FCPS School Pyramid Recommendations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow...thank you so much for your honest feedback. I know that this can be a touchy subject for some but at the end of the day - its important to be honest. Yes, we are an AA family that are highly educated and want our son to blossom and be surrounded by (hopefully) other like-minded parents. Race/ethnicity is definitely not the only factor - obviously we are looking for enthusiastic teachers, high performing school, etc. but I'm just not comfortable with my son being the only AA in a class. However, I hate to say it but a lot of the predominantly AA schools are also low performing - so its a catch 22. I just want my little fella to be comfortable interacting with all walks of life and not feel out of place because he doesn't see anyone that looks like him in his class.

+1 We are in the same boat, OP. And our little one starts this fall. House hunting now and it is such a diffuclt choice because it is not just factor that we are considering. Like you said, we want like minded parents but want our child to feel comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow...thank you so much for your honest feedback. I know that this can be a touchy subject for some but at the end of the day - its important to be honest. Yes, we are an AA family that are highly educated and want our son to blossom and be surrounded by (hopefully) other like-minded parents. Race/ethnicity is definitely not the only factor - obviously we are looking for enthusiastic teachers, high performing school, etc. but I'm just not comfortable with my son being the only AA in a class. However, I hate to say it but a lot of the predominantly AA schools are also low performing - so its a catch 22. I just want my little fella to be comfortable interacting with all walks of life and not feel out of place because he doesn't see anyone that looks like him in his class.

FCPS touts its racial and cultural diversity, but is generally dominated by Hispanics and Asians.

OP, there are a lot of nice, middle-class, educated, AA families on my street. I live right behind a historic black baptist church that was founded by freed slaves in 1867.

[Anonymous]

Also, OP we looked at HS diversity more because I remember that is when it really started to matter to my DH and I when we were growing up (he was in AP English and remembered feeling out of place as the only minority). We are looking at mostly schools in the Lake Braddock pyramid for that reason- it seems very diverse and high performing. I know AA's that went there and enjoyed their time there. But that is only testimony from 1 or 2 people so you might want to ask around more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow...thank you so much for your honest feedback. I know that this can be a touchy subject for some but at the end of the day - its important to be honest. Yes, we are an AA family that are highly educated and want our son to blossom and be surrounded by (hopefully) other like-minded parents. Race/ethnicity is definitely not the only factor - obviously we are looking for enthusiastic teachers, high performing school, etc. but I'm just not comfortable with my son being the only AA in a class. However, I hate to say it but a lot of the predominantly AA schools are also low performing - so its a catch 22. I just want my little fella to be comfortable interacting with all walks of life and not feel out of place because he doesn't see anyone that looks like him in his class.

FCPS touts its racial and cultural diversity, but is generally dominated by Hispanics and Asians.

OP, there are a lot of nice, middle-class, educated, AA families on my street. I live right behind a historic black baptist church that was founded by freed slaves in 1867.

Alexandria schools are not as well regarded.

[Anonymous]

Guenons near metro also feeds to Mosby woods jackson and oakton high. A very good pyramid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow...thank you so much for your honest feedback. I know that this can be a touchy subject for some but at the end of the day - its important to be honest. Yes, we are an AA family that are highly educated and want our son to blossom and be surrounded by (hopefully) other like-minded parents. Race/ethnicity is definitely not the only factor - obviously we are looking for enthusiastic teachers, high performing school, etc. but I'm just not comfortable with my son being the only AA in a class. However, I hate to say it but a lot of the predominantly AA schools are also low performing - so its a catch 22. I just want my little fella to be comfortable interacting with all walks of life and not feel out of place because he doesn't see anyone that looks like him in his class.

FCPS touts its racial and cultural diversity, but is generally dominated by Hispanics and Asians.

OP, there are a lot of nice, middle-class, educated, AA families on my street. I live right behind a historic black baptist church that was founded by freed slaves in 1867.

Alexandria schools are not as well regarded.

I know! Funny thing about that, I happen to live less than 2 miles from TJHSST, which has an Alexandria address.

[Anonymous]

^houses near metro in vienna.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow...thank you so much for your honest feedback. I know that this can be a touchy subject for some but at the end of the day - its important to be honest. Yes, we are an AA family that are highly educated and want our son to blossom and be surrounded by (hopefully) other like-minded parents. Race/ethnicity is definitely not the only factor - obviously we are looking for enthusiastic teachers, high performing school, etc. but I'm just not comfortable with my son being the only AA in a class. However, I hate to say it but a lot of the predominantly AA schools are also low performing - so its a catch 22. I just want my little fella to be comfortable interacting with all walks of life and not feel out of place because he doesn't see anyone that looks like him in his class.

