Tell me about the schools in Herndon/Chantilly - Crossfield, Oak Hill, Navy, Fox Mill, Lees Corner

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the downside of Fox Mill is that they are local level AAP and -- at least as of last year -- they were just mixing the AAP and regular kids in the same classes. If your child is particularly bright, he's going to have fewer people at that level in his classroom; and fewer in the entire school interested in a particular niche. The school itself is much smaller, and the demographics of the attendees + the additional AAP draw mean a stronger student population.

The upside is Fox Mill is *much* better run, plans out its lessons more effectively, and is less laptop driven.

Navy recently lost its principal, and it's possible that the new one will steer them down a different path. But as someone who had AAP-level kids in both schools, I much preferred Fox Mill and thought there was far more learning and skills practice happening there.

God I hope so. Navy overuses laptops and slides. They are still using materials from distance learning. It is incredibly frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, really not as concerned about STEM/STEAM as I am about the community and whether the school is well regarded and families like it there. There are a couple schools that get brought up in this forum a lot and fortunately those are in areas we can't afford to live in, I just want to make sure we're avoiding schools like that where parents get all up in arms about AAP vs General Ed, or are racists, or things like that. We are a mixed race family (half Asian/half white), and I hope we'd be welcomed in these communities, I think there are decent sized asian/south asian populations?

You might want to avoid Navy then. The AAP vs Gen Ed culture is real and sadly I feel like it’s ruined the experience for us. The teachers are great, but when you split everyone into “the smart kids” and “the not smart kids”, and everyone knows who is in which class, you’re setting yourself up for a not so great learning experience. If we had a choice, we would have chosen Fox Mill. It’s a super tight knit community and everyone (parents, teachers, kids) are lovely. If you value community, those are your people.

+1 Navy does absolutely nothing to try to integrate AAP and Gen Ed kids. There are no team activities. AAP and Gen Ed teachers don’t plan units together. Everyone does their own thing (all upper grade teachers departmentalized) and it’s a mess.

I had a gen ed kid at Navy who grew up going there so she knew a lot of AAP kids as well. Those friendships died, as the divide is steep so they never interacted. Even at recess, the AAP teachers stood together and the gen ed teachers stood together on the other side of the playground. I had an older child there prior, who went to Hunters Woods for AAP prior to the change. I LOVED that at that school everyone was mixed for specials--each child was assigned a number 1-7 and all the "1s" were together each day for their special. He didn't know any of the kids there in gen ed or magnet prior to going there, but at least got out of his AAP group for a portion of ea day. It can be done, is all I'm saying. When he was at Navy, the afterschool activities were the usual ones (karate, etc) but when the younger kid went there, by that time the school was majority Asian (maybe 55%?) and even the activities had changed--every math and science activity/ competition under the sun was now available, but according to my kid, "only the AAP kids go to those". I don't know, it was a weird vibe by the end. I think 7 years in one school is too long anyways...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, really not as concerned about STEM/STEAM as I am about the community and whether the school is well regarded and families like it there. There are a couple schools that get brought up in this forum a lot and fortunately those are in areas we can't afford to live in, I just want to make sure we're avoiding schools like that where parents get all up in arms about AAP vs General Ed, or are racists, or things like that. We are a mixed race family (half Asian/half white), and I hope we'd be welcomed in these communities, I think there are decent sized asian/south asian populations?

You might want to avoid Navy then. The AAP vs Gen Ed culture is real and sadly I feel like it’s ruined the experience for us. The teachers are great, but when you split everyone into “the smart kids” and “the not smart kids”, and everyone knows who is in which class, you’re setting yourself up for a not so great learning experience. If we had a choice, we would have chosen Fox Mill. It’s a super tight knit community and everyone (parents, teachers, kids) are lovely. If you value community, those are your people.

Thank you, this is really good to know - definitely don't want the us vs. them AAP vs. Gen Ed, I don't like that at all.

My child is in Gen Ed at Navy and we don’t feel a divide at all. My kid’s friends are pretty much all in Gen Ed and a lot of the kids in AAP came from other schools so it’s not like my kid knew them anyway. I suspect these complaints are coming from parents who feel miffed that their child is not in AAP. Maybe it depends on the grade but what PPs are saying just does not match our experience or anyone else we k or at Navy.

That’s a complete lie. Navy is a unique center school in that the only kids that come to the center are from Navy itself or Crossfield. And since Crossfield has a local level IV, a lot just choose to stay there. Navy AAP center does not pull from any other schools.

