Anyone know what is going on a Woodson?

[Anonymous]

You really think a guidance counselor with hundreds of students is going to be able to properly guide students? They may give some helpful information or talk to a student if a student comes to them, but they aren't going out of their way to encourage kids to take classes well above their comfort zone. They may encourage kids take some AP classes, but I don't think they're the ones encouraging kids to take 5 plus AP's.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I have some friends whose kids go to Woodson. They've told me that the environment there is like a pressure cooker. Because the school is known for its high test scores, it's ingrained in the culture that it is very important that it be maintained. Test scores are everything.

That doesn't stand up to the logic test. If that were true, then schools like Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton and others in the DMV area would also have a lot of suicides... but as far as I know, they don't. Something is going on. I suspect that when it happens once, there is a sense that it's a possibility for other kids. But, something needs to be done.

It's not just because they have a good test record. According to the students I've spoken with, it's the over the top culture of perfectionism and lofty standards, specific to Woodson's administration.

I do not doubt this. My daughter was brought to near emotional collapse at another FFX Cty school due to what she called, her inability to please staff and impossibly high standards. No matter what she did, no matter how high her grades were (and she was a straight A student), she felt as if they wanted her to do more and more and more. The administration of these high schools care only about their numbers it seems.

Agree.

No tragedy fails to bring out Bullis Mom and her gripes against Langley, based on her daughter's one year there (which was five or six years ago). Sigh.

Stop. Just stop.

No. It's Bullis Mom who needs to stop trying to make everything about her. That act - which centers around spreading a narrative about Langley that no one else with kids there recognized - got tired years ago and has not aged well.

It's not about me, you moron. When I see yet another area child has taken his life, it breaks my heart in a million pieces. And if I can do something to help, I damn well will. SO STFU.

Not the PP, but it is most certainly "about you," or at least, you'd like it to be. You're like an ambulance chaser. As soon as you sniff out the word "suicide," you're off and running on DCUM, telling whomever will bother to listen to you that these kids took their lives because of "school pressure." You clearly don't have the slightest inkling of what causes clinical depression and the myriad reasons someone might choose to take their life. Newsflash: IT ISN'T ALL ABOUT SCHOOL. Those with mental illnesses find it difficult and often impossible to climb out of their blackness, and school pressure certainly adds to that. But you do realize teenaged suicides occur everywhere, right? Not just in our little DC area bubble. Mental illness is the cause - you can't possibly simplify it down to "school pressure." There's so much more to it than that, and to act like you and you alone are on some sort of perverted crusade to "save" these kids from depression is the height of hubris. Your kid had a bad experience (though it sounds completely exaggerated and made up, FYI). Stop extrapolating her experience onto the lives of thousands of other kids - most of whom handle stress in vastly different ways than the few who decide to take their lives.

Do some reading on mental health. And stop posting about your one-off experience as if teenage angst somehow equals depression. You're incredibly tiresome.

Blame the catch-all mental illness label if you must. It takes the responsibility off everyone and everything. It's easy. I get it. I've bolded your own point, which you seemed to have missed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You really think a guidance counselor with hundreds of students is going to be able to properly guide students? They may give some helpful information or talk to a student if a student comes to them, but they aren't going out of their way to encourage kids to take classes well above their comfort zone. They may encourage kids take some AP classes, but I don't think they're the ones encouraging kids to take 5 plus AP's.

And you've just hit a major point. Think about what you said.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:^^^ that's not the teachers fault. How often do you hear parents on this thread spouting off about merit pay for teachers. Teachers who produce get better pay. Well how the hell is that measured? Oh that's right! Test scores.
Check out the thread on Hayfield. Bunch of a$$holes talking about how terrible Lee, Annandale, Stuart etc... are. They would never send their kids to a GS 5! Well, pick your poison. You want your property values, I guess some eggs get cracked in that omelette. God forbid you don't have a big enough "peer" group.
Quit blaming the administration and teachers. Or move ffs. You don't like the culture of that GS 10 school? Well honey, there are a bunch of 5's right down the road.

Much easier to spout off about how great her $40,000 private was.

Sweetheart- my kid is slated to go to a very undesirable high school, as per these threads. The only people who have my sympathy in these scenarios are the kids. You parents are the worst.

Exactly. Do you think it was my first choice to pay big money to send my three kids to private high schools? I was quite happy with the elementary and middle school so I'm not the private school 'snob' these folk want to make me out to be. It ended up being a necessity because it is my KIDS that mattered. Your child will probably do fine in the 'undesirable' school because you get it.

