Whats the best public high school in Virginia?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley's test scores are NOT the best in the country...in fact they were below several other VA schools. Thomas Jefferson HS is rated as America's best--#1; McLean is #55; Langley is #76; Woodson is #90.

Don't get me wrong--it's a great school...but chill out Langley parents. I've met my share of dummies from there as well.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2008/12/04/best-high-schools-gold-medal-list.html

Langley has the best SAT scores in Fairfax COUNTY after TJ. No one said it was the best in the country.

The US News ratings reflects a weighted approach that take into account various factors such as performance of SAT scores, the extent to which economically challenged students perform better than expected on standardized tests, etc. Under that type of approach, McLean - which has a diverse student population along with a lot of affluent kids - fares better than Langley.

But, yeah, chilling out would be a good idea.

Yes, but I don't think that is the HS's doing. The school did not produce those scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, but I don't think that is the HS's doing. The school did not produce those scores.

I appreciate the point; individuals students took the tests, not a building on Georgetown Pike. On the other hand, the students weren't home-schooled, either. The underlying issue is the extent to which having a group of motivated, high-achieving peers at a school contributes to the success of other students. There is probably a decent-sized cohort of such students at just about any FCPS high school.

[Anonymous]

Mt. Vernon grad here. I think I did ok in life and I got a really great education and learned a lot of things (not all of them academic) at MV. Go Majors!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mt. Vernon grad here. I think I did ok in life and I got a really great education and learned a lot of things (not all of them academic) at MV. Go Majors!

Good to hear it. I went to West Potomac and I feel the same way. Almost no one on this board would send their kids to our schools but I LOVED my high school. I had great teachers, an extremely diverse group of friends, and received an excellent education. I would send my daughter there in a heartbeat.