Woodson, Lake Braddock, West Springfield experiences

[Anonymous]

We are looking at moving to this area and wondering about folks' experiences with the listed highschools and middle schools.

More concerned with experience re: bullying and general social climate at the schools rather than academics. All seem like good schools academically. I have read that Woodson is more high pressure/intense which gives me hesitation though not sure if that is still true.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Our DS (currently in college) graduated from WSHS and we never had the sense of it being a very high pressure environment. If a student felt high pressure it would have come from the household, not the school itself.

[Anonymous]

My child is in 7th at Frost Middle (feeds into Woodson) and is having a great year. There are lots of activities and many opportunities especially for kids who are into STEM. His teachers are amazing. Kids are nice and he has a good group of friends. Admin is responsive and helpful.

[Anonymous]

My kid loves Irving (feeds into west Springfield)we could choose between Braddock and Irving for AAP and are really loving Irving.
Honestly I think they are all good. I shied away from Braddock because of the size and combination middle and high. Yes I know they are separated but it is still a huge complex

[Anonymous]

All are reasonable choices

[Anonymous]

Have a current freshman at Woodson and she likes it. She liked Frost too.

She doesn't seem to have much pressure but is doing really well in classes and it doesn't seem like she has much homework.

Special ed is abysmal across FCPS so just lower your expectations if you need special ed.

[Anonymous]

happy at lbss now but we would probably be happy at any of those schools.

[Anonymous]

Our kids went to Lake Braddock and ended up really liking the secondary model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DS (currently in college) graduated from WSHS and we never had the sense of it being a very high pressure environment. If a student felt high pressure it would have come from the household, not the school itself.

The same is true at every FCPS high school. The label "pressure cooker" only gets bandied about by parents at some schools - especially West Springfield, Robinson, and Lake Braddock - to take a shot at schools in wealthier areas and suggest their own schools are the "happy medium."

[Anonymous]

2 through WSHS and 2 more in and we’ve been happy. They have a low teacher turn over and were fully staffed this year. The principal is kind of hands off but that might be a high school thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DS (currently in college) graduated from WSHS and we never had the sense of it being a very high pressure environment. If a student felt high pressure it would have come from the household, not the school itself.

The same is true at every FCPS high school. The label "pressure cooker" only gets bandied about by parents at some schools - especially West Springfield, Robinson, and Lake Braddock - to take a shot at schools in wealthier areas and suggest their own schools are the "happy medium."

I think the pressure cooker concept comes more from the idea that selective colleges--including in-state publics--consider students within the context of their school for admissions. Wealthier schools tend to have students whose families can invest in their development--they get tutoring when they are getting a B rather than when they are failing, high quality test preparation, outside college counselors etc. to keep up their academic performance and have more robust extracurriculars throughout the lifespan (e.g. played on travel leagues as kids, private music lessons in elementary) that make them more likely to be high achieving in high school. It's not that the high school is the pressure cooker, but the student body you will be compared to is more likely to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DS (currently in college) graduated from WSHS and we never had the sense of it being a very high pressure environment. If a student felt high pressure it would have come from the household, not the school itself.

The same is true at every FCPS high school. The label "pressure cooker" only gets bandied about by parents at some schools - especially West Springfield, Robinson, and Lake Braddock - to take a shot at schools in wealthier areas and suggest their own schools are the "happy medium."

I don't think the Robinson, Lake Braddock or West Springfield families really even pay attention to Woodson. Woodson is not really part of that neighborhood so it is not even on the radar of those Springfield/Burke parents to even think about, let alone have some nefarious coordinated plan to slam Woodson online.

Most likely comments about Woodson are from Woodson parents or from other schools in their general Fairfax neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DS (currently in college) graduated from WSHS and we never had the sense of it being a very high pressure environment. If a student felt high pressure it would have come from the household, not the school itself.

The same is true at every FCPS high school. The label "pressure cooker" only gets bandied about by parents at some schools - especially West Springfield, Robinson, and Lake Braddock - to take a shot at schools in wealthier areas and suggest their own schools are the "happy medium."

I think the pressure cooker concept comes more from the idea that selective colleges--including in-state publics--consider students within the context of their school for admissions. Wealthier schools tend to have students whose families can invest in their development--they get tutoring when they are getting a B rather than when they are failing, high quality test preparation, outside college counselors etc. to keep up their academic performance and have more robust extracurriculars throughout the lifespan (e.g. played on travel leagues as kids, private music lessons in elementary) that make them more likely to be high achieving in high school. It's not that the high school is the pressure cooker, but the student body you will be compared to is more likely to be.

If everything was based on maximizing the odds of getting into UVA or VT, these same families would be looking at Edison, Hayfield, or Lewis to avoid the competition that exists at West Springfield, Robinson, and Lake Braddock.

But it isn't, and they don't. Instead, they live in the West Springfield/Burke area, take pot shots at wealthier schools as "pressure cookers," and put down poorer schools as gang-ridden or too violent. It's very much about suggesting that the porridge is just the right temperature at their schools, and too hot/too cold elsewhere, and little else. It's how the DCUM game is played.

[Anonymous]

I would avoid Frost/Woodson. Lots of out of control kids -- fights at Frost and Woodson bathrooms are the most vandalized in FCPS according to an email we received last year from the principal.

[Anonymous]

Woodson is not in the same region as the others.