably one of the best elementary schools in the county and I have heard good things about Shrevewood, too (they have full day kindergarten and Chinese and great test scores).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Falls Church has separate schools. They are good. FX area of Falls Church includes Luther Jackson etc. Put it this way. When and if FCPS does boundary changes people fight to NOT attend. Go to the FCPS website and look up test scores. Go to the CIP and see what has been renovated and what has not. If you can avoid stay away from schools where your child would attend during the renovation and additions. Some high schools have IB and some AP. Woodson was given IB and the parents fought hard to get it out. One school is so huge it has both. Most IB went into schools that needed to be turned around -AKA put a carrot out there so middle class parents don't leave. Read Supertest by Jay Matthews.

What a bunch of babble. If you think IB is bad, you shouldn't tout the Falls Church City schools, since George Mason HS is very small, but has an IB program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Falls Church has separate schools. They are good. FX area of Falls Church includes Luther Jackson etc. Put it this way. When and if FCPS does boundary changes people fight to NOT attend. Go to the FCPS website and look up test scores. Go to the CIP and see what has been renovated and what has not. If you can avoid stay away from schools where your child would attend during the renovation and additions. Some high schools have IB and some AP. Woodson was given IB and the parents fought hard to get it out. One school is so huge it has both. Most IB went into schools that needed to be turned around -AKA put a carrot out there so middle class parents don't leave. Read Supertest by Jay Matthews.

What a bunch of babble. If you think IB is bad, you shouldn't tout the Falls Church City schools, since George Mason HS is very small, but has an IB program.

You are a bunch of babble. Falls Church city HS is small and rather homogenous compared to most FCPS IB schools. Woodson wanted IB out--I can't rewrite history.

[Anonymous]

IB and AP are both great programs, but they are quite different. I agree that in Fairfax County, IB was more likely to be placed in less desirable schools.
I believe that Marshall and Robinson (a secondary school) are exceptions to that rule. They both have good reputations and test scores.

[Anonymous]

What zip codes feed into Langley or Mclean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What zip codes feed into Langley or Mclean?

Langley boundary is on page 2:
http://www.fcps.edu/fts/cip2011-2015cd/pdf/langley_hs.pdf

McLean boundary is on page 2:
http://www.fcps.edu/fts/cip2011-2015cd/pdf/mclean_hs.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What zip codes feed into Langley or Mclean?

Take the PP's advice and look at the maps. You really can't go by zip codes because students in a particular zip code could be assigned to multiple schools. Having said that, all of 22066 (Great Falls), most of 22102 (McLean), and part of 22101 (McLean) goes to Langley HS. Most of 22101 (McLean) and part of 22043 (Falls Church), 22182 (Vienna) and 22102 (McLean) goes to McLean HS.