Moving to VA from MCPS

[Anonymous]

I would stay at MCPS for now. At least you have a governor who isn't trying to ruin public education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the detailed responses. I suspect that my technology concerns won’t be solved with a move. (For the PPs who don’t think tech is a concern, that’s fine, but I am a HS teacher and think pen/paper/binders/hard textbooks are helpful for student learning.)

I guess the other issue we are trying to solve with a move to VA is college. We have saved enough to pay for in state tuition, but the VA options are much better than the MD options.

NP. We are in Fairfax and on . middle school and high school, I have seen a deliberate effort by (some) teachers to use pencil and paper. There are some days where DS leaves his laptop in his backpack for the whole day.

[Anonymous]

OP, you're going to find all the same issues in VA. Falls Church would be my pick if moving. But private school is more likely to give you the educational experience you want for your kids.

[Anonymous]

Which School really isn’t likely to make a big difference in outcomes. As long as the school isn’t truly terrible/unsafe, and offers many AP and/or IB options, kids of the same demographic makeup will perform similarly regardless of where they go to school. The biggest predictor is parental education & SES. That’s of course why all the “good” schools are in neighborhoods where houses cost millions of dollars.

So if you want to move to VA for in-state college tuition, go for it. Look for a neighborhood you like and can afford. You don’t need Yorktown or McLean for your kid to learn, do well, and get into a good college (& in fact these “rich” schools have their own problems). Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are trying to decide if we should move to VA for better schools for our kids or stay in MoCo and go private/parochial. The VA HS boundaries we are looking at are: Yorktown (Arlington), Meridian and Marshall (Falls Church), McClean (Fairfax).
Here are some factors we are thinking through:
- Three kids, so parochial school PK-8 is ~350k.
- MCPS uses a lot of technology in early grades (K uses Chromebooks for educational games). I would prefer more limited (or non-existent, honestly) technology.
- MCPS allows cell phones (or has teacher enforcement of cell phone bans, which I believe is an ineffective policy).
- We are in MCPS’s Down County Consortium, so Blair HS is an option. Our elementary is fine but not great and MS (Sligo MS) doesn’t seem like a great option. Reading and math proficiency levels are not very good, even at our ES, which is not Title 1.

Will moving to VA actually address the concerns I have? I think my husband is leaning toward move to VA, get a nicer house, and get better schools while I lean toward staying in our more modest house and going to parochial school because it’s a better culture fit.

Any guidance on VA schools or generally thinking through this issue would be appreciated.

Why? That's so stupid. Do you want them to use chalk and slate or some shit like that?

The VA schools you're eyeing are remarkably similar to MCPS, so not sure what you think you're going to get that's different.

What a bizarre hostility to technology, though. Do you realize we live in the 21st Century and technology is a central part of how we live, work and learn?

Homeschool if you're determined to have luddites with no skills.

Spellcheck typing and PowerPoint presentations are not high tech for most people, but apparently that doesn't include you and your kids. What exactly is the computer doing? Chatbots? Grammar check? YouTube? Kahoot? These are useless for learning for normal kids in a classroom. Desmos should be replaced back with a TI because it's harder to cheat.

You laugh about chalk and slate but many science and math classes still rely on writing things in (yes) chalk or markers on boards. The only reason actual tech would be necessary are for niche things like coding and video editing where there is no alternative.

I don't necessarily disagree, but my CS/math major kid in college said they do all their math HW on a computer.

I think slides are fine. It's no different than when a teacher writes what they put in a slide on the board. It's just faster, and kids can review the slides, too.

But, ITA that they need textbooks. My kid is at an MCPS and brought home a thick AP Chem textbook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which School really isn’t likely to make a big difference in outcomes. As long as the school isn’t truly terrible/unsafe, and offers many AP and/or IB options, kids of the same demographic makeup will perform similarly regardless of where they go to school. The biggest predictor is parental education & SES. That’s of course why all the “good” schools are in neighborhoods where houses cost millions of dollars.

So if you want to move to VA for in-state college tuition, go for it. Look for a neighborhood you like and can afford. You don’t need Yorktown or McLean for your kid to learn, do well, and get into a good college (& in fact these “rich” schools have their own problems). Good luck.

^Keep this in mind, especially since FCPS is planning to redraw all the school pyramid boundaries to help with equity issues this year and next. Re APS, boundary changes are always possible even if they are on the backburner for now.

If you want a guaranteed high school pyramid with boundaries that will never change, your only options are Fairfax City (Fairfax HS), Falls Church City (Meridian HS), and Alexandria City (Alexandria City High School). Best of luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the detailed responses. I suspect that my technology concerns won’t be solved with a move. (For the PPs who don’t think tech is a concern, that’s fine, but I am a HS teacher and think pen/paper/binders/hard textbooks are helpful for student learning.)

I guess the other issue we are trying to solve with a move to VA is college. We have saved enough to pay for in state tuition, but the VA options are much better than the MD options.