This. Tons of Navy kids are in AAP. The fact that the previous poster even suggested that makes me question the authenticity of the post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the downside of Fox Mill is that they are local level AAP and -- at least as of last year -- they were just mixing the AAP and regular kids in the same classes. If your child is particularly bright, he's going to have fewer people at that level in his classroom; and fewer in the entire school interested in a particular niche. The school itself is much smaller, and the demographics of the attendees + the additional AAP draw mean a stronger student population.

stronger student population AT NAVY, I meant. Clearly, I ned too proofreed an click prevue.

DS is at Fox Mill in the JI program. We deferred AAP because we see a value in the language immersion program. He has received Advanced Math since 3rd grade and is in a class where they are working on grade 6 math in 5th grade. We have been fine with the strength of the student population at Fox Mill and the overall academic program. More importantly, to us, we have found it to be a welcoming environment with a great community feel. It has been a very good fit for our child. I know other families who deferred AAP to stay at Fox Mill and no one seems to regret that decision or think that the academic instruction was lacking. If anything, we see kids returning to Fox Mill from Oak Hill, the AAP Center.

I think most parents at the listed schools take pride in their kids school because they are all good schools. I know families whose kids have had issues at Fox Mill, mainly comments about IEPs and a few who have had issues with bullying but most people are happy with the school and the overall programs offered. And I am not so concerned about a "strong student population" at any of these schools. They are all schools that tend to have kids with parents who are interested in their kids education and active in their kids education.

[Anonymous]

DC is in Navy ES 5th grade AAP and they divided all 5th grade classes into 5 groups (a-e) of class schedules, so both Gen Ed and AAP would be in same classroom depend on which group they are. DC plays with non AAP classmates too. Navy ES has nearly half American and half Asian students, and the after school activities including yoga, chess, strings, and sports etc which both Asians and Americans and other races of students all can join if they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, really not as concerned about STEM/STEAM as I am about the community and whether the school is well regarded and families like it there. There are a couple schools that get brought up in this forum a lot and fortunately those are in areas we can't afford to live in, I just want to make sure we're avoiding schools like that where parents get all up in arms about AAP vs General Ed, or are racists, or things like that. We are a mixed race family (half Asian/half white), and I hope we'd be welcomed in these communities, I think there are decent sized asian/south asian populations?

You might want to avoid Navy then. The AAP vs Gen Ed culture is real and sadly I feel like it’s ruined the experience for us. The teachers are great, but when you split everyone into “the smart kids” and “the not smart kids”, and everyone knows who is in which class, you’re setting yourself up for a not so great learning experience. If we had a choice, we would have chosen Fox Mill. It’s a super tight knit community and everyone (parents, teachers, kids) are lovely. If you value community, those are your people.

Thank you, this is really good to know - definitely don't want the us vs. them AAP vs. Gen Ed, I don't like that at all.

My child is in Gen Ed at Navy and we don’t feel a divide at all. My kid’s friends are pretty much all in Gen Ed and a lot of the kids in AAP came from other schools so it’s not like my kid knew them anyway. I suspect these complaints are coming from parents who feel miffed that their child is not in AAP. Maybe it depends on the grade but what PPs are saying just does not match our experience or anyone else we k or at Navy.

Well, you aren’t going to feel the divide if all your kid’s friends are in gen ed. The problem is when your kids have friends in both gen ed and AAP. Also, not miffed about anything apart from having to set my alarm clock tomorrow morning.

This sounds more like a problem specific to your child's peer group than a problem with Navy. I have not heard of anyone in real life complain about this. Kids are put into classes based on what they need. So what. Meet up with them outside of class. It's not like the kids in different Gen Ed classes are all hanging out together all day. If a friend in AAP makes a snarky comment about kids in Gen Ed, then they aren't much of a friend and have a lot to learn about life.

It's not necessarily just the social thing - at my child's ES (none of these, I'm just reading because I'm curious), all of the ESOL kids are in Gen Ed, and it really lowers what they are taught. There's a huge divide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, really not as concerned about STEM/STEAM as I am about the community and whether the school is well regarded and families like it there. There are a couple schools that get brought up in this forum a lot and fortunately those are in areas we can't afford to live in, I just want to make sure we're avoiding schools like that where parents get all up in arms about AAP vs General Ed, or are racists, or things like that. We are a mixed race family (half Asian/half white), and I hope we'd be welcomed in these communities, I think there are decent sized asian/south asian populations?

You might want to avoid Navy then. The AAP vs Gen Ed culture is real and sadly I feel like it’s ruined the experience for us. The teachers are great, but when you split everyone into “the smart kids” and “the not smart kids”, and everyone knows who is in which class, you’re setting yourself up for a not so great learning experience. If we had a choice, we would have chosen Fox Mill. It’s a super tight knit community and everyone (parents, teachers, kids) are lovely. If you value community, those are your people.

