McLean HS vs. Bishop O'connell

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:McLean does have a stronger academic reputation than O’Connell but that’s not the only consideration. What does DS want? It seems an introverted kid might want to stay with as many of his current friends as possible.

It's not an option. They are scattering to different public schools, none of which we are zoned for.

In that case I’d go with McLean. It’s apparently your base school, it’s stronger academically than O’Connell, and it has lots of ECs where an introverted kid can find his niche.

It's not actually our base school; we would have to move. Or rent something there for 4 years. I hate my current house so this is kind of a plus, but also irrelevant. I don't like our base school, and the scores there are abysmal.

What’s your base school and why do you hate it? What experience do you actually have with it? Have you actually sent a kid to it? This is relevant to this discussion for sure.

It's Lake Braddock. I heard we can also go to Robinson if we wanted IB, since LB doesn't have that. But the scores of Robinson are even worse than LB. We have friends at both, and haven't heard anything good. They say both schools are huge and basically a free for all, with the Covid effect causing most kids to be so far behind that teachers aren't even teaching the regular curriculum. That's aside from the social aspects, like widespread bullying. Anyway, that's what friends say, although they still send their kids there. After our poor public ES experience, I'm wary of going through something similar.

What scores are you looking at?

+1. There’s no way I’d move to McLean just to send my kid to high school there instead of either one of these schools. They’re just fine for most kids. Your friends sound like drama queens.

+1 (and we’re a happy McLean family).

+1

Robinson 9-12 and McLean are very close in size and LB is bigger but has a larger facility so it doesn't feel overcrowded. If you're moving and concerned about school size, why look at McLean and not Langley?

Bishop O'Connell is a solid choice but it might depend on whether your child would be in all honors/APs at McLean or more so in grade-level classes. I'd stick with McLean if you know they'll be successful in the highest track all 4 years and can handle 10+ APs, and look closer at O'Connell if it will be mostly honors with just a few APs here and there. If it's all regular, I would definitely lean towards O'Connell.

10+ AP? That's an awful lot. My McLean kids did 7 and 9 AP classes and were well prepared for college having taking mostly Honors and AP courses. The kids at McLean taking a mix of Honors and AP courses are just as strong as the vast majority of O'Connell kids. The kids just taking regular courses might fare better at O'Connell - smaller class sizes and fewer kids with limited English skills.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I’d stick with lake Braddock. Good education and honestly, will be easier to get into good colleges from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I’d stick with lake Braddock. Good education and honestly, will be easier to get into good colleges from.

Not so sure about that. McLean has about 600 freshmen this year. That's big, but Lake Braddock has 775 freshmen.

[Anonymous]

we had a terrible elementary experience in the Woodson pyramid but had great MS/HS experience. I would give LB or Robinson a chance- especially for an introverted kid- I would choose either one of those over McLean.

[Anonymous]

If doing very well in private, why heck would you throw the kid in public school - and for the first time in high school no less? Sounds rough. I'd stay put with your kids cohort of friends and go to O'Connell if that's where they are all going. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Asking for trouble

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we had a terrible elementary experience in the Woodson pyramid but had great MS/HS experience. I would give LB or Robinson a chance- especially for an introverted kid- I would choose either one of those over McLean.

One of my McLean kids was somewhat introverted and the other extroverted. They both did fine. I certainly wouldn't move out of the LB pyramid to McLean just for the schools but OP seems unhappy with her current house and her DH seems to like the idea of their kid going to his alma mater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If doing very well in private, why heck would you throw the kid in public school - and for the first time in high school no less? Sounds rough. I'd stay put with your kids cohort of friends and go to O'Connell if that's where they are all going. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Asking for trouble

This was put to OP earlier and she said his private school classmates were mostly heading to a bunch of different public schools for HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean does have a stronger academic reputation than O’Connell but that’s not the only consideration. What does DS want? It seems an introverted kid might want to stay with as many of his current friends as possible.

It's not an option. They are scattering to different public schools, none of which we are zoned for.

In that case I’d go with McLean. It’s apparently your base school, it’s stronger academically than O’Connell, and it has lots of ECs where an introverted kid can find his niche.

It's not actually our base school; we would have to move. Or rent something there for 4 years. I hate my current house so this is kind of a plus, but also irrelevant. I don't like our base school, and the scores there are abysmal.

What’s your base school and why do you hate it? What experience do you actually have with it? Have you actually sent a kid to it? This is relevant to this discussion for sure.