Who put a gun to your head and made you live in Great Falls and send your kids to Langley? If it was so horrible, you could have pupil placed them to South Lakes or Marshall. Easier to spend hundreds of thousands on privates, I guess, and then come on here railing against people trying to do their best at the public schools or the "illegal children" who attend them.

THIS. We live in Great Falls and our kids attend Langley. They are happy and enjoy school. But if they didn't? We would do exactly as the PP suggested and pupil place for South Lakes or Marshall. What's the point of spending so much money on privates that cultivate the same - or WORSE - culture of competitiveness? Why wouldn't you place your child in a less competitive school if they were feeling pressure?

All privates are not alike. If you tried to pupil place in South Lakes because your kid was not happy or thriving at Langley, you would be put in the Non-IB program and if your kid was smart, the principal would tell you it was not a good idea. You have to start IB Freshman year.

I hear this a lot from fellow Great Falls people. They have the big house, expensive cars, large diamonds, take multiple expensive vacations, but when it comes to their kids, they think private school as an alternative is a waste. That's your choice. There are a lot more unhappy kids than you think at Langley, and other competitive publics, but they are loathe to talk about it with what they feel are unsympathetic adults.

Coming from a Jewish family, education is very important to us. Jews studied even in concentration camps, and have always equated education and survival. Perhaps that makes me particularly attuned to whether or not my kids enjoy learning, rather than just going through the motions. My boys attended a private many here either have never heard of, or if they have, make fun of. Too bad, because they are missing out.

The fact is, Fairfax county schools have been going downhill and a lot of that is due to the school board and the way our tax dollars are spent.

You absolutely can pupil place into an IB school after 9th grade and still get an IB diploma. Bullis Mom makes stuff up to support her elitist, anti-public school narrative. And shame on her invoking concentration camps, while complaining in many posts about our taxes being spent on "illegals."

Nothing she has to offer will improve the lives of any children other than her own, and her constant need to take credit for having done so in threads dealing with teen suicides is sickening.

[Anonymous]

Wow. It is really distasteful to come to a thread about a suicide at Woodson, and find that it has devolved it Bullis mom vs anti-Bullis mom. You are both disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. It is really distasteful to come to a thread about a suicide at Woodson, and find that it has devolved it Bullis mom vs anti-Bullis mom. You are both disgusting.

+100 how about start your own threads the two of you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:^^^ that's not the teachers fault. How often do you hear parents on this thread spouting off about merit pay for teachers. Teachers who produce get better pay. Well how the hell is that measured? Oh that's right! Test scores.
Check out the thread on Hayfield. Bunch of a$$holes talking about how terrible Lee, Annandale, Stuart etc... are. They would never send their kids to a GS 5! Well, pick your poison. You want your property values, I guess some eggs get cracked in that omelette. God forbid you don't have a big enough "peer" group.
Quit blaming the administration and teachers. Or move ffs. You don't like the culture of that GS 10 school? Well honey, there are a bunch of 5's right down the road.

Much easier to spout off about how great her $40,000 private was.

Sweetheart- my kid is slated to go to a very undesirable high school, as per these threads. The only people who have my sympathy in these scenarios are the kids. You parents are the worst.

Exactly. Do you think it was my first choice to pay big money to send my three kids to private high schools? I was quite happy with the elementary and middle school so I'm not the private school 'snob' these folk want to make me out to be. It ended up being a necessity because it is my KIDS that mattered. Your child will probably do fine in the 'undesirable' school because you get it.

Who put a gun to your head and made you live in Great Falls and send your kids to Langley? If it was so horrible, you could have pupil placed them to South Lakes or Marshall. Easier to spend hundreds of thousands on privates, I guess, and then come on here railing against people trying to do their best at the public schools or the "illegal children" who attend them.

THIS. We live in Great Falls and our kids attend Langley. They are happy and enjoy school. But if they didn't? We would do exactly as the PP suggested and pupil place for South Lakes or Marshall. What's the point of spending so much money on privates that cultivate the same - or WORSE - culture of competitiveness? Why wouldn't you place your child in a less competitive school if they were feeling pressure?

All privates are not alike. If you tried to pupil place in South Lakes because your kid was not happy or thriving at Langley, you would be put in the Non-IB program and if your kid was smart, the principal would tell you it was not a good idea. You have to start IB Freshman year.

