What’s Fairfax high school like

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread. We are moving and Fairfax HS is one of several we are considering. Is it a good school for kids who are into math, science and art?

How is Johnson MS?

Skip it and try to find something in the Woodson, Oakton or Madison pyramids instead (assuming you can't afford McLean or Langley).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The students who go there really get a lot of options with the academy programs that anyone else has to bus to.

Other schools offer courses that replicate a lot of what the Fairfax Academy offers. The only classes there that really stand out are the Dance and Fashion classes.

Really? They offer PreProfessional Musical Theatre training with someone who has been in the industry. They offer American Sign Language. Korean. Arabic. None of those are offered at my base school. My kid takes Theatre at the base school and an Academy Theatre class at Fairfax. There is no comparison.

All those foreign languages are offered at other schools besides Fairfax, and not many kids would be taking multiple theatre classes. For a small number of students, the academy is a decided plus.

However, for a typical kid taking a course load geared towards attending a four-year college, access to an academy program isn't going to make much difference, one way or the other. A large percentage of academy courses are primarily intended to serve kids going directly into the workforce.

It sounds like you don't actually have any experience with the Fairfax Academy classes. I have a kid there and the level of instruction they are receiving through these specialty classes is nowhere close to what is being offered at any base school. Plus the assistance they are receiving in university placement to continue their studies at top programs around the country. The Academy is a huge asset for FHS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread. We are moving and Fairfax HS is one of several we are considering. Is it a good school for kids who are into math, science and art?

How is Johnson MS?

Pre 2024, Johnson MS was terrible. The old principal cultivated a high stress toxic environment for students and staff that created a very negative and hostile school culture. The new principal, Mr. Smith, is great and is a familiar face in the Fairfax pyramid community. However, I personally wouldn't recommend Johnson MS. It is still known to be a high stress environment. I've heard good things about Fairfax HS though. Maybe try the Chantilly pyramid? Rocky Run is a better middle school in that pyramid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The students who go there really get a lot of options with the academy programs that anyone else has to bus to.

Other schools offer courses that replicate a lot of what the Fairfax Academy offers. The only classes there that really stand out are the Dance and Fashion classes.

Really? They offer PreProfessional Musical Theatre training with someone who has been in the industry. They offer American Sign Language. Korean. Arabic. None of those are offered at my base school. My kid takes Theatre at the base school and an Academy Theatre class at Fairfax. There is no comparison.

All those foreign languages are offered at other schools besides Fairfax, and not many kids would be taking multiple theatre classes. For a small number of students, the academy is a decided plus.

However, for a typical kid taking a course load geared towards attending a four-year college, access to an academy program isn't going to make much difference, one way or the other. A large percentage of academy courses are primarily intended to serve kids going directly into the workforce.

It sounds like you don't actually have any experience with the Fairfax Academy classes. I have a kid there and the level of instruction they are receiving through these specialty classes is nowhere close to what is being offered at any base school. Plus the assistance they are receiving in university placement to continue their studies at top programs around the country. The Academy is a huge asset for FHS.

Could you elaborate on the "level of instruction" comment? Are you talking about language classes in particular, or theatre, or culinary arts or? Asking because I have kids in the pyramid and would like to know more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread. We are moving and Fairfax HS is one of several we are considering. Is it a good school for kids who are into math, science and art?

How is Johnson MS?

Skip it and try to find something in the Woodson, Oakton or Madison pyramids instead (assuming you can't afford McLean or Langley).

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread. We are moving and Fairfax HS is one of several we are considering. Is it a good school for kids who are into math, science and art?

How is Johnson MS?

Skip it and try to find something in the Woodson, Oakton or Madison pyramids instead (assuming you can't afford McLean or Langley).

What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread. We are moving and Fairfax HS is one of several we are considering. Is it a good school for kids who are into math, science and art?

How is Johnson MS?

Skip it and try to find something in the Woodson, Oakton or Madison pyramids instead (assuming you can't afford McLean or Langley).

What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence

At your own peril!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread. We are moving and Fairfax HS is one of several we are considering. Is it a good school for kids who are into math, science and art?

How is Johnson MS?

Honestly, if you have a choice, this is not your best option.
With that said it is still a very good option.

Can you elaborate more about what makes it "not your best" and "very good"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread. We are moving and Fairfax HS is one of several we are considering. Is it a good school for kids who are into math, science and art?

