Does anyone here actually send their kid to Hayfield/Edison/West Potomac/5 or lower GS high schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're at West Potomac, and content (one in 10th grade, one in college). I did some thought experiments along the way, considering alternatives of moving and private. We stayed. Why?

1. We never had any real problems. There were plenty of 'maybe this will be a problem in the future'. I worried about those, but when I really paused and thought about it, I realized I was borrowing trouble. YMMV.
1b. My kids have had appropriate peer groups all along. Not huge but hey, family of introverts here. They certainly weren't with the same 20 kids all day in a set of advanced classes, and had plenty of classes to chose from.
2. We live in an area zoned for West Potomac because of commutes, which are short and predictable. The places I considered moving would be longer and more variable commutes. I decided that I placed considerable value on having that time at home with my kids (or at their activities) and my lower stress associated with extra time.
3. Private would have been doable, but a stretch that would have impacted college savings and family activities.

So basically ... I was never doing a pure school vs school comparison. I was comparing WestPo + life factors to Other Schools + life factors, which is what most of us are doing most of the time.

smart

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple. Stay away from Lee, Stuart, and Mount Vernon. Hayfield, West Potomac, and Edison are a touch better, but not much. Best to stay away if you can. That's all you really need to know. Move west or north my dear friend, just not into Alexandria city or south Arlington.

I'll send my kid to one of the lower schools. She can be valedictorian, student council president, head cheerleader, and get into UVA because of less competition. ?

Sounds great but people don't really like to play on losing teams (or the other "big fish, small pond" scenarios).

Np- I wouldn't know about that. I graduated from the biggest high school in the area and made always made the ( usually winning) team and was always lead of the school play.

[Anonymous]

There was a house I loved in Springfield, but being in the Lee district was enough to scare us away. Ended up buying in Burke (Lake Braddock district). Hayfield isn't great but much better than Lee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple. Stay away from Lee, Stuart, and Mount Vernon. Hayfield, West Potomac, and Edison are a touch better, but not much. Best to stay away if you can. That's all you really need to know. Move west or north my dear friend, just not into Alexandria city or south Arlington.

I'll send my kid to one of the lower schools. She can be valedictorian, student council president, head cheerleader, and get into UVA because of less competition. ?

Sounds great but people don't really like to play on losing teams (or the other "big fish, small pond" scenarios).

Np- I wouldn't know about that. I graduated from the biggest high school in the area and made always made the ( usually winning) team and was always lead of the school play.

Another Robinson alum??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple. Stay away from Lee, Stuart, and Mount Vernon. Hayfield, West Potomac, and Edison are a touch better, but not much. Best to stay away if you can. That's all you really need to know. Move west or north my dear friend, just not into Alexandria city or south Arlington.

I'll send my kid to one of the lower schools. She can be valedictorian, student council president, head cheerleader, and get into UVA because of less competition. ?

Sounds great but people don't really like to play on losing teams (or the other "big fish, small pond" scenarios).

Np- I wouldn't know about that. I graduated from the biggest high school in the area and made always made the ( usually winning) team and was always lead of the school play.

Another Robinson alum??

Lake Braddock, but had many friends from Robinson. Still great schools!

[Anonymous]

So many snobs on here. There is nothing wrong with any of the school mentioned. They're all so large and diverse now, your kid will find their pack. So much coddling these days. What's going to happen when they get to college or real life. Geez. Both my sisters and I went to one of the above mentioned schools. Our parents barely broke 30k. We were those kids that were low income but never got any free and reduced lunch. Both of us are in the 1%. Sister and family will take a year off to travel the world and she's only in her 30's. Where you go to school when you were in your teens isn't going to matter that much in the long haul. Be close to your job so you can spend more time with your loved ones is most logical. Not everything is learned at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many snobs on here. There is nothing wrong with any of the school mentioned. They're all so large and diverse now, your kid will find their pack. So much coddling these days. What's going to happen when they get to college or real life. Geez. Both my sisters and I went to one of the above mentioned schools. Our parents barely broke 30k. We were those kids that were low income but never got any free and reduced lunch. Both of us are in the 1%. Sister and family will take a year off to travel the world and she's only in her 30's. Where you go to school when you were in your teens isn't going to matter that much in the long haul. Be close to your job so you can spend more time with your loved ones is most logical. Not everything is learned at school.

