Shrevewood/Kilmer/Marshall triangle - what is the cause of disparity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids at Marshall have plenty of friends who went to Shrevewood and they're indistinguishable in intelligence and achievement from any other other Marshall students. (Plus who's talking about where you went to elementary school in HS?) Shrevewood isn't one of the hothouse Vienna-area elementary schools, but so what, that likely means it's less overcrowded and the parents aren't as crazy. I say this as a Vienna mom whose kids went to a charming off the radar elementary that has since been turned into an AAP center to its detriment. I'd snatch up a house in the Shrevewood area if I were new to the area and could find an affordable house I like there. Your kids will do fine and be indistinguishable from the other students once they get to Kilmer. So much of this fear of being in a school that everybody isn't dying to get into is lemming-like parents who don't trust their own judgment to tell whether a school is good and don't trust their kids' intelligence. When we moved here, no one sought out our local elementary school and most parents were thrilled with its greatness being our little secret.

I think OP just wanted to understand the difference in ratings. Marshall parents can be among the most active on the DCUM real estate forum in recommending their school and warning people against other pyramids, so it's a bit odd to turn around and suggest others are "lemmings" for caring about such purportedly trivial matters.

In terms of future enrollment, FCPS has been projecting for several years that Shrevewood will be well above-capacity in a few years. If that happens, FCPS has said it may explore things like turning the old Dunn Loring ES back into an elementary school, reopening Pimmit Hills Alternative HS as an ES, etc.

I haven't seen anyone from marshall warning about other pyramids. I don't get where that comes from. It seems like there are posters on here blaming marshall parents because of their own insecurities.

[Anonymous]

Some recent examples (I have to think at least some of them written by Marshall parents/boosters, and of course there are all the RE posts recommending Pimmit Hills):

"Marshall is better than all the other schools listed so zoning for Marshall is actually a plus"

"Woodson is a good school but the location is far imo. Marshall now exceeds it and there are poor woodson apts near fair city."

"Woodson has not really gone up that much in quality because the more affluent people have moved closer into the beltway to places like 22182, 22043. The real increase in quality is Marshall which has surpassed woodson in many areas."

"I think you should try to buy in the Marshall district versus the Falls Church HS (Fairfax Co.) or JEB Stuart district."

"Make sure you look at the schools, some of merrifield / mosaic is in Falls Church High Zone while as the other part is in Marshall."

Response to question from poster about Falls Church HS: "You can send your daughter to Marshall IB."

[Anonymous]

For whatever it's worth, I think the consensus would be that Marshall is a slight upgrade over Falls Church HS.

Yes, Marshall boosterism on this forum was overbearing esp. about 1 year ago, by one incessant poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For whatever it's worth, I think the consensus would be that Marshall is a slight upgrade over Falls Church HS.

Yes, Marshall boosterism on this forum was overbearing esp. about 1 year ago, by one incessant poster.

Slight? Falls Church is one of the worst in the county vs Marshall one of the top ten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For whatever it's worth, I think the consensus would be that Marshall is a slight upgrade over Falls Church HS.

Yes, Marshall boosterism on this forum was overbearing esp. about 1 year ago, by one incessant poster.

Slight? Falls Church is one of the worst in the county vs Marshall one of the top ten.

Eye of the beholder and all that..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some recent examples (I have to think at least some of them written by Marshall parents/boosters, and of course there are all the RE posts recommending Pimmit Hills):

"Marshall is better than all the other schools listed so zoning for Marshall is actually a plus"

"Woodson is a good school but the location is far imo. Marshall now exceeds it and there are poor woodson apts near fair city."

"Woodson has not really gone up that much in quality because the more affluent people have moved closer into the beltway to places like 22182, 22043. The real increase in quality is Marshall which has surpassed woodson in many areas."

"I think you should try to buy in the Marshall district versus the Falls Church HS (Fairfax Co.) or JEB Stuart district."

"Make sure you look at the schools, some of merrifield / mosaic is in Falls Church High Zone while as the other part is in Marshall."