I hear this a lot from fellow Great Falls people. They have the big house, expensive cars, large diamonds, take multiple expensive vacations, but when it comes to their kids, they think private school as an alternative is a waste. That's your choice. There are a lot more unhappy kids than you think at Langley, and other competitive publics, but they are loathe to talk about it with what they feel are unsympathetic adults.

Coming from a Jewish family, education is very important to us. Jews studied even in concentration camps, and have always equated education and survival. Perhaps that makes me particularly attuned to whether or not my kids enjoy learning, rather than just going through the motions. My boys attended a private many here either have never heard of, or if they have, make fun of. Too bad, because they are missing out.

The fact is, Fairfax county schools have been going downhill and a lot of that is due to the school board and the way our tax dollars are spent.

You absolutely can pupil place into an IB school after 9th grade and still get an IB diploma. Bullis Mom makes stuff up to support her elitist, anti-public school narrative. And shame on her invoking concentration camps, while complaining in many posts about our taxes being spent on "illegals."

Nothing she has to offer will improve the lives of any children other than her own, and her constant need to take credit for having done so in threads dealing with teen suicides is sickening.

Prove it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ that's not the teachers fault. How often do you hear parents on this thread spouting off about merit pay for teachers. Teachers who produce get better pay. Well how the hell is that measured? Oh that's right! Test scores.
Check out the thread on Hayfield. Bunch of a$$holes talking about how terrible Lee, Annandale, Stuart etc... are. They would never send their kids to a GS 5! Well, pick your poison. You want your property values, I guess some eggs get cracked in that omelette. God forbid you don't have a big enough "peer" group.
Quit blaming the administration and teachers. Or move ffs. You don't like the culture of that GS 10 school? Well honey, there are a bunch of 5's right down the road.

Much easier to spout off about how great her $40,000 private was.

Sweetheart- my kid is slated to go to a very undesirable high school, as per these threads. The only people who have my sympathy in these scenarios are the kids. You parents are the worst.

Exactly. Do you think it was my first choice to pay big money to send my three kids to private high schools? I was quite happy with the elementary and middle school so I'm not the private school 'snob' these folk want to make me out to be. It ended up being a necessity because it is my KIDS that mattered. Your child will probably do fine in the 'undesirable' school because you get it.

Who put a gun to your head and made you live in Great Falls and send your kids to Langley? If it was so horrible, you could have pupil placed them to South Lakes or Marshall. Easier to spend hundreds of thousands on privates, I guess, and then come on here railing against people trying to do their best at the public schools or the "illegal children" who attend them.

THIS. We live in Great Falls and our kids attend Langley. They are happy and enjoy school. But if they didn't? We would do exactly as the PP suggested and pupil place for South Lakes or Marshall. What's the point of spending so much money on privates that cultivate the same - or WORSE - culture of competitiveness? Why wouldn't you place your child in a less competitive school if they were feeling pressure?

All privates are not alike. If you tried to pupil place in South Lakes because your kid was not happy or thriving at Langley, you would be put in the Non-IB program and if your kid was smart, the principal would tell you it was not a good idea. You have to start IB Freshman year.

I hear this a lot from fellow Great Falls people. They have the big house, expensive cars, large diamonds, take multiple expensive vacations, but when it comes to their kids, they think private school as an alternative is a waste. That's your choice. There are a lot more unhappy kids than you think at Langley, and other competitive publics, but they are loathe to talk about it with what they feel are unsympathetic adults.

Coming from a Jewish family, education is very important to us. Jews studied even in concentration camps, and have always equated education and survival. Perhaps that makes me particularly attuned to whether or not my kids enjoy learning, rather than just going through the motions. My boys attended a private many here either have never heard of, or if they have, make fun of. Too bad, because they are missing out.

The fact is, Fairfax county schools have been going downhill and a lot of that is due to the school board and the way our tax dollars are spent.

So wait a minute. Aside from your obsession with the size of other women's diamonds, you keep claiming that privates (specifically Bullis, of course) are the panacea for "unhappy kids." No mention of all of the wealth on constant display at these privates - wealth that far exceeds what one finds at even the "best" publics. You complain about the competitive parents at FCPS high schools, but no mention at all of the same type of parents who populate private schools. Why is this? Why do you think privates - specifically Bullis - are so much healthier and lower-stress for kids? Hint: they're not. You're simply paying a fortune to happily be lulled into feeling like your kids are not under the academic and social pressure you claim they would be at a public. You're so full of it.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I have some friends whose kids go to Woodson. They've told me that the environment there is like a pressure cooker. Because the school is known for its high test scores, it's ingrained in the culture that it is very important that it be maintained. Test scores are everything.

