High Schools To Avoid In Fairfax County & Other Questions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Annandale High
Anything in Alexandria
Falls Church High & Edison High???

I meant Falls Church High & Stuart High (edison is in alexandria)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Annandale High
Anything in Alexandria
Falls Church High & Edison High???

I meant Falls Church High & Stuart High (edison is in alexandria)

Apart from your omission of Lee HS in Springfield, you're just ticking off the schools with a lot of non-Asian minority students. US News just included Falls Church, Annandale and Stuart as among the top HS in the state (#26, 27 and 32). Lovely that DCUM allows people to vent their racism/classism so openly.

[Anonymous]

We love Robinson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15:33 - we just bought in the Edison pyramid and I've sort of been kicking myself because I'm worried about the schools. Did your kids go to elementary and Twain also? We are zoned for Lane too.

Part of my concern is that I feel like we are at the upper end of the income/housing bracket of our zone, if that makes sense. I'm concerned about DC being an outlier. (In the same way, DH wanted to buy in McLean where we would have been at the very bottom, and I didn't want that either - so it's not like I have something against those with lower incomes, I just wanted my kids to sort of be in the middle if that makes sense). I guess I am worried more about the other kids and a potential peer group than the academics, per se. I am also interested in any experience you have with the IB program at Edison.

15:33 here. Stop kicking yourself. Our kids went to Rose Hill Elementary (now a Title 1 school and majority Hispanic) and we currently have 1 at Twain and 2 at Edison. Friends have kids at Lane and are very happy with it. Your DC won't be an outlier. Even though there are more FARMS/minorities at Edison, there will still be a huge pool of kids that will be good friends with your kids. Some will have a lower HHI than you, some will have higher. We have one child who will pursue the IB program this year so I can't tell you too much about it now. But, that's a long way off for you.

As far as peer groups go, I can tell you that in elementary school, my kids had friends across the SES groups. One of the benefits of a lower SES group is that there isn't as much pressure to buy the latest/greatest gadget. Yeah, my kids wanted an iPad and all that but accepted that we didn't have money for it. Some of the kids in the classes did (and the had the DS, Xbox, etc.) but certainly not all. We also found the teaching staff committed and well qualified. Our kids had an advantage over many other because we were able to provide them with so many outside experiences. We never felt that our kids learning was hindered or impacted by the lower SES group. And, research backs that up. The greatest predictor of academic success is the child's mother's education level. And, might I add, people focus on the number of FARMS at a school, how about focusing on the non-FARMS? Even if a school has 40% FARMS, 60% are NOT FARMS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:15:33 - we just bought in the Edison pyramid and I've sort of been kicking myself because I'm worried about the schools. Did your kids go to elementary and Twain also? We are zoned for Lane too.

Part of my concern is that I feel like we are at the upper end of the income/housing bracket of our zone, if that makes sense. I'm concerned about DC being an outlier. (In the same way, DH wanted to buy in McLean where we would have been at the very bottom, and I didn't want that either - so it's not like I have something against those with lower incomes, I just wanted my kids to sort of be in the middle if that makes sense). I guess I am worried more about the other kids and a potential peer group than the academics, per se. I am also interested in any experience you have with the IB program at Edison.

15:33 here. Stop kicking yourself. Our kids went to Rose Hill Elementary (now a Title 1 school and majority Hispanic) and we currently have 1 at Twain and 2 at Edison. Friends have kids at Lane and are very happy with it. Your DC won't be an outlier. Even though there are more FARMS/minorities at Edison, there will still be a huge pool of kids that will be good friends with your kids. Some will have a lower HHI than you, some will have higher. We have one child who will pursue the IB program this year so I can't tell you too much about it now. But, that's a long way off for you.

As far as peer groups go, I can tell you that in elementary school, my kids had friends across the SES groups. One of the benefits of a lower SES group is that there isn't as much pressure to buy the latest/greatest gadget. Yeah, my kids wanted an iPad and all that but accepted that we didn't have money for it. Some of the kids in the classes did (and the had the DS, Xbox, etc.) but certainly not all. We also found the teaching staff committed and well qualified. Our kids had an advantage over many other because we were able to provide them with so many outside experiences. We never felt that our kids learning was hindered or impacted by the lower SES group. And, research backs that up. The greatest predictor of academic success is the child's mother's education level. And, might I add, people focus on the number of FARMS at a school, how about focusing on the non-FARMS? Even if a school has 40% FARMS, 60% are NOT FARMS.

+1

Well said! I wish I encountered more parents like you in this area.

[Anonymous]

We have relatives who went through or are currently at Westfield HS (out in Western Fairfax) and their parents are very pleased with their education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lake Braddock, Chantilly , Fairfax , and West Springfield are rated slightly lower but good as well, anything else is lower

Robinson?

Criminy, Centreville HS is rated higher than those.

[Anonymous]

I would stay away from Langley, McLean, Madison and Marshall because of the drug problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would stay away from Langley, McLean, Madison and Marshall because of the drug problems.

If you're staying away from a high school because of drug problems, perhaps you should plan to homeschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would stay away from Langley, McLean, Madison and Marshall because of the drug problems.

Are there any gang activities in Fairfax County Schools or do they sweep things under the rug?

[Anonymous]

This thread is a joke. I wish some of you idiots had to send your kids to a typical public high school. It might give you a keener appreciation of how lucky you and your kids are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15:33 - we just bought in the Edison pyramid and I've sort of been kicking myself because I'm worried about the schools. Did your kids go to elementary and Twain also? We are zoned for Lane too.

Part of my concern is that I feel like we are at the upper end of the income/housing bracket of our zone, if that makes sense. I'm concerned about DC being an outlier. (In the same way, DH wanted to buy in McLean where we would have been at the very bottom, and I didn't want that either - so it's not like I have something against those with lower incomes, I just wanted my kids to sort of be in the middle if that makes sense). I guess I am worried more about the other kids and a potential peer group than the academics, per se. I am also interested in any experience you have with the IB program at Edison.

We also bought in the Edison pyramid and have similar concerns. Most of our neighbors seem to send their kids to Catholic or private schools. We are going to try out public school first and take it one year at a time. Hoping our kids get into AAP and have academically strong peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would stay away from Langley, McLean, Madison and Marshall because of the drug problems.

Are there any gang activities in Fairfax County Schools or do they sweep things under the rug?

You see the problem with this question, right?

[Anonymous]

I'm sure some of the larger schools like Lake Braddock and Robinson are great, but I just don't want my kids going to a high school that large.

[Anonymous]

Have the principals at FCPS's stopped beating their wives?