How can FCPS still be rated one of the “best” in the country?

[Anonymous]

It’s about parents SES and education level. That’s not particular to FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was “best” because of the demographics of the parents, not necessarily the schools.

Agree

+1

The ciriculum within FCPS is scattered and not particularly rigorous. It’s too big

You do realize that FCPS doesn’t have its own special curriculum, right?
Every school in the state has the same curriculum.

There are state standards but FCPS has the POS that outlines what we teach in the county

I have taught in both FCPS and PWCS and trust me, it’s the same curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me first say I was raised here and went ALL THROUGH the FCPS system but that was 20+ years ago. Maybe it was cream of the crop back then but what the hell happened??!! I’ve had my kids in the school system now for 3 years and they are flailing (not just because of Covid and distance learning), class sizes get bigger every year, and teachers have been totally disappointing. It makes me mad how the stellar reputation still precedes this county but it’s simply not true anymore.

I don't think FCPS was ever the best in the country- so that should not contribute to your anger. FCPS student population has changed over the last 20 plus years. You can still get a great education in FCPS- by that I mean - prepared for college and ready to do well at a good school. I think for being such a large school district it is pretty good - especially compared to other school districts of the same size.
Things Change- and you can too- Move, go to private- or work to improve your child's education within the school or supplemental items to facilitate learning.
OR just complain on here that things are different than 20 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me first say I was raised here and went ALL THROUGH the FCPS system but that was 20+ years ago. Maybe it was cream of the crop back then but what the hell happened??!! I’ve had my kids in the school system now for 3 years and they are flailing (not just because of Covid and distance learning), class sizes get bigger every year, and teachers have been totally disappointing. It makes me mad how the stellar reputation still precedes this county but it’s simply not true anymore.

I don't think FCPS was ever the best in the country- so that should not contribute to your anger. FCPS student population has changed over the last 20 plus years. You can still get a great education in FCPS- by that I mean - prepared for college and ready to do well at a good school. I think for being such a large school district it is pretty good - especially compared to other school districts of the same size.
Things Change- and you can too- Move, go to private- or work to improve your child's education within the school or supplemental items to facilitate learning.
OR just complain on here that things are different than 20 years ago.

+1. People on here are so dramatic. Your child's success is dictated less by what school they go to and more by who is raising them. This has been proven time and time again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s “best” because it’s still better than everywhere else. It’s not a special snowflake. Every district is dealing with the same things. Less money, fewer teachers, larger classes. More demands on teachers, less teachers stick around, hire less experienced teachers.

This
And it's not a county wide best and it never was bc that's not how schools are ranked as most of the north east is not on the county system. It's school by school. And FCPS gets the accolades bc so many of their schools rank high

[Anonymous]

I can tell you that I have had many former special education students whose parents moved, and were then astonished by how bad the schools are in other places.

There are strong and weak schools everywhere. FCPS follows the SOLs, and I never heard a word about the POS in staff meetings once the SOLs were introduced.

I see a huge difference in schools due to principals, who have very little oversight and supervision by their bosses. Unless a parent or teacher wants to challenge a principal head on, they are difficult to stop. In elementary schools, once they took spelling off the report card and got rid of textbooks, things took an immediate nosedive in many places.

It’s still better than lots of places, and best where parents are involved and questioning policies. If I were in charge of a PTA, I’d ask for a general meeting where the principal explains staffing and how decisions are made, as class size has a huge effect on kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was “best” because of the demographics of the parents, not necessarily the schools.

This. I work in an urban district. It is the opposite of FCPS. High poverty, high mobility, high single-parent rate, etc. The one slice of our district that performs well is the wealthiest part. Mostly two-parent homes, educated parents, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s good in Virginia but I don’t think it was ever “best” in the country. Why would you think that?

+1

FCPS is too big to be managed properly. It's a joke.

[Anonymous]

The parents on this board want FCPS to become smaller school systems. Then taxes will skyrocket. While schools that are in smaller districts tend to be better, it is because they pay an astronomical amount in taxes. Growing up in NY, I can say FCPS is the best when it comes to LARGE districts. As a whole? My schooling was better in NY.

[Anonymous]

I think kids have changed and they way kids learn is different
And the schools need to change the way the teachers teach A major over over haul needs to be done w/ education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s “best” because it’s still better than everywhere else. It’s not a special snowflake. Every district is dealing with the same things. Less money, fewer teachers, larger classes. More demands on teachers, less teachers stick around, hire less experienced teachers.

+1. it's one of those things where the grass is not always greener on the other side. My husband's in the military so we move every couple of years and I have a student in high school, so I can tell you that FCPS is still significantly better than other places that we've lived.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was “best” because of the demographics of the parents, not necessarily the schools.

Agree

+1

The ciriculum within FCPS is scattered and not particularly rigorous. It’s too big

You do realize that FCPS doesn’t have its own special curriculum, right?
Every school in the state has the same curriculum.

There are state standards but FCPS has the POS that outlines what we teach in the county

And those follow the state standards. Students in FCPS are being taught the same things as students in LCPS or APS or Henrico or Virginia Beach. The POS's are just a reformatted document of the state standards.

[Anonymous]

It was great when the county was Republican. Liberals took over and now they are only focused on changing school names while no one gets an actual education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me first say I was raised here and went ALL THROUGH the FCPS system but that was 20+ years ago. Maybe it was cream of the crop back then but what the hell happened??!! I’ve had my kids in the school system now for 3 years and they are flailing (not just because of Covid and distance learning), class sizes get bigger every year, and teachers have been totally disappointing. It makes me mad how the stellar reputation still precedes this county but it’s simply not true anymore.

I don't think FCPS was ever the best in the country- so that should not contribute to your anger. FCPS student population has changed over the last 20 plus years. You can still get a great education in FCPS- by that I mean - prepared for college and ready to do well at a good school. I think for being such a large school district it is pretty good - especially compared to other school districts of the same size.
Things Change- and you can too- Move, go to private- or work to improve your child's education within the school or supplemental items to facilitate learning.
OR just complain on here that things are different than 20 years ago.

+1. People on here are so dramatic. Your child's success is dictated less by what school they go to and more by who is raising them. This has been proven time and time again.

+1,000,000%

[Anonymous]

The people who don't 'get it' did not understand what FCPS used to be like. I went to school here and once I saw what my children were experiencing, I could not believe how bad the school system had deteriorated. It's unbelievable.

The good news is Covid has exposed FCPS for the incredible disaster that it is. Hopefully, competent people can be elected and start to turn things around - not guaranteed though.