FCPS school decline

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved to FCPS this year from a New England state. I was told to prepare myself for poor schooling for my kid.

My fourth grade had a fantastic year. There were three field trips, one to Jamestown. There were multiplication and division daily fact practice. There were many book clubs, five paragraph essays, and daily use of agendas. There were spelling tests and homework. My kid finished the year with a grade level musical. I’m not sure what people are complaining about.

Please tell us what school and of your kid is in AAP because that sounds wonderful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to FCPS this year from a New England state. I was told to prepare myself for poor schooling for my kid.

My fourth grade had a fantastic year. There were three field trips, one to Jamestown. There were multiplication and division daily fact practice. There were many book clubs, five paragraph essays, and daily use of agendas. There were spelling tests and homework. My kid finished the year with a grade level musical. I’m not sure what people are complaining about.

Could you name your ES or the HS pyramid? You got a good one.

Madison Pyramid

[Anonymous]

I think the issues people have with FCPS are so much bigger than FCPS. I honestly do not think that either party politicians care about the state of public education. On the right, you have organizations trying to undermine teachers, push charter schools, and ban books. On the left, there is the lack of discipline and lowering standards. And the question is who benefits from an uneducated population? FCPS (even with AAP) does not do a great job in ES. They do ok. My kids went/are going through a local level IV AAP program and it does not seem advanced at all. It has definitely picked up in MS. And I hear HS is more challenging. I hear from teachers that top students are more advanced than ever. But the middle and bottom are getting progressively worse. I also think there is some bit bias in DCUM. Most of us are at least college graduates and value education. That is not the case for a large majority of parents. Teachers have their work cut out for them.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My rising 5th grader didn't get to go to Jamestown. I'm pretty pissed about that.

+1 same

Other schools went. Ours didn’t.

Not all schools go to Jamestown. I taught 4th grade for a few years about 7-9 years ago and we didn’t go. I don’t ever remember the 4th graders going to Jamestown.

My current school has never gone to Jamestown. My last school did - they went to Williamsburg in the same trip (the farms rate was about 10%). It cost $70 per person. This is why my current school has never gone. Parents at Title 1 schools don’t have that kind of money to spare. And no, there is no money from the school or the virtually non-existent PTA.

In fact, for some grades in my school there is ZERO money from the school to go on any field trips (but I’ve seen it in the county budget plans so that’s always confusing). And you can’t go far because you leave at 9:30 and have to be back at 1:00.

PP here. My ES has a FARMS rate under 10%. I know one reason we didn’t go is because there just weren’t enough teachers willing to go through all that is involved with that trip.

I have a really hard time believing that. Teachers love that trip. They have parent chaperones and get to have fun all day. Who wouldn’t love that?

Believe it. I’ve taught at the school for three decades. I’ve taught fourth grade. We didn’t go because the majority, if not all, didn’t want to do it. Getting up early and spending hours on a bus with fourth graders was not our idea of having fun all day.

Planning field trips has become a PITA.

The teachers at our school say how much they look forward to that trip every year.

[Anonymous]

NP here. My kids (rising 4th, 8th, 11th) are in the Greenbriar, Rocky Run, Chantilly pyramid. They all had excellent teaching last year (and the year before). We moved here from Raleigh NC, and though we all miss the year round school schedule, we have had no complaints about the teachers and curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the issues people have with FCPS are so much bigger than FCPS. I honestly do not think that either party politicians care about the state of public education. On the right, you have organizations trying to undermine teachers, push charter schools, and ban books. On the left, there is the lack of discipline and lowering standards. And the question is who benefits from an uneducated population? FCPS (even with AAP) does not do a great job in ES. They do ok. My kids went/are going through a local level IV AAP program and it does not seem advanced at all. It has definitely picked up in MS. And I hear HS is more challenging. I hear from teachers that top students are more advanced than ever. But the middle and bottom are getting progressively worse. I also think there is some bit bias in DCUM. Most of us are at least college graduates and value education. That is not the case for a large majority of parents. Teachers have their work cut out for them.

The middle and bottom are getting progressively worse because the numbers of farms and ell students is going up. Demographics are going to dictate how well a school district performs and the county as a whole reflects it. If you look at low farms, low ell schools, they are generally doing as well as ever and the scores bear that out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved to FCPS this year from a New England state. I was told to prepare myself for poor schooling for my kid.

My fourth grade had a fantastic year. There were three field trips, one to Jamestown. There were multiplication and division daily fact practice. There were many book clubs, five paragraph essays, and daily use of agendas. There were spelling tests and homework. My kid finished the year with a grade level musical. I’m not sure what people are complaining about.

We have also been very happy with the education our children have received at WMES, FMS, and OHS. They've had outstanding teachers and rigorous lessons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to FCPS this year from a New England state. I was told to prepare myself for poor schooling for my kid.

My fourth grade had a fantastic year. There were three field trips, one to Jamestown. There were multiplication and division daily fact practice. There were many book clubs, five paragraph essays, and daily use of agendas. There were spelling tests and homework. My kid finished the year with a grade level musical. I’m not sure what people are complaining about.

Could you name your ES or the HS pyramid? You got a good one.