It's Lake Braddock. I heard we can also go to Robinson if we wanted IB, since LB doesn't have that. But the scores of Robinson are even worse than LB. We have friends at both, and haven't heard anything good. They say both schools are huge and basically a free for all, with the Covid effect causing most kids to be so far behind that teachers aren't even teaching the regular curriculum. That's aside from the social aspects, like widespread bullying. Anyway, that's what friends say, although they still send their kids there. After our poor public ES experience, I'm wary of going through something similar.

What scores are you looking at?

We looked at school size, teacher ratio, SATs, IB and AP test scores and related data.

[Anonymous]

I thought this was able to a basktball game

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:McLean is certainly a more academically rigorous school then BOC. Now if your child needs a small environment because of anxiety or what not, BOC would be a better choice — McLean is large and competitive

A lot of kids who missed the cut for TJ go to McLean and Langley. I agree that the academics are strong. We moved our kids from a small private to public schools, and there was way more differentiation in the public schools and better paid teachers. There were large groups of very smart kids in the public, not just a few like at the private school. It's also nice to live close to your friends.

This is the opposite of what our elementary experience was like. The public elementary had a mix of good and bad teachers, some so bad that the principal expressed verbally that she wished she could fire them but central administration wouldn't allow it. The classes were overcrowded - 30 in K, for example - so all of the attention went to the super gifted kids and the problem kids. Any kid in the middle, like mine, was completely ignored and had to fend for himself. When we switched to private, there was a lot more personal attention, since only 10-12 kids were in a class. He learned a lot more and finally gained some of the academic skills that the public wasn't even teaching, like writing an essay and giving a presentation. I had imagined public HS would be similar, so I'm surprised to hear that Mclean would be more rigorous - unless it's a case where, like in our elementary, it's only the really self-motivated and self-advocating students that get enough attention to learn anything.

This has not been our experience in elementary in FCPS at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean does have a stronger academic reputation than O’Connell but that’s not the only consideration. What does DS want? It seems an introverted kid might want to stay with as many of his current friends as possible.

It's not an option. They are scattering to different public schools, none of which we are zoned for.

In that case I’d go with McLean. It’s apparently your base school, it’s stronger academically than O’Connell, and it has lots of ECs where an introverted kid can find his niche.

It's not actually our base school; we would have to move. Or rent something there for 4 years. I hate my current house so this is kind of a plus, but also irrelevant. I don't like our base school, and the scores there are abysmal.

You sound like one of these people who are never going to be truly satisfied. If you have a smart, driven kid they will excel at BOC or McLean. McLean is consistently in the top 10 public schools in VA. Unless you are talking about a kid that is a prodigy or extreme talent in some area they are going to get a fine education. Both smart and mediocre students from my kid's parochial are at BOC. I just don't think it's anything that special.

[Anonymous]

I personally would stay at Lake Braddock.

McLean High will have many more academically strong students than Bishop O'Connell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean does have a stronger academic reputation than O’Connell but that’s not the only consideration. What does DS want? It seems an introverted kid might want to stay with as many of his current friends as possible.

It's not an option. They are scattering to different public schools, none of which we are zoned for.

In that case I’d go with McLean. It’s apparently your base school, it’s stronger academically than O’Connell, and it has lots of ECs where an introverted kid can find his niche.

It's not actually our base school; we would have to move. Or rent something there for 4 years. I hate my current house so this is kind of a plus, but also irrelevant. I don't like our base school, and the scores there are abysmal.

What’s your base school and why do you hate it? What experience do you actually have with it? Have you actually sent a kid to it? This is relevant to this discussion for sure.

It's Lake Braddock. I heard we can also go to Robinson if we wanted IB, since LB doesn't have that. But the scores of Robinson are even worse than LB. We have friends at both, and haven't heard anything good. They say both schools are huge and basically a free for all, with the Covid effect causing most kids to be so far behind that teachers aren't even teaching the regular curriculum. That's aside from the social aspects, like widespread bullying. Anyway, that's what friends say, although they still send their kids there. After our poor public ES experience, I'm wary of going through something similar.

What scores are you looking at?

We looked at school size, teacher ratio, SATs, IB and AP test scores and related data.

You’re approaching this like an amateur. Any variation between these test scores at McLean versus Lake Braddock and Robinson is purely the result of demographics and income and has nothing to do with the education being offered, which is identical in all three schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally would stay at Lake Braddock.

McLean High will have many more academically strong students than Bishop O'Connell.

True. It's twice the size so it will have more of every type of student.

[Anonymous]

If OP is lukewarm on public schools but thinks McLean would be preferable to LB/Robinson, and her spouse is lukewarm on private schools but high on McLean, it's reasonable to look in the McLean district assuming they aren't otherwise attached to their current house and neighborhood. There are fair number of people who move into that pyramid when their kids are in MS or HS because it may be harder for younger families with ES-age kids to afford.