That doesn't stand up to the logic test. If that were true, then schools like Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton and others in the DMV area would also have a lot of suicides... but as far as I know, they don't. Something is going on. I suspect that when it happens once, there is a sense that it's a possibility for other kids. But, something needs to be done.

It's not just because they have a good test record. According to the students I've spoken with, it's the over the top culture of perfectionism and lofty standards, specific to Woodson's administration.

I do not doubt this. My daughter was brought to near emotional collapse at another FFX Cty school due to what she called, her inability to please staff and impossibly high standards. No matter what she did, no matter how high her grades were (and she was a straight A student), she felt as if they wanted her to do more and more and more. The administration of these high schools care only about their numbers it seems.

Agree.

No tragedy fails to bring out Bullis Mom and her gripes against Langley, based on her daughter's one year there (which was five or six years ago). Sigh.

Stop. Just stop.

No. It's Bullis Mom who needs to stop trying to make everything about her. That act - which centers around spreading a narrative about Langley that no one else with kids there recognized - got tired years ago and has not aged well.

It's not about me, you moron. When I see yet another area child has taken his life, it breaks my heart in a million pieces. And if I can do something to help, I damn well will. SO STFU.

Oh, Linda. It is always, always, always about you. Do you really think that isn't clear to everyone by now?

Naming her was unnecessary. Also, the original post she wrote said nothing about Langley, she only said she had a bad experience with another FCPS school. No bad mouthing of Langley directly. Multiple Langley parents then pointed out she was referring to Langley. Her experience is her experience. If you guys had just ignored the post, I doubt many people would have a clue the school was Langley. Maybe her posts are frustrating given the time that has elapsed, but you guys really are helping to fuel this by pointing out the school she's referring to, and now posting her name. I get your frustration, but I would say step back a little and don't engage in this back and forth. Maybe if she had named the school herself, I could see posting a different perspective.

Agree. I don't have any experience with Langley, so I don't know if any of this is true with regard to that school. It is true for other FCPS schools though, so it's worth discussing. And again, she didn't say anything about Langley. I don't even know how you recognized it was her, to be honest.

We recognized her because she has been around for a very long time, always with the same bizarre story about her daughter and claims that scores of teens confide in her about their school "trauma." She will seize any opportunity to badmouth Langley, and the fact that she didn't name the school only shows that she has been warned by Jeff in the past, and in fact, banned from this site at times because of her over the top obsession with the school. If it was your school she was constantly badmouthing, you would feel the same frustration and disgust.

I'm badmouthing the horrible culture we've created in a lot of the DC area, how weak most of the school board is and how they simply want to push an agenda, how our tax dollars are used, and how students feel like they aren't heard. There have been many people on the verge of suicide who say that one smile, on sympathetic ear, one 'how can I help' made them think twice about killing themselves. Isn't that what we all should be doing - being kind every day? Maybe letting someone in front of you in line who is struggling with a screaming child? Letting someone with their blinker on into your lane? Approaching someone visibly upset and asking how you can help?

I think you have an unhealthy obsession with trying to protect Langley. I didn't name the school because it wasn't pertinent to the conversation in this case. Langley itself isn't the problem, it was simply our problemm and we fixed that problem based on what worked for our family. What I did discover, what IS pertinent is we clearly have an issue in our school system. The boy's friend said specifically why he feels the suicide happened, and I am going to listen to that voice. We need to listen to these kids, not make up our own reason as a means of rationalizing our own fears, or trying to place blame on parents who lost their child.

Glad you finally admit that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You really think a guidance counselor with hundreds of students is going to be able to properly guide students? They may give some helpful information or talk to a student if a student comes to them, but they aren't going out of their way to encourage kids to take classes well above their comfort zone. They may encourage kids take some AP classes, but I don't think they're the ones encouraging kids to take 5 plus AP's.

Exactly. We regularly get emails from school instructing parents to wisely counsel their kids about NOT taking too many APs. There is constant information about how much work AP classes entail and to be sure students aren't overloading on those classes. No one has ever encouraged or insisted students take more than they can handle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have some friends whose kids go to Woodson. They've told me that the environment there is like a pressure cooker. Because the school is known for its high test scores, it's ingrained in the culture that it is very important that it be maintained. Test scores are everything.

That doesn't stand up to the logic test. If that were true, then schools like Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton and others in the DMV area would also have a lot of suicides... but as far as I know, they don't. Something is going on. I suspect that when it happens once, there is a sense that it's a possibility for other kids. But, something needs to be done.