How is Johnson MS?

Skip it and try to find something in the Woodson, Oakton or Madison pyramids instead (assuming you can't afford McLean or Langley).

Why skip it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The building is really nice and new, at least compared to our kids' soviet bloc style school.

Now I need to guess where your kids go. McLean? Annandale? We were at Westfield HS for a wrestling meet and it was pretty depressing.

Westfield is a newer school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread. We are moving and Fairfax HS is one of several we are considering. Is it a good school for kids who are into math, science and art?

How is Johnson MS?

Skip it and try to find something in the Woodson, Oakton or Madison pyramids instead (assuming you can't afford McLean or Langley).

Why skip it?

Because it is not very good. There are better pyramids. If you care about academics and parent involvement look elsewhere. I know there are some higher SES parents but I will say that the ones I know who bought in that pyramid were blasé about school quality. We avoided and sought Woodson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread. We are moving and Fairfax HS is one of several we are considering. Is it a good school for kids who are into math, science and art?

How is Johnson MS?

Honestly, if you have a choice, this is not your best option.
With that said it is still a very good option.

Can you elaborate more about what makes it "not your best" and "very good"?

I will compare to Fairfax nearby Woodson.

The rate of taking AP classes is higher at Woodson 63% vs 72%
The rate of achieving a 3 or higher one those AP tests is higher at Woodson 75% vs 90%

Woodson tends to offer more post calculus math options than Fairfax and more post physics science options than Fairfax. There is probably more music and visual art at Woodson than Fairfax as well,.

These are not huge differences but they are differences.

So at relatively similar home price levels, Woodson is probably a little bit better for a kid that is academically inclined and more inclined towards stem.
You can look up high school curriculum here https://insys.fcps.edu/CourseCatOnline/courselist/337/10/0/0/0/1

On the other hand, Fairfax compares well to plenty of other schools in the region.

All of these schools have an honors or IB pathway that will provide plenty of rigor but there are marginal differences so aside from maybe 1 or 2 schools they are all very good options but some are better than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread. We are moving and Fairfax HS is one of several we are considering. Is it a good school for kids who are into math, science and art?

How is Johnson MS?

Skip it and try to find something in the Woodson, Oakton or Madison pyramids instead (assuming you can't afford McLean or Langley).

Why skip it?

Because it is not very good. There are better pyramids. If you care about academics and parent involvement look elsewhere. I know there are some higher SES parents but I will say that the ones I know who bought in that pyramid were blasé about school quality. We avoided and sought Woodson.

Woodson is good bang for the buck but you have to be careful. It is probably more competitive than other schools as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread. We are moving and Fairfax HS is one of several we are considering. Is it a good school for kids who are into math, science and art?

How is Johnson MS?

Honestly, if you have a choice, this is not your best option.
With that said it is still a very good option.

Can you elaborate more about what makes it "not your best" and "very good"?

I will compare to Fairfax nearby Woodson.

The rate of taking AP classes is higher at Woodson 63% vs 72%
The rate of achieving a 3 or higher one those AP tests is higher at Woodson 75% vs 90%

Woodson tends to offer more post calculus math options than Fairfax and more post physics science options than Fairfax. There is probably more music and visual art at Woodson than Fairfax as well,.

These are not huge differences but they are differences.

So at relatively similar home price levels, Woodson is probably a little bit better for a kid that is academically inclined and more inclined towards stem.
You can look up high school curriculum here https://insys.fcps.edu/CourseCatOnline/courselist/337/10/0/0/0/1

On the other hand, Fairfax compares well to plenty of other schools in the region.

All of these schools have an honors or IB pathway that will provide plenty of rigor but there are marginal differences so aside from maybe 1 or 2 schools they are all very good options but some are better than others.

Thank you for elaborating. We are coming from a very small school system that both our 2nd and 5th graders have been in since kindergarten. Figuring out the FCPS options has been pretty overwhelming. We need to be within about 20 minutes of Herndon (barely east of the airport, last exit on the toll road before the airport).

[Anonymous]

My neighbors like Fairfax High School and if you live in the City of Fairfax itself you can't be redistricted out of a city school Fairfax HS, Johnson MS, and Providence or Daniels Run Elementary Schools. However city addresses are likely over the 20 minutes especially at rush hours. There are county addresses located west of the school that could be within the 20 minutes but those could be redistricted.