Is there any VA school distric that is NOT a dumpster fire?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has some of the best ranked high schools in the state. If you want small with personalized attention and an easier academic experience go very rural and find a high school that hasn't been consolidated yet. Good luck, most of the very small schools have long since been merged into bigger ones

Those rankings are not based on anything that FCPS does. It happens to have a lot of rich, educated folks living in it. But those of us who live here rely on outside tutoring and helping our kids ourselves, because the schools themselves are nothing special, and some of them really suck.

Agree 100%. I have to spend lots of extra money supplementing my kid’s education.

Strangely enough, my parents did the same thing in the 1980's and 90's in Massachusetts and California. It is almost as if Public Schools have to serve everyone so they are not able to do everything for everyone. Instead, Public Schools provide a solid base and parents who are involved try and build on that base...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We left FCPS, which is definitely a flaming dumpster, for private ES/MS, but our private ends soon and we probably can't afford private high school. We're planning to move, and decided to be smarter this time and not live in Fairfax. But based on this forum, it seems like every NoVa school district is horrible. Is there one anywhere that isn't? Falls Church, Oakton, Loudoun? Is there a decent public school district anywhere in NoVa?

Some of things we hated about FCPS included absurd amounts of homework, even in ES, a huge bureaucracy with no accountability for administrators (and a lot of BAD admins), a focus on testing, overcrowded classrooms, no personal attention at any age, and a "we don't care" attitude in general. Does that characterize all public schools?

If you think everything is a “dumpster fire” the problem is most likely YOU and not the schools.

[Anonymous]

I’m going to chime in here to say I don’t think the issue is FCPS or APS or any other nova school district. The issue is the changes to education curriculum. That is what is causing parents to supplement that is what’s causing children to not know the basics of subjects. It’s a nationwide problem not a local problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m going to chime in here to say I don’t think the issue is FCPS or APS or any other nova school district. The issue is the changes to education curriculum. That is what is causing parents to supplement that is what’s causing children to not know the basics of subjects. It’s a nationwide problem not a local problem.

+1000000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

+1 I'm from New Canaan and the schools here seem like a disaster in comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

The suburbs of NYC are some of the best, highest rated schools in the country. They’re very wealthy. Your perspective of what is normal and possible for public school is off. APS is not a bad district. Not even close. You have the expectation it is capable of giving you suburban NYC public education though. It isn’t. It’s a very good district. I’m telling you, bad districts are the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi. No funding. Awful infrastructure. Barely licensed teachers because the pay is horrendous, not livable. Curriculum that is old and garbage. Subpar facilities. You truly do not know a bad school district if you send your kids anywhere in northern Virginia. If is ludicrous to claim otherwise.

This is spot-on. I too went to Georgia public schools. We had metal detectors and teachers who got fired for accepting candy bars for an A on test. Sexual harassment in hallways. Broken lockers. Broken toilets. Etc. Etc. FCPS has been a DREAM system for my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m going to chime in here to say I don’t think the issue is FCPS or APS or any other nova school district. The issue is the changes to education curriculum. That is what is causing parents to supplement that is what’s causing children to not know the basics of subjects. It’s a nationwide problem not a local problem.

+1000000

FCPS adopted a weak reading curriculum. This is not nationwide. Virginia weakened its math standards in 2016, and is weakening them further now with VMPI. This is not nationwide, though they do say 22 states are doing similar things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

The suburbs of NYC are some of the best, highest rated schools in the country. They’re very wealthy. Your perspective of what is normal and possible for public school is off. APS is not a bad district. Not even close. You have the expectation it is capable of giving you suburban NYC public education though. It isn’t. It’s a very good district. I’m telling you, bad districts are the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi. No funding. Awful infrastructure. Barely licensed teachers because the pay is horrendous, not livable. Curriculum that is old and garbage. Subpar facilities. You truly do not know a bad school district if you send your kids anywhere in northern Virginia. If is ludicrous to claim otherwise.

This is spot-on. I too went to Georgia public schools. We had metal detectors and teachers who got fired for accepting candy bars for an A on test. Sexual harassment in hallways. Broken lockers. Broken toilets. Etc. Etc. FCPS has been a DREAM system for my kid.