I'm a happy APS parent in the pyramid you referenced, despite definitely being a low-tech parent and would prefer as low tech as possible in school. That being said, I do think if you truly don't want ipads/computers in school you probably want to go private. No public school system these days is going that route completely. My child is in elementary, but so far I have been ok with the amount it seems to be used and how it is used. I do think the teachers seem thoughtful with it and it isn't the majority, but is used for some independent work and testing. That all being said I'm not sure APS or FCPS FCC schools are going to be lengths different from each other. They are very similar school systems generally. People will say x is better, or many will say APS sucks on this board, but generally our neighbors seem happy, we're happy, and I doubt it would be much different crossing a boundary line (husband went to Fairfax schools, my nieces and nephews go to MCPS).

For colleges - yes, VA is way better. I think you need to decide if public school is the right path for your family. Can you accept a good education that isn't perfect or everything you think is the most ideal? (so that it can serve everyone). If not, that's ok too and investing in private education may be a better fit so you feel happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which School really isn’t likely to make a big difference in outcomes. As long as the school isn’t truly terrible/unsafe, and offers many AP and/or IB options, kids of the same demographic makeup will perform similarly regardless of where they go to school. The biggest predictor is parental education & SES. That’s of course why all the “good” schools are in neighborhoods where houses cost millions of dollars.

So if you want to move to VA for in-state college tuition, go for it. Look for a neighborhood you like and can afford. You don’t need Yorktown or McLean for your kid to learn, do well, and get into a good college (& in fact these “rich” schools have their own problems). Good luck.

^Keep this in mind, especially since FCPS is planning to redraw all the school pyramid boundaries to help with equity issues this year and next. Re APS, boundary changes are always possible even if they are on the backburner for now.

If you want a guaranteed high school pyramid with boundaries that will never change, your only options are Fairfax City (Fairfax HS), Falls Church City (Meridian HS), and Alexandria City (Alexandria City High School). Best of luck.

And fewer than half of ACPS middle school and high school students report feeling safe at school, so cross that one off your list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the detailed responses. I suspect that my technology concerns won’t be solved with a move. (For the PPs who don’t think tech is a concern, that’s fine, but I am a HS teacher and think pen/paper/binders/hard textbooks are helpful for student learning.)

I guess the other issue we are trying to solve with a move to VA is college. We have saved enough to pay for in state tuition, but the VA options are much better than the MD options.

I'm a happy APS parent in the pyramid you referenced, despite definitely being a low-tech parent and would prefer as low tech as possible in school. That being said, I do think if you truly don't want ipads/computers in school you probably want to go private. No public school system these days is going that route completely. My child is in elementary, but so far I have been ok with the amount it seems to be used and how it is used. I do think the teachers seem thoughtful with it and it isn't the majority, but is used for some independent work and testing. That all being said I'm not sure APS or FCPS FCC schools are going to be lengths different from each other. They are very similar school systems generally. People will say x is better, or many will say APS sucks on this board, but generally our neighbors seem happy, we're happy, and I doubt it would be much different crossing a boundary line (husband went to Fairfax schools, my nieces and nephews go to MCPS).

For colleges - yes, VA is way better. I think you need to decide if public school is the right path for your family. Can you accept a good education that isn't perfect or everything you think is the most ideal? (so that it can serve everyone). If not, that's ok too and investing in private education may be a better fit so you feel happy.

Private education, especially parochial, isn't perfect either. No education system is perfect. Sure, there are some better than others, but as you say, it's a matter of what you are comfortable with.

As a parent of a HSer and a college student who is very high performing, it's very hard for even high performers to stand out in schools that have a lot of high performers. Colleges don't want a large number of kids from one school/area, even if they are all high performing.

Just keep that in mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the detailed responses. I suspect that my technology concerns won’t be solved with a move. (For the PPs who don’t think tech is a concern, that’s fine, but I am a HS teacher and think pen/paper/binders/hard textbooks are helpful for student learning.)

I guess the other issue we are trying to solve with a move to VA is college. We have saved enough to pay for in state tuition, but the VA options are much better than the MD options.

I'm a happy APS parent in the pyramid you referenced, despite definitely being a low-tech parent and would prefer as low tech as possible in school. That being said, I do think if you truly don't want ipads/computers in school you probably want to go private. No public school system these days is going that route completely. My child is in elementary, but so far I have been ok with the amount it seems to be used and how it is used. I do think the teachers seem thoughtful with it and it isn't the majority, but is used for some independent work and testing. That all being said I'm not sure APS or FCPS FCC schools are going to be lengths different from each other. They are very similar school systems generally. People will say x is better, or many will say APS sucks on this board, but generally our neighbors seem happy, we're happy, and I doubt it would be much different crossing a boundary line (husband went to Fairfax schools, my nieces and nephews go to MCPS).

For colleges - yes, VA is way better. I think you need to decide if public school is the right path for your family. Can you accept a good education that isn't perfect or everything you think is the most ideal? (so that it can serve everyone). If not, that's ok too and investing in private education may be a better fit so you feel happy.