FCPS touts its racial and cultural diversity, but is generally dominated by Hispanics and Asians.

OP, there are a lot of nice, middle-class, educated, AA families on my street. I live right behind a historic black baptist church that was founded by freed slaves in 1867.

Alexandria schools are not as well regarded.

I know! Funny thing about that, I happen to live less than 2 miles from TJHSST, which has an Alexandria address.

Okay. but if you live near Alfred Street Church and are zoned to Alexandria Schools... funny thing about that is you would be zoned to Alexandria schools. Alexandria addresses are also zoned to Hayfield but from your post it seemed that you were 1) not zoned for FCPS and 2) zoned to Alexandria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow...thank you so much for your honest feedback. I know that this can be a touchy subject for some but at the end of the day - its important to be honest. Yes, we are an AA family that are highly educated and want our son to blossom and be surrounded by (hopefully) other like-minded parents. Race/ethnicity is definitely not the only factor - obviously we are looking for enthusiastic teachers, high performing school, etc. but I'm just not comfortable with my son being the only AA in a class. However, I hate to say it but a lot of the predominantly AA schools are also low performing - so its a catch 22. I just want my little fella to be comfortable interacting with all walks of life and not feel out of place because he doesn't see anyone that looks like him in his class.

FCPS touts its racial and cultural diversity, but is generally dominated by Hispanics and Asians.

OP, there are a lot of nice, middle-class, educated, AA families on my street. I live right behind a historic black baptist church that was founded by freed slaves in 1867.

Alexandria schools are not as well regarded.

I know! Funny thing about that, I happen to live less than 2 miles from TJHSST, which has an Alexandria address.

Okay. but if you live near Alfred Street Church and are zoned to Alexandria Schools... funny thing about that is you would be zoned to Alexandria schools. Alexandria addresses are also zoned to Hayfield but from your post it seemed that you were 1) not zoned for FCPS and 2) zoned to Alexandria.

Well, I don't.

There are other historic black churches in the area. I think Alfred Street Church was founded before the one I live behind does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow...thank you so much for your honest feedback. I know that this can be a touchy subject for some but at the end of the day - its important to be honest. Yes, we are an AA family that are highly educated and want our son to blossom and be surrounded by (hopefully) other like-minded parents. Race/ethnicity is definitely not the only factor - obviously we are looking for enthusiastic teachers, high performing school, etc. but I'm just not comfortable with my son being the only AA in a class. However, I hate to say it but a lot of the predominantly AA schools are also low performing - so its a catch 22. I just want my little fella to be comfortable interacting with all walks of life and not feel out of place because he doesn't see anyone that looks like him in his class.

I work at Marshall HS and while we don't have a large AA population, our population is fairly diverse with many Asians (SE Asian, Korean, etc), Hispanics, Whites, and African Americans. While I would say that your son could potentially be the only AA student in class in elementary, it is unlikely he would be the only minority student in the class. We have an IB program here, and I am always impressed by the diversity of high achieving students at graduation/taking IB exams, etc. It really is a great mix of kids. Not sure about all the feeder elementaries into Marshall, but I am sure you could look them up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow...thank you so much for your honest feedback. I know that this can be a touchy subject for some but at the end of the day - its important to be honest. Yes, we are an AA family that are highly educated and want our son to blossom and be surrounded by (hopefully) other like-minded parents. Race/ethnicity is definitely not the only factor - obviously we are looking for enthusiastic teachers, high performing school, etc. but I'm just not comfortable with my son being the only AA in a class. However, I hate to say it but a lot of the predominantly AA schools are also low performing - so its a catch 22. I just want my little fella to be comfortable interacting with all walks of life and not feel out of place because he doesn't see anyone that looks like him in his class.

I work at Marshall HS and while we don't have a large AA population, our population is fairly diverse with many Asians (SE Asian, Korean, etc), Hispanics, Whites, and African Americans. While I would say that your son could potentially be the only AA student in class in elementary, it is unlikely he would be the only minority student in the class. We have an IB program here, and I am always impressed by the diversity of high achieving students at graduation/taking IB exams, etc. It really is a great mix of kids. Not sure about all the feeder elementaries into Marshall, but I am sure you could look them up.

