Why is Lewis such an undesirable high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child goes to Lewis. Is in all honors classes, extracurricular sports, etc. Has a similar cohort that hangs together. They are all motivated and college bound. I tell them they can do great things at Lewis and stand out when they apply for college instead of competing with all the other high stress schools in this area. Your child will find their peeps no matter what school they go to... don't let DCUM influence you. Most have no clue about Region 6.

What is the experience for kids who aren't in all honors? We're WSHS. I have a junior who's super motivated, in all APs for core classes, etc. I wouldn't be worried about her should she go to Lewis (and obviously timing-wise, she will graduate from WS, so moot point really).

On the other hand, I have a freshman who very much struggles with motivation and effort. He may only take one AP his whole HS career if he's lucky. We're minorities but only speak English. How would someone like him fare at Lewis?

He would be fine honestly. Yes Lewis gets poopooed but it’s got good teachers, a great principal, and a good community.

Lewis is not Stuart and even Stuart isn’t the worst ever

Compare the lowest performing fcps school to a dc school and well yea

The issues that you identified in your own child are common in others.

Going to WSHS versus LHS isn’t going to change his own intrinsic motivation.

Just be encouraging and involved but not a helicopter. And encourage him to seek help as soon as he needs it and not see it as a bad thing. Oh hey you didn’t do well or are falling behind. Talk to your teacher and ask what you can do and work with them.

I find schools like Lewis minority majority also tend to have faculty that are aware of the outside perception and bend over backwards to help kids be successful to prove the common belief wrong

Justice (formerly Stuart) has more low-income Hispanic kids but also a larger cohort of high-performing kids than Lewis. A significantly higher number of Justice kids do the full IB program.

Almost every high school in FCPS in majority minority now. Langley, Madison, and Robinson are probably the only majority white schools left and Langley will likely be majority minority starting next year.

But it’s good to know Lewis has some very dedicated teachers, as does every school.

Sure there are more senior IB candidates at Justice than Lewis but Lewis is 2nd to Robinson in numbers taking 1 or more AP exams. 2022-23. Lewis is also 3rd in dual enrollment for any school with IB after Robinson and Edison so IB may not be desireable but other stuff is:
Robinson Secondary 428
Lewis High 274
Mount Vernon High 126
Marshall High 30

They recently added some AP courses to Lewis because its record with IB over many years was so bad. This doesn’t prove what you think it does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pull out wealthier students, allow liberal pupil placement, and allow unfettered immigration and Lewis is what you get. FCPS has screwed Lewis and the local community.

That's actually not the problem with Lewis, it's the result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child goes to Lewis. Is in all honors classes, extracurricular sports, etc. Has a similar cohort that hangs together. They are all motivated and college bound. I tell them they can do great things at Lewis and stand out when they apply for college instead of competing with all the other high stress schools in this area. Your child will find their peeps no matter what school they go to... don't let DCUM influence you. Most have no clue about Region 6.

What is the experience for kids who aren't in all honors? We're WSHS. I have a junior who's super motivated, in all APs for core classes, etc. I wouldn't be worried about her should she go to Lewis (and obviously timing-wise, she will graduate from WS, so moot point really).

On the other hand, I have a freshman who very much struggles with motivation and effort. He may only take one AP his whole HS career if he's lucky. We're minorities but only speak English. How would someone like him fare at Lewis?

He would be fine honestly. Yes Lewis gets poopooed but it’s got good teachers, a great principal, and a good community.

Lewis is not Stuart and even Stuart isn’t the worst ever

Compare the lowest performing fcps school to a dc school and well yea

The issues that you identified in your own child are common in others.

Going to WSHS versus LHS isn’t going to change his own intrinsic motivation.

Just be encouraging and involved but not a helicopter. And encourage him to seek help as soon as he needs it and not see it as a bad thing. Oh hey you didn’t do well or are falling behind. Talk to your teacher and ask what you can do and work with them.

I find schools like Lewis minority majority also tend to have faculty that are aware of the outside perception and bend over backwards to help kids be successful to prove the common belief wrong

PP here. Thanks for your response. I guess I just always see people who say their a Lewis kid is a high performer, etc so their kid is fine there, but I don't see much from people who have average kids. I just worry the high and the low performers will get the attention but not the middle of the pack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok OP- why Keene mill? The school with the highest minority population in the WSHS area and the school that has the middle school feeder plopped right in the middle of its boundary area probably isn’t their first choice.

Lewis is in a bad location and it has a very high low income minority population. It also has IB and teachers with little experience in teaching AP. Many parents flee becuase they don’t want IB. As someone who started college as a sophomore with ap credits, I don’t want IB for my kids either. I want the AP credits/

Students can earn college credits with IB courses as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pull out wealthier students, allow liberal pupil placement, and allow unfettered immigration and Lewis is what you get. FCPS has screwed Lewis and the local community.

Look at the demographics. Some cultures prioritize education more than others. Of course that is not everyone, but generally that is the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.greatschools.org/virginia/springfield/533-John-R.-Lewis-High-School/

Choose an academic metric, they're all bad

Need to see data adjusted by SES to really tell if a school is truly underperforming or not. Overall averages typically just represent the SES of the kids who attend. Above performing schools perform well even with a higher percentage of low SES.

[Anonymous]

It is undesirable because everyone says it is without any real proof or personal experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is undesirable because everyone says it is without any real proof or personal experience.

Look, test scores are what they are. You can try to argue that they shouldn’t carry any weight, but most parents do in fact care about those scores. That’s “real proof.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is undesirable because everyone says it is without any real proof or personal experience.

