Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not only that, but have you look at the IB pass rate for these schools (vs South Lakes and Marshall). These schools only have only a small handful of kids who can pass an IB class. The other 750 kids in each class are screwed.

Great point!

IB pass rates (4 or better on IB exam) in school year 2014-14:
Annandale: 81.0
Edison: 80.8
Lee: 94.9
Marshall: 85.1
Mount Vernon: 75.3
Robinson: 82.2
South Lakes: 86.0
Stuart: 64.4

should say school year 2013-2014

But less than 5% of the students at Mount Vernon, Lee or Annandale get an IB diploma, while almost 25% of the Marshall kids do.

That may be, but the original statement, which was proven to be wrong, was about IB pass rate.

I meant the % of kids who passed an IB test. And it's incredibly low at these 3 schools. I could have done a better job with the phrasing, but here's the point: I support IB. I have a rising 8th grader who is looking at PP into IB, with my strong encouragement. But, I would not send DC to Lee, Annandale or Mount Vernon where he would be on of 8-15 kids serious about the program. IB isn't working in a school where less than a dozen kids (out of 700) go full diploma, because there is not a strong cohort of candidates. The program has been in schools like Lee, Mt. Vernon and Annandale for a while, and it has not improved these schools. And most kids there (in some cases 97.5%) aren't taking advantage of it. It would be better to have fewer IB programs, and make it a really strong, desireable magnet program. Oh-- and 24.5% of Marshall kids got the full IB diploma last year. That's "almost 25%"-- and a strong cohort.

Source? Marshall has a history of getting academic facts wrong. They currently state on their web page that "the GCM IB program generates more IB diploma graduates than other FCPS IB programs at schools with twice (or more) as many students," which is clearly wrong or at least misleading, since there is no school in FCPS that has more than twice as many (high school) students as GCM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not only that, but have you look at the IB pass rate for these schools (vs South Lakes and Marshall). These schools only have only a small handful of kids who can pass an IB class. The other 750 kids in each class are screwed.

Great point!

IB pass rates (4 or better on IB exam) in school year 2014-14:
Annandale: 81.0
Edison: 80.8
Lee: 94.9
Marshall: 85.1
Mount Vernon: 75.3
Robinson: 82.2
South Lakes: 86.0
Stuart: 64.4

should say school year 2013-2014

But less than 5% of the students at Mount Vernon, Lee or Annandale get an IB diploma, while almost 25% of the Marshall kids do.

That may be, but the original statement, which was proven to be wrong, was about IB pass rate.

I meant the % of kids who passed an IB test. And it's incredibly low at these 3 schools. I could have done a better job with the phrasing, but here's the point: I support IB. I have a rising 8th grader who is looking at PP into IB, with my strong encouragement. But, I would not send DC to Lee, Annandale or Mount Vernon where he would be on of 8-15 kids serious about the program. IB isn't working in a school where less than a dozen kids (out of 700) go full diploma, because there is not a strong cohort of candidates. The program has been in schools like Lee, Mt. Vernon and Annandale for a while, and it has not improved these schools. And most kids there (in some cases 97.5%) aren't taking advantage of it. It would be better to have fewer IB programs, and make it a really strong, desireable magnet program. Oh-- and 24.5% of Marshall kids got the full IB diploma last year. That's "almost 25%"-- and a strong cohort.

So 25 percent of all Marshall students pursued and achieved the full IB diploma, or did 25 percent of students who took IB classes receive the full IB diploma?

[Anonymous]

http://www.fcps.edu/cco/pr/apib/2009/apib09.pdf

Table 12. 24.6% of all Marshall grads got an IB diploma (and I'm a Marshall parent BTW-- we'd be South Lakes). Numbers also looked pretty good for Robinson, South Lakes, Edison & Stuart (Edison actually looked surprisingly good. Go figure...)

[Anonymous]

http://www.fcps.edu/cco/pr/apib/2012/table10.pdf

The above table is 2009. I found a 2012, which shows Marshall at 23.4%, and that Marshall, Robinson & South Lakes are the only schools with more than 30 (and in each case at least 70) students & 10% of the class get IB diplomas. My point is that these are schools where IB is working vs Annandale, Lee & Mt. Vernon, where less than 25 kids (less than 6%) do. AP would be better in these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing is, everyone has complaints about their high school, whether it's FCPS or another county. Whether they attended recently, or back in the 80's. High school is (generally) a universally bad experience. There will always be the rich kids, the jocks, the smart kids, etc. etc. That's what high school is! A bunch of cliques and you're lucky if you find yourself some like-minded friends. I went to school in the midwest, and all of these descriptions could have applied to my very middle-of-the-road high school.

Good luck finding the "perfect" school, because it doesn't exist. Teens are teens, the whole world over.

+1000
There's a reason movies like "The Breakfast Club" resonated with so many people. High school, generally, sucks. Those of you trying to make one particular high school or another out to be this horrible experience clearly have a significant chip on their shoulders, for whatever reason. High school, no matter where it is and no matter the demographics, will generally be a stressful experience for most kids. There are always going to be cliques, drugs, sex, mean girls, bullies, whatever. So please: those of you obsessed with tearing down certain schools, do a little soul-searching and come back to us once you've found the perfect high school. It doesn't exist.

