Oakton High vs. Langley/Mclean

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley has a couple hundred fewer students than McLean, which has a couple hundred fewer students than Oakton. Langley was also remodeled a few years ago (maybe 10 now?) and is at 94% capacity vs 109% for McLean and 98% for Oakton.

Lots of stats here if you want to dig into test scores, etc - https://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:8::::8_RETURN_PAGE,P0_EDSL:107,0

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/fcps.fts/viz/SY2024-25CapacityDashboard/ReadMe

Langley's thorough reconstruction was just finished about 4 years ago or so. The project was phased over multiple years like Falls Church. It is a beautiful facility, with features the older FCPS high schools don't have.

As parents of a current Langley HS student, this is 100% accurate. Langley HS has amazing facilities, and the facilities are much nicer than most private schools. The only school that has nicer facilities than Langley HS is the private Potomac school, which is a private school with a 55K/year price tag. Langley is on top of the food chain, follows by McLean, and Oakton HS after that. That being said, Oakton is head and shoulder above Falls Church and Justice.

Facilities aren’t the primary reason for picking a high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you all think of that house?

Not a fan, to be honest. Too much vinyl siding.

That’s what you get for $1.4…. I’ve seen much worse. what are you expecting, full masonry construction? A half acre lot in Vienna (if you can even find it) will set you back $1.2..,,

I love critical replies like this . All the person did was respond to "what do you think of that house" and the person said "I don't like it".

[Anonymous]

When you look at campuses like Carmel High School in Indiana, Ponte Vedra High School in Florida, or York Community High School in Illinois, the difference is striking. Many of these schools are modern, large, and fully equipped in ways that do not resemble what we see in parts of FCPS. Even some high schools in more distant areas of Virginia look newer and more complete.

This makes it hard to understand why a school as highly regarded as McLean appears so dated and limited in comparison. It lacks many of the facilities that have become normal elsewhere. Private pools, expanded athletic fields, updated common areas, and more contemporary lunch spaces with sponsored options are standard features in some districts, yet FCPS buildings often look far behind despite the significant revenue produced through local taxes.

The real question is how the funding is being prioritized. Are resources being distributed in ways that leave certain schools stuck with aging buildings. Is long term planning keeping pace with enrollment and community expectations. Families see the tax base growing and wonder why the physical environment of the schools does not reflect that growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you look at campuses like Carmel High School in Indiana, Ponte Vedra High School in Florida, or York Community High School in Illinois, the difference is striking. Many of these schools are modern, large, and fully equipped in ways that do not resemble what we see in parts of FCPS. Even some high schools in more distant areas of Virginia look newer and more complete.

This makes it hard to understand why a school as highly regarded as McLean appears so dated and limited in comparison. It lacks many of the facilities that have become normal elsewhere. Private pools, expanded athletic fields, updated common areas, and more contemporary lunch spaces with sponsored options are standard features in some districts, yet FCPS buildings often look far behind despite the significant revenue produced through local taxes.

The real question is how the funding is being prioritized. Are resources being distributed in ways that leave certain schools stuck with aging buildings. Is long term planning keeping pace with enrollment and community expectations. Families see the tax base growing and wonder why the physical environment of the schools does not reflect that growth.

The newer FCPS high schools like Oakton, KAA/Western, and Langley have the high-end common areas like you find in APS or Falls Church City, which have the terraced seating and other common areas with furniture dispersed throughout the school, black box theaters, and fancy cafeterias. Only difference is that FCPS is a cheaper than neighboring districts with finishes and furniture. The APS and DCPS cafeterias are really fancy yet many kids eat off campus (open lunch). Only APS, DCPS and ACPS have pools at the high schools in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you look at campuses like Carmel High School in Indiana, Ponte Vedra High School in Florida, or York Community High School in Illinois, the difference is striking. Many of these schools are modern, large, and fully equipped in ways that do not resemble what we see in parts of FCPS. Even some high schools in more distant areas of Virginia look newer and more complete.

This makes it hard to understand why a school as highly regarded as McLean appears so dated and limited in comparison. It lacks many of the facilities that have become normal elsewhere. Private pools, expanded athletic fields, updated common areas, and more contemporary lunch spaces with sponsored options are standard features in some districts, yet FCPS buildings often look far behind despite the significant revenue produced through local taxes.

The real question is how the funding is being prioritized. Are resources being distributed in ways that leave certain schools stuck with aging buildings. Is long term planning keeping pace with enrollment and community expectations. Families see the tax base growing and wonder why the physical environment of the schools does not reflect that growth.

McLean is old but well maintained. If you want to see a "top" local school in poor condition, look at Thomas S. Wootton HS in MCPS.

Resources in FCPS are distributed primarily based on an old "renovation queue" created over 15 years ago. At one time, construction costs were relatively low, so they started expanding schools when they were renovated regardless of need. Now construction costs are higher, but they still slap big expansions on every high school they renovate. It calls more attention to the schools like McLean that should have been expanded but constantly get told there's no money. Our last two school board members were from Great Falls and Herndon, so they don't care. And now FCPS will be allocating so much of their capital budget to the new western HS that other school renovations will get postponed.

It is what it is, at least until they revamp their capital planning processes. Our kids went to McLean and did better academically than their cousins who attended one of the three high schools in other states that you mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Your commute matters more. Pick the shortest commute.

[Anonymous]

Commute matters the most so make your decision primarily based on that factor. My kid attends McLean, we are very happy with the student body, teachers and administrators. We have encountered zero drama and depending on your child's personality they can find a group they fit in, although that maybe true of most high schools in FCPS. To emphasize again, I have been happy with the peer group my kid has, majority of the kids are focused on doing well in school. It's a well off area but we have not found any unnecessary emphasis on money, brands etc., pretty chill overall.

[Anonymous]

Pretentious folk here will talk up Langley/McLean but Oakton and a handful of other fcps high schools are pretty good, if not even superior in some aspects. As long as your child is not attending in the bottom five pyramids, no risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretentious folk here will talk up Langley/McLean but Oakton and a handful of other fcps high schools are pretty good, if not even superior in some aspects. As long as your child is not attending in the bottom five pyramids, no risk.

It’s the folks “talking up” Oakton in an effort to avoid getting reassigned to the new western high school who are burning a lot of bridges these days.