Tell me about Annandale HS - why the bad rap?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greatschools.net

Which is never a reliable source of information about anything school-related, ironically enough.

+1

They get money from the Gates Foundation and do a good job of crunching data on state-wide tests. Obviously that favors schools that have more students who do well on standardized tests. People can use it as a starting point and dig deeper if they want, but some people just don't like that their schools are assigned 3s or 4s, so they kill the messenger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greatschools.net

Which is never a reliable source of information about anything school-related, ironically enough.

+1

They get money from the Gates Foundation and do a good job of crunching data on state-wide tests. Obviously that favors schools that have more students who do well on standardized tests. People can use it as a starting point and dig deeper if they want, but some people just don't like that their schools are assigned 3s or 4s, so they kill the messenger.

Filled with Ranting Parent reviews because little Johnny did not get into the right class at school.

Annandale is not rated a 3 or 4, BTW. But I would still not consider it a reliable source of info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greatschools.net

Which is never a reliable source of information about anything school-related, ironically enough.

+1

They get money from the Gates Foundation and do a good job of crunching data on state-wide tests. Obviously that favors schools that have more students who do well on standardized tests. People can use it as a starting point and dig deeper if they want, but some people just don't like that their schools are assigned 3s or 4s, so they kill the messenger.

Filled with Ranting Parent reviews because little Johnny did not get into the right class at school.

Annandale is not rated a 3 or 4, BTW. But I would still not consider it a reliable source of info.

The student/parent reviews are anecdotal, but do not impact the numerical ratings. And, yes, Annandale has a 7 on Great Schools. Apparently test results count for more than the presence or absence of doors on bathroom stalls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Annandale is not rated a 3 or 4, BTW. But I would still not consider it a reliable source of info.

The student/parent reviews are anecdotal, but do not impact the numerical ratings. And, yes, Annandale has a 7 on Great Schools. Apparently test results count for more than the presence or absence of doors on bathroom stalls.

A Great Schools rating of 7 puts Annandale in the same grouping as Arlington's Yorktown HS. Do you honestly believe anyone in this area would consider these two high schools to be equally good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Annandale is not rated a 3 or 4, BTW. But I would still not consider it a reliable source of info.

The student/parent reviews are anecdotal, but do not impact the numerical ratings. And, yes, Annandale has a 7 on Great Schools. Apparently test results count for more than the presence or absence of doors on bathroom stalls.

A Great Schools rating of 7 puts Annandale in the same grouping as Arlington's Yorktown HS. Do you honestly believe anyone in this area would consider these two high schools to be equally good?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I have been to Annandale high once, and it was many years ago, but it was enough to know not to ever live in that district. I remember looking for a women's bathroom, but every bathroom that I found had no doors. The doors had been removed from the bathrooms and you could see right in to where the stalls were...which also had no doors. They had also been removed. And there was graffiti everywhere. That told me everything I needed to know.

Yes. The quality of a school can always be determined by the state of its toilets and urinals.

In fact, it can. This tells you that things were going on in the bathrooms that the school felt needed to stop - that's almost certainly drugs, drinking, vandalism, sex, and similar. Then it tells you that the school's solution to this was to remove all doors, leaving students no privacy to break the rules and laws....or to use the bathroom. So the students act like criminals, and the school treats them like prisoners. What a great learning environment, I can't wait to send my kid there.

Except for the vandalism comment is it to be understood that the kids at the perceived nicer HS's do not drink, drug or have sex? Really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW - Annandale is not upper-middle class at all. Solid middle class with pockets of low income households.

(!!!!!)

http://www.fcps.edu/images/boundarymaps/annandalehs.pdf



http://www.zillow.com/homes/51884680_zpid/


http://www.zillow.com/homes/51886434_zpid/


http://www.zillow.com/homes/51885530_zpid/

Is there one above $1M?

http://www.zillow.com/homes/51884662_zpid/

http://www.zillow.com/homes/51884604_zpid/

http://www.zillow.com/homes/72493690_zpid/

http://www.zillow.com/homes/51881269_zpid/

Private school, just like dc

[Anonymous]

There are no high schools in DC as good as Annandale HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW - Annandale is not upper-middle class at all. Solid middle class with pockets of low income households.

(!!!!!)

http://www.fcps.edu/images/boundarymaps/annandalehs.pdf



http://www.zillow.com/homes/51884680_zpid/


http://www.zillow.com/homes/51886434_zpid/


http://www.zillow.com/homes/51885530_zpid/

Is there one above $1M?

http://www.zillow.com/homes/51884662_zpid/

http://www.zillow.com/homes/51884604_zpid/

http://www.zillow.com/homes/72493690_zpid/

http://www.zillow.com/homes/51881269_zpid/

Private school, just like dc

Only in DC do you have to have a home over $1M to be considered upper middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Only in DC do you have to have a home over $1M to be considered upper middle class.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I have been to Annandale high once, and it was many years ago, but it was enough to know not to ever live in that district. I remember looking for a women's bathroom, but every bathroom that I found had no doors. The doors had been removed from the bathrooms and you could see right in to where the stalls were...which also had no doors. They had also been removed. And there was graffiti everywhere. That told me everything I needed to know.

Yes. The quality of a school can always be determined by the state of its toilets and urinals.

Yeah, you can. Not the only measure, but a good one. If the management would pull the doors off the stalls, they are either really lazy (pretty bad) or the problem is really bad (worse)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Annandale is not rated a 3 or 4, BTW. But I would still not consider it a reliable source of info.

The student/parent reviews are anecdotal, but do not impact the numerical ratings. And, yes, Annandale has a 7 on Great Schools. Apparently test results count for more than the presence or absence of doors on bathroom stalls.

A Great Schools rating of 7 puts Annandale in the same grouping as Arlington's Yorktown HS. Do you honestly believe anyone in this area would consider these two high schools to be equally good?

Either Annandale does better with its higher-FARMS student body or Yorktown is punching below its weight.

[Anonymous]

To answer the question about the HS...Annandale has a bad wrap because of it rather heavy immigrant population. Some folks are rather ignorant about foreigner-born people. They need to read the washington post and realize that fairfax county is incredibly diverse and ever-changing. Great article this weekend about the county. For the record I am not foreign-born. I would not move, not yet, anyway. Any HS in fairfax county is going to be fine.just be involved and put everything in writing. Always create a paper trail.

[Anonymous]

Two years ago Annandale had an 8. The really focus on testing there and the results show.

[Anonymous]

By the time OP's kids are high school age the neighborhood zones will have changed multiple times.