Cooper MS and Langley HS or Longfellow mS and McLean HS

[Anonymous]

commute will be same from both options

[Anonymous]

Cooper and Langley will both have brand new state of the art facilities with all the bells and whistles. (Langley’s construction already wrapped up and the school is beautiful.) Academics at both pyramids are good, so why not simply pick the Langley pyramid which has both the high academic standards and state of the art facilities?

[Anonymous]

There’s more to consider than the state of the facilities. Longfellow/McLean have more diversity and generally serve a more compact area, so it’s easier for kids to get together with their friends. There are also a bunch of specific extra-curricular programs where Longfellow/McLean are stronger than Cooper/Langley (for example, Math Counts and Science Olympiad at Longfellow, and the band, crew, and student publications programs at McLean).

Apart from the schools, the Longfellow/McLean neighborhoods tend to be closer to Metro, to DC, and to other amenities. The Cooper/Langley neighborhoods tend to be more spread out, with bigger houses on larger lots.

But overall you’re not going to go wrong either way.,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cooper and Langley will both have brand new state of the art facilities with all the bells and whistles. (Langley’s construction already wrapped up and the school is beautiful.) Academics at both pyramids are good, so why not simply pick the Langley pyramid which has both the high academic standards and state of the art facilities?

Hopefully, if the OP is talking about moving with an elementary school strident, they will do some sort of renovation at McLean by the time they are sending kid(s) to high school.

Regardless, both are good and both have issues. McLean’s campus is old, and Langley has a reputation for rich people drug problems (no idea if that’s true). But they are both close enough to the same that I wouldn’t make a housing decision based on one versus the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cooper and Langley will both have brand new state of the art facilities with all the bells and whistles. (Langley’s construction already wrapped up and the school is beautiful.) Academics at both pyramids are good, so why not simply pick the Langley pyramid which has both the high academic standards and state of the art facilities?

Hopefully, if the OP is talking about moving with an elementary school strident, they will do some sort of renovation at McLean by the time they are sending kid(s) to high school.

Regardless, both are good and both have issues. McLean’s campus is old, and Langley has a reputation for rich people drug problems (no idea if that’s true). But they are both close enough to the same that I wouldn’t make a housing decision based on one versus the other.

Even if OP has elementary school students, McLean may not be renovated by the time that they reach high school. There are very long discussion threads of people complaining about McLean not being renovated despite being in desperate need of it, with some people saying that McLean won't be renovated for a while because it was last renovated (somewhat poorly apparently) in 2000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s more to consider than the state of the facilities. Longfellow/McLean have more diversity and generally serve a more compact area, so it’s easier for kids to get together with their friends. There are also a bunch of specific extra-curricular programs where Longfellow/McLean are stronger than Cooper/Langley (for example, Math Counts and Science Olympiad at Longfellow, and the band, crew, and student publications programs at McLean).

Apart from the schools, the Longfellow/McLean neighborhoods tend to be closer to Metro, to DC, and to other amenities. The Cooper/Langley neighborhoods tend to be more spread out, with bigger houses on larger lots.

But overall you’re not going to go wrong either way.,

+1

Kids at both, for a period. You want Longfellow and McLean.

[Anonymous]

McLean ratings have fallen to a 7 but langley is still rated high. Obvious mismanagement of funds for McLean as their buildings are rotting and falling apart and over crowded where cooper and Langley have gotten recent renovations and expansions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean ratings have fallen to a 7 but langley is still rated high. Obvious mismanagement of funds for McLean as their buildings are rotting and falling apart and over crowded where cooper and Langley have gotten recent renovations and expansions.

There are two main facilities issues in the McLean pyramid - overcrowding at Kent Gardens ES and overcrowding and maintenance at McLean HS. Some of the other schools in the pyramid, including Longfellow and Haycock (as well as some of the ES in the Marshall pyramid that are split feeders to Marshall and McLean) have been renovated relatively recently.

The lower GS ratings are a function of McLean’s greater diversity relative to Langley. For similar reasons, GS dings other schools with similar demographics to McLean like Madison and Oakton. By other metrics, McLean does as well as (actually better than) Langley academically. For example, McLean had 23 National Merit Semifinalists in the Class of 2023; Langley had 15.

Again, these are both great pyramids, and some will continue to prefer Longfellow/McLean over Cooper/Langley (and vice versa). Facilities seen irrelevant but neither are they the only consideration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean ratings have fallen to a 7 but langley is still rated high. Obvious mismanagement of funds for McLean as their buildings are rotting and falling apart and over crowded where cooper and Langley have gotten recent renovations and expansions.

There are two main facilities issues in the McLean pyramid - overcrowding at Kent Gardens ES and overcrowding and maintenance at McLean HS. Some of the other schools in the pyramid, including Longfellow and Haycock (as well as some of the ES in the Marshall pyramid that are split feeders to Marshall and McLean) have been renovated relatively recently.

The lower GS ratings are a function of McLean’s greater diversity relative to Langley. For similar reasons, GS dings other schools with similar demographics to McLean like Madison and Oakton. By other metrics, McLean does as well as (actually better than) Langley academically. For example, McLean had 23 National Merit Semifinalists in the Class of 2023; Langley had 15.

