Western High School Planning Principal Dave Jagels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people say a given high school is great or not? For example, Chantilly gets a lot of accolades vs Westfield or Centreville - it is that the teachers are better or clubs are better or electives...I'm not sure what people are comparing. Chantilly for example is a little dark and crowded - that is where my kid is zoned for unless we opt into Western, but I do hesitate to try a new school when people seem to think Chantilly and Oakton were the lucky draws for base school.

Everyone I know at Chantilly is happy, no one wants to move even though the school is crowded. None of my Chantilly friends want their kids to move. I think the academics are strong, the activities are good, and it has a strong sense of community. People are not happy with the lack of windows and the temperature control is apparently a mess and it is crowded but that is not enough to make people want to leave.

Oakton is strong academically and their academic clubs have a great reputation. Apparently some parents are enamored with the sports althugh others say that Oakton teams are not great.

I know some SLHS folks want to move because of IB. There is a strong sense of community. I know people who love the theatre program and the sports programs have been doing well the last bunch of years. The academics are solid but IB is not popular with many people. Around 100 or more students pupil place out to schools other than TJ each year, which is high. All those kids are moving to AP schools. 177 students pupil placed out of SLHS this year, 33 were at TJ so 144 went to AP schools.

I don’t know why people want to leave Westfield, it sounds like it is less geographically tied together than Chantilly and not strong enough academically to make parents not care about the longer bus ride. Oakton families are split with some wanting a shorter commute.

I don’t know anyone at Centerville so I don’t know how people feel about the school.

I have not seen many people from Chantilly, Westfiled or Centerville active in the discussion about Western. If they have been, they have not identified as being from those school. It feels like the discussion has been heavy on SLHS and Oakton HS families.

I was a Chantilly student and I found it difficult.

Yes it is a community school, but as an Oak Hill student, I would align more with people at Western.

And Franklin Farm is split between Chantilly and Oakton, with Emerald Chase going to Westfield.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people say a given high school is great or not? For example, Chantilly gets a lot of accolades vs Westfield or Centreville - it is that the teachers are better or clubs are better or electives...I'm not sure what people are comparing. Chantilly for example is a little dark and crowded - that is where my kid is zoned for unless we opt into Western, but I do hesitate to try a new school when people seem to think Chantilly and Oakton were the lucky draws for base school.

Everyone I know at Chantilly is happy, no one wants to move even though the school is crowded. None of my Chantilly friends want their kids to move. I think the academics are strong, the activities are good, and it has a strong sense of community. People are not happy with the lack of windows and the temperature control is apparently a mess and it is crowded but that is not enough to make people want to leave.

Oakton is strong academically and their academic clubs have a great reputation. Apparently some parents are enamored with the sports althugh others say that Oakton teams are not great.

I know some SLHS folks want to move because of IB. There is a strong sense of community. I know people who love the theatre program and the sports programs have been doing well the last bunch of years. The academics are solid but IB is not popular with many people. Around 100 or more students pupil place out to schools other than TJ each year, which is high. All those kids are moving to AP schools. 177 students pupil placed out of SLHS this year, 33 were at TJ so 144 went to AP schools.

I don’t know why people want to leave Westfield, it sounds like it is less geographically tied together than Chantilly and not strong enough academically to make parents not care about the longer bus ride. Oakton families are split with some wanting a shorter commute.

I don’t know anyone at Centerville so I don’t know how people feel about the school.

I have not seen many people from Chantilly, Westfiled or Centerville active in the discussion about Western. If they have been, they have not identified as being from those school. It feels like the discussion has been heavy on SLHS and Oakton HS families.

I was a Chantilly student and I found it difficult.

Yes it is a community school, but as an Oak Hill student, I would align more with people at Western.

And Franklin Farm is split between Chantilly and Oakton, with Emerald Chase going to Westfield.

If you are an Oak Hill student who alligns with Western then you chose to attend carson, Franklin is the Oak Hill base MS. Some one made a choice for you to attend a school that had more kids moving to SLHS, Westfield, or Oakton then Chantilly. My Oak Hill friends have kids at Franklin or Carson. None of them want to leave Chantilly but understand the 30 or so people I know from that school does not represent everyone.

[Anonymous]

I think it's variable. Our base is Franklin but our child attends the AAP program at Carson. Some of our older kids did the Franklin center AAP and some did Carson AAP. The older ones all did well at Chantilly but their friends were 95% from Oak Hill so in our case there was a not a ton of mixing with the other neighborhoods but I know some kids broaden out more. My 8th grader will go to Western for the chance of an AI/Engineering curriculum- and its new and close. As long as they convince us they will have solid AP we will give it a shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He appears to have the most experience with division, equity and inclusion.

Lol, I see what you did there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people say a given high school is great or not? For example, Chantilly gets a lot of accolades vs Westfield or Centreville - it is that the teachers are better or clubs are better or electives...I'm not sure what people are comparing. Chantilly for example is a little dark and crowded - that is where my kid is zoned for unless we opt into Western, but I do hesitate to try a new school when people seem to think Chantilly and Oakton were the lucky draws for base school.

Everyone I know at Chantilly is happy, no one wants to move even though the school is crowded. None of my Chantilly friends want their kids to move. I think the academics are strong, the activities are good, and it has a strong sense of community. People are not happy with the lack of windows and the temperature control is apparently a mess and it is crowded but that is not enough to make people want to leave.

Oakton is strong academically and their academic clubs have a great reputation. Apparently some parents are enamored with the sports althugh others say that Oakton teams are not great.

I know some SLHS folks want to move because of IB. There is a strong sense of community. I know people who love the theatre program and the sports programs have been doing well the last bunch of years. The academics are solid but IB is not popular with many people. Around 100 or more students pupil place out to schools other than TJ each year, which is high. All those kids are moving to AP schools. 177 students pupil placed out of SLHS this year, 33 were at TJ so 144 went to AP schools.

I don’t know why people want to leave Westfield, it sounds like it is less geographically tied together than Chantilly and not strong enough academically to make parents not care about the longer bus ride. Oakton families are split with some wanting a shorter commute.

I don’t know anyone at Centerville so I don’t know how people feel about the school.

I have not seen many people from Chantilly, Westfiled or Centerville active in the discussion about Western. If they have been, they have not identified as being from those school. It feels like the discussion has been heavy on SLHS and Oakton HS families.

I was a Chantilly student and I found it difficult.

Yes it is a community school, but as an Oak Hill student, I would align more with people at Western.

And Franklin Farm is split between Chantilly and Oakton, with Emerald Chase going to Westfield.

If you are an Oak Hill student who alligns with Western then you chose to attend carson, Franklin is the Oak Hill base MS. Some one made a choice for you to attend a school that had more kids moving to SLHS, Westfield, or Oakton then Chantilly. My Oak Hill friends have kids at Franklin or Carson. None of them want to leave Chantilly but understand the 30 or so people I know from that school does not represent everyone.

If you live in Emerald Chase, Carson is your base MS, not Franklin. Those kids go from Oak Hill to Carson to Westfield.