Outliers are given that name for a reason.

Not that many people around here would aspire to go to a college or live in a community that replicates the demographics of Culmore, the Route 1 corridor, or central Springfield. Hopefully it won't spoil your sister's trip to recognize that.

[Anonymous]

We have 2 DC at Edison, we're very happy. They are in honors and IB classes and have found a good number of friends including in Gen Ed classes. They're happy there.

I think your kids would be happy there, also. I don't know any kids who are pining to be at a different school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, our DKs attend one of the schools on this lower tier list and I just looked at the email from FCPS yesterday and 2 kids they grew up with (1 at TJ now, other at "terrible" HS) won some sort of Natl Merit scholarships so as others have said, there are plenty of bright kids/opportunities available at all FCPS high schools. There are lots of AP classes for kids who want/need them. Many kids are headed to UVA/WM next year.

Our kids love the crazy mix of socio-econ and international diversity. And they've learned to deal with all types of people and situations - more so than DH and I who had very UMC experiences at our lily white mid-western schools.

One thing that irks me is that all the families fleeing IB at the other low performing HS nearby end up in our schools, making them terribly overcrowded. It starts in elementary with families sneaking in to our pyramid via foreign language, then AAP in 3rd grade and so on. It's led to overcrowding in middle and high school. FCPS refuses to shut the door at any level and it's very dysfunctional.

My guess is you're talking about the schools my children attend. DS is at the IB school that everyone is fleeing from (Mount Vernon) and I totally agree. There are more families in my neighborhood that send their kids to the local Catholic school and Ft Hunt for Spanish immersion, than our local elementary (although it is getting better with a new principal.) Almost 100% of the neighborhood goes to Sandburg Middle as opposed to Whitman for AAP and the continuation of the Spanish immersion. Because of the similarity of names (AAP and AP) most elementary school families that I know seem to assume that you automatically go to West Po for the continuation of the AAP program, which is what has happened. Again, I know more children in my neighborhood at West Po than at Mount Vernon. I'm hopeful that whoever is hired at West Po will absolutely close the school to new transfers, forcing families to either move, pay for private or go to MV. My DS is a junior, so we'll see how his college acceptances go. He is a full IB candidate and has a good group of friends who are all college bound. And all the kids DS knew through sports or band, who are now college freshmen or seniors, are all headed to good schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, our DKs attend one of the schools on this lower tier list and I just looked at the email from FCPS yesterday and 2 kids they grew up with (1 at TJ now, other at "terrible" HS) won some sort of Natl Merit scholarships so as others have said, there are plenty of bright kids/opportunities available at all FCPS high schools. There are lots of AP classes for kids who want/need them. Many kids are headed to UVA/WM next year.

Our kids love the crazy mix of socio-econ and international diversity. And they've learned to deal with all types of people and situations - more so than DH and I who had very UMC experiences at our lily white mid-western schools.

One thing that irks me is that all the families fleeing IB at the other low performing HS nearby end up in our schools, making them terribly overcrowded. It starts in elementary with families sneaking in to our pyramid via foreign language, then AAP in 3rd grade and so on. It's led to overcrowding in middle and high school. FCPS refuses to shut the door at any level and it's very dysfunctional.

My guess is you're talking about the schools my children attend. DS is at the IB school that everyone is fleeing from (Mount Vernon) and I totally agree. There are more families in my neighborhood that send their kids to the local Catholic school and Ft Hunt for Spanish immersion, than our local elementary (although it is getting better with a new principal.) Almost 100% of the neighborhood goes to Sandburg Middle as opposed to Whitman for AAP and the continuation of the Spanish immersion. Because of the similarity of names (AAP and AP) most elementary school families that I know seem to assume that you automatically go to West Po for the continuation of the AAP program, which is what has happened. Again, I know more children in my neighborhood at West Po than at Mount Vernon. I'm hopeful that whoever is hired at West Po will absolutely close the school to new transfers, forcing families to either move, pay for private or go to MV. My DS is a junior, so we'll see how his college acceptances go. He is a full IB candidate and has a good group of friends who are all college bound. And all the kids DS knew through sports or band, who are now college freshmen or seniors, are all headed to good schools.