Look, test scores are what they are. You can try to argue that they shouldn’t carry any weight, but most parents do in fact care about those scores. That’s “real proof.”

But dig deeper and test scores are probably related to the kids that just showed up from another country knowing no English or they came in upper elementary and didn’t really catch up. I work in the pyramid. Many families value education and push their kids. Many do not. They come here and do nothing and don’t work and don’t push their kids to go to school or make an effort.

That doesn’t mean another student working hard can’t get a good education or have a good experience there. There is a lot of pride in the school and happy students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is undesirable because everyone says it is without any real proof or personal experience.

Look, test scores are what they are. You can try to argue that they shouldn’t carry any weight, but most parents do in fact care about those scores. That’s “real proof.”

But dig deeper and test scores are probably related to the kids that just showed up from another country knowing no English or they came in upper elementary and didn’t really catch up. I work in the pyramid. Many families value education and push their kids. Many do not. They come here and do nothing and don’t work and don’t push their kids to go to school or make an effort.

That doesn’t mean another student working hard can’t get a good education or have a good experience there. There is a lot of pride in the school and happy students.

That’s all well and good, but the school system devotes more resources to those students, so a lot of time the strong performers get the shaft at these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lewis is undesirable because it can’t offer the variety of courses and extracurricular activities that neighboring schools can. The student body is ethnically diverse, low income, and many are new to the US. The school has difficulty fielding sports teams and arts programs.

But those are strengths, not weaknesses.

Shouldn’t the school be scored higher on Great Schools, if for no other reason than equity of outcomes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.greatschools.org/virginia/springfield/533-John-R.-Lewis-High-School/

Choose an academic metric, they're all bad

Need to see data adjusted by SES to really tell if a school is truly underperforming or not. Overall averages typically just represent the SES of the kids who attend. Above performing schools perform well even with a higher percentage of low SES.

If you are considering sending your kid there, why would you adjust? Either the school has high quality academics or it doesn't- the reason is irrelevant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is undesirable because everyone says it is without any real proof or personal experience.

Look, test scores are what they are. You can try to argue that they shouldn’t carry any weight, but most parents do in fact care about those scores. That’s “real proof.”

But dig deeper and test scores are probably related to the kids that just showed up from another country knowing no English or they came in upper elementary and didn’t really catch up. I work in the pyramid. Many families value education and push their kids. Many do not. They come here and do nothing and don’t work and don’t push their kids to go to school or make an effort.

That doesn’t mean another student working hard can’t get a good education or have a good experience there. There is a lot of pride in the school and happy students.

That’s all well and good, but the school system devotes more resources to those students, so a lot of time the strong performers get the shaft at these schools.

I am not sure I would agree that the strong performers get the shaft - my kids went through FCHS pyramid so Title I ES, Jackson MS. Agree that there are lots of resources for the ESOL/low SES kids but I always felt like the strong performers got a lot of attention and praise, graduated at the top of their class, and had their pick of activities - student govt/sports/music. I agree with the PP who had concerns about average students at the low SES schools - that is a more realistic concern. Strong performers will do well anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is undesirable because everyone says it is without any real proof or personal experience.

Look, test scores are what they are. You can try to argue that they shouldn’t carry any weight, but most parents do in fact care about those scores. That’s “real proof.”

But dig deeper and test scores are probably related to the kids that just showed up from another country knowing no English or they came in upper elementary and didn’t really catch up. I work in the pyramid. Many families value education and push their kids. Many do not. They come here and do nothing and don’t work and don’t push their kids to go to school or make an effort.

That doesn’t mean another student working hard can’t get a good education or have a good experience there. There is a lot of pride in the school and happy students.

That’s all well and good, but the school system devotes more resources to those students, so a lot of time the strong performers get the shaft at these schools.

I am not sure I would agree that the strong performers get the shaft - my kids went through FCHS pyramid so Title I ES, Jackson MS. Agree that there are lots of resources for the ESOL/low SES kids but I always felt like the strong performers got a lot of attention and praise, graduated at the top of their class, and had their pick of activities - student govt/sports/music. I agree with the PP who had concerns about average students at the low SES schools - that is a more realistic concern. Strong performers will do well anywhere.

That is for sure a positive that I had not considered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is undesirable because everyone says it is without any real proof or personal experience.

Look, test scores are what they are. You can try to argue that they shouldn’t carry any weight, but most parents do in fact care about those scores. That’s “real proof.”

But dig deeper and test scores are probably related to the kids that just showed up from another country knowing no English or they came in upper elementary and didn’t really catch up. I work in the pyramid. Many families value education and push their kids. Many do not. They come here and do nothing and don’t work and don’t push their kids to go to school or make an effort.

That doesn’t mean another student working hard can’t get a good education or have a good experience there. There is a lot of pride in the school and happy students.

That’s all well and good, but the school system devotes more resources to those students, so a lot of time the strong performers get the shaft at these schools.

I am not sure I would agree that the strong performers get the shaft - my kids went through FCHS pyramid so Title I ES, Jackson MS. Agree that there are lots of resources for the ESOL/low SES kids but I always felt like the strong performers got a lot of attention and praise, graduated at the top of their class, and had their pick of activities - student govt/sports/music. I agree with the PP who had concerns about average students at the low SES schools - that is a more realistic concern. Strong performers will do well anywhere.

That is for sure a positive that I had not considered.

Pupil Place your kids there then. There’s room.