My Somalian neighbors, who are black as night, think that they are different and better than AAs.

It really isn't the same.

[Anonymous]

Look at Island CreekES, OP. I think you will like the community as a whole, as well as the less intense vibe both in the school and in the area....easy to get around, pretty homogeneous economically, but very diverse. Not hectic traffic to get to the grocery store or rec center or post office. Wegmans. Very family oriented. Not very status conscious. Aap center is very good if that is in your future. Easy access to the HS (now thinking about my kids being drivers in a few years...liking the easier routes with less complicated traffic). We have thought about moving to another zone, but just can't match all the walkability and access to retail and schools. We know our kids can succeed in a school that has both higher and lower performers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow...thank you so much for your honest feedback. I know that this can be a touchy subject for some but at the end of the day - its important to be honest. Yes, we are an AA family that are highly educated and want our son to blossom and be surrounded by (hopefully) other like-minded parents. Race/ethnicity is definitely not the only factor - obviously we are looking for enthusiastic teachers, high performing school, etc. but I'm just not comfortable with my son being the only AA in a class. However, I hate to say it but a lot of the predominantly AA schools are also low performing - so its a catch 22. I just want my little fella to be comfortable interacting with all walks of life and not feel out of place because he doesn't see anyone that looks like him in his class.

I work at Marshall HS and while we don't have a large AA population, our population is fairly diverse with many Asians (SE Asian, Korean, etc), Hispanics, Whites, and African Americans. While I would say that your son could potentially be the only AA student in class in elementary, it is unlikely he would be the only minority student in the class. We have an IB program here, and I am always impressed by the diversity of high achieving students at graduation/taking IB exams, etc. It really is a great mix of kids. Not sure about all the feeder elementaries into Marshall, but I am sure you could look them up.

My Somalian neighbors, who are black as night, think that they are different and better than AAs.

It really isn't the same.

Huh? I didn't say anything about Africans and African Americans being the same. I just said that Marshall had a diverse, well educated population. NO matter the background or race - they all seem to get along fairly well here, at least those who are motivated, take advanced classes, play sports/do other activities, and have involved parents which is what the OP sounds like she is looking for.

[Anonymous]

If you are interested in diversity in general, and complex ethnic /racial demographics, I would encourage you to look at Freedom Hill ES near Tysons. While you child may be one of a few (or two) AA in a class, the classes have some many kids from so many different cultures it won't make a difference (70+ unique countries represented at international day). The school mostly feeds Kilmer/Marshall and a little bit to Thoreau/Madison. I would encourage you to visit the school and come to a PTA meeting (next one in Monday evening April 21). Lots of enrichment activities, choir, local advanced academics class(es), etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow...thank you so much for your honest feedback. I know that this can be a touchy subject for some but at the end of the day - its important to be honest. Yes, we are an AA family that are highly educated and want our son to blossom and be surrounded by (hopefully) other like-minded parents. Race/ethnicity is definitely not the only factor - obviously we are looking for enthusiastic teachers, high performing school, etc. but I'm just not comfortable with my son being the only AA in a class. However, I hate to say it but a lot of the predominantly AA schools are also low performing - so its a catch 22. I just want my little fella to be comfortable interacting with all walks of life and not feel out of place because he doesn't see anyone that looks like him in his class.

I work at Marshall HS and while we don't have a large AA population, our population is fairly diverse with many Asians (SE Asian, Korean, etc), Hispanics, Whites, and African Americans. While I would say that your son could potentially be the only AA student in class in elementary, it is unlikely he would be the only minority student in the class. We have an IB program here, and I am always impressed by the diversity of high achieving students at graduation/taking IB exams, etc. It really is a great mix of kids. Not sure about all the feeder elementaries into Marshall, but I am sure you could look them up.

My Somalian neighbors, who are black as night, think that they are different and better than AAs.

It really isn't the same.

Huh? I didn't say anything about Africans and African Americans being the same. I just said that Marshall had a diverse, well educated population. NO matter the background or race - they all seem to get along fairly well here, at least those who are motivated, take advanced classes, play sports/do other activities, and have involved parents which is what the OP sounds like she is looking for.

And I'm saying that someone else saying - "Oh, there are a lot of "minorities" here - your kid will be fine and will fit right in!" is disingenuous at best.