Woodson, Lake Braddock, West Springfield experiences

[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 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.

Not buying it. It's not like the West Springfield, Burke, and Fairfax Station neighborhoods that feed into these three schools are one neighborhood, and the areas that feed into Woodson in Fairfax, Fairfax Station, and even outside-the-Beltway Annandale are far, far away. Woodson boundaries are adjacent to both Robinson and Lake Braddock boundaries, and West Springfield is just a little further south. But some have decided that the best way to elevate your schools over Woodson is to call it a pressure cooker and/or bring up some student suicides that happened a decade or so ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 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.

Not buying it. It's not like the West Springfield, Burke, and Fairfax Station neighborhoods that feed into these three schools are one neighborhood, and the areas that feed into Woodson in Fairfax, Fairfax Station, and even outside-the-Beltway Annandale are far, far away. Woodson boundaries are adjacent to both Robinson and Lake Braddock boundaries, and West Springfield is just a little further south. But some have decided that the best way to elevate your schools over Woodson is to call it a pressure cooker and/or bring up some student suicides that happened a decade or so ago.

NP. It's a different demographic - housing prices determine whether a family picks Woodson or WSHS/LBSS/Robinson.

Other information, such as equality of test scores at WSHS or the history of the suicide cluster are important but they don't trump housing prices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 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.

Not buying it. It's not like the West Springfield, Burke, and Fairfax Station neighborhoods that feed into these three schools are one neighborhood, and the areas that feed into Woodson in Fairfax, Fairfax Station, and even outside-the-Beltway Annandale are far, far away. Woodson boundaries are adjacent to both Robinson and Lake Braddock boundaries, and West Springfield is just a little further south. But some have decided that the best way to elevate your schools over Woodson is to call it a pressure cooker and/or bring up some student suicides that happened a decade or so ago.

This is just silly.

WS and LB in particular share all of their sports leagues like SYC and little league. They overlap schools through Sangster and AAP. They have very similar military populations. There is a ton of connections, friendships and overlap between many of the students and families in those two schools, with families alternating between the 2 pyramids as they PCS in and out of the area.

No one from those schools is worried about Woodson or even has anything to contribute about Woodson. If anyone is, it would be a Woodson family or a Fairfax family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Woodson is not in the same region as the others.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 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.

Not buying it. It's not like the West Springfield, Burke, and Fairfax Station neighborhoods that feed into these three schools are one neighborhood, and the areas that feed into Woodson in Fairfax, Fairfax Station, and even outside-the-Beltway Annandale are far, far away. Woodson boundaries are adjacent to both Robinson and Lake Braddock boundaries, and West Springfield is just a little further south. But some have decided that the best way to elevate your schools over Woodson is to call it a pressure cooker and/or bring up some student suicides that happened a decade or so ago.

NP. It's a different demographic - housing prices determine whether a family picks Woodson or WSHS/LBSS/Robinson.

Other information, such as equality of test scores at WSHS or the history of the suicide cluster are important but they don't trump housing prices.

On average Woodson is more expensive but there is plenty of overlap in terms of the housing and the areas are nearby. The idea that it's some binary choice - Woodson vs. WS/LBSS/RSS - is nuts.

[Anonymous]

My kids at LBSS probably have the most other friends at Robinson and WSHS, but we still know some Woodson people. I think a fair amount of people from the surrounding area come into Burke for NCAP, Capital, and Buffas to name a few.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woodson is not in the same region as the others.

Exactly.

OP here. I'm confused by this as they are very geographically close? Like Woodson boundary is right across Braddock road, we looked at a few open houses in bounds for Woodson and West Springfield and Burke and everything was a super short drive. We are only looking at the areas of these districts that are closer to the beltway.

Is WSHS West Springfield?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woodson is not in the same region as the others.

Exactly.

OP here. I'm confused by this as they are very geographically close? Like Woodson boundary is right across Braddock road, we looked at a few open houses in bounds for Woodson and West Springfield and Burke and everything was a super short drive. We are only looking at the areas of these districts that are closer to the beltway.

Is WSHS West Springfield?

Yes.

That’s just how it is in the county. Haha

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woodson is not in the same region as the others.

Exactly.

OP here. I'm confused by this as they are very geographically close? Like Woodson boundary is right across Braddock road, we looked at a few open houses in bounds for Woodson and West Springfield and Burke and everything was a super short drive. We are only looking at the areas of these districts that are closer to the beltway.

Is WSHS West Springfield?

You're correct and only confused because one or two posters are falsely trying to suggest West Springfield (yes, WSHS), Robinson, and Lake Braddock are off in their own self-contained universe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woodson is not in the same region as the others.

Exactly.

OP here. I'm confused by this as they are very geographically close? Like Woodson boundary is right across Braddock road, we looked at a few open houses in bounds for Woodson and West Springfield and Burke and everything was a super short drive. We are only looking at the areas of these districts that are closer to the beltway.

Is WSHS West Springfield?

Historically, Woodson seems more associated with Annandale and Fairfax, and maybe Oakton, than with West Springfield and Lake Braddock. It always seemed to me that the “grouping” was WSHS, LB, Robinson, and South County, probably owing to those four school pyramids having the most military families.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I think the differentiation between the schools mentioned is silly.

We’re zoned for Robinson (and happy with it). My kids have friends going to WSHS, LBSS, and Woodson. They’re all more similar than different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I think the differentiation between the schools mentioned is silly.

We’re zoned for Robinson (and happy with it). My kids have friends going to WSHS, LBSS, and Woodson. They’re all more similar than different.

+1
I don't think of Woodson as one of the schools people think of a "pressure cooker" or wealthy anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I think the differentiation between the schools mentioned is silly.

We’re zoned for Robinson (and happy with it). My kids have friends going to WSHS, LBSS, and Woodson. They’re all more similar than different.

Right.

And there is zero LB/Robinson/WS online conspiracy to slam Woodson in school forums. It wouldn't even occur to any of those families to do that. To suggest this is pretty comical.

[Anonymous]

I’m a WSHS parent and am undoubtedly displaying my ignorance but I don’t even know where Woodson is. I assume almost every FCPS is a pressure cooker for kids let it be, but also assume much of that is self-induced by kids and parents. One of mine inflicts that pressure upon herself and the other could give zero effs (wish they could meet in the happy middle).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I think the differentiation between the schools mentioned is silly.

We’re zoned for Robinson (and happy with it). My kids have friends going to WSHS, LBSS, and Woodson. They’re all more similar than different.

True but being in different regions means they are run by completely different people in central office.

OP- every region in FCPS would be considered a single school district in most of America. It’s just that big.