Marshall "3rd for Best School"

[Anonymous]

We are considering building a house in Pimmit Hills in the Marshall HS district, which we think we could do for about $750,000 if we are careful with the costs and use builder grade materials. The school's web page says that it was ranked "third for best school," but the link takes you to a US News web page that shows Marshall was ranked 16th in the state: http://www.fcps.edu/MarshallHS/

16th in the state sounds good, but then I noticed there were many other schools in the county ranked higher, and I still don't know what being ranked "third for best school" means. So now I am confused and thinking we should just buy elsewhere, where the school is ranked higher or at least communicates more clearly. Education is very important to us.

Is this school not as good as it claims, or is it a good school with a bad webmaster?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are considering building a house in Pimmit Hills in the Marshall HS district, which we think we could do for about $750,000 if we are careful with the costs and use builder grade materials. The school's web page says that it was ranked "third for best school," but the link takes you to a US News web page that shows Marshall was ranked 16th in the state: http://www.fcps.edu/MarshallHS/

16th in the state sounds good, but then I noticed there were many other schools in the county ranked higher, and I still don't know what being ranked "third for best school" means. So now I am confused and thinking we should just buy elsewhere, where the school is ranked higher or at least communicates more clearly. Education is very important to us.

Is this school not as good as it claims, or is it a good school with a bad webmaster?

US News ranked Marshall 3rd last year. The new rankings just came out putting Marshall at 16. They're probably in no hurry to update the website. That said, I wouldn't put too much emphasis on rankings by a newsweekly that turned to rankings after failing in its primary business. Marshall is a great school and easily in the top echelon of NOVA schools, though the IB is not for everyone. If you have a kid who can handle the rigors of IB, however... it's ideal, still smallish, with classes like Chinese, that other kids from Langley, Madison, etc. have to travel to take.

[Anonymous]

Ooh, good one. Wait up. I'm getting the popcorn.

[Anonymous]

It's a very nice school, one of the smallest high schools in the county, with a strong IB program and Academy program. People living there are relatively affluent and it has a bit of an international flair. If it isn't quite as competitive as Langley, McLean, Woodson, Madison, and Oakton, it certainly is close enough and well respected. US News ranked it higher last year than this year perhaps because they though there were more participants in the IB program. They were still ranked higher, so the school's webmaster isn't lying.

http://www.fcps.edu/MarshallHS/
http://www.fcps.edu/MarshallAcademy/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a very nice school, one of the smallest high schools in the county, with a strong IB program and Academy program. People living there are relatively affluent and it has a bit of an international flair. If it isn't quite as competitive as Langley, McLean, Woodson, Madison, and Oakton, it certainly is close enough and well respected. US News ranked it higher last year than this year perhaps because they though there were more participants in the IB program. They were still ranked higher, so the school's webmaster isn't lying.

http://www.fcps.edu/MarshallHS/
http://www.fcps.edu/MarshallAcademy/

I teach there and would agree with this. It is still one of the smallest school, but getting bigger - I think we are projected at almost 1800 students for next year. Also, the school is under renovation and will be completely done in another 2 years.

[Anonymous]

The "3 best" ranking was based on data that said 99% of the Marshall students participated in the IB program, which is inaccurate. That certainly seems to suggest that the "3rd best" ranking is faulty as incorrectly bolstered by bad data. But that didn't keep the school from touting the ranking. It's still a good school. But not many believe that it was ever "3rd best."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The "3 best" ranking was based on data that said 99% of the Marshall students participated in the IB program, which is inaccurate. That certainly seems to suggest that the "3rd best" ranking is faulty as incorrectly bolstered by bad data. But that didn't keep the school from touting the ranking. It's still a good school. But not many believe that it was ever "3rd best."

ignore this troll , there hasn't been a retraction . They tend to shuffle the rankings each year because alot of the nearby schools have high rankings close to each other.

[Anonymous]

Are you saying 99% of Marshall students were IB? That was the basis of the ranking. Drop it to the correct level, and it is about 16. But, there is not a huge differnce between the top two schools serving Vienna, and the # 3 school serving Vienna.

[Anonymous]

Below is an example of the type of programs through the Marshall Academy that make it a more interesting school to attend

http://www.realfoodforkids.org/pr080512.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you saying 99% of Marshall students were IB? That was the basis of the ranking. Drop it to the correct level, and it is about 16. But, there is not a huge differnce between the top two schools serving Vienna, and the # 3 school serving Vienna.

+1 on this troll

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Below is an example of the type of programs through the Marshall Academy that make it a more interesting school to attend

http://www.realfoodforkids.org/pr080512.html

That's really awesome, are there any other FCPS that are participating? Maybe when the other schools get their renovations they can modify their kitchens?

[Anonymous]

You can look and look, but you won't find anything remotely new for 750K in the other school districts-- Vienna has gotten very expensive if you want new. Marshall is up and coming as a HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "3 best" ranking was based on data that said 99% of the Marshall students participated in the IB program, which is inaccurate. That certainly seems to suggest that the "3rd best" ranking is faulty as incorrectly bolstered by bad data. But that didn't keep the school from touting the ranking. It's still a good school. But not many believe that it was ever "3rd best."

ignore this troll , there hasn't been a retraction . They tend to shuffle the rankings each year because alot of the nearby schools have high rankings close to each other.

The rankings changed because US News had more accurate data on IB participation at Marshall this year. It was never 99%, so the #3 ranking was kind of a joke, whether or not formally retracted by US News. But for whatever reason a lot of people associated with the school didn't want to acknowledge the obvious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "3 best" ranking was based on data that said 99% of the Marshall students participated in the IB program, which is inaccurate. That certainly seems to suggest that the "3rd best" ranking is faulty as incorrectly bolstered by bad data. But that didn't keep the school from touting the ranking. It's still a good school. But not many believe that it was ever "3rd best."

ignore this troll , there hasn't been a retraction . They tend to shuffle the rankings each year because alot of the nearby schools have high rankings close to each other.

The rankings changed because US News had more accurate data on IB participation at Marshall this year. It was never 99%, so the #3 ranking was kind of a joke, whether or not formally retracted by US News. But for whatever reason a lot of people associated with the school didn't want to acknowledge the obvious.

Take your troll dribble to another topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "3 best" ranking was based on data that said 99% of the Marshall students participated in the IB program, which is inaccurate. That certainly seems to suggest that the "3rd best" ranking is faulty as incorrectly bolstered by bad data. But that didn't keep the school from touting the ranking. It's still a good school. But not many believe that it was ever "3rd best."

ignore this troll , there hasn't been a retraction . They tend to shuffle the rankings each year because alot of the nearby schools have high rankings close to each other.

The rankings changed because US News had more accurate data on IB participation at Marshall this year. It was never 99%, so the #3 ranking was kind of a joke, whether or not formally retracted by US News. But for whatever reason a lot of people associated with the school didn't want to acknowledge the obvious.

Take your troll dribble to another topic

It's directly on point and it's not a "troll" comment. Nor am I the first or only poster on this thread who pointed out the inaccuracies in the prior rating.

So, respectfully, stuff it.