Seeking advice on Fairfax County Public High Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think year round schooling is ideal, especially for young minds. I love Tom Sawyer and the lazy days of summer, as do my children; however, year round schooling in ALL the schools (not just low income) should be seriously considered.

The reason for summers off, historically, was for children to work on the farm. In modern America, there are very few actual farmers who rely on their children for help during the summer months.

I do believe that once this change takes effect, many who only 'teach' for the days off (there are many), will leave the profession, and those who truly love teaching will remain.

My wife and I both teach for FCPS. We both feel the long summer break is not necessary and would prefer a modified calendar like some of our schools used to have. I would be willing to add a few more student days to the calendar. I don't see a true "year round" calendar being implemented any time soon due to the cost. The county has trouble paying (or isn't willing to pay) for the calendar we have now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for your advise and I'll return your kindness. Insulting me will not make your case any more credible either.

You also insult people with disabilities to suggest passion is a cognitive disorder. Perhaps here in lies the crux of the matter. FCPS teachers believe that the passionate love of learning warrants suspicion and what is not understood should be belittled and scorned.

At any rate the OP may not have any options besides FCPS, however, they now know what to expect and can plan accordingly.

It would still be good to hear accounts of fascinating, exciting, funny, inspiring, dramatic, life changing knowledge FCPS students will share with their parents when they return home from school today.

I sincerely hope that you are never my children's teacher.

[Anonymous]

It's sad! FCPS is grossly overrated, the students are not learning much, the schools are like the workhouses from the age of Dickens and the creative imaginations of our children are being crushed.

I feel this way also. Just rote rote rote to get through the day and on to the main event --sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for your advise and I'll return your kindness. Insulting me will not make your case any more credible either.

You also insult people with disabilities to suggest passion is a cognitive disorder. Perhaps here in lies the crux of the matter. FCPS teachers believe that the passionate love of learning warrants suspicion and what is not understood should be belittled and scorned.

At any rate the OP may not have any options besides FCPS, however, they now know what to expect and can plan accordingly.

It would still be good to hear accounts of fascinating, exciting, funny, inspiring, dramatic, life changing knowledge FCPS students will share with their parents when they return home from school today.

I sincerely hope that you are never my children's teacher.

Oh, okay!

[Anonymous]

I believe what we are seeing here, folks, is the "manic" phase.

[Anonymous]

Seriously. This person clearly has some sort of mental illness (I agree with PP that we're in the manic phase), and some poor folks have been actually engaging the ranter in a dialog.

Um, folks? Are you not able to recognize crazy when it's right in front if your face?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think year round schooling is ideal, especially for young minds. I love Tom Sawyer and the lazy days of summer, as do my children; however, year round schooling in ALL the schools (not just low income) should be seriously considered.

The reason for summers off, historically, was for children to work on the farm. In modern America, there are very few actual farmers who rely on their children for help during the summer months.

I do believe that once this change takes effect, many who only 'teach' for the days off (there are many), will leave the profession, and those who truly love teaching will remain.

My wife and I both teach for FCPS. We both feel the long summer break is not necessary and would prefer a modified calendar like some of our schools used to have. I would be willing to add a few more student days to the calendar. I don't see a true "year round" calendar being implemented any time soon due to the cost. The county has trouble paying (or isn't willing to pay) for the calendar we have now.

Me too. I think a 6-7 week summer vacation with 2-3 weeks between quarters would be fantastic. It would still work out to be the same number of days, so there wouldn't be additional costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thank you all who replied so quickly with your thoughts on specific schools in the FCPS system. We've been torn between Falls Church and Fairfax, partly because of choice and availability of good housing options. Honestly, I have two "middle of the road" kids and I'm looking for a solid school with teachers open to dialogue with well-meaning parents. Sounds like we should be able to find that in either case.

And thanks, too, to the folks who called out the Angry Ranters on my behalf.

We have a kid in Mclean who is also "middle of the road" both academically and in terms of motivation. It's a very good school, but also a bit of a pressure-cooker environment, with its share of helicopter parents.

Your "middle of the road" kids might be happier at Falls Church HS or Marshall. We're starting to wonder if we didn't err by choosing the Mclean pyramid when we moved to FFX County.

[Anonymous]

I have a MS child in FCPS. My child has some great teachers. Not all of them are passionate about their subject, but most are. DC comes home excited about school and loves to come home and talk about what went on in class. Don't assume there aren't passionate teachers in FCPS bc you've run into a few. They exist and my child is lucky enough to have quite a few.