Yep I’m that Pp. I grew up in Bibb County Georgia . Absolutely awful education and we knew it even then. FCPS , APS teachers have masters degrees and often higher. Teachers in the south? Unlikely not because they’re stupid but because they can’t afford to get one and the pay would never justify it. My 10th grade geography class I still remember to this day one test because one question was about the tallest mountain range in the world. The choices were a) Himalayas or b) Pokémon mountains. POKÉMON MOUNTAINS. So APS parents crying dumpster fire is just so damn tone deaf. They have NO clue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

The suburbs of NYC are some of the best, highest rated schools in the country. They’re very wealthy. Your perspective of what is normal and possible for public school is off. APS is not a bad district. Not even close. You have the expectation it is capable of giving you suburban NYC public education though. It isn’t. It’s a very good district. I’m telling you, bad districts are the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi. No funding. Awful infrastructure. Barely licensed teachers because the pay is horrendous, not livable. Curriculum that is old and garbage. Subpar facilities. You truly do not know a bad school district if you send your kids anywhere in northern Virginia. If is ludicrous to claim otherwise.

This is spot-on. I too went to Georgia public schools. We had metal detectors and teachers who got fired for accepting candy bars for an A on test. Sexual harassment in hallways. Broken lockers. Broken toilets. Etc. Etc. FCPS has been a DREAM system for my kid.

Yep I’m that Pp. I grew up in Bibb County Georgia . Absolutely awful education and we knew it even then. FCPS , APS teachers have masters degrees and often higher. Teachers in the south? Unlikely not because they’re stupid but because they can’t afford to get one and the pay would never justify it. My 10th grade geography class I still remember to this day one test because one question was about the tallest mountain range in the world. The choices were a) Himalayas or b) Pokémon mountains. POKÉMON MOUNTAINS. So APS parents crying dumpster fire is just so damn tone deaf. They have NO clue.

I’m sorry that you experienced such a poor education. But who had it worst is not an argument for APS being just fine. There is no reason this area shouldn’t be more like suburban NY. The demographics are not that far from my hometown. The difference is that the entire county is a school district. Where I grew up it was two elementary schools, 1 middle school, 1 high school. But every school division was like that and ALL the surrounding districts were very, very good. The big difference I see is overcrowding, over reliance on iPads/tech (we need textbooks so parents can know what’s being taught and how to help!), and less focus on quality instruction.

[Anonymous]

Private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

+1 I'm from New Canaan and the schools here seem like a disaster in comparison.

And New Canaan schools are a disaster when it comes to equity and serving low income students, because very few live in New Canaan (I grew up in Westport). You can't compare New Canaan, Westport or Scarsdale schools to Arlington or Fairfax -those are big districts. If you want something like New Canaan, move to Falls Church City.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

The suburbs of NYC are some of the best, highest rated schools in the country. They’re very wealthy. Your perspective of what is normal and possible for public school is off. APS is not a bad district. Not even close. You have the expectation it is capable of giving you suburban NYC public education though. It isn’t. It’s a very good district. I’m telling you, bad districts are the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi. No funding. Awful infrastructure. Barely licensed teachers because the pay is horrendous, not livable. Curriculum that is old and garbage. Subpar facilities. You truly do not know a bad school district if you send your kids anywhere in northern Virginia. If is ludicrous to claim otherwise.

This is spot-on. I too went to Georgia public schools. We had metal detectors and teachers who got fired for accepting candy bars for an A on test. Sexual harassment in hallways. Broken lockers. Broken toilets. Etc. Etc. FCPS has been a DREAM system for my kid.

Yep I’m that Pp. I grew up in Bibb County Georgia . Absolutely awful education and we knew it even then. FCPS , APS teachers have masters degrees and often higher. Teachers in the south? Unlikely not because they’re stupid but because they can’t afford to get one and the pay would never justify it. My 10th grade geography class I still remember to this day one test because one question was about the tallest mountain range in the world. The choices were a) Himalayas or b) Pokémon mountains. POKÉMON MOUNTAINS. So APS parents crying dumpster fire is just so damn tone deaf. They have NO clue.

