Ranking elementary schools in Woodson Pyramid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mantua, but it's an AAP center so you have to deal with that BS.

What does this mean? What BS?

[Anonymous]

Woodson has slid in the rankings, prioritize great school ratings of 8 or higher for elementaries to avoid low ses

[Anonymous]

A lot of people move in-bounds for AAP centers thinking their kids will be accepted and it doesn’t happen. It can actually be harder to get in when the center is your base and there are no principal placements like there often are at schools with local level IV.

At some AAP centers there can be an unhealthy dynamic between the AAP and non-AAP kids. The kids know who does and doesn’t make it, which isn’t great for the self-esteem of kids who might see all their friends head off to the “smart class”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mantua, but it's an AAP center so you have to deal with that BS.

What does this mean? What BS?

Don't take the bait. This is just anti-AAP talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Woodson has slid in the rankings, prioritize great school ratings of 8 or higher for elementaries to avoid low ses

But GS rankings don't just focus on academic performance. Not sure what to make of Woodson slide, but we can't afford in the Madison, McLean, and Langley pyramids. We could try Oakton but not sure which elm and middleschool... Advice appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of people move in-bounds for AAP centers thinking their kids will be accepted and it doesn’t happen. It can actually be harder to get in when the center is your base and there are no principal placements like there often are at schools with local level IV.

At some AAP centers there can be an unhealthy dynamic between the AAP and non-AAP kids. The kids know who does and doesn’t make it, which isn’t great for the self-esteem of kids who might see all their friends head off to the “smart class”.

Is the latter really true though or is it something the parents project? Like at schools like Mantua, is there a dynamic like that? Seems like a lot of kids there are doing some advanced work (LII and LIII) if not in LIV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woodson has slid in the rankings, prioritize great school ratings of 8 or higher for elementaries to avoid low ses

But GS rankings don't just focus on academic performance. Not sure what to make of Woodson slide, but we can't afford in the Madison, McLean, and Langley pyramids. We could try Oakton but not sure which elm and middleschool... Advice appreciated.

PP is a troll. There’s literally nothing wrong with Woodson. It’s a great school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woodson has slid in the rankings, prioritize great school ratings of 8 or higher for elementaries to avoid low ses

But GS rankings don't just focus on academic performance. Not sure what to make of Woodson slide, but we can't afford in the Madison, McLean, and Langley pyramids. We could try Oakton but not sure which elm and middleschool... Advice appreciated.

PP is a troll. There’s literally nothing wrong with Woodson. It’s a great school.

Their rating of 6/10 for 2022 says otherwise. I remember Woodson used to be an 8/10 a few years ago. Something is going downhill there but I suppose that can be said for a lot of FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Woodson has slid in the rankings, prioritize great school ratings of 8 or higher for elementaries to avoid low ses

Same GS-obsessed troll has to pop up again. Wish this guy would have a stroke or something.

[Anonymous]

Great Schools is constantly adjusting their methodology. Recent changes in school rankings are much more about this than any significant shift in school quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of people move in-bounds for AAP centers thinking their kids will be accepted and it doesn’t happen. It can actually be harder to get in when the center is your base and there are no principal placements like there often are at schools with local level IV.

At some AAP centers there can be an unhealthy dynamic between the AAP and non-AAP kids. The kids know who does and doesn’t make it, which isn’t great for the self-esteem of kids who might see all their friends head off to the “smart class”.

Is the latter really true though or is it something the parents project? Like at schools like Mantua, is there a dynamic like that? Seems like a lot of kids there are doing some advanced work (LII and LIII) if not in LIV.

The LII kids are likely not doing anything above what everyone else is doing, fyi. It might mean a few different worksheets. LIII is not even markedly different with the exception of the math pull out.

You seem to be putting a lot of your emphasis on AAP. Only the top 10% scoring students in each school are placed in-pool for AAP, and even if your kid isn’t in pool, you can parent refer to the pool. None of these schools will give you a leg up on gaining admission to LIV over another. If your kid doesn’t get into LIV at Mantua or CWES, they won’t have the opportunity to be principal placed into the LIV class. At a non-center school, the principal has that discretion. Some schools don’t have a LLIV class and use the cluster model.
I only have experience with CWES— both kids AAP. We have been generally pleased with the community feel and have had zero issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of people move in-bounds for AAP centers thinking their kids will be accepted and it doesn’t happen. It can actually be harder to get in when the center is your base and there are no principal placements like there often are at schools with local level IV.