It's not just because they have a good test record. According to the students I've spoken with, it's the over the top culture of perfectionism and lofty standards, specific to Woodson's administration.

I do not doubt this. My daughter was brought to near emotional collapse at another FFX Cty school due to what she called, her inability to please staff and impossibly high standards. No matter what she did, no matter how high her grades were (and she was a straight A student), she felt as if they wanted her to do more and more and more. The administration of these high schools care only about their numbers it seems.

Agree.

No tragedy fails to bring out Bullis Mom and her gripes against Langley, based on her daughter's one year there (which was five or six years ago). Sigh.

Stop. Just stop.

No. It's Bullis Mom who needs to stop trying to make everything about her. That act - which centers around spreading a narrative about Langley that no one else with kids there recognized - got tired years ago and has not aged well.

It's not about me, you moron. When I see yet another area child has taken his life, it breaks my heart in a million pieces. And if I can do something to help, I damn well will. SO STFU.

Oh, Linda. It is always, always, always about you. Do you really think that isn't clear to everyone by now?

Naming her was unnecessary. Also, the original post she wrote said nothing about Langley, she only said she had a bad experience with another FCPS school. No bad mouthing of Langley directly. Multiple Langley parents then pointed out she was referring to Langley. Her experience is her experience. If you guys had just ignored the post, I doubt many people would have a clue the school was Langley. Maybe her posts are frustrating given the time that has elapsed, but you guys really are helping to fuel this by pointing out the school she's referring to, and now posting her name. I get your frustration, but I would say step back a little and don't engage in this back and forth. Maybe if she had named the school herself, I could see posting a different perspective.

Agree. I don't have any experience with Langley, so I don't know if any of this is true with regard to that school. It is true for other FCPS schools though, so it's worth discussing. And again, she didn't say anything about Langley. I don't even know how you recognized it was her, to be honest.

We recognized her because she has been around for a very long time, always with the same bizarre story about her daughter and claims that scores of teens confide in her about their school "trauma." She will seize any opportunity to badmouth Langley, and the fact that she didn't name the school only shows that she has been warned by Jeff in the past, and in fact, banned from this site at times because of her over the top obsession with the school. If it was your school she was constantly badmouthing, you would feel the same frustration and disgust.

I'm badmouthing the horrible culture we've created in a lot of the DC area, how weak most of the school board is and how they simply want to push an agenda, how our tax dollars are used, and how students feel like they aren't heard. There have been many people on the verge of suicide who say that one smile, on sympathetic ear, one 'how can I help' made them think twice about killing themselves. Isn't that what we all should be doing - being kind every day? Maybe letting someone in front of you in line who is struggling with a screaming child? Letting someone with their blinker on into your lane? Approaching someone visibly upset and asking how you can help?

I think you have an unhealthy obsession with trying to protect Langley. I didn't name the school because it wasn't pertinent to the conversation in this case. Langley itself isn't the problem, it was simply our problemm and we fixed that problem based on what worked for our family. What I did discover, what IS pertinent is we clearly have an issue in our school system. The boy's friend said specifically why he feels the suicide happened, and I am going to listen to that voice. We need to listen to these kids, not make up our own reason as a means of rationalizing our own fears, or trying to place blame on parents who lost their child.

Glad you finally admit that.

I've always said it was a larger problem though the principal and administration at large is a huge issue. And teachers who
Overload. Ask yourself why you are so invested in Langley - what are trying to protect?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ that's not the teachers fault. How often do you hear parents on this thread spouting off about merit pay for teachers. Teachers who produce get better pay. Well how the hell is that measured? Oh that's right! Test scores.
Check out the thread on Hayfield. Bunch of a$$holes talking about how terrible Lee, Annandale, Stuart etc... are. They would never send their kids to a GS 5! Well, pick your poison. You want your property values, I guess some eggs get cracked in that omelette. God forbid you don't have a big enough "peer" group.
Quit blaming the administration and teachers. Or move ffs. You don't like the culture of that GS 10 school? Well honey, there are a bunch of 5's right down the road.

Much easier to spout off about how great her $40,000 private was.

Sweetheart- my kid is slated to go to a very undesirable high school, as per these threads. The only people who have my sympathy in these scenarios are the kids. You parents are the worst.

Exactly. Do you think it was my first choice to pay big money to send my three kids to private high schools? I was quite happy with the elementary and middle school so I'm not the private school 'snob' these folk want to make me out to be. It ended up being a necessity because it is my KIDS that mattered. Your child will probably do fine in the 'undesirable' school because you get it.

