what are the best elementary schools in Fairfax Co?

[Anonymous]

Are you nuts?:

"Honestly, I'd rely on GreatSchools rankings, as imperfect as they may be, before paying attention to posts by parents who purport to know what are "widely considered" to be the best schools. People make this stuff up to suit their own purposes. "



OP: as you can see, this rabid forum takes great pride in NOT answering a basic question and then go on to obfuscate, confuse and throw in new data to make up things.

If you read CAREFULLY - you will see that the link I put up is one of the HIGHEST awards a school can get.

- That list is pretty legit and I think you should seriously consider those school - in addition to some mentioned here eg: Spring Hill.

To Others: Happy Barking.

[Anonymous]

West gate is also awesome

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you nuts?:

"Honestly, I'd rely on GreatSchools rankings, as imperfect as they may be, before paying attention to posts by parents who purport to know what are "widely considered" to be the best schools. People make this stuff up to suit their own purposes. "



OP: as you can see, this rabid forum takes great pride in NOT answering a basic question and then go on to obfuscate, confuse and throw in new data to make up things.

If you read CAREFULLY - you will see that the link I put up is one of the HIGHEST awards a school can get.

- That list is pretty legit and I think you should seriously consider those school - in addition to some mentioned here eg: Spring Hill.

To Others: Happy Barking.

GreatSchools does a good job of crunching the standardized test scores on state-mandated tests and converting the results into numerical rankings from 1-10. These rankings can be distinguished from the parent reviews on GreatSchools, which are random and not very objective.

[Anonymous]

Great schools says Haycock has 677 enrolled. That's wrong. Actual enrollment now is 858. The school's capacity is 579. The entire 5th & 6th grade classes are spent in trailers. Current 1st grade classes have 28 kids with no teaching assistant. Next year they'll have 30+ kids in the 1st grade classes.

[Anonymous]

Great schools says Haycock has 677 enrolled. That's wrong. Actual enrollment now is 858. The school's capacity is 579. The entire 5th & 6th grade classes are spent in trailers. Current 1st grade classes have 28 kids with no teaching assistant. Next year they'll have 30+ kids in the 1st grade classes.

[Anonymous]

That may be true but we visited the school at it was the best run school we have seen. They know how to manage the classrooms. There is a reason everyone wants in at Haycock despite the larger class sizes. They get it right.

Anonymous wrote:Great schools says Haycock has 677 enrolled. That's wrong. Actual enrollment now is 858. The school's capacity is 579. The entire 5th & 6th grade classes are spent in trailers. Current 1st grade classes have 28 kids with no teaching assistant. Next year they'll have 30+ kids in the 1st grade classes.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely true-- Haycock will easily be 300+ over capacity next year. In a couple years it'll be a live construction zone. Public schools all over Northern VA have been pushed beyond the capacity of their old, un-renovated facilities. That trend will continue exponentially over the next 10 years. That's not on greatschools

[Anonymous]

my boy is at Haycock AAP now and we love it! I dont know how they manage it with so many kids -- they are doing a fantastic job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true-- Haycock will easily be 300+ over capacity next year. In a couple years it'll be a live construction zone. Public schools all over Northern VA have been pushed beyond the capacity of their old, un-renovated facilities. That trend will continue exponentially over the next 10 years. That's not on greatschools

The reason Haycock is so over capacity is that parents who are determined to send their kid to TJ flock to it because the Haycock Longfellow feeder sends the highest number of students to TJ. It has the highest concentration of tiger moms in the district, which could be good or bad depending on your preferences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true-- Haycock will easily be 300+ over capacity next year. In a couple years it'll be a live construction zone. Public schools all over Northern VA have been pushed beyond the capacity of their old, un-renovated facilities. That trend will continue exponentially over the next 10 years. That's not on greatschools

The reason Haycock is so over capacity is that parents who are determined to send their kid to TJ flock to it because the Haycock Longfellow feeder sends the highest number of students to TJ. It has the highest concentration of tiger moms in the district, which could be good or bad depending on your preferences.

+1

Highly accurate DCUM post

[Anonymous]

So it's okay or even seen as positive that the school is so overcrowded and run down?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So it's okay or even seen as positive that the school is so overcrowded and run down?

It's not "run down" at all. We have been there a number of times, including just yesterday, and the facilities are fine. It's certainly crowded, but I'm not sure that it's any worse than many other Fairfax elementary schools in that regard, and I have seen many of them. There are lots of FCPS elementary schools that are just as overcrowded and that have trailers, but they don't have the outstanding reputation that Haycock has.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So it's okay or even seen as positive that the school is so overcrowded and run down?

I think it depends on how the school manages it. Sounds like Haycock handles it well.

I have been impressed with Churchill. It is also a good school that is bursting at the seams. It is a big school that doesn't feel like a big school.

[Anonymous]

Link to Haycock PTA overcrowding talking points memo from 2009
http://haycockpta.org/files/Haycocks_overcrowding_talking_points.pdf

Link to the May 2009 Mclean Connections newspaper includes an article on page 4 of the pdf. titled. Haycock Elementary Looks for Relief: PTA at old, overcrowded, un-renovated school demand answers" The problems have only worsened since 2009.
http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2009/052009/McLean.pdf

Another article
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2007/jan/24/parents-oppose-boundary-change-adjustment/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true-- Haycock will easily be 300+ over capacity next year. In a couple years it'll be a live construction zone. Public schools all over Northern VA have been pushed beyond the capacity of their old, un-renovated facilities. That trend will continue exponentially over the next 10 years. That's not on greatschools

The reason Haycock is so over capacity is that parents who are determined to send their kid to TJ flock to it because the Haycock Longfellow feeder sends the highest number of students to TJ. It has the highest concentration of tiger moms in the district, which could be good or bad depending on your preferences.

I believe Rachel Carson MS sends the most to TJ.