Thank you, this is really good to know - definitely don't want the us vs. them AAP vs. Gen Ed, I don't like that at all.

My child is in Gen Ed at Navy and we don’t feel a divide at all. My kid’s friends are pretty much all in Gen Ed and a lot of the kids in AAP came from other schools so it’s not like my kid knew them anyway. I suspect these complaints are coming from parents who feel miffed that their child is not in AAP. Maybe it depends on the grade but what PPs are saying just does not match our experience or anyone else we k or at Navy.

That’s a complete lie. Navy is a unique center school in that the only kids that come to the center are from Navy itself or Crossfield. And since Crossfield has a local level IV, a lot just choose to stay there. Navy AAP center does not pull from any other schools.

This. Tons of Navy kids are in AAP. The fact that the previous poster even suggested that makes me question the authenticity of the post.

Has that changed with the new AAP rules?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, really not as concerned about STEM/STEAM as I am about the community and whether the school is well regarded and families like it there. There are a couple schools that get brought up in this forum a lot and fortunately those are in areas we can't afford to live in, I just want to make sure we're avoiding schools like that where parents get all up in arms about AAP vs General Ed, or are racists, or things like that. We are a mixed race family (half Asian/half white), and I hope we'd be welcomed in these communities, I think there are decent sized asian/south asian populations?

You might want to avoid Navy then. The AAP vs Gen Ed culture is real and sadly I feel like it’s ruined the experience for us. The teachers are great, but when you split everyone into “the smart kids” and “the not smart kids”, and everyone knows who is in which class, you’re setting yourself up for a not so great learning experience. If we had a choice, we would have chosen Fox Mill. It’s a super tight knit community and everyone (parents, teachers, kids) are lovely. If you value community, those are your people.

Thank you, this is really good to know - definitely don't want the us vs. them AAP vs. Gen Ed, I don't like that at all.

My child is in Gen Ed at Navy and we don’t feel a divide at all. My kid’s friends are pretty much all in Gen Ed and a lot of the kids in AAP came from other schools so it’s not like my kid knew them anyway. I suspect these complaints are coming from parents who feel miffed that their child is not in AAP. Maybe it depends on the grade but what PPs are saying just does not match our experience or anyone else we k or at Navy.

That’s a complete lie. Navy is a unique center school in that the only kids that come to the center are from Navy itself or Crossfield. And since Crossfield has a local level IV, a lot just choose to stay there. Navy AAP center does not pull from any other schools.

This. Tons of Navy kids are in AAP. The fact that the previous poster even suggested that makes me question the authenticity of the post.

Has that changed with the new AAP rules?

The only change to the admissions process was how they determined who is in-pool, parents can still refer. I would guess that there are some schools where the parents of kids who would have been in pool (The old 132 test score) and are no longer in pool (higher test scores for the top 10%) will simply parent refer. I doubt that it will lead to a decrease in the number of kids in specific programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, really not as concerned about STEM/STEAM as I am about the community and whether the school is well regarded and families like it there. There are a couple schools that get brought up in this forum a lot and fortunately those are in areas we can't afford to live in, I just want to make sure we're avoiding schools like that where parents get all up in arms about AAP vs General Ed, or are racists, or things like that. We are a mixed race family (half Asian/half white), and I hope we'd be welcomed in these communities, I think there are decent sized asian/south asian populations?

You might want to avoid Navy then. The AAP vs Gen Ed culture is real and sadly I feel like it’s ruined the experience for us. The teachers are great, but when you split everyone into “the smart kids” and “the not smart kids”, and everyone knows who is in which class, you’re setting yourself up for a not so great learning experience. If we had a choice, we would have chosen Fox Mill. It’s a super tight knit community and everyone (parents, teachers, kids) are lovely. If you value community, those are your people.

Thank you, this is really good to know - definitely don't want the us vs. them AAP vs. Gen Ed, I don't like that at all.

My child is in Gen Ed at Navy and we don’t feel a divide at all. My kid’s friends are pretty much all in Gen Ed and a lot of the kids in AAP came from other schools so it’s not like my kid knew them anyway. I suspect these complaints are coming from parents who feel miffed that their child is not in AAP. Maybe it depends on the grade but what PPs are saying just does not match our experience or anyone else we k or at Navy.

Well, you aren’t going to feel the divide if all your kid’s friends are in gen ed. The problem is when your kids have friends in both gen ed and AAP. Also, not miffed about anything apart from having to set my alarm clock tomorrow morning.