Who put a gun to your head and made you live in Great Falls and send your kids to Langley? If it was so horrible, you could have pupil placed them to South Lakes or Marshall. Easier to spend hundreds of thousands on privates, I guess, and then come on here railing against people trying to do their best at the public schools or the "illegal children" who attend them.

THIS. We live in Great Falls and our kids attend Langley. They are happy and enjoy school. But if they didn't? We would do exactly as the PP suggested and pupil place for South Lakes or Marshall. What's the point of spending so much money on privates that cultivate the same - or WORSE - culture of competitiveness? Why wouldn't you place your child in a less competitive school if they were feeling pressure?

All privates are not alike. If you tried to pupil place in South Lakes because your kid was not happy or thriving at Langley, you would be put in the Non-IB program and if your kid was smart, the principal would tell you it was not a good idea. You have to start IB Freshman year.

I hear this a lot from fellow Great Falls people. They have the big house, expensive cars, large diamonds, take multiple expensive vacations, but when it comes to their kids, they think private school as an alternative is a waste. That's your choice. There are a lot more unhappy kids than you think at Langley, and other competitive publics, but they are loathe to talk about it with what they feel are unsympathetic adults.

Coming from a Jewish family, education is very important to us. Jews studied even in concentration camps, and have always equated education and survival. Perhaps that makes me particularly attuned to whether or not my kids enjoy learning, rather than just going through the motions. My boys attended a private many here either have never heard of, or if they have, make fun of. Too bad, because they are missing out.

The fact is, Fairfax county schools have been going downhill and a lot of that is due to the school board and the way our tax dollars are spent.

You absolutely can pupil place into an IB school after 9th grade and still get an IB diploma. Bullis Mom makes stuff up to support her elitist, anti-public school narrative. And shame on her invoking concentration camps, while complaining in many posts about our taxes being spent on "illegals."

Nothing she has to offer will improve the lives of any children other than her own, and her constant need to take credit for having done so in threads dealing with teen suicides is sickening.

I couldn't agree more. The woman is a walking, talking, ball of narcissism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ that's not the teachers fault. How often do you hear parents on this thread spouting off about merit pay for teachers. Teachers who produce get better pay. Well how the hell is that measured? Oh that's right! Test scores.
Check out the thread on Hayfield. Bunch of a$$holes talking about how terrible Lee, Annandale, Stuart etc... are. They would never send their kids to a GS 5! Well, pick your poison. You want your property values, I guess some eggs get cracked in that omelette. God forbid you don't have a big enough "peer" group.
Quit blaming the administration and teachers. Or move ffs. You don't like the culture of that GS 10 school? Well honey, there are a bunch of 5's right down the road.

Much easier to spout off about how great her $40,000 private was.

Sweetheart- my kid is slated to go to a very undesirable high school, as per these threads. The only people who have my sympathy in these scenarios are the kids. You parents are the worst.

Exactly. Do you think it was my first choice to pay big money to send my three kids to private high schools? I was quite happy with the elementary and middle school so I'm not the private school 'snob' these folk want to make me out to be. It ended up being a necessity because it is my KIDS that mattered. Your child will probably do fine in the 'undesirable' school because you get it.

Who put a gun to your head and made you live in Great Falls and send your kids to Langley? If it was so horrible, you could have pupil placed them to South Lakes or Marshall. Easier to spend hundreds of thousands on privates, I guess, and then come on here railing against people trying to do their best at the public schools or the "illegal children" who attend them.

THIS. We live in Great Falls and our kids attend Langley. They are happy and enjoy school. But if they didn't? We would do exactly as the PP suggested and pupil place for South Lakes or Marshall. What's the point of spending so much money on privates that cultivate the same - or WORSE - culture of competitiveness? Why wouldn't you place your child in a less competitive school if they were feeling pressure?

All privates are not alike. If you tried to pupil place in South Lakes because your kid was not happy or thriving at Langley, you would be put in the Non-IB program and if your kid was smart, the principal would tell you it was not a good idea. You have to start IB Freshman year.

I hear this a lot from fellow Great Falls people. They have the big house, expensive cars, large diamonds, take multiple expensive vacations, but when it comes to their kids, they think private school as an alternative is a waste. That's your choice. There are a lot more unhappy kids than you think at Langley, and other competitive publics, but they are loathe to talk about it with what they feel are unsympathetic adults.