Untrue. My high school hardly had any of those things. It was private. People like you, who believe this is normal and OK, are the reason most high schools are pits of social toxicity. Once you've experienced a place where the adults don't think it's OK, you realize that it doesn't have to be like that.

Oh, hi Bullis Mom!

Nice try - was not me/

[Anonymous]

Its time for the FCPS is not that great response

School quality is almost entirely related to SES.

Fairfax County School doesn't do anything special; areas with high SES do "better" areas with lower SES do "worse"

Its the same anywhere else in the country

ANd attention DCUM readers you are most likely SES your child is going to be fine wherever they go to high school.... yes even TC Williams

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.fcps.edu/cco/pr/apib/2009/apib09.pdf

Table 12. 24.6% of all Marshall grads got an IB diploma (and I'm a Marshall parent BTW-- we'd be South Lakes). Numbers also looked pretty good for Robinson, South Lakes, Edison & Stuart (Edison actually looked surprisingly good. Go figure...)

In 2012 only 8 percent of Stuart graduates got the IB diploma. Given how much is spent on the program I wouldn't say the numbers at Stuart look good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing is, everyone has complaints about their high school, whether it's FCPS or another county. Whether they attended recently, or back in the 80's. High school is (generally) a universally bad experience. There will always be the rich kids, the jocks, the smart kids, etc. etc. That's what high school is! A bunch of cliques and you're lucky if you find yourself some like-minded friends. I went to school in the midwest, and all of these descriptions could have applied to my very middle-of-the-road high school.

Good luck finding the "perfect" school, because it doesn't exist. Teens are teens, the whole world over.

+1000
There's a reason movies like "The Breakfast Club" resonated with so many people. High school, generally, sucks. Those of you trying to make one particular high school or another out to be this horrible experience clearly have a significant chip on their shoulders, for whatever reason. High school, no matter where it is and no matter the demographics, will generally be a stressful experience for most kids. There are always going to be cliques, drugs, sex, mean girls, bullies, whatever. So please: those of you obsessed with tearing down certain schools, do a little soul-searching and come back to us once you've found the perfect high school. It doesn't exist.

Untrue. My high school hardly had any of those things. It was private. People like you, who believe this is normal and OK, are the reason most high schools are pits of social toxicity. Once you've experienced a place where the adults don't think it's OK, you realize that it doesn't have to be like that.

Not the PP, but obviously s/he wasn't saying it's good that high school is like that or that she was ok with bad behavior! She's simply saying that blaming one (or a handful) of schools for problems that are universal to all, is incredibly childish. If you know of this perfect, utopian high school, please do let us know. It doesn't exist. There will always be someone who has had a terrible experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My point is that these are schools where IB is working vs Annandale, Lee & Mt. Vernon, where less than 25 kids (less than 6%) do. AP would be better in these schools.

How many courses are required for the IB Diploma? (Let's call it x.)

What are the number of students taking x AP courses in the high schools offering AP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its time for the FCPS is not that great response

School quality is almost entirely related to SES.

Fairfax County School doesn't do anything special; areas with high SES do "better" areas with lower SES do "worse"

Its the same anywhere else in the country

ANd attention DCUM readers you are most likely SES your child is going to be fine wherever they go to high school.... yes even TC Williams

Somewhat true, but I know people who have moved from their lily white higher-SES neighborhoods in Loudoun due to how much more bare bones their school system. School systems that skate by on a high-SES population and offer no enrichment whatsoever are not good, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My point is that these are schools where IB is working vs Annandale, Lee & Mt. Vernon, where less than 25 kids (less than 6%) do. AP would be better in these schools.

How many courses are required for the IB Diploma? (Let's call it x.)

What are the number of students taking x AP courses in the high schools offering AP?

6-- but some are 2 years long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing is, everyone has complaints about their high school, whether it's FCPS or another county. Whether they attended recently, or back in the 80's. High school is (generally) a universally bad experience. There will always be the rich kids, the jocks, the smart kids, etc. etc. That's what high school is! A bunch of cliques and you're lucky if you find yourself some like-minded friends. I went to school in the midwest, and all of these descriptions could have applied to my very middle-of-the-road high school.

Good luck finding the "perfect" school, because it doesn't exist. Teens are teens, the whole world over.

+1000
There's a reason movies like "The Breakfast Club" resonated with so many people. High school, generally, sucks. Those of you trying to make one particular high school or another out to be this horrible experience clearly have a significant chip on their shoulders, for whatever reason. High school, no matter where it is and no matter the demographics, will generally be a stressful experience for most kids. There are always going to be cliques, drugs, sex, mean girls, bullies, whatever. So please: those of you obsessed with tearing down certain schools, do a little soul-searching and come back to us once you've found the perfect high school. It doesn't exist.

Untrue. My high school hardly had any of those things. It was private. People like you, who believe this is normal and OK, are the reason most high schools are pits of social toxicity. Once you've experienced a place where the adults don't think it's OK, you realize that it doesn't have to be like that.

Not the PP, but obviously s/he wasn't saying it's good that high school is like that or that she was ok with bad behavior! She's simply saying that blaming one (or a handful) of schools for problems that are universal to all, is incredibly childish. If you know of this perfect, utopian high school, please do let us know. It doesn't exist. There will always be someone who has had a terrible experience.

+1
Such a shame when a few malcontents try to smear an entire school.