Bishop O'Connell Academics
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
What the PP just stated might be true. I have no idea as I do not know much about Yorktown. I have heard that Yorktown is an excellent school but BIG. What I do know now with a college freshman who graduated from O'Connell last May is that sometimes a "smaller school" like O'Connell has incredible advantages. The teachers and admin at O'Connell pay attention and become involved when a student expresses the desire for something more. My kid was all into STEM and the science teachers at O'Connell actively supported him in doing research at GMU one day a week. It was such an amazing opportunity for my kid and could not have happened without the support of the O'Connell teachers and admin. |
Anonymous
This is the way to do it. High schools can't offer the laboratory research opportunities that GMU and other programs can. You need solid STEM courses, but for pursuing an interest in STEM (and for college applications) you'll need the extracurricular opportunities. |
Anonymous
DJO offers 29 AP classes plus DE from Marymount for multivariate calc/linear algebra. Yorktown has 32 APs. That's not a huge difference. |
Anonymous
Where can you attend? DJO is on par but not any better academically than any of the Arlington public high schools, than Alexandria City High School, or any of the high schools in Fairfax County. I wouldn’t go there thinking it would be. |
Anonymous
Well as you yourself have just said, you don’t know anything about Yorktown except that it’s big. So you really offer an opinion on the quality of its academics. By most objective measures, Yorktown is better academically. Not by a long shot, maybe—but better. Plus it’s free. Parents choosing between these two schools typically don’t choose DJO over Yorktown thinking that the academics are better. |
Anonymous
The PP was clearly not offering "an opinion on the quality of its [Yorktowns] academics". Learn to read. The PP was saying that Yorktown is a huge school and for some students that can equate to being more of a number. |
Anonymous
Safer than ACHS, at a bare minimum. Better than some FCPS HSs, but worse than some other FCPS HS, academically speaking. Good option also for an FCCPS student who wants access to a large number of AP classes. |
Anonymous
That is a really bold statement! I’m surprised you have knowledge about all of these schools! As for me, I have experience with two high schools: I have had kids attend BI and GZ and both got similar rigorous educations. I don’t have experience with our local public option, so I can’t compare. |
Anonymous
| Yorktown has a much longer history of very very bright students. OConnell was a local catholic school for (1) families who valued a religious education and (2) local kids who didn’t mind it being catholic and who struggled with a more traditional school like Yorktown. Both schools have changed; in particular, Yorktown’s size has pushed families over to OConnell. That being said, for top students, I wouldn't for a second consider OConnell on par with Yorktown. The reality of the demographics in the Yorktown zone means you plenty of very fancy pants families (yes, your HYP cohort) who don’t have stupid kids either. I’m sure there are very bright kids at OConnell but there are guaranteed to be a cohort of very very bright kids at yhs given its size and zone. There are lots of other reasons to choose OConnell over Yorktown of course but top academic cohort would not be one of them. |
Anonymous
|
Another thing that has changed is that Yorktown is not nearly as "traditional" in its educational style / approach as it was some years ago.
At present, O'Connell has a much more traditional educational approach than Yorktown. That style difference might be a plus or a minus for either school, depending on the particular student. A recurring fallacy of this thread is the assumption that the only choices are Yorktown vs O'Connell. In reality, many students at O'Connell are either not zoned for Yorktown or not even living in Arlington County. O'Connell has a regional draw, not a locally zoned one. |
Anonymous
It’s not a fallacy at all. It’s that the original question focused on Yorktown versus DJO. DJO has a regional draw because it’s a Catholic high school. There aren’t Catholic high schools in every public high school district. But academically it’s just not any better (or worse) than the majority of public high schools in the region. |
Anonymous
| Another thing to consider when choosing between O'Connell and Yorktown is the O'Connell is much more strict on late work and retakes. Late work is either not accepted or has a big penalty. Retakes are rarely offered, if ever. Also, the midterm and final exams are 20% of the semester grade. All of this seems to prepare them well for college but can be tough to adjust to if you are used to retakes and flexible turn in policies. |