Again, these are both great pyramids, and some will continue to prefer Longfellow/McLean over Cooper/Langley (and vice versa). Facilities seen irrelevant but neither are they the only consideration.

Langley is weighed more harshly with regard to college admissions.

[Anonymous]

McLean and Longfellow are overcrowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean ratings have fallen to a 7 but langley is still rated high. Obvious mismanagement of funds for McLean as their buildings are rotting and falling apart and over crowded where cooper and Langley have gotten recent renovations and expansions.

There are two main facilities issues in the McLean pyramid - overcrowding at Kent Gardens ES and overcrowding and maintenance at McLean HS. Some of the other schools in the pyramid, including Longfellow and Haycock (as well as some of the ES in the Marshall pyramid that are split feeders to Marshall and McLean) have been renovated relatively recently.

The lower GS ratings are a function of McLean’s greater diversity relative to Langley. For similar reasons, GS dings other schools with similar demographics to McLean like Madison and Oakton. By other metrics, McLean does as well as (actually better than) Langley academically. For example, McLean had 23 National Merit Semifinalists in the Class of 2023; Langley had 15.

Again, these are both great pyramids, and some will continue to prefer Longfellow/McLean over Cooper/Langley (and vice versa). Facilities seen irrelevant but neither are they the only consideration.

Langley is weighed more harshly with regard to college admissions.

That seems more anecdotal than based on evidence. What facts do you have to support that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean and Longfellow are overcrowded.

Longfellow is not overcrowded.

Cooper is currently a construction zone and will remain near a major intersection even after the construction is finished.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean and Longfellow are overcrowded.

Longfellow is not overcrowded.

Cooper is currently a construction zone and will remain near a major intersection even after the construction is finished.

Cooper's construction is due to complete this year and won't be a consideration for you.

McLean is well over capacity (even with a modular) and growing. Langley will remain under capacity even with projected growth.

The obvious and cheapest option would have been for the current expansion of Cooper to have been a bigger project (~150-200 more seats) and then redistrict some of the remaining split feeders from LMS/MHS to CMS/LHS, leaving MHS closer to capacity (but probably still a bit over).

That ship has sailed. So the alternatives are:

(1) to proceed with that above plan anyway, but basically install a modular or trailers at Cooper right on the heels of their renovation (likely won't happen, as this approach would shed too much light on the poor planning of FCPS)
(2) expand MHS with a significant project that ideally also addresses some of the other facility issues beyond just adding classrooms (but doesn't seem the board is supporting this, and the presumable new Dranesville Rep Robyn Lady hasn't provided any indication this is a priority for her, let alone that she's really even very aware of the issue)
(3) status quo at MHS with increasing overcrowding, while throwing a bit of lipstick on the bathrooms and various other minor maintenance projects to give the appearance of "doing something" TM while continuing to neglect the overall condition and capacity issues of the school (this seems the most likely outcome, sadly)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean and Longfellow are overcrowded.

Longfellow is not overcrowded.

Cooper is currently a construction zone and will remain near a major intersection even after the construction is finished.

Cooper's construction is due to complete this year and won't be a consideration for you.

McLean is well over capacity (even with a modular) and growing. Langley will remain under capacity even with projected growth.

The obvious and cheapest option would have been for the current expansion of Cooper to have been a bigger project (~150-200 more seats) and then redistrict some of the remaining split feeders from LMS/MHS to CMS/LHS, leaving MHS closer to capacity (but probably still a bit over).

That ship has sailed. So the alternatives are:

I don’t understand how a renovation that happened after labgley renovation was completed did not add enough seats to support Langley expansion.
(1) to proceed with that above plan anyway, but basically install a modular or trailers at Cooper right on the heels of their renovation (likely won't happen, as this approach would shed too much light on the poor planning of FCPS)
(2) expand MHS with a significant project that ideally also addresses some of the other facility issues beyond just adding classrooms (but doesn't seem the board is supporting this, and the presumable new Dranesville Rep Robyn Lady hasn't provided any indication this is a priority for her, let alone that she's really even very aware of the issue)
(3) status quo at MHS with increasing overcrowding, while throwing a bit of lipstick on the bathrooms and various other minor maintenance projects to give the appearance of "doing something" TM while continuing to neglect the overall condition and capacity issues of the school (this seems the most likely outcome, sadly)

[Anonymous]

I have kids at Langley and Cooper and we are happy with both. I also have a kid in college and for someone who did not put 100% into his high school career, he was certainly well-prepared for college and is doing really well.

I don’t know much about McLean, but I don’t think you could go wrong with either pyramid. We also have friends with kids at a variety of schools across FCPS and they seem happy with their pyramid.

It is true that Langley and McLean are academically competitive, meaning more students will apply to (and are good candidates for) T20 colleges, so your chances of getting into a T20 are diminished simply because everyone from your school will be vying for those few spots. But one thing I have learned through the college application process is that I’m not too keen on paying $80k/year for school. I am actually relieved that my older kids attend/will attend OOS flagships with merit scholarships.

I don’t know much about the drug issues except for the fact that drugs are likely at all schools.

My best advice is to find a house you like that fits within your commute, and you will be fine.