Ranking elementary schools in Woodson Pyramid

[Anonymous]

There are some extremely wealthy families at Mantua (which could be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective). Their PTA budget is kind of insane.

For example, the drama club puts on two incredibly sophisticated musicals every year. Maybe other schools do this too? Not sure, but it certainly doesn’t happen at our base school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One data driven difference between your original 3 schools is that CWES and Mantua both have roughly twice as many economically challenged kids (around 14% compared to 7% at WFES).

Also as another poster noted, more ESOL kids at both those schools. In both cases this is probably due to them serving as AAP centers so kids are coming from lots of different places, including Title I schools. Not that it should play any role in your decision, but that is data, rather than opinion.

Houses may cost a tad more in Mantua, but I can speak for the other two neighborhoods, both of which have lots of highly-educated folks (most are senior level feds, lawyers, journalists, business owners, consultants, diplomats, etc). Not always folks in super high paying jobs, but they do very interesting and respected work.

Thanks, this is all very helpful to know and consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are some extremely wealthy families at Mantua (which could be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective). Their PTA budget is kind of insane.

For example, the drama club puts on two incredibly sophisticated musicals every year. Maybe other schools do this too? Not sure, but it certainly doesn’t happen at our base school.

I think I saw the advertisements for the most recent one (Mean Girls?). Not sure if WFES and Canterbury have something similar?

[Anonymous]

The musicals put on at Mantua blew our mind. We were very impressed. And yes, the PTA is extremely active which means a lot of programs for children to get involved in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would pick Wakefield. You didn’t ask about other schools but I would avoid olde creek and little run.

I've heard this too.

Why? Asking as an Olde Creek parent, we have had a wonderful experience there. Avoid the school for what reason?

That is good you have had a good experience but how long have you been there? I know several families who have had bad experiences with admin team, special Ed, various teachers, previous teachers, previous admins, etc…. It deservedly had its low GS rating

[Anonymous]

Wakefield is less diverse than CW, or at least feels that way if you’re in AAP.

I like that the center teachers can plan together. It makes for stronger lessons.

Olde Creek is a great community. But like Little Run, it is tiny and by the end of elementary school, the kids are over it. But - if your AAP kid goes to a non-center school, even if it’s large, you are in this boat, with the same kids in the AAP class each year. I wouldn’t send my AAP kid to the base school for that reason.

Olde Creek’s GS ratings need to be taken with a grain of salt. They have a center for special education students with fairly high needs, which surely impacts test scores. Compare that to CW, for example, where they have a center for deaf and hard of hearing, which wouldn’t have much if any impact on assessments, as well as an AAP center.

CW is not as open of a community IMO, and while I’ve heard the Mantua parents are worse, some of the CW AAP parents are also very intense.

CW may give homework but it’s really minimal. My child generally does it at school, and I’m sure there are minimal consequences if they didn’t do it at all (not that you want to model that for your kid, but it isn’t critical to the rest of their day). I would definitely not choose between that and another school based on homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wakefield is less diverse than CW, or at least feels that way if you’re in AAP.

I like that the center teachers can plan together. It makes for stronger lessons.

Olde Creek is a great community. But like Little Run, it is tiny and by the end of elementary school, the kids are over it. But - if your AAP kid goes to a non-center school, even if it’s large, you are in this boat, with the same kids in the AAP class each year. I wouldn’t send my AAP kid to the base school for that reason.

Olde Creek’s GS ratings need to be taken with a grain of salt. They have a center for special education students with fairly high needs, which surely impacts test scores. Compare that to CW, for example, where they have a center for deaf and hard of hearing, which wouldn’t have much if any impact on assessments, as well as an AAP center.

CW is not as open of a community IMO, and while I’ve heard the Mantua parents are worse, some of the CW AAP parents are also very intense.

CW may give homework but it’s really minimal. My child generally does it at school, and I’m sure there are minimal consequences if they didn’t do it at all (not that you want to model that for your kid, but it isn’t critical to the rest of their day). I would definitely not choose between that and another school based on homework.

Thank you! Less diverse in what way? More white?

Can you elaborate on what you mean about CW being not as open of a community (compared to which other school?)

