Aps vs fcps

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJHSST is operated by FCPS but is considered a governors school and that may make it independent in some ways.

Legally, TJ absolutely IS a Virginia Governor's school and the VA Dept of Education merely has a contract with FCPS to operate it. FCPS often tries to hide this and uses TJ stats to boost their overall statistics.

FCPS both owns and operates TJ, and renews a contract with the VDOE every year to operate as a Governor’s School. Most TJ students live in Fairfax, and the number of TJ students from the FCPS pyramids that send the most students to TJ is much larger than the number from any of the APS pyramids.

But isn’t it obvious that there would be more FCPS student since FCPS is much larger geographically, has more students and higher student to teacher ratio?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJHSST is operated by FCPS but is considered a governors school and that may make it independent in some ways.

Legally, TJ absolutely IS a Virginia Governor's school and the VA Dept of Education merely has a contract with FCPS to operate it. FCPS often tries to hide this and uses TJ stats to boost their overall statistics.

FCPS both owns and operates TJ, and renews a contract with the VDOE every year to operate as a Governor’s School. Most TJ students live in Fairfax, and the number of TJ students from the FCPS pyramids that send the most students to TJ is much larger than the number from any of the APS pyramids.

But isn’t it obvious that there would be more FCPS student since FCPS is much larger geographically, has more students and higher student to teacher ratio?

It’s not just that FCPS sends more students. It’s also that the top FCPS pyramids send more kids to TJ than any of the pyramids in APS.

Also, some years individual schools in FCPS have had more National Merit Semifinalists than all the high schools in APS combined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS’ Arlington Tech is a VDOE Governor’s Academy. It is shares facilities with the Career Center and its students mix with other APS and FCCPS (Falls Church City) students.

The new state-of-the-art campus is under construction.

While Arlington Tech is not trying to be TJ, and it isn't, it does mean that APS students have 2 choices for STEM-focused HS. And to be very clear, Arlington Tech is NOT a vocational school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're interested in specialized programs, you forgot to mention FCPS's AAP (gifted) program for elementary school and middle school.

APS has nothing comparable, AFAIK.

This was the biggest factor for us in picking APS.

There is an intense amount of parent angling, test prep, and parent appeals to get kids placed in AAP. It is toxic. Seen many people go through it. Didn’t want to deal with it.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But isn’t it obvious that there would be more FCPS student since FCPS is much larger geographically, has more students and higher student to teacher ratio?

Yea, exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJHSST is operated by FCPS but is considered a governors school and that may make it independent in some ways.

Legally, TJ absolutely IS a Virginia Governor's school and the VA Dept of Education merely has a contract with FCPS to operate it. FCPS often tries to hide this and uses TJ stats to boost their overall statistics.

FCPS both owns and operates TJ, and renews a contract with the VDOE every year to operate as a Governor’s School. Most TJ students live in Fairfax, and the number of TJ students from the FCPS pyramids that send the most students to TJ is much larger than the number from any of the APS pyramids.

But isn’t it obvious that there would be more FCPS student since FCPS is much larger geographically, has more students and higher student to teacher ratio?

It’s not just that FCPS sends more students. It’s also that the top FCPS pyramids send more kids to TJ than any of the pyramids in APS.

Also, some years individual schools in FCPS have had more National Merit Semifinalists than all the high schools in APS combined.

APS Caps how many students they send to TJ so you can’t really compare

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're interested in specialized programs, you forgot to mention FCPS's AAP (gifted) program for elementary school and middle school.

APS has nothing comparable, AFAIK.

This was the biggest factor for us in picking APS.

There is an intense amount of parent angling, test prep, and parent appeals to get kids placed in AAP. It is toxic. Seen many people go through it. Didn’t want to deal with it.

It depends on the school. Our sons ES had maybe 10 parents at the AAP informational meeting in second grade. People were not worried about AAP and a good number of the kids who were selected stayed at the base school. I know most of my friends ES where the same. The kids who moved to the Center were more the kids struggling socially at school. I know some folks who said their kid was bullied and AAP allowed them to change schools with less hassle. I take many of those accounts with a large grain of salt because I knew the kid and saw their behavior outside of school.

There are other schools where the parents are crazy. I would avoid Navy and the ESs that feed into Langley and McLean, those seem to be the parents most AAP crazed. The main drive is getting their kids far enough ahead to be competitive for TJ. I actually think that TJ is more of the draw then AAP, AAP is just a tool to help get to TJ. The other people that we saw who became obsessed where our friends who looked for a cheap but big house and ended up at a Title 1 school. They didn't want to move, and give up the big house, but did not want their kid in a class with kids who were not reading by 2nd grade, AAP was their out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS’ Arlington Tech is a VDOE Governor’s Academy. It is shares facilities with the Career Center and its students mix with other APS and FCCPS (Falls Church City) students.

The new state-of-the-art campus is under construction.

While Arlington Tech is not trying to be TJ, and it isn't, it does mean that APS students have 2 choices for STEM-focused HS. And to be very clear, Arlington Tech is NOT a vocational school.

As Arl Tech gets more popular, there are going to be STEM focused kids who don't get into TJ or Arl Tech. So make sure you're also happy with your ba

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS’ Arlington Tech is a VDOE Governor’s Academy. It is shares facilities with the Career Center and its students mix with other APS and FCCPS (Falls Church City) students.

The new state-of-the-art campus is under construction.

While Arlington Tech is not trying to be TJ, and it isn't, it does mean that APS students have 2 choices for STEM-focused HS. And to be very clear, Arlington Tech is NOT a vocational school.