Coming from a Jewish family, education is very important to us. Jews studied even in concentration camps, and have always equated education and survival. Perhaps that makes me particularly attuned to whether or not my kids enjoy learning, rather than just going through the motions. My boys attended a private many here either have never heard of, or if they have, make fun of. Too bad, because they are missing out.

The fact is, Fairfax county schools have been going downhill and a lot of that is due to the school board and the way our tax dollars are spent.

So wait a minute. Aside from your obsession with the size of other women's diamonds, you keep claiming that privates (specifically Bullis, of course) are the panacea for "unhappy kids." No mention of all of the wealth on constant display at these privates - wealth that far exceeds what one finds at even the "best" publics. You complain about the competitive parents at FCPS high schools, but no mention at all of the same type of parents who populate private schools. Why is this? Why do you think privates - specifically Bullis - are so much healthier and lower-stress for kids? Hint: they're not. You're simply paying a fortune to happily be lulled into feeling like your kids are not under the academic and social pressure you claim they would be at a public. You're so full of it.

Smaller classes. Better meals. Individualized curriculum. Better guidance support. Need I go
He n?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I have some friends whose kids go to Woodson. They've told me that the environment there is like a pressure cooker. Because the school is known for its high test scores, it's ingrained in the culture that it is very important that it be maintained. Test scores are everything.

That doesn't stand up to the logic test. If that were true, then schools like Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton and others in the DMV area would also have a lot of suicides... but as far as I know, they don't. Something is going on. I suspect that when it happens once, there is a sense that it's a possibility for other kids. But, something needs to be done.

It's not just because they have a good test record. According to the students I've spoken with, it's the over the top culture of perfectionism and lofty standards, specific to Woodson's administration.

I do not doubt this. My daughter was brought to near emotional collapse at another FFX Cty school due to what she called, her inability to please staff and impossibly high standards. No matter what she did, no matter how high her grades were (and she was a straight A student), she felt as if they wanted her to do more and more and more. The administration of these high schools care only about their numbers it seems.

Agree.

No tragedy fails to bring out Bullis Mom and her gripes against Langley, based on her daughter's one year there (which was five or six years ago). Sigh.

Stop. Just stop.

No. It's Bullis Mom who needs to stop trying to make everything about her. That act - which centers around spreading a narrative about Langley that no one else with kids there recognized - got tired years ago and has not aged well.

It's not about me, you moron. When I see yet another area child has taken his life, it breaks my heart in a million pieces. And if I can do something to help, I damn well will. SO STFU.

Oh, Linda. It is always, always, always about you. Do you really think that isn't clear to everyone by now?

Naming her was unnecessary. Also, the original post she wrote said nothing about Langley, she only said she had a bad experience with another FCPS school. No bad mouthing of Langley directly. Multiple Langley parents then pointed out she was referring to Langley. Her experience is her experience. If you guys had just ignored the post, I doubt many people would have a clue the school was Langley. Maybe her posts are frustrating given the time that has elapsed, but you guys really are helping to fuel this by pointing out the school she's referring to, and now posting her name. I get your frustration, but I would say step back a little and don't engage in this back and forth. Maybe if she had named the school herself, I could see posting a different perspective.

Agree. I don't have any experience with Langley, so I don't know if any of this is true with regard to that school. It is true for other FCPS schools though, so it's worth discussing. And again, she didn't say anything about Langley. I don't even know how you recognized it was her, to be honest.

We recognized her because she has been around for a very long time, always with the same bizarre story about her daughter and claims that scores of teens confide in her about their school "trauma." She will seize any opportunity to badmouth Langley, and the fact that she didn't name the school only shows that she has been warned by Jeff in the past, and in fact, banned from this site at times because of her over the top obsession with the school. If it was your school she was constantly badmouthing, you would feel the same frustration and disgust.

I'm badmouthing the horrible culture we've created in a lot of the DC area, how weak most of the school board is and how they simply want to push an agenda, how our tax dollars are used, and how students feel like they aren't heard. There have been many people on the verge of suicide who say that one smile, on sympathetic ear, one 'how can I help' made them think twice about killing themselves. Isn't that what we all should be doing - being kind every day? Maybe letting someone in front of you in line who is struggling with a screaming child? Letting someone with their blinker on into your lane? Approaching someone visibly upset and asking how you can help?

I think you have an unhealthy obsession with trying to protect Langley. I didn't name the school because it wasn't pertinent to the conversation in this case. Langley itself isn't the problem, it was simply our problemm and we fixed that problem based on what worked for our family. What I did discover, what IS pertinent is we clearly have an issue in our school system. The boy's friend said specifically why he feels the suicide happened, and I am going to listen to that voice. We need to listen to these kids, not make up our own reason as a means of rationalizing our own fears, or trying to place blame on parents who lost their child.