Response to question from poster about Falls Church HS: "You can send your daughter to Marshall IB."

Although some of these comments are a bit brash, they are all valid points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some recent examples (I have to think at least some of them written by Marshall parents/boosters, and of course there are all the RE posts recommending Pimmit Hills):

"Marshall is better than all the other schools listed so zoning for Marshall is actually a plus"

"Woodson is a good school but the location is far imo. Marshall now exceeds it and there are poor woodson apts near fair city."

"Woodson has not really gone up that much in quality because the more affluent people have moved closer into the beltway to places like 22182, 22043. The real increase in quality is Marshall which has surpassed woodson in many areas."

"I think you should try to buy in the Marshall district versus the Falls Church HS (Fairfax Co.) or JEB Stuart district."

"Make sure you look at the schools, some of merrifield / mosaic is in Falls Church High Zone while as the other part is in Marshall."

Response to question from poster about Falls Church HS: "You can send your daughter to Marshall IB."

Although some of these comments are a bit brash, they are all valid points.

Dunno about that, but not going to hijack the OP's thread to debate it. I think the thread as already developed gives her a good flavor for the area schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shrevewood has a good reputation. I wouldn't worry about rankings too much. The pool near the school is very nice and I like that neighborhood along Holly Manor Drive which is quite family friendly. Most of the houses are in-between two towns - Falls Church and Vienna, so I'm not sure what sports groups most children play in. I have friends in that are that play for Vienna, but I think most kids play for Falls Church. Kilmer's reputation will probably drop once the Cooper kids move out, but it will be a good think since the school is terribly overcrowded.

Says clueless McLean or Falls Church parent who's stuck in the early 90s, late 80s? Kilmer's problem is that it's overcrowded because it's stuffed with AAP kids from outside Vienna. Once those kids go back to schools in their own towns, don't kid yourself that Kilmer's rep will suffer. Plenty of smart AAP and non-AAP kids to go around and tons of them in Vienna boundaries. Not to mention the school has always been well-run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shrevewood has a good reputation. I wouldn't worry about rankings too much. The pool near the school is very nice and I like that neighborhood along Holly Manor Drive which is quite family friendly. Most of the houses are in-between two towns - Falls Church and Vienna, so I'm not sure what sports groups most children play in. I have friends in that are that play for Vienna, but I think most kids play for Falls Church. Kilmer's reputation will probably drop once the Cooper kids move out, but it will be a good think since the school is terribly overcrowded.

Says clueless McLean or Falls Church parent who's stuck in the early 90s, late 80s? Kilmer's problem is that it's overcrowded because it's stuffed with AAP kids from outside Vienna. Once those kids go back to schools in their own towns, don't kid yourself that Kilmer's rep will suffer. Plenty of smart AAP and non-AAP kids to go around and tons of them in Vienna boundaries. Not to mention the school has always been well-run.

Holy crap, it sounded like PP was a current Marshall pyramid parent who was just acknowledging that SOL scores might go down a little bit if Kilmer has fewer AAP students.

I don't think it will be a big deal for the school's reputation (heck, Cooper doesn't have any AAP and it has a good reputation), but you're overreacting big time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Overcrowding is definitely an issue in the area. Shrevewood had 526 kids in 2009, and now has almost 700. FCPS projects over 800 students by 2018 in a building designed for about 650.

The overcrowding at Kilmer MS is expected to be a problem as well, but FCPS can address it by moving most of the AAP kids now at Kilmer to Cooper and Thoreau.

Or, FCPS can address it by insisting the county follow rules re: illegal immigration #elephantintheroom

[Anonymous]

Kilmer has NOT always been a well-run school. I understand there's been a big change in the administrative staff, and hope it's better now, but we were not impressed.

[Anonymous]

Back to Shrevewood. It's a nice school with a good sense of community and a lot of great families. I was displeased with the academics. There is no creativity and way too much teaching to the test. I thought the academic expectations were way too low. I'm sure others will disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shrevewood has a good reputation. I wouldn't worry about rankings too much. The pool near the school is very nice and I like that neighborhood along Holly Manor Drive which is quite family friendly. Most of the houses are in-between two towns - Falls Church and Vienna, so I'm not sure what sports groups most children play in. I have friends in that are that play for Vienna, but I think most kids play for Falls Church. Kilmer's reputation will probably drop once the Cooper kids move out, but it will be a good think since the school is terribly overcrowded.