I've heard that a few times about being in the same class with same peers year after year in non-center schools, though it seems this doesn't bother some ...

Any thoughts on PTA at WFES or CW? Sounds like Mantua might stand out on this front.

[Anonymous]

I notice that WFES ranks comparably to Mantua in terms of proportion who are at or above grade level on math proficiency, but I'm not sure how meaningful these metrics are for academics as they seem not to discriminate how many are above proficiency and by how much. Nevertheless, this is striking given that WFES is not a center. English proficiency seems better at Mantua (if I'm looking at the right data), but again, that is something you'd expect with so many in AAP.

[Anonymous]

CWES is more dominated by AAP than either Mantua or WFES. Forty percent of CWES students are in level IV vs. only 20% at Mantua and 14% at Wakefield.

WFES is whiter (about 60%) and has less socioeconomic diversity (around 8% FARMS).

Mantua and CWES are both are around 46% white and 13% FARMS. In both cases, this is probably due to students bussed in for AAP from nearby Title I elementaries.

Mantua has the most English language learners (10%) followed by CWES (8%) and WFES (6%).

[Anonymous]

Also a few differences in overall size. Mantua is the largest, with more than 900 students. CWES hovers around 800 and WFES generally has fewer than 700.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont think any of the 3 schools you're considering will be a glide path to AAP.

Given the new local norm standards in which kids compete against their immediate peers, if an easy AAP path is what you're looking for in the Woodson pyramid would consider Little Run or Olde Creek instead.

For reference, DC had a 137 COGAT and didn't make the top 10% automatic consideration for AAP in one of the schools you're eying. Did ultimately get in first round though so doesn't necessarily matter.

Wow, that's interesting. Definitely not looking for easy path but wanted to consider whether it may be significantly more difficult to get in at one of these schools versus the others. Just like to have a lot of information.

You would have to go Title 1 for a glide path to AAP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mantua, but it's an AAP center so you have to deal with that BS.

What does this mean? What BS?

Not PP, but I assume the BS of having new kids bussed in from out of the neighbor for grades 3-6. Dealing with classes of AAP / Gen Ed for grades 3-6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woodson has slid in the rankings, prioritize great school ratings of 8 or higher for elementaries to avoid low ses

But GS rankings don't just focus on academic performance. Not sure what to make of Woodson slide, but we can't afford in the Madison, McLean, and Langley pyramids. We could try Oakton but not sure which elm and middleschool... Advice appreciated.

PP is a troll. There’s literally nothing wrong with Woodson. It’s a great school.

Their rating of 6/10 for 2022 says otherwise. I remember Woodson used to be an 8/10 a few years ago. Something is going downhill there but I suppose that can be said for a lot of FCPS.

I recently told my friend that Woodson was well regarded and to ignore the 6 because if you looked they are being dinged for stupid equity reasons. I don't support great schools and I also sent US news and niche rankings to her and suggested a more wholistic approach.

[Anonymous]

We had a terrible experience with our oldest at older creel. We moved to Wakefield and it is like we are in a different school district

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woodson has slid in the rankings, prioritize great school ratings of 8 or higher for elementaries to avoid low ses

But GS rankings don't just focus on academic performance. Not sure what to make of Woodson slide, but we can't afford in the Madison, McLean, and Langley pyramids. We could try Oakton but not sure which elm and middleschool... Advice appreciated.

PP is a troll. There’s literally nothing wrong with Woodson. It’s a great school.

Their rating of 6/10 for 2022 says otherwise. I remember Woodson used to be an 8/10 a few years ago. Something is going downhill there but I suppose that can be said for a lot of FCPS.

I recently told my friend that Woodson was well regarded and to ignore the 6 because if you looked they are being dinged for stupid equity reasons. I don't support great schools and I also sent US news and niche rankings to her and suggested a more wholistic approach.

Great Schools is an abysmal ranking system--not worth looking at--it has no benchmarked system of measurement, its equity measure is hare-brained. USNews is better. Even better to just look at the data on the Woodson FCPS profile. Woodson always has strong SATs, pass rates on standardized measures and college admissions.