At some AAP centers there can be an unhealthy dynamic between the AAP and non-AAP kids. The kids know who does and doesn’t make it, which isn’t great for the self-esteem of kids who might see all their friends head off to the “smart class”.

Is the latter really true though or is it something the parents project? Like at schools like Mantua, is there a dynamic like that? Seems like a lot of kids there are doing some advanced work (LII and LIII) if not in LIV.

The LII kids are likely not doing anything above what everyone else is doing, fyi. It might mean a few different worksheets. LIII is not even markedly different with the exception of the math pull out.

You seem to be putting a lot of your emphasis on AAP. Only the top 10% scoring students in each school are placed in-pool for AAP, and even if your kid isn’t in pool, you can parent refer to the pool. None of these schools will give you a leg up on gaining admission to LIV over another. If your kid doesn’t get into LIV at Mantua or CWES, they won’t have the opportunity to be principal placed into the LIV class. At a non-center school, the principal has that discretion. Some schools don’t have a LLIV class and use the cluster model.
I only have experience with CWES— both kids AAP. We have been generally pleased with the community feel and have had zero issues.

But if many people buy in CWES and Mantua zone for AAP, then it'll likely harder to get in (top 10% will be higher achieving than the non-center school).

No experience of ingroup/outgroup stuff between gen ed and AAP at CWES? Are the kids entirely separated or do they have lunch, specials together?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great Schools is constantly adjusting their methodology. Recent changes in school rankings are much more about this than any significant shift in school quality.

No doubt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of people move in-bounds for AAP centers thinking their kids will be accepted and it doesn’t happen. It can actually be harder to get in when the center is your base and there are no principal placements like there often are at schools with local level IV.

At some AAP centers there can be an unhealthy dynamic between the AAP and non-AAP kids. The kids know who does and doesn’t make it, which isn’t great for the self-esteem of kids who might see all their friends head off to the “smart class”.

Is the latter really true though or is it something the parents project? Like at schools like Mantua, is there a dynamic like that? Seems like a lot of kids there are doing some advanced work (LII and LIII) if not in LIV.

The LII kids are likely not doing anything above what everyone else is doing, fyi. It might mean a few different worksheets. LIII is not even markedly different with the exception of the math pull out.

You seem to be putting a lot of your emphasis on AAP. Only the top 10% scoring students in each school are placed in-pool for AAP, and even if your kid isn’t in pool, you can parent refer to the pool. None of these schools will give you a leg up on gaining admission to LIV over another. If your kid doesn’t get into LIV at Mantua or CWES, they won’t have the opportunity to be principal placed into the LIV class. At a non-center school, the principal has that discretion. Some schools don’t have a LLIV class and use the cluster model.
I only have experience with CWES— both kids AAP. We have been generally pleased with the community feel and have had zero issues.

But if many people buy in CWES and Mantua zone for AAP, then it'll likely harder to get in (top 10% will be higher achieving than the non-center school).

No experience of ingroup/outgroup stuff between gen ed and AAP at CWES? Are the kids entirely separated or do they have lunch, specials together?

Pretty sure both groups have recess, lunch, and specials together at Mantua.

As far as the dynamic is concerned, I haven’t noticed any issues but my kids are both in AAP. Not sure if the non-AAP kids would feel the same or not.

[Anonymous]

One data driven difference between your original 3 schools is that CWES and Mantua both have roughly twice as many economically challenged kids (around 14% compared to 7% at WFES).

Also as another poster noted, more ESOL kids at both those schools. In both cases this is probably due to them serving as AAP centers so kids are coming from lots of different places, including Title I schools. Not that it should play any role in your decision, but that is data, rather than opinion.

Houses may cost a tad more in Mantua, but I can speak for the other two neighborhoods, both of which have lots of highly-educated folks (most are senior level feds, lawyers, journalists, business owners, consultants, diplomats, etc). Not always folks in super high paying jobs, but they do very interesting and respected work.