I’m sorry that you experienced such a poor education. But who had it worst is not an argument for APS being just fine. There is no reason this area shouldn’t be more like suburban NY. The demographics are not that far from my hometown. The difference is that the entire county is a school district. Where I grew up it was two elementary schools, 1 middle school, 1 high school. But every school division was like that and ALL the surrounding districts were very, very good. The big difference I see is overcrowding, over reliance on iPads/tech (we need textbooks so parents can know what’s being taught and how to help!), and less focus on quality instruction.

Thise small districts weren't ALL like that. There are a bunch of really wealthy small school districts and a bunch of poorer ones further out where all the other people live and send their kids to those schools. Big county based systems like MCPS and FCPS get to educate everyone together, sometimes in one school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has some of the best ranked high schools in the state. If you want small with personalized attention and an easier academic experience go very rural and find a high school that hasn't been consolidated yet. Good luck, most of the very small schools have long since been merged into bigger ones

Those rankings are not based on anything that FCPS does. It happens to have a lot of rich, educated folks living in it. But those of us who live here rely on outside tutoring and helping our kids ourselves, because the schools themselves are nothing special, and some of them really suck.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear the most positive things consistently about Falls Church City Public Schools.

This is correct. Some will say the district is too white. The schools are 63% white. A tiny bit higher than Langley in Great Falls. Some also love to say FCC is too white because that's the way they want it. So not true. People are talking about what happened 70 years ago. Not applicable now any more than any other 63% white school district or school pyramid in the NoVa area. It is, however, a tough school district to get into for many because it has a good reputation and the city itself is a desirable location for many reasons and therefore prices are high and available housing is low.

I don’t consistently hear good things about FCCPS that aren’t obviously coming from people just trying to protect their property values.

You are in denial about cause and effect. You think people are unhappy with FCCPS but just say they like it so they can sell their house for more? Okay, whatever. I don't live there but I do know you have some kind of a weird grudge, it's obvious.

The good things said about FCCPS tend to be very generic and not really about the schools themselves. It's obviously there are many people just boosting where they live simply because that's where they live.

+1

Yes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

The suburbs of NYC are some of the best, highest rated schools in the country. They’re very wealthy. Your perspective of what is normal and possible for public school is off. APS is not a bad district. Not even close. You have the expectation it is capable of giving you suburban NYC public education though. It isn’t. It’s a very good district. I’m telling you, bad districts are the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi. No funding. Awful infrastructure. Barely licensed teachers because the pay is horrendous, not livable. Curriculum that is old and garbage. Subpar facilities. You truly do not know a bad school district if you send your kids anywhere in northern Virginia. If is ludicrous to claim otherwise.

This is spot-on. I too went to Georgia public schools. We had metal detectors and teachers who got fired for accepting candy bars for an A on test. Sexual harassment in hallways. Broken lockers. Broken toilets. Etc. Etc. FCPS has been a DREAM system for my kid.

Yep I’m that Pp. I grew up in Bibb County Georgia . Absolutely awful education and we knew it even then. FCPS , APS teachers have masters degrees and often higher. Teachers in the south? Unlikely not because they’re stupid but because they can’t afford to get one and the pay would never justify it. My 10th grade geography class I still remember to this day one test because one question was about the tallest mountain range in the world. The choices were a) Himalayas or b) Pokémon mountains. POKÉMON MOUNTAINS. So APS parents crying dumpster fire is just so damn tone deaf. They have NO clue.

I’m sorry that you experienced such a poor education. But who had it worst is not an argument for APS being just fine. There is no reason this area shouldn’t be more like suburban NY. The demographics are not that far from my hometown. The difference is that the entire county is a school district. Where I grew up it was two elementary schools, 1 middle school, 1 high school. But every school division was like that and ALL the surrounding districts were very, very good. The big difference I see is overcrowding, over reliance on iPads/tech (we need textbooks so parents can know what’s being taught and how to help!), and less focus on quality instruction.

+1. My hometown had 3 elementaries, one middle, one high school. All ranked 10/10. There's no reason for schools here to be ranked 2/10.