Glad you finally admit that.

I've always said it was a larger problem though the principal and administration at large is a huge issue. And teachers who
Overload. Ask yourself why you are so invested in Langley - what are trying to protect?

What I'm trying to do is make sure everyone knows your agenda. Your daughter attended Langley for *ONE* year, and yet you pretend you're an authority on all things concerning this school and its administration and teachers. The fact is, whatever your daughter's very brief experience, it is not at all representative of the thousands of other students who go there and have gone there. No one forces anyone to take any classes. Those decisions are made by the students and their parents.

Every school has its flaws - including Langley. Or Woodson. Or BULLIS. To claim there is a perfect school out there is simply ludicrous. You need to stop making this all about you and your obsession with tearing down a school and school system you were unhappy with. Haven't you moved on yet?

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Anonymous wrote:^^^ that's not the teachers fault. How often do you hear parents on this thread spouting off about merit pay for teachers. Teachers who produce get better pay. Well how the hell is that measured? Oh that's right! Test scores.
Check out the thread on Hayfield. Bunch of a$$holes talking about how terrible Lee, Annandale, Stuart etc... are. They would never send their kids to a GS 5! Well, pick your poison. You want your property values, I guess some eggs get cracked in that omelette. God forbid you don't have a big enough "peer" group.
Quit blaming the administration and teachers. Or move ffs. You don't like the culture of that GS 10 school? Well honey, there are a bunch of 5's right down the road.

Much easier to spout off about how great her $40,000 private was.

Sweetheart- my kid is slated to go to a very undesirable high school, as per these threads. The only people who have my sympathy in these scenarios are the kids. You parents are the worst.

Exactly. Do you think it was my first choice to pay big money to send my three kids to private high schools? I was quite happy with the elementary and middle school so I'm not the private school 'snob' these folk want to make me out to be. It ended up being a necessity because it is my KIDS that mattered. Your child will probably do fine in the 'undesirable' school because you get it.

Who put a gun to your head and made you live in Great Falls and send your kids to Langley? If it was so horrible, you could have pupil placed them to South Lakes or Marshall. Easier to spend hundreds of thousands on privates, I guess, and then come on here railing against people trying to do their best at the public schools or the "illegal children" who attend them.

THIS. We live in Great Falls and our kids attend Langley. They are happy and enjoy school. But if they didn't? We would do exactly as the PP suggested and pupil place for South Lakes or Marshall. What's the point of spending so much money on privates that cultivate the same - or WORSE - culture of competitiveness? Why wouldn't you place your child in a less competitive school if they were feeling pressure?

All privates are not alike. If you tried to pupil place in South Lakes because your kid was not happy or thriving at Langley, you would be put in the Non-IB program and if your kid was smart, the principal would tell you it was not a good idea. You have to start IB Freshman year.

I hear this a lot from fellow Great Falls people. They have the big house, expensive cars, large diamonds, take multiple expensive vacations, but when it comes to their kids, they think private school as an alternative is a waste. That's your choice. There are a lot more unhappy kids than you think at Langley, and other competitive publics, but they are loathe to talk about it with what they feel are unsympathetic adults.

Coming from a Jewish family, education is very important to us. Jews studied even in concentration camps, and have always equated education and survival. Perhaps that makes me particularly attuned to whether or not my kids enjoy learning, rather than just going through the motions. My boys attended a private many here either have never heard of, or if they have, make fun of. Too bad, because they are missing out.

The fact is, Fairfax county schools have been going downhill and a lot of that is due to the school board and the way our tax dollars are spent.

So wait a minute. Aside from your obsession with the size of other women's diamonds, you keep claiming that privates (specifically Bullis, of course) are the panacea for "unhappy kids." No mention of all of the wealth on constant display at these privates - wealth that far exceeds what one finds at even the "best" publics. You complain about the competitive parents at FCPS high schools, but no mention at all of the same type of parents who populate private schools. Why is this? Why do you think privates - specifically Bullis - are so much healthier and lower-stress for kids? Hint: they're not. You're simply paying a fortune to happily be lulled into feeling like your kids are not under the academic and social pressure you claim they would be at a public. You're so full of it.

Smaller classes. Better meals. Individualized curriculum. Better guidance support. Need I go
He n?

"Better meals"??? Oh, honey.