Madison Pyramid

Which school? Madison and Thoreau are in free fall. I find it hard to believe. Fcps hasn’t done spelling tests in years. Most elementary schools are not teaching five paragraph essays today or even years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to FCPS this year from a New England state. I was told to prepare myself for poor schooling for my kid.

My fourth grade had a fantastic year. There were three field trips, one to Jamestown. There were multiplication and division daily fact practice. There were many book clubs, five paragraph essays, and daily use of agendas. There were spelling tests and homework. My kid finished the year with a grade level musical. I’m not sure what people are complaining about.

Could you name your ES or the HS pyramid? You got a good one.

Madison Pyramid

Which school? Madison and Thoreau are in free fall. I find it hard to believe. Fcps hasn’t done spelling tests in years. Most elementary schools are not teaching five paragraph essays today or even years ago.

I’m not naming the school, but it’s one of the schools that feeds into Thoreau and Madison. Are you suggesting that I fabricated the five paragraph essay comment? I certainly did not, and I’m very please with my child’s overall growth this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved to FCPS this year from a New England state. I was told to prepare myself for poor schooling for my kid.

My fourth grade had a fantastic year. There were three field trips, one to Jamestown. There were multiplication and division daily fact practice. There were many book clubs, five paragraph essays, and daily use of agendas. There were spelling tests and homework. My kid finished the year with a grade level musical. I’m not sure what people are complaining about.

It happens every year before elections.

Republicans try to whip up some hysteria about schools, crime, gays, etc.

Like clockwork.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to FCPS this year from a New England state. I was told to prepare myself for poor schooling for my kid.

My fourth grade had a fantastic year. There were three field trips, one to Jamestown. There were multiplication and division daily fact practice. There were many book clubs, five paragraph essays, and daily use of agendas. There were spelling tests and homework. My kid finished the year with a grade level musical. I’m not sure what people are complaining about.

Could you name your ES or the HS pyramid? You got a good one.

Madison Pyramid

Which school? Madison and Thoreau are in free fall. I find it hard to believe. Fcps hasn’t done spelling tests in years. Most elementary schools are not teaching five paragraph essays today or even years ago.

I’m not naming the school, but it’s one of the schools that feeds into Thoreau and Madison. Are you suggesting that I fabricated the five paragraph essay comment? I certainly did not, and I’m very please with my child’s overall growth this year.

This PP - was your DC in AAP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to FCPS this year from a New England state. I was told to prepare myself for poor schooling for my kid.

My fourth grade had a fantastic year. There were three field trips, one to Jamestown. There were multiplication and division daily fact practice. There were many book clubs, five paragraph essays, and daily use of agendas. There were spelling tests and homework. My kid finished the year with a grade level musical. I’m not sure what people are complaining about.

Could you name your ES or the HS pyramid? You got a good one.

Madison Pyramid

Which school? Madison and Thoreau are in free fall. I find it hard to believe. Fcps hasn’t done spelling tests in years. Most elementary schools are not teaching five paragraph essays today or even years ago.

I’m not naming the school, but it’s one of the schools that feeds into Thoreau and Madison. Are you suggesting that I fabricated the five paragraph essay comment? I certainly did not, and I’m very please with my child’s overall growth this year.

This PP - was your DC in AAP?

No, general education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to FCPS this year from a New England state. I was told to prepare myself for poor schooling for my kid.

My fourth grade had a fantastic year. There were three field trips, one to Jamestown. There were multiplication and division daily fact practice. There were many book clubs, five paragraph essays, and daily use of agendas. There were spelling tests and homework. My kid finished the year with a grade level musical. I’m not sure what people are complaining about.

It happens every year before elections.

Republicans try to whip up some hysteria about schools, crime, gays, etc.

Like clockwork.

I’m the PP, and we are Republican, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to FCPS this year from a New England state. I was told to prepare myself for poor schooling for my kid.

My fourth grade had a fantastic year. There were three field trips, one to Jamestown. There were multiplication and division daily fact practice. There were many book clubs, five paragraph essays, and daily use of agendas. There were spelling tests and homework. My kid finished the year with a grade level musical. I’m not sure what people are complaining about.

It happens every year before elections.

Republicans try to whip up some hysteria about schools, crime, gays, etc.

Like clockwork.

You have to hand it to the Republicans, and how they convinced students in FCPS to keep doing worse on the SATs in recent years just so they could make the Democrats running FCPS look bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s time to accept the fact that FCPS is in free fall. There is no fixing it without voting in a school board that will lead, find a competent superintendent, and ensure worthless layers of middle management are eliminated to provide funding to hire and retain excellent teachers.

FCPS uses technology very poorly and burdens teachers with a myriad of non-teaching duties.

Given the political makeup of Fairfax County, that is very likely to happen, so if you have the means it is time to go private.

I have been hearing this complaint since I moved here in 1987. Some people will always believe it. Some will eventually see the light when their kids go off to college and see how well prepared or not they are.

My DD called home the first semester of college to tell me how stupid all the non- NoVA kids were.

NP.
I moved to NoVa because I had to compete against those kids in college. I moved away because as a teacher, I saw that FCPS isn’t what it used to be.

I went into an IEP meeting at a different school and saw first hand what an IEP meeting is supposed to be. I had been in many as an FCPS teacher that weren’t as well-run. It blew me away. Made me embarrassed to have worked for the county.