Yes, and one AAP family I know had a much later baby and finally decided to send him to the local AAP program which has been fantastic because the classes have 15 kids in them. They couldn't be happier. Honestly if everyone just stayed in their pyramid it would raise up the MV pyramid. It's ridiculous that this is allowed to continue. While I personally think IB is much stronger than AP, most people aren't familiar with it so I do agree that if they got rid of the program, it may help people stay in their respective regions. The MV IB kids seem to do great and get into wonderful college programs from what I hear. Glad your DK has enjoyed it.

[Anonymous]

Edison. Lots of opportunités in sports, arts and student government. My kids also love the internationalish mix of students there. Also a small cadre of military kids who have lived all over the world. It has everything contemporary public high schools have including driven hard-working kids, truants, honor society and some cyber mean ness. Teachers are pretty receptive to giving after school help and want to see kids succeed. That said, they have a large roster and grading is mostly formulaic, not individual feedback. The IB program is demanding enough to offer sound college prep. Again, it's not offering prep school level individualisation but there's enough to challenge bright kids. Only caveats: kids should be able to seek out what they need, or learn to, and make sure they get the text books they need. My kids were offered private and don't want to leave.

[Anonymous]

Our oldest child is enrolled at Hayfield Secondary. Middle schooler, taking all-honors courses, getting As. Smart kid who is thriving at Hayfield alongside other smart kids. Loves most of her teachers (nobody ever loves all of their teachers). Don't listen to the snobby haters. It's a fine secondary school.

My spouse jokes that he graduated from one of "the worst" high school in northern California according to some rankings. He was surrounded by ESOL students there. He went on to turn down Yale and Stanford for a state school PhD. program in the hard sciences. He's a professor who teaches college-level courses and he's totally fine with our kids going to Hayfield. He's been impressed with the school. So am I, and I have a masters of science degree.

Good students rise to the top no matter where they go to school. Let's stop all the McLean-Arlington pyramid nonsense. It doesn't mean the kids are any smarter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our oldest child is enrolled at Hayfield Secondary. Middle schooler, taking all-honors courses, getting As. Smart kid who is thriving at Hayfield alongside other smart kids. Loves most of her teachers (nobody ever loves all of their teachers). Don't listen to the snobby haters. It's a fine secondary school.

My spouse jokes that he graduated from one of "the worst" high school in northern California according to some rankings. He was surrounded by ESOL students there. He went on to turn down Yale and Stanford for a state school PhD. program in the hard sciences. He's a professor who teaches college-level courses and he's totally fine with our kids going to Hayfield. He's been impressed with the school. So am I, and I have a masters of science degree.

Good students rise to the top no matter where they go to school. Let's stop all the McLean-Arlington pyramid nonsense. It doesn't mean the kids are any smarter.

TJHSST 2198
H-B Woodlawn 1860
Langley 1851
McLean 1821
Madison 1789
George Mason 1760
Woodson 1755
Yorktown 1752
Oakton 1750
Washington-Lee 1702
Marshall 1699
Chantilly 1685
Robinson 1685
Lake Braddock 1673
South Lakes 1671
West Springfield 1659
Centreville 1653
Briar Woods 1652
Stone Bridge 1650
Dominion 1642
Freedom 1642
Woodgrove 1637
Herndon 1621
Loudoun Valley 1620
Broad Run 1619
Heritage 1617
Champe 1617
Potomac Falls 1614
Westfield 1609
Fairfax 1603
South County 1598
Loudoun County 1595
Rock Ridge 1592
Tuscarora 1587
West Potomac 1571
Hayfield 1530
Annandale 1520
Falls Church 1510
Edison 1498
Park View 1496
Stuart 1489
Lee 1476
TC Williams 1458
Wakefield 1431
Mount Vernon 1387

[Anonymous]

So you're pointing out that rich kids who have opportunity rammed down their throats from the day they are born have higher test scores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you're pointing out that rich kids who have opportunity rammed down their throats from the day they are born have higher test scores?

I think it just shows that either good students don't always rise to the top or there aren't many good students at some schools.