What is the best public high school in Fairfax County?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) TJ if you can get in
2) Langley
3) McLean
4) the rest

This. With no housing budget concerns, this is definitely the list. Throw in budget constraints and 2-4 become much closer to a toss up.

Here's another thread started by a Langley parent:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/231819.page

[Anonymous]

Why so much Langley hate-- why not answer the OP's question. We get it you are Jealous of Langley but tell us why your school is great instead of these nonsense posts. If you are not an above average type kid Langley is going to be very tough for you. The classes are large and the pace is fast. It's not for everyone. If you look at the stats of where the kids go to college from Langley it is comparable to any private school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) TJ if you can get in
2) Langley
3) McLean
4) the rest

This. With no housing budget concerns, this is definitely the list. Throw in budget constraints and 2-4 become much closer to a toss up.

Here's another thread started by a Langley parent:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/231819.page

I've seen this EXACT post on 3 different boards. You may well be the author. Why else would you have the link bookmarked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) TJ if you can get in
2) Langley
3) McLean
4) the rest

This. With no housing budget concerns, this is definitely the list. Throw in budget constraints and 2-4 become much closer to a toss up.

Here's another thread started by a Langley parent:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/231819.page

I've seen this EXACT post on 3 different boards. You may well be the author. Why else would you have the link bookmarked?

DCUM search function /= "bookmarked." Not the author, sorry.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions. We just put a contract on a nice house in McLean that is in the Langley district. We were torn between 2 houses. One house the would have been in the Mclean district but we just liked the Langley house better. I think our kids would have been fine at either school.

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your new home, OP! I just want to echo what others were saying about most of the high schools in FFX county being good. DH attended a small high school in the south, which is ranked low on US News, but he did well, took advantage of all the opportunities, and was admitted to a top medical school, which was ultimately more important than the location of his high school. I'm not sure being at Langley vs Marshall, for example, will result in the Langley child being more successful in life. In fact, the child that goes to a "lower" ranked school may have the advantage of being selected for a top university such as UVA because there are less students at the high school that qualify.

[Anonymous]

I am in the Woodson district and recently came across this when researching for my public-or-private decision:

http://www.americaachieves.org/docs/OECD/Middle-Class-Or-Middle-Of-Pack.pdf

This went a long way to convincing me I should be okay with public school:

Remarkably, three non-selective high schools in Fairfax, Virginia are outperforming the averages of virtually every other country in the world and are right up there with Shanghai-China. While two of these high schools serve a more affluent student population, one of Fairfax’s world-class performers—Woodson High School—is much more solidly middle class and has a nearly identical socio-economic rating to Sample High School A. In reading, Woodson’s students outperform students in every country and region in the world except Shanghai-China.

I am assuming that the other two schools are McLean and Langley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions. We just put a contract on a nice house in McLean that is in the Langley district. We were torn between 2 houses. One house the would have been in the Mclean district but we just liked the Langley house better. I think our kids would have been fine at either school.

Congrats and welcome! We're a Langley family and have been very satisfied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am in the Woodson district and recently came across this when researching for my public-or-private decision:

http://www.americaachieves.org/docs/OECD/Middle-Class-Or-Middle-Of-Pack.pdf

This went a long way to convincing me I should be okay with public school:

Remarkably, three non-selective high schools in Fairfax, Virginia are outperforming the averages of virtually every other country in the world and are right up there with Shanghai-China. While two of these high schools serve a more affluent student population, one of Fairfax’s world-class performers—Woodson High School—is much more solidly middle class and has a nearly identical socio-economic rating to Sample High School A. In reading, Woodson’s students outperform students in every country and region in the world except Shanghai-China.

I am assuming that the other two schools are McLean and Langley.