Agree that private won't be perfect. We went from FCPS to a private (halfway between parochial and independent in cost, close to a high performing parochial in rigor, so nothing crazy here) partially over technology and wanting an older school education for elementary. My kids are now learning grammar from a workbook instead of from Lexia. Tech is used for things like learning to type, which is a pretty critical life skill and actually not taught in FCPS until 7th and only if you take an elective. The school environment fits our kids in so many ways.

That said there are definite downsides to the route we took. For example the math options in high school simply can't compare unless we literally dual enroll our kids with GMU under our own effort and on our own dollar - FCPS will provide this option for you. There's a lot fewer foreign languages. Every time something bugs us, it bugs us extra because of the tuition bill.

So...you have to pick which not perfect option you prefer. And as a friend who is currently homeschooling mentioned, once you start thinking about options you don't necessarily stop. Every year, or even multiple times a year, you are constantly second guessing and re-evaluating. After all, it's not like our public was terrible or our private is perfect. So that's an added layer of stress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are trying to decide if we should move to VA for better schools for our kids or stay in MoCo and go private/parochial. The VA HS boundaries we are looking at are: Yorktown (Arlington), Meridian and Marshall (Falls Church), McClean (Fairfax).
Here are some factors we are thinking through:
- Three kids, so parochial school PK-8 is ~350k.
- MCPS uses a lot of technology in early grades (K uses Chromebooks for educational games). I would prefer more limited (or non-existent, honestly) technology.
- MCPS allows cell phones (or has teacher enforcement of cell phone bans, which I believe is an ineffective policy).
- We are in MCPS’s Down County Consortium, so Blair HS is an option. Our elementary is fine but not great and MS (Sligo MS) doesn’t seem like a great option. Reading and math proficiency levels are not very good, even at our ES, which is not Title 1.

Will moving to VA actually address the concerns I have? I think my husband is leaning toward move to VA, get a nicer house, and get better schools while I lean toward staying in our more modest house and going to parochial school because it’s a better culture fit.

Any guidance on VA schools or generally thinking through this issue would be appreciated.

Why? That's so stupid. Do you want them to use chalk and slate or some shit like that?

The VA schools you're eyeing are remarkably similar to MCPS, so not sure what you think you're going to get that's different.

What a bizarre hostility to technology, though. Do you realize we live in the 21st Century and technology is a central part of how we live, work and learn?

Homeschool if you're determined to have luddites with no skills.

Spellcheck typing and PowerPoint presentations are not high tech for most people, but apparently that doesn't include you and your kids. What exactly is the computer doing? Chatbots? Grammar check? YouTube? Kahoot? These are useless for learning for normal kids in a classroom. Desmos should be replaced back with a TI because it's harder to cheat.

You laugh about chalk and slate but many science and math classes still rely on writing things in (yes) chalk or markers on boards. The only reason actual tech would be necessary are for niche things like coding and video editing where there is no alternative.

I don't necessarily disagree, but my CS/math major kid in college said they do all their math HW on a computer.

I think slides are fine. It's no different than when a teacher writes what they put in a slide on the board. It's just faster, and kids can review the slides, too.

But, ITA that they need textbooks. My kid is at an MCPS and brought home a thick AP Chem textbook.

There’s a big difference in ability to manage abstract concepts between college students and those in elementary. I’m not completely anti-tech, but very much so in the early years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the detailed responses. I suspect that my technology concerns won’t be solved with a move. (For the PPs who don’t think tech is a concern, that’s fine, but I am a HS teacher and think pen/paper/binders/hard textbooks are helpful for student learning.)

I guess the other issue we are trying to solve with a move to VA is college. We have saved enough to pay for in state tuition, but the VA options are much better than the MD options.

If you like the VA public college options enough, then that is enough reason to move to VA.

DCUM will never agree about which schools are good or bad. I still think Yorktown HS Arlington is better, partly because it is a smaller system (easier to manage), partly because I think the CKLA in elementary is better than FCPS choice of Benchmark for literacy, but many others just above have disagreed with me and hate APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would stay at MCPS for now. At least you have a governor who isn't trying to ruin public education.

What? Other than dumbing down public education even more to accommodate even more unqualified students, how exactly would anyone ruin public education, especially in Nova where per capita spending is way above national average? The democrat governors were in office when the Nova schools began their plummet. If we could delink sped from the gen ed classroom and get the crazy kids out of schools completely, most schools would immediately function and perform better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would stay at MCPS for now. At least you have a governor who isn't trying to ruin public education.

What? Other than dumbing down public education even more to accommodate even more unqualified students, how exactly would anyone ruin public education, especially in Nova where per capita spending is way above national average? The democrat governors were in office when the Nova schools began their plummet. If we could delink sped from the gen ed classroom and get the crazy kids out of schools completely, most schools would immediately function and perform better.

I don’t know if you meant to tell on yourself, but man… you need a break from the internets tonight. You really do hate those different from you and your kids, eh?

[Anonymous]

The real answer is to move to West Virginia. Colleges like to target kids who don’t come from the same places when they offer admission.

Your kids will stand out more there than in districts where everyone’s competing for the same pie.