Do you have a child at Mary Ellen Henderson and/or Thomas Jefferson in City of Falls Church?

[Anonymous]

Could you please give me some current thoughts on those schools? We are moving into the area this summer and thinking about the City of Falls Church. We'll have a 3rd Grader and a 7th Grader. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Don't know about TJ, but the middle school is deservedly known for its initials: meh! We've just left the district, and all I've ever heard about MEH were basically complaints.

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, I've never heard a good thing about any local middle schools. We did a lot of research about schools in FCC, Arlington, Fairfax Cty, and Alexandria, and the middle schools came up short in ever case. I think it's the age of the kids--just a difficult period. We chose FCC for the schools. My kids are too young for the schools yet, but friends with kids at TJ absolutely LOVE it. The high school also gets raves from friends with kids that age (and our neighbor girls also had lots of good things to say about their experiences there).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For what it's worth, I've never heard a good thing about any local middle schools. We did a lot of research about schools in FCC, Arlington, Fairfax Cty, and Alexandria, and the middle schools came up short in ever case. I think it's the age of the kids--just a difficult period. We chose FCC for the schools. My kids are too young for the schools yet, but friends with kids at TJ absolutely LOVE it. The high school also gets raves from friends with kids that age (and our neighbor girls also had lots of good things to say about their experiences there).

Yes and no. I agree that MS age seems to be the awkward one, but among my circle of friends and neighbors (FCC, Arl and McLean), MEH always stands out as the mediocre one. And most complaints I hear are academic in nature, not social.

[Anonymous]

Carson and Longfellow often get rave reviews, and not just for the AAP programs, but because they are very well run schools. Always hear great things about Swanson in Arlington as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For what it's worth, I've never heard a good thing about any local middle schools. We did a lot of research about schools in FCC, Arlington, Fairfax Cty, and Alexandria, and the middle schools came up short in ever case. I think it's the age of the kids--just a difficult period. We chose FCC for the schools. My kids are too young for the schools yet, but friends with kids at TJ absolutely LOVE it. The high school also gets raves from friends with kids that age (and our neighbor girls also had lots of good things to say about their experiences there).

Yes and no. I agree that MS age seems to be the awkward one, but among my circle of friends and neighbors (FCC, Arl and McLean), MEH always stands out as the mediocre one. And most complaints I hear are academic in nature, not social.

Maybe Falls Church should've kept 7th and 8th grades with the high school. It seemed to work well like that for decades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Carson and Longfellow often get rave reviews, and not just for the AAP programs, but because they are very well run schools. Always hear great things about Swanson in Arlington as well.

I am definitely not a fan of Longfellow. If your child is one of the Principal's darlings, then all is good, if not...... Plus, it is very large and soon to be over capacity (again, despite a large expansion in the past few years). Very intense. Very intense parents.

[Anonymous]

We had a better experience at Longfellow than at another FCPS middle school. No doubt there were more intense parents, but the school was better run and the teachers were more qualified and more closely supervised. We didn't care whether our child was one of the principal's darlings, or even know whether she played favorites (we saw it more as some parents demanding that the school recognize their pre-TJ children's academic achievements). It's not a private-school atmosphere, but it prepared our child well for high school.

[Anonymous]

Longfellow is run like a prison.

[Anonymous]

It's run effectively, which is necessary with that many students. However, they've managed to avoid the over-the-top atmosphere of some other schools:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/17/AR2007061701179.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Longfellow is run like a prison.

With tiger-mom wardens...who focus their entire lives on making sure you know that their child is smarter/better/faster than your child...whether you care or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longfellow is run like a prison.

With tiger-mom wardens...who focus their entire lives on making sure you know that their child is smarter/better/faster than your child...whether you care or not.

Yep. They are out there. We found them relatively easy to ignore, which allowed us to appreciate the many positive things at the school. It was harder for us to ignore the poor teachers and administration at our prior middle school, where the principal was known for yelling at children in the hallways but otherwise totally MIA.

The thread is about MEH, not Longfellow, but our experience at the latter was quite positive and does speak to the idea that no one ever likes middle schools.

[Anonymous]

MEH looks like a very meh red brick box from rt 7. That whole campus looks like it needs some work and another addition. Hopefully a Falls Church parent will chime in soon, with more relevant input for the OP.

[Anonymous]

I'm in FCC and only know people with younger kids. People love TJ, have heard mainly terrific things.

[Anonymous]

We have one at TJ and one at MEH. We like both, but actually prefer MEH. We have found the teachers, counselors, and administration at MEH to be great. We have liked 90 percent of the teachers, and some are truly outstanding. There is a strong emphasis on creating a positive social environment in addition to starting academics. The advantage of middle school is that the kids change classes, so one teacher that's a bad fit doesn't ruin the whole year, and as I said, some of the teachers are really great. We liked tj for 2nd grade. 3rd grade was ok, but the teacher fit wasn't great, so it was a less positive year. It's hard to complain about either school, though. Academics are strong at both, social environment is positive.