Says clueless McLean or Falls Church parent who's stuck in the early 90s, late 80s? Kilmer's problem is that it's overcrowded because it's stuffed with AAP kids from outside Vienna. Once those kids go back to schools in their own towns, don't kid yourself that Kilmer's rep will suffer. Plenty of smart AAP and non-AAP kids to go around and tons of them in Vienna boundaries. Not to mention the school has always been well-run.

Holy crap, it sounded like PP was a current Marshall pyramid parent who was just acknowledging that SOL scores might go down a little bit if Kilmer has fewer AAP students.

I don't think it will be a big deal for the school's reputation (heck, Cooper doesn't have any AAP and it has a good reputation), but you're overreacting big time.

Dipping SOL scores and reputation are two very different things. People who worry about SOL scores dipping and make school choices that way are silly. This area is crammed with smart people and the AAP label means less and less. Folks need to have some faith in their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shrevewood has a good reputation. I wouldn't worry about rankings too much. The pool near the school is very nice and I like that neighborhood along Holly Manor Drive which is quite family friendly. Most of the houses are in-between two towns - Falls Church and Vienna, so I'm not sure what sports groups most children play in. I have friends in that are that play for Vienna, but I think most kids play for Falls Church. Kilmer's reputation will probably drop once the Cooper kids move out, but it will be a good think since the school is terribly overcrowded.

Says clueless McLean or Falls Church parent who's stuck in the early 90s, late 80s? Kilmer's problem is that it's overcrowded because it's stuffed with AAP kids from outside Vienna. Once those kids go back to schools in their own towns, don't kid yourself that Kilmer's rep will suffer. Plenty of smart AAP and non-AAP kids to go around and tons of them in Vienna boundaries. Not to mention the school has always been well-run.

Holy crap, it sounded like PP was a current Marshall pyramid parent who was just acknowledging that SOL scores might go down a little bit if Kilmer has fewer AAP students.

I don't think it will be a big deal for the school's reputation (heck, Cooper doesn't have any AAP and it has a good reputation), but you're overreacting big time.

Dipping SOL scores and reputation are two very different things. People who worry about SOL scores dipping and make school choices that way are silly. This area is crammed with smart people and the AAP label means less and less. Folks need to have some faith in their kids.

Talk to 17:01, then. I still think the PP (not me) was just making the point that Kilmer's test scores may dip some if/when over half the current AAP enrollment gets sent back to Cooper. But some in-boundary Kilmer parents want that to happen sooner rather than later to relieve the overcrowding, and obviously they aren't worried that a slimmed-down Kilmer would be considered a crappy school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shrevewood has a good reputation. I wouldn't worry about rankings too much. The pool near the school is very nice and I like that neighborhood along Holly Manor Drive which is quite family friendly. Most of the houses are in-between two towns - Falls Church and Vienna, so I'm not sure what sports groups most children play in. I have friends in that are that play for Vienna, but I think most kids play for Falls Church. Kilmer's reputation will probably drop once the Cooper kids move out, but it will be a good think since the school is terribly overcrowded.

Says clueless McLean or Falls Church parent who's stuck in the early 90s, late 80s? Kilmer's problem is that it's overcrowded because it's stuffed with AAP kids from outside Vienna. Once those kids go back to schools in their own towns, don't kid yourself that Kilmer's rep will suffer. Plenty of smart AAP and non-AAP kids to go around and tons of them in Vienna boundaries. Not to mention the school has always been well-run.

12:34 again. We live in the Marshall Pyramid and I'm not worried about Cooper kids leaving the school. I'd rather it be more of a neighborhood middle school and less crowded. I have faith the AAP program will continue to be strong there. I didn't care about Haycock though either, so might be in the minority.