This sounds more like a problem specific to your child's peer group than a problem with Navy. I have not heard of anyone in real life complain about this. Kids are put into classes based on what they need. So what. Meet up with them outside of class. It's not like the kids in different Gen Ed classes are all hanging out together all day. If a friend in AAP makes a snarky comment about kids in Gen Ed, then they aren't much of a friend and have a lot to learn about life.

It's not necessarily just the social thing - at my child's ES (none of these, I'm just reading because I'm curious), all of the ESOL kids are in Gen Ed, and it really lowers what they are taught. There's a huge divide.

Not an issue at Navy. It's a very high SES school. The kids whose parents are not from the US are generally highly educated and speak English. The kids have strong skills in both English and their parents' native language. The issue you mention is very real at certain schools in FCPS but not others. It's why people should take DCUM comments on Gen Ed with a grain of salt. Some people who fret about Gen Ed are at schools where there are a lot of kids who are significantly behind. But that just isn't the case at the higher SES schools in the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is in Navy ES 5th grade AAP and they divided all 5th grade classes into 5 groups (a-e) of class schedules, so both Gen Ed and AAP would be in same classroom depend on which group they are. DC plays with non AAP classmates too. Navy ES has nearly half American and half Asian students, and the after school activities including yoga, chess, strings, and sports etc which both Asians and Americans and other races of students all can join if they want.

I’m sorry, but I cannot let this slide. Half Asians, half Americans? As a fellow Navy parent, I sincerely hope you didn’t mean this the way it reads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is in Navy ES 5th grade AAP and they divided all 5th grade classes into 5 groups (a-e) of class schedules, so both Gen Ed and AAP would be in same classroom depend on which group they are. DC plays with non AAP classmates too. Navy ES has nearly half American and half Asian students, and the after school activities including yoga, chess, strings, and sports etc which both Asians and Americans and other races of students all can join if they want.

I’m sorry, but I cannot let this slide. Half Asians, half Americans? As a fellow Navy parent, I sincerely hope you didn’t mean this the way it reads.

Another Navy parent here. This is appalling. And you said it twice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, really not as concerned about STEM/STEAM as I am about the community and whether the school is well regarded and families like it there. There are a couple schools that get brought up in this forum a lot and fortunately those are in areas we can't afford to live in, I just want to make sure we're avoiding schools like that where parents get all up in arms about AAP vs General Ed, or are racists, or things like that. We are a mixed race family (half Asian/half white), and I hope we'd be welcomed in these communities, I think there are decent sized asian/south asian populations?

You might want to avoid Navy then. The AAP vs Gen Ed culture is real and sadly I feel like it’s ruined the experience for us. The teachers are great, but when you split everyone into “the smart kids” and “the not smart kids”, and everyone knows who is in which class, you’re setting yourself up for a not so great learning experience. If we had a choice, we would have chosen Fox Mill. It’s a super tight knit community and everyone (parents, teachers, kids) are lovely. If you value community, those are your people.

Thank you, this is really good to know - definitely don't want the us vs. them AAP vs. Gen Ed, I don't like that at all.

My child is in Gen Ed at Navy and we don’t feel a divide at all. My kid’s friends are pretty much all in Gen Ed and a lot of the kids in AAP came from other schools so it’s not like my kid knew them anyway. I suspect these complaints are coming from parents who feel miffed that their child is not in AAP. Maybe it depends on the grade but what PPs are saying just does not match our experience or anyone else we k or at Navy.

Well, you aren’t going to feel the divide if all your kid’s friends are in gen ed. The problem is when your kids have friends in both gen ed and AAP. Also, not miffed about anything apart from having to set my alarm clock tomorrow morning.

This sounds more like a problem specific to your child's peer group than a problem with Navy. I have not heard of anyone in real life complain about this. Kids are put into classes based on what they need. So what. Meet up with them outside of class. It's not like the kids in different Gen Ed classes are all hanging out together all day. If a friend in AAP makes a snarky comment about kids in Gen Ed, then they aren't much of a friend and have a lot to learn about life.

It's not necessarily just the social thing - at my child's ES (none of these, I'm just reading because I'm curious), all of the ESOL kids are in Gen Ed, and it really lowers what they are taught. There's a huge divide.

Not an issue at Navy. It's a very high SES school. The kids whose parents are not from the US are generally highly educated and speak English. The kids have strong skills in both English and their parents' native language. The issue you mention is very real at certain schools in FCPS but not others. It's why people should take DCUM comments on Gen Ed with a grain of salt. Some people who fret about Gen Ed are at schools where there are a lot of kids who are significantly behind. But that just isn't the case at the higher SES schools in the county.

