Fairfax High school
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Anonymous
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hello all,
Our family (DD7th grade and DS 4th grade) is planning a move to the Powell/Lanier/Fairfax school district and would love to hear any feedback (good or bad) about these schools ie challenging curriculum, differentiation, class size, teacher quality,...Although my kids are not in high school yet, I would like to know about Fairfax High. According to this forum, the school does not seem to be as highly rated as other high schools like Woodson/Madison/McLean/Langley. I would love to find out why. is it the teaching? variety of class choices? safety issues? or is it only based on test scores? Thank you in advance for any insight. |
Anonymous
It's not as highly rated because the test scores aren't as high, and the test scores aren't as high because the student body is more socio-economically diverse. There are plenty of high-achieving students there, and some of them undoubtedly come from Powell (though Powell also sends students to Centreville). The enrollment increase at Fairfax HS over the past five years has been higher than just about any high school in Fairfax, except for South Lakes (and the enrollment at South Lakes increased because of a big redistricting in 2008, while Fairfax's boundaries haven't changed for years). It now has over 2600 students and is projected to have over 3000 students by 2016. It seems likely that, before your kids graduate, FCPS will redistrict some kids from Fairfax to other schools, though I think the City of Fairfax requires kids who live in the City to attend Fairfax HS. |
Anonymous
| I lived in 22031 for 12 years (though we were in boundary for Falls Church HS) and never heard a bad thing about Fairfax HS. I got the impression it was a mid-ranked school in a very good county. (I went to school in a mid-ranked HS in a very good midwestern county, and got a great education.) Test scores in 2010 (the latest numbers I pulled) are over 100 more than the VA and national average scores. Just wanted to throw that in there - hopefully you'll get some good responses. |
Anonymous
Same was true for 2011 - SAT scores at Fairfax were about 120 over VA average and 140 over national average, if that's of interest. |
Anonymous
| It's a guessing game to be sure but if Fairfax eventually redistricts, it looks like we could wind up tracked for Falls Church HS instead -- is that a good or bad thing? (ie I'm not sure which one is perceived as the stronger school) |
Anonymous
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Fairfax HS has higher test scores than Falls Church HS, but Fairfax HS doesn't share a border with Falls Church HS, so it's unlikely Fairfax students would get sent to Falls Church. The schools that border Fairfax are Centreville, Robinson, Woodson, Oakton and Chantilly.
If I had to guess, FCPS might start by redistricting some students in the Willow Springs area currently assigned to Lanier MS and Fairfax HS to Robinson SS, since Robinson is expected to be under-enrolled by 2016. Another possibility might be to move some Lanier/Fairfax students to Rocky Run MS and Chantilly HS. It's really the western part of the county that seems to get redistricted more often. |
Anonymous
| If you like your neighbors and the immediate area -- then you will be fine. Fairfax is mid-ranked albeit among the highest concentration of high achievers in the nation (it's at least debatable how well served disadvantaged students are by FCPS). PP is correct in that Fairfax City students must attend Lanier/Fairfax (Daniels Run/Providence ES are also owned by Fairfax City but I'm 99% sure they don't cover the entire City.) |
Anonymous
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A friend of mine has a stepson at Fairfax currently and is quite happy with the school. I think the demographics of the schools will shift over the next few years because of the neighborhoods in the Centreville/Fair Lakes area that track to both Lanier and Fairfax. Lots of younger kids in those newer homes out this way. I wouldn't be surprised to see another HS redistricting in the next few years. It just seems strange that Powell is districted to Fairfax when 3 other HS's are much closer to them. We have friends at GBWES who live next to Fair Lakes shopping center and are districted to Fairfax, even though Chantilly is literally right down the road.
Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much. I think that almost any HS is FCPS is a good one. Buy a house in a neighborhood you like that makes sense for your commute. |
Anonymous
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"I think that almost any HS is FCPS is a good one. "
I think this is a bit of a stretch. Fairfax HS is probably middle of the pack - mainly because of the 'diverse' ethnic and socio-economic background of kids feeding into this school. It has strong academic programs but at the end of the day, any HS is only as good as the kids that feed into it. If I had an option, I would consider other HS also. |
Anonymous
Just by way of comparison, if you stuck Fairfax HS in Arlington, it would out-perform W-L and Wakefield, looking at the SAT scores of graduating seniors. If it were in Loudoun, it would out-perform any high school other than Stone Bridge. "Middle of the pack" in FCPS is pretty good. |
Anonymous
http://www.city-data.com/forum/northern-virginia/1381002-2011-nova-sat-scores.html evidenced by this post. Yup, FCPS schools other than the top 5 suck 
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Anonymous
| sorry, here is the one with the loudoun scores - http://www.city-data.com/forum/northern-virginia/1434334-loudoun-county-2011-sat.html |
Anonymous
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Yup - confirms the earlier posters comment.
Basically you have 3 groups of HS is FCPS: The top ( >1700) Middle ( 1600-1700) and Bottom (<1600) Would be silly not to look moving into a district that feeds into the top HS's. |
Anonymous
You can always look. The question is whether you should stretch to buy a house in a "top" district if, for example, there's a more affordable house in another district and you know that kids in your kids' particular demographic tend to do just as well at a "middle" or "bottom" school. |
Anonymous
| Sure, if you can afford one of the "top" school districts AND it makes sense for your commute and lifestyle, go for it. But going to the other FCPS schools is not a death sentence. The middle schools are still some of the top schools in the country. This is such a cyclical argument, really. It doesn't come down to school quality - it comes down to the SES Of the student body. Kids with money tend to do well on tests - end of story. The kids in the "top" schools are blessed with more affluent parents. Doesn't make one school better than another - just blessed with good demographics. |