As Arl Tech gets more popular, there are going to be STEM focused kids who don't get into TJ or Arl Tech. So make sure you're also happy with your base school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a troll, I’m doing an essay on area public school systems, and now I’m looking at NOVA. Comparing FCPS (Fairfax County Public Schools) and APS (Arlington Public Schools), they seem pretty similar, even though people say they’re very different. I don’t know anyone in either system, so I’m asking here. Thanks in advance!

I’d like to compare a few things to get a better idea of how they really stack up. First, how do the curriculum and academic offerings compare? I’m particularly interested in the AP, honors, and specialized programs like STEM or the arts. Also, how do the schools perform in terms of rankings, test scores, graduation rates, and college admissions?

Extracurricular activities and sports are another big factor. What kinds of clubs or activities are available, and are there any unique programs in either district? Teacher quality and experience matter a lot too, so I’m curious about the student-to-teacher ratios and how the teaching staff compares in terms of experience and support.

When it comes to facilities, I’m wondering how the schools’ resources like tech, libraries, and gyms compare. Diversity is also important—how do the student bodies in both districts compare in terms of race, socioeconomic background, and academic needs?

Another thing I’d like to know is how both districts prepare students for college and careers. What resources are there for college applications, internships, or job planning? I’d also like to know what each district does regarding school safety and discipline.

How involved are parents and the community in each district? Is there strong support from both? And how do special education services differ between FCPS and APS?

Finally, I’m interested in how funding and class sizes might impact the student experience. Do either district have larger class sizes or varying levels of funding that affect resources? And how would you describe the overall school culture and atmosphere? Is one more academically driven, while the other focuses more on balance?

Would love to hear some insights!

You need to start with basic research. A lot of this information is available online. Have you even looked at the websites? I’m not to impressed with your essay when you’re using DCUM as your research.

It’s to supplement my research. I’m looking at concrete stats, but also personal experience helps.

Then why did you ask basic questions that you can find on the websites?

+1
This is a rather interesting way to "research." Obviously, you know that you will be stirring up the "which is better" debate. If that is not your primary goal, then you are certainly very foolish to think that you will get any useful information from a few anecdotes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids schools in FCPS are much nicer than the Aps school where I teach. Aps did condition reports on their schools
Last year maybe so you can see those. I would say aps has more “show schools” per capita but that doesn’t mean the all the schools are nice.
I love that FCPS has mostly 6th grade in elementary annd only 7/8 in middle schools. They offer immersion programs in more languages. Their sped offerings can also be more tailored and clustered to disabilities just because there are more kids.
Aps can give more flexibility in that it is a smaller and more nimble system.

NP. Can you talk about FCPS's Sped offerings vs APS?

DP. POAC did some comparison of all the NoVa systems a few years ago. APS>FCPS for inclusion. But FCCPS is better than both for that. FCPS pays SpEd teachers more and has more formal programs for different populations. However your kid can end up being bussed quite far. Also if you a private placement you basically have no chance in hell from APS and an unlikely but maybe chance from FCPS. Principals have a lot more autonomy in APS which can be good or bad. Pre-k sped programs are better in APS.

can you link to this report? sounds interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJHSST is operated by FCPS but is considered a governors school and that may make it independent in some ways.

Legally, TJ absolutely IS a Virginia Governor's school and the VA Dept of Education merely has a contract with FCPS to operate it. FCPS often tries to hide this and uses TJ stats to boost their overall statistics.

FCPS both owns and operates TJ, and renews a contract with the VDOE every year to operate as a Governor’s School. Most TJ students live in Fairfax, and the number of TJ students from the FCPS pyramids that send the most students to TJ is much larger than the number from any of the APS pyramids.

But isn’t it obvious that there would be more FCPS student since FCPS is much larger geographically, has more students and higher student to teacher ratio?

It’s not just that FCPS sends more students. It’s also that the top FCPS pyramids send more kids to TJ than any of the pyramids in APS.

Also, some years individual schools in FCPS have had more National Merit Semifinalists than all the high schools in APS combined.

APS Caps how many students they send to TJ so you can’t really compare

If you really want TJ, go to FCPS not APS. APS may not do this forever. Budgets are tight and that may get worse and worse. Cutting TJ comes up regularly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJHSST is operated by FCPS but is considered a governors school and that may make it independent in some ways.

Legally, TJ absolutely IS a Virginia Governor's school and the VA Dept of Education merely has a contract with FCPS to operate it. FCPS often tries to hide this and uses TJ stats to boost their overall statistics.

FCPS both owns and operates TJ, and renews a contract with the VDOE every year to operate as a Governor’s School. Most TJ students live in Fairfax, and the number of TJ students from the FCPS pyramids that send the most students to TJ is much larger than the number from any of the APS pyramids.

But isn’t it obvious that there would be more FCPS student since FCPS is much larger geographically, has more students and higher student to teacher ratio?

It’s not just that FCPS sends more students. It’s also that the top FCPS pyramids send more kids to TJ than any of the pyramids in APS.

Also, some years individual schools in FCPS have had more National Merit Semifinalists than all the high schools in APS combined.

And those pyramids send more kids because those students and families pay extra to send them to cram schools that are not affiliated with FCPS. Not to say they shouldn’t do that and that there aren’t benefits to being in schools where many students do that but that’s not really something I would personally put as indicative of the actual quality of the school or system itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And those pyramids send more kids because those students and families pay extra to send them to cram schools that are not affiliated with FCPS. Not to say they shouldn’t do that and that there aren’t benefits to being in schools where many students do that but that’s not really something I would personally put as indicative of the actual quality of the school or system itself.

This. Nothing wrong with outside supplements, but the "high performing" FCPS pyramids have many more kids doing those outside supplements, especially in math.