McLean didn't participate in the OECD pilot program; most likely Langley and Oakton.

http://www.fcps.edu/pla/ost/_pisa/pisa_index.shtml

Woodson could only be considered "middle class" by FCPS standards. During the relevant period, it served almost exclusively neighborhoods composed of detached, single-family housing. It's going to become more diverse in a few years due to the boundary changes adopted to relieve the overcrowding at Fairfax HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in the Woodson district and recently came across this when researching for my public-or-private decision:

http://www.americaachieves.org/docs/OECD/Middle-Class-Or-Middle-Of-Pack.pdf

This went a long way to convincing me I should be okay with public school:

Remarkably, three non-selective high schools in Fairfax, Virginia are outperforming the averages of virtually every other country in the world and are right up there with Shanghai-China. While two of these high schools serve a more affluent student population, one of Fairfax’s world-class performers—Woodson High School—is much more solidly middle class and has a nearly identical socio-economic rating to Sample High School A. In reading, Woodson’s students outperform students in every country and region in the world except Shanghai-China.

I am assuming that the other two schools are McLean and Langley.

McLean didn't participate in the OECD pilot program; most likely Langley and Oakton.

http://www.fcps.edu/pla/ost/_pisa/pisa_index.shtml

Woodson could only be considered "middle class" by FCPS standards. During the relevant period, it served almost exclusively neighborhoods composed of detached, single-family housing. It's going to become more diverse in a few years due to the boundary changes adopted to relieve the overcrowding at Fairfax HS.

ohhhhhh SLAM

[Anonymous]

why would you want to be at the best high school? it's stressful. i would rather that my child is the best at an average school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:why would you want to be at the best high school? it's stressful. i would rather that my child is the best at an average school.

look how well it werked out for you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in the Woodson district and recently came across this when researching for my public-or-private decision:

http://www.americaachieves.org/docs/OECD/Middle-Class-Or-Middle-Of-Pack.pdf

This went a long way to convincing me I should be okay with public school:

Remarkably, three non-selective high schools in Fairfax, Virginia are outperforming the averages of virtually every other country in the world and are right up there with Shanghai-China. While two of these high schools serve a more affluent student population, one of Fairfax’s world-class performers—Woodson High School—is much more solidly middle class and has a nearly identical socio-economic rating to Sample High School A. In reading, Woodson’s students outperform students in every country and region in the world except Shanghai-China.

I am assuming that the other two schools are McLean and Langley.

McLean didn't participate in the OECD pilot program; most likely Langley and Oakton.

http://www.fcps.edu/pla/ost/_pisa/pisa_index.shtml

Woodson could only be considered "middle class" by FCPS standards. During the relevant period, it served almost exclusively neighborhoods composed of detached, single-family housing. It's going to become more diverse in a few years due to the boundary changes adopted to relieve the overcrowding at Fairfax HS.

ohhhhhh SLAM

It might. And, yes, affluent is in the eye of the beholder. My $650k house would sell for crap somewhere else. We are just inside the old boundaries so I drive through the new boundary neighborhood all the time. The houses have been turning over a lot this summer and a few are being knocked down and replaced. So, the school's mix may change some but the new boundary neighborhoods will also experience a change. My take-away from the study though was that Woodson's scores are not due to the affluence of the students but the quality of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why would you want to be at the best high school? it's stressful. i would rather that my child is the best at an average school.

look how well it werked out for you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) TJ if you can get in
2) Langley
3) McLean
4) the rest

This. With no housing budget concerns, this is definitely the list. Throw in budget constraints and 2-4 become much closer to a toss up.

Here's another thread started by a Langley parent:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/231819.page

I don't have a bone in this fight but this is an inaccurate post.

If you look at the US News rankings, James Madison in Vienna should bump McLean off your top 3 list.

Madison is ranked higher, just outside of the top 100

Madison #101
McLean #107

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings/page+5

McLean is ranked closer to Woodson (116) than is to Langley (84) and TJ (4).

So I guess the accurate statement would be "TJ, McLean and the rest" OR "TJ, McLean and Madison" NOT "TJ, McLean and Langley".