Woodson and West Springfield High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are similar. West Springfield is more middle class, Woodson is more pressure cooker, but these differences are really small. Basically, they are both good suburban high schools with lots of options for classes and friend groups.

The term "pressure cooker" is a trope used by parents to try and disparage other schools with more high-performing kids.

Woodson gets the "pressure cooker" label because for many years it was known for suicide clusters.

I don't believe it still faces this issue, but the reputation has stuck for now.

FCPS stopped reporting suicides, likely due to copycat/contagion effect. No current stats.

WSHS has a great principal and it is newly renovated, MC/UMC, and welcomes military families.

[Anonymous]

My DC graduated from Woodson and went on to HYPS. Did not find it to be a pressure cooker and did not find EC to be hyper competitive. But maybe because they were not involved in a lot. We have since moved and younger sib attends a different FCPS HS that I think is more competitive, but maybe that is partially to do with demographics.

[Anonymous]

I have three kids: two who are at Woodson and one at Frost (the Woodson feeder middle school).

Our family has loved Woodson. Maybe we would have loved West Springfield too...hard to know for sure. But my kids have had mostly wonderful teachers (each have had one outlier). The two Woodson kids have played on sports teams and really enjoyed them. One is an A-/B+ type student, one is an A/A- student. They both have friend groups with nice kids who are very supportive of one another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC graduated from Woodson and went on to HYPS. Did not find it to be a pressure cooker and did not find EC to be hyper competitive. But maybe because they were not involved in a lot. We have since moved and younger sib attends a different FCPS HS that I think is more competitive, but maybe that is partially to do with demographics.

What are “HYPS” and “EC”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have three kids: two who are at Woodson and one at Frost (the Woodson feeder middle school).

Our family has loved Woodson. Maybe we would have loved West Springfield too...hard to know for sure. But my kids have had mostly wonderful teachers (each have had one outlier). The two Woodson kids have played on sports teams and really enjoyed them. One is an A-/B+ type student, one is an A/A- student. They both have friend groups with nice kids who are very supportive of one another.

That's awesome truly, I'm glad they had a really good experience. It seems that there's a lot of truly high achieving children like yours there. I'm worried of mine don't get high marks and especially aren't on a sports team they will not fit in. It seems to have students who just achieve at everything and I'm worried that my two who are more typical will not find the support and friendships that others have found.
I don't see either of them being on a sports team in high school and one struggles in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WSHS graduate (long ago) and WS is my hometown. Due to the high numbers of military-affiliated students, it’s not unusual to be the “new kid” at any point in the school year or grade. Just FYI. Of course, this has its pros and cons.

Woodson was always the HS with laudable athletic achievements- a real powerhouse. Still think of it as such.

Woodson hasn’t been good at sports for a while. I think the girls lacrosse team was good a while back but it’s been years. WS isn’t much better except it’s been good at track and cross country. Lake Braddock is much stronger.

WSHS is very strong at baseball too.

I could be wrong, but I believe WS was better in football last season that LB, until the QB was injured.

Didn't Woodson win state this year for cross country? I believe there was a big photo of kids on the front of the Post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WSHS graduate (long ago) and WS is my hometown. Due to the high numbers of military-affiliated students, it’s not unusual to be the “new kid” at any point in the school year or grade. Just FYI. Of course, this has its pros and cons.

Woodson was always the HS with laudable athletic achievements- a real powerhouse. Still think of it as such.

Woodson hasn’t been good at sports for a while. I think the girls lacrosse team was good a while back but it’s been years. WS isn’t much better except it’s been good at track and cross country. Lake Braddock is much stronger.

WSHS is very strong at baseball too.

I could be wrong, but I believe WS was better in football last season that LB, until the QB was injured.

Didn't Woodson win state this year for cross country? I believe there was a big photo of kids on the front of the Post

I think so. Woodson boys and WSHS girls.

Do your kids do theater, OP? There is always a place on the crew.

Choir is also a very welcoming place for all kinds of students.

[Anonymous]

My daughter loves to sing. I'm glad they have choir opportunities. Is it hard to get in?
My son is still figuring out what he likes. He has a wide variety of interests , he has tried team sports and that will likely not be the way for him. I don't know if he would like crew but I have heard really good things about being on crew.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter loves to sing. I'm glad they have choir opportunities. Is it hard to get in?
My son is still figuring out what he likes. He has a wide variety of interests , he has tried team sports and that will likely not be the way for him. I don't know if he would like crew but I have heard really good things about being on crew.

I can't speak to all schools, but WSHS choir has a place for everyone.

They have 2 "open" choirs, an alto/soprano/2nd soprano choir, and Spartones, a tenor/baritone/bass choir that is usually around 15-25 kids depending on the year.

There are also 2 audition based choirs that are very strong.

One is the alto/soprano/2nd soprano choir, comprised of mostly 10th-12th graders, with a handful of freshmen. Depending on the year, they range from very good to very, very good. This past year, they were exceptional.

Madrigals is their highest mixed choir, of bass/baritone/tenor 2/tenor 1 and soprano/2nd soprano/alto. They are usually exceptional. Most of the kids at this level are either gifted in voice, take regular private voice lessons, or both. Sight reading is required. They perform often outside of school, such as at the VMEA. It is difficult to get selected for this choir as the spots are based in part on voice parts.

The kids involved in choir come from all sorts of social groups, from the typical choir- theater kids, to jocks, geeks, cheerleaders, poets, anime kids... you get the idea. The kids are friendly. The entire music and theater department is entertwined, with great, nurturing instructors. The choir teacher is a step above. It is definitely a welcoming program.

If your daughter is a singer, definitely reach out to the choir teacher for placement if you end up at either school.

I cannot speak about Woodson's men's choir, but Spartones at WSHS is a great group from year to year. Some of the boys are strong singers, some are just boys who enjoy singing and like the camraderie. Many of the boys involved say it ended up being their favorite class.

I am sure Woodson parents have more info on their choirs.

[Anonymous]

That was so helpful to know about the choir, thank you so much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That was so helpful to know about the choir, thank you so much

You are welcome.

Choir is a great class.

[Anonymous]

My kid loved choir at Woodson. We relocated from another state in the middle of high school and choir is where they found their community.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid at WSHS now and I’ll say that theater didn’t work out for her. The theater program is large and because of its size, is competitive. This means, in her experience, opportunities (both in acting and in tech) as underclassmen were more limited. Because theater isn’t her love/passion like many other kids in the program, she didn’t want to bide her time till she became an upperclassmen for more opportunities.

This is in NO way a knock on the staff or other students- they were all very nice- but theater wasn’t the community she hoped it would be (and she doesn’t play sports so she’s still trying to figure out her niche).

[Anonymous]

WSHS parent - I've been happy with the teachers and the academics. The PP who said the kids weren't as smart because they don't come from an AAP center school is misinformed. Many, many WSHS kids come from the AAP center at LBSS. Those who attend Irving have an excellent in-school AAP program option. I have two kids - one did AAP at Irving, the other did AAP at LBSS and they were comparable. Both kids have done well at WSHS. The Irving kid is more academically focused, took a ton (like 12?) AP classes at WSHS, and is at a highly ranked state school now. The LBSS kid is still at WSHS, is not as academically focused, and is only taking a few AP/DE courses. It really depends on the kid, but WSHS (and I think most of FCPS) offers a lot of different options in terms of Honors/AP/DE.