Churchill elementary
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Anonymous
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We are moving into the area and would love feedback about Churchill elementary in McLean. Class size, teachers, homework.
I'm wondering how boys especially do in the younger grades. Do they have enough recess to get their energies out? I'm just worried starting a new school. We are coming from private in our old town but privates here are astronomically priced!! I'm also worried about testing as my DS has never done SOLs before. Is the PTA active? Are parents nice? How are after school activities? Are the kids friendly? Just stressed with the move and all!! |
Anonymous
| If the ES is not Haycock, it doesn't matter. |
Anonymous
| Loved CRS for our boy. Pulled our girl to private. So it's mixed. But the teachers who have been there a long time are great, as are most of the new ones. We just got a really bad one, for one year (who ended up fired). Very active PTA. Really nice parents. Wouldn't think of moving from this district because all neighbors are so great. |
Anonymous
| And for sports, McLean soccer is as insane as one can get. McLean Little League sets a national standard. And Langley is still the best FFX County HS. But try to keep any AAP kid at Longfellow, versus Cooper. |
Anonymous
| Teachers are wonderful. Parents are crazy intense and take helicopter parenting to a new level. |
Anonymous
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I really like that the Principal has hired many male teachers. It gives the school a completely different vibe from the schools that have one or two male teachers. It is wonderful for the students, especially the boys.
It is a larger school. Class sizes are large. It is the AAP Center for the Langley pyramid. (AAP used to be called GT, other jurisdictions call it TAG). Very high achieving students coming from high achieving parents. It has some of the highest test scores in the county (and would even without the AAP Center). Churchill Road, Chesterbrook and Springhill have been the "go to" Elementary Schools for parents who have high expectations for their children and their school for 10+ years. However, there are still some more laid back relaxed parents too. Depending on the age of your children and if they are in AAP, they may go to a different Middle School. Currently the AAP children in the Mclean and the Langley Pyramid go to Longfellow Middle School. Otherwise, most of Churchill Road matriculates to Cooper Middle School. There is a high probability that Cooper will be the official AAP Center Middle School for Langley in a ferw years. It is currently and predicted to be under enrolled and Longfelllow is currently at capacity (w/in ~15 students) and predicted to be over capacity soon. Cooper is waiting for its renovation and Longfellow received theirs a few years ago. The McLean - Langley rivalry is huge- and at times unhealthy- although after the two suicides of Langely students last month- it was diminished as students from both schools mourned the losses. It was quite poignant when the McLean students painted their rock in Langley's colors. If you haven't seen "The Road to Nowhere", try to see it and you will get an idea of the atmosphere of many of the schools in this area. Welcome. There is quite a bit of good, but it comes with quite a bit of stress. |
Anonymous
I wanted to add that Colvin Run ES is also an AAP center which splits between Langley and McLean HS. |
Anonymous
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It's a great choice in this area, but know that as with most of the McLean schools class sizes have become pretty high. Upper grades typically around or over 30, sometimes lower grades too (1st grade in upper 20s).
PTA is fantastic, incredible asset to school and after school activities have to be best in area -- multiple classes offered every day. Teachers are generally great, though there are a lot of younger teachers compared to years past when there were many long time experienced teachers. SOL testing is an issue, for sure, but you can't avoid that at any of the public schools. Your child will be fine, it's more a frustration for parents and teachers, with too much time spent on it. |
Anonymous
| Op here. Thanks for all the great feedback! Very helpful. If anyone has more to say please do! |
Anonymous
| Principal is great. Teachers are great. The parents are awful, for the most part. |
Anonymous
I work at a school like this. |
Anonymous
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Churchill parent here-I would echo the sentiments about the teachers, esp the fact that there are a lot of young, dynamic male teachers, which I think is wonderful for my kids. The team teaching works well in most grades, and the kids get to experience different educators and teaching styles.
Socially, I have found it somewhat difficult to find a good core group of parents-it is rather cliquish at times, but I don't really rely on my kids to form my adult friendships and have a lot of friends in private schools or at other publics so it really isn't an issue. depends on what you want. But, I figure if my kids are happy at school with their friends, that it what really matters-and at the end of the day, they are getting a top notch education, second to none, in spite of the large class sizes and dwindling resources. |
Anonymous
| I beg to differ with the "principal is great" comment. He lets the parents rule the school. I cannot believe how he bows to their demands. He may be a great guy otherwise, and have great intentions, but he needs to stop listening to the parents and remind them that he is in charge! |
Anonymous
| I disagree with the last comment. The principal looks out for himself first, teachers second, kids third, and parents last, in the experiences we had (involving 6 years there for 2 kids). The him first category just isn't attractive. The teachers second category is fine if your DC's teachers are competent, which most there are. But kids should be first. Parent last is fine if the kids are first ... |
Anonymous
| How are the lower grades? Teaching is positive? Solid curriculum? We are also looking. |