Underwhelmed by FCPS

[Anonymous]

It's not class size. We had 30+ in elementary school in Montgomery County and I received a better education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not class size. We had 30+ in elementary school in Montgomery County and I received a better education.

So what made it better? I'm assuming you are comparing elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not class size. We had 30+ in elementary school in Montgomery County and I received a better education.

How long ago was this?

I'm just wondering because I have 30 in my third grade class and the expected methods of instruction are very different today than when I was in third grade ~35 years ago. When I was in school it was pretty much one size fits all.

[Anonymous]

I would be curious to know the number of FARMs + ELL students (i.e low income immigrants - both legal and illegal) FCPS has to educated from the 1990s when FCPS's reputation was "world class" to now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be curious to know the number of FARMs + ELL students (i.e low income immigrants - both legal and illegal) FCPS has to educated from the 1990s when FCPS's reputation was "world class" to now.

I am in a school with about 30% FARMS/ESOL. I was very concerned about this number. I volunteer quite a bit at the school and very active in the PTA. The ESOL kids really don't hurt the other children. They seem like nice kids. My children are thriving despite having some lower income children in the class.

I may be biased though. DH was a FARMS/ESOL kid from China 30 years ago. He is now an ivy league educated successful physician.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow! We've been pleased with our schools. We are Oakton high school pyramid. We have kids in es, ms, and hs. Loved all of them.

Cause to say otherwise would impact your property value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow! We've been pleased with our schools. We are Oakton high school pyramid. We have kids in es, ms, and hs. Loved all of them.

Cause to say otherwise would impact your property value.

You have a hard time with anyone who doesn't whine just like you do, don't you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow! We've been pleased with our schools. We are Oakton high school pyramid. We have kids in es, ms, and hs. Loved all of them.

Cause to say otherwise would impact your property value.

You have a hard time with anyone who doesn't whine just like you do, don't you?

Different PP. I know several people in the Oakton pyramid who have had complaints. Particularly Oakton Elementary but also Oakton High School. Want to elaborate on why you are pleased with them?

[Anonymous]

We went to Mosby Woods ES for base and AAP. Mahri is an excellent administrator. And hires the best teachers - creative with their teaching styles. Her Asst Principals are top, too. Many get promoted to Principal positions (Mr. N, Mr. B, Ms. S).

We attended Luther Jackson and kids LOVED it! Again, Chad runs a tight ship and the Asst. Principals are stellar! The teachers were/are amazing! Very thorough and thoughtful. Our favorite school in our pyramid!

Oakton has been spot on. Teachers are tough-which is realistic, and challenge the kids to their abilities. Here the main focus is on the teachers. Some have been out of this world amazing. All have been good.

Now, this goes with stating that my kids are all high achievers, hard working, kind, independent and generally well regarded and well liked by the teachers.

[Anonymous]

I attended FCPS and my kids attended FCPS for years.

They do a better job now of making sure that the kids have a good base knowledge, going back and filling in the gaps as necessary. I'm not sure that the depth is what it used to be. Of course, with any assignment the student can choose to go a little bit deeper than the set requirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went to Mosby Woods ES for base and AAP. Mahri is an excellent administrator. And hires the best teachers - creative with their teaching styles. Her Asst Principals are top, too. Many get promoted to Principal positions (Mr. N, Mr. B, Ms. S).

We attended Luther Jackson and kids LOVED it! Again, Chad runs a tight ship and the Asst. Principals are stellar! The teachers were/are amazing! Very thorough and thoughtful. Our favorite school in our pyramid!

Oakton has been spot on. Teachers are tough-which is realistic, and challenge the kids to their abilities. Here the main focus is on the teachers. Some have been out of this world amazing. All have been good.

Now, this goes with stating that my kids are all high achievers, hard working, kind, independent and generally well regarded and well liked by the teachers.

From what I hear some of those schools get additional funding. Mosby Woods does and it's a center plus it has some additional programs. So is Luther Jackson. They do not represent FCPS overall. Oakton is a well regarded school but it is more in line with a school that you would compare other schools to than comparing center schools to FCPS as a whole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow! We've been pleased with our schools. We are Oakton high school pyramid. We have kids in es, ms, and hs. Loved all of them.

Cause to say otherwise would impact your property value.

You have a hard time with anyone who doesn't whine just like you do, don't you?

Different PP. I know several people in the Oakton pyramid who have had complaints. Particularly Oakton Elementary but also Oakton High School. Want to elaborate on why you are pleased with them?

We had a very mixed bag going though Oakton ES AAP. Some of the most amazing teachers possible. Some real duds. The teaching was just uneven, and the administration was not very good at dealing with the weak teachers. They listen to the parents, but are not proactive about addressing problems. Plus one D.C. had 3 teachers leave mid- year for pregnancy in 4 years. One teacher had a long term sub for 3 months, came back for a week, and quit without notice. DC had 4 teachers that year. That's bad luck, but after she went through 2 years in a row where her teacher left before the end of the first quarter, we asked for a classroom change at the beginning of the school year the 3rd time she was assigned a teacher who was 7 months pregnant, because we felt she had already taken 2 hits with long term subs, while some kids her grade had never had that situation, but we were flatly denied. Once DC moved into AAP, there were 34 kids in her 3rd grade class. But the administration refused to divide the class and add some level II and III kids to fill 2 classes out because of GE parent pressure. Meanwhile, the GE classes were 20 kids and under.

So yes, Oakton ES has issues.

[Anonymous]

And how well regarded are the schools that both Mosby Woods and Luther Jackson pull from? If they aren't equally as stellar it means those schools are possibly causing other schools around them to look worse than they would be without the center model.

[Anonymous]

Mosby Woods/Luther Jackson/Oakton high poster here. I gave you OUR experience. Has very little to do with anything other than the admin and the teachers. Try to spin it as you may, but we LOVED all 3 schools, and LJ was our kids' favorite! Again, this is OUR experience. Nothing to do with funding or center schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mosby Woods/Luther Jackson/Oakton high poster here. I gave you OUR experience. Has very little to do with anything other than the admin and the teachers. Try to spin it as you may, but we LOVED all 3 schools, and LJ was our kids' favorite! Again, this is OUR experience. Nothing to do with funding or center schools.

The point is it means very little to general ed parents who don't have the option of a center school if their school is declining while these schools are improving. The entire pyramid should be strong.