Drawbacks: Meridian High School—FCCPS

[Anonymous]

I’ve looked through older posts and it seems that people consistently like FCC public schools and the middle/high school. Is there anything to know/drawbacks? Is it overcrowded? Are there fights? How do they do with IEP/neurodiversity support?

We’re in DCPS with late elementary school kids and we’re out growing our house and I can’t suffer through the DC charter lottery anxiety. All to say, we’ll be moving before high school for sure and probably middle with two kids, one ND (adhd, anxiety) and one NT.

Thoughts good and bad?

[Anonymous]

Hopefully some DCPS to FCCPS parents can offer advice here. In general, if you search back in the forums, there have been some concerns over new students entering into FCCPS in the higher grades. It is a small town and small school district where most kids know each other so it can be hard socially.

At the high school level, the school is in a sports conference for smaller schools; they play against schools of a similar size quite a distance from Falls Church.

With a smaller population, there are fewer electives than larger districts, which is why FCPS contracts out to neighboring Arlington County for certain technical education electives.

FCPS is also an International Baccalaureate school district.

In general, the Falls Church public schools have a stellar reputation, so if you are okay with the limitations, you should be very happy.

[Anonymous]

^Couple typos. FCPS should be “FCCPS”

[Anonymous]

FCCPS has an IB curriculum, without AP classes or AP tests. Some families will prefer the IB curriculum with its portfolio approach.

However, we are not as keen on the IB curriculum approach. We have lived overseas, so we really do understand IB. We would prefer AP over IB.

This is really about which approach one thinks is best for one’s own DC. Some kids will perform better with IB, others better with AP. Pick whichever makes sense for your DC.

[Anonymous]

FCCPS is very small, as you can see by reading old posts. This is good and bad as others have said.

The small will not only affect electives. If your kids take upper level classes there may be one section and it can be hard to fit it in a schedule, depending on their other choices. Yes, the class can be big on any given year or very tiny. This is the downside of being a small district.

FCCPS will undergo a lot of changes. The superintendent is new and so are a lot of others in CO. The last one was there for many years and none of us know the direction the new superintendent will want to take FCCPS. All come with their own priorities and initiatives.

Personally, I would pick FCPS because it is larger and has more options for your kids. But I also prefer AP over IB.

[Anonymous]

I've heard conflicting things about special needs support - some people say it's great and others say it's lacking because it's such a small school system. I would reach out to the school directly, and if you can join some of the local message boards, see if you can find parents to talk to.

Note - it has a VERY small town feel in that the kids have been together since K and can be very exclusive. We know two minority families (one hispanic and one Indian) that took their children out of FCCPS schools due to bullying - there is a small minority population, but it's not as diverse as FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Have you thought about the B-CC school pyramid in MCPS, just across the DC line? Just note that all the boundaries are changing there. (Similarly FCPS is going through a massive boundary rezoning process.)

That’s one benefit of FCCPS—no boundary changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you thought about the B-CC school pyramid in MCPS, just across the DC line? Just note that all the boundaries are changing there. (Similarly FCPS is going through a massive boundary rezoning process.)

That’s one benefit of FCCPS—no boundary changes.

OP I’ll look at this. Others: thanks for the feedback

[Anonymous]

Many drawbacks - only IB, limited course offerings, limited clubs and sports, very small and insular community, not diverse, huge commercial development right next to the school.

[Anonymous]

Those who are saying FCCPS/Meridian does not offer AP classes are incorrect. Both IB and AP are available; students who choose not to do the full IB diploma (which is usually about 85% of the graduating class) can mix and match as they wish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those who are saying FCCPS/Meridian does not offer AP classes are incorrect. Both IB and AP are available; students who choose not to do the full IB diploma (which is usually about 85% of the graduating class) can mix and match as they wish.

You can look at their course offerings. They do not offer many AP courses. The offerings are very very limited. It is an IB school.

[Anonymous]

^ a quick Google search found their program of studies. I’m not going to go through it to count the AP vs. IB classes but someone else can.

https://www.fccps.org/o/mhs/page/program-of-studies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ a quick Google search found their program of studies. I’m not going to go through it to count the AP vs. IB classes but someone else can.

https://www.fccps.org/o/mhs/page/program-of-studies

They offer 3 AP classes.

AP Comp Sci
AP Calc
AP Us Govt

Please someone correct if I missed any.

It is an IB school, which is fine.

As a comparison point, the typical non-IB large public high schools in NoVa offer every AP course that exists.

[Anonymous]

5 AP classes-Comp A and Spanish are the other 2

[Anonymous]

I'd recommend North Arlington over Falls Church City. Both Yorktown and especially W-L are stronger academically with much larger and more diverse student populations. But the overall school system is nowhere near the behemoth size of Fairfax.