Navy clusters the special ed kids all together in one class. Once the AAP kids leave for their own class, it really is pretty awful. No ne wants to be in the special Ed class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, really not as concerned about STEM/STEAM as I am about the community and whether the school is well regarded and families like it there. There are a couple schools that get brought up in this forum a lot and fortunately those are in areas we can't afford to live in, I just want to make sure we're avoiding schools like that where parents get all up in arms about AAP vs General Ed, or are racists, or things like that. We are a mixed race family (half Asian/half white), and I hope we'd be welcomed in these communities, I think there are decent sized asian/south asian populations?

You might want to avoid Navy then. The AAP vs Gen Ed culture is real and sadly I feel like it’s ruined the experience for us. The teachers are great, but when you split everyone into “the smart kids” and “the not smart kids”, and everyone knows who is in which class, you’re setting yourself up for a not so great learning experience. If we had a choice, we would have chosen Fox Mill. It’s a super tight knit community and everyone (parents, teachers, kids) are lovely. If you value community, those are your people.

Thank you, this is really good to know - definitely don't want the us vs. them AAP vs. Gen Ed, I don't like that at all.

My child is in Gen Ed at Navy and we don’t feel a divide at all. My kid’s friends are pretty much all in Gen Ed and a lot of the kids in AAP came from other schools so it’s not like my kid knew them anyway. I suspect these complaints are coming from parents who feel miffed that their child is not in AAP. Maybe it depends on the grade but what PPs are saying just does not match our experience or anyone else we k or at Navy.

Well, you aren’t going to feel the divide if all your kid’s friends are in gen ed. The problem is when your kids have friends in both gen ed and AAP. Also, not miffed about anything apart from having to set my alarm clock tomorrow morning.

This sounds more like a problem specific to your child's peer group than a problem with Navy. I have not heard of anyone in real life complain about this. Kids are put into classes based on what they need. So what. Meet up with them outside of class. It's not like the kids in different Gen Ed classes are all hanging out together all day. If a friend in AAP makes a snarky comment about kids in Gen Ed, then they aren't much of a friend and have a lot to learn about life.

It's not necessarily just the social thing - at my child's ES (none of these, I'm just reading because I'm curious), all of the ESOL kids are in Gen Ed, and it really lowers what they are taught. There's a huge divide.

Not an issue at Navy. It's a very high SES school. The kids whose parents are not from the US are generally highly educated and speak English. The kids have strong skills in both English and their parents' native language. The issue you mention is very real at certain schools in FCPS but not others. It's why people should take DCUM comments on Gen Ed with a grain of salt. Some people who fret about Gen Ed are at schools where there are a lot of kids who are significantly behind. But that just isn't the case at the higher SES schools in the county.

Navy clusters the special ed kids all together in one class. Once the AAP kids leave for their own class, it really is pretty awful. No ne wants to be in the special Ed class.

Special ed as in kids with IEPs? Are there not kids with IEPs in AAP? Surely there are twice exceptional kids…

[Anonymous]

Navy isn’t the only one that does that. It is a common practice to make it easier to push in help for a group of kids. It allows schools to hit kids service hour needs.

And yes, kids with IEPs are in AAP but the services that they need are different then kids in the Gen Ed class because their abilities are different.

There are very few schools that I have heard of where parents with kids who have IEPs are happy with how the school is providing services for their child when the issues are more serious. I know parents at Fox Mill who are unhappy with the services offered and how kids are grouped. I know SPED Teachers at a variety of schools who have horror stories about what they know kids need and what they are able to provide.

And very little of that helps the OP with their question about the quality of the schools she is interested in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oak Hill is a center school so I would expect that there is some type of AAP/Gen Ed issues.

My kids went through, and not really. The school is about 1/2 and half and integrated well. There were enough AAP classes that the same kids weren’t together year after year. My kid’s friend group didn’t change when she tracked into AAP, and a decent number of AAP Oak Hill kids chose to go to Franklin rather than Carson for social reasons. Lots of kids did scouting, drama, music, sports and stayed connected to their peer groups. I liked the set up better than starting at a based school and having to switch in 3rd grade.

Now, my youngest was there under the former principal, who went on to RRMS. I believe the asst Orincipal took over and she was great as well.

We moved from a more affluent part of the county and I liked that the parents (often mom and dad) were very involved with their kids and were generally down to Earth. Lots of Feds, tech workers, teachers, lawyers, etc. DD and her friends drove hand me down cars and used hand me down iPhones starting in MS. I was surprised at how limited the social media use was,, but maybe that’s just my kids and their friends.