What’s Fairfax high school like

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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).

PP here.
If you want to be close to Herndon, I would take a close look at the Oakton pyramid over the Fairfax pyramid. It is a lot closer and IMHO a little bit better for a kid like yours.
YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I have experience with the musical theatre classes at Fairfax Academy and the teacher there provides the students with an actual professional level of musical theatre training in vocal / acting / dance that they won't get at any base school. Plus, the program is designed to assist kids specifically who are looking to get accepted into a BFA program in college as well as provide direct exposure to the DMV area professional theatre community.

At the end of the year Fairfax Academy awards program, I was impressed with the presentations by each of the language departments as well as the dance, fashion, social media marketing and video departments and have not seen anything remotely close to the quality that they presented at our base school.

[Anonymous]

FPYCparent wrote:Does any HS gym in this area fill up regularly for sporting events? I cannot pretend that FHS has successful sports teams beyond field hockey ... and maybe football recently. For better or worse, I haven't gone to many "away" contests at other schools.

As far as graffiti in a bathroom, I'm trusting that the poster reported it to someone.

They are very good at wrestling.

[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?

Good school with good attitude.

[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.

Home prices are not really "relatively similar" in Fairfax City vs the Woodson pyramid. There is a lot more housing variety in Fairfax City (Fairfax HS) and city taxes are slightly lower than county taxes.

[Anonymous]

You don't have to live in Fairfax City to attend FHS. Some of the neighborhoods are almost in Centreville.

There is a range of socio-economic neighborhoods (my child has friends on free and reduced lunch, living in apts., and friends in huge mansions). It's a very diverse school, which is awesome.

We have personally had a good enough experience there. A mix of good/bad class experiences (which is everywhere) but I feel like DC is prepared for college.)

School spirit is so-so. The big boys' programs get a lot of attendance and promotion (football, basketball) but not like "back in the day" attendance. Again, I think that is HS generally, these days. But it is disappointing when other girl sports (like field hockey, as noted by someone else) barely gets any attendance or attention despite being very successful.

FHS is no different in the social hierarchy present in most high schools. Disappointing to see that this still exists but it is what it is.

FHS is an AP school and performing arts academy.

I would say that getting classes you want is a huge PITA. The offerings are not great in terms of getting all your classes since core classes have limited offerings. So your kid may have to decide between and AP class and an interesting elective. It's annoying.

[Anonymous]

Have a friend who lives in the district. He will not send his kids there.

[Anonymous]

Apparently they are proud of their restorative justice and DEI programs, if that's something you are seeking in a HS: https://fairfaxhs.fcps.edu/about/10-reasons-fairfax-high-school-stands-out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apparently they are proud of their restorative justice and DEI programs, if that's something you are seeking in a HS: https://fairfaxhs.fcps.edu/about/10-reasons-fairfax-high-school-stands-out

That’s not a bad thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently they are proud of their restorative justice and DEI programs, if that's something you are seeking in a HS: https://fairfaxhs.fcps.edu/about/10-reasons-fairfax-high-school-stands-out

That’s not a bad thing.

It depends on how it is implemented.

Most kids love tacos and dumplings but it shouldn't come with a lecture on how white people are the source of all evil in the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently they are proud of their restorative justice and DEI programs, if that's something you are seeking in a HS: https://fairfaxhs.fcps.edu/about/10-reasons-fairfax-high-school-stands-out

That’s not a bad thing.

It depends on how it is implemented.

Most kids love tacos and dumplings but it shouldn't come with a lecture on how white people are the source of all evil in the world.

Lucky for you that’s not being taught. My DC is there. So I would know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently they are proud of their restorative justice and DEI programs, if that's something you are seeking in a HS: https://fairfaxhs.fcps.edu/about/10-reasons-fairfax-high-school-stands-out

That’s not a bad thing.

It depends on how it is implemented.

Most kids love tacos and dumplings but it shouldn't come with a lecture on how white people are the source of all evil in the world.

Lucky for you that’s not being taught. My DC is there. So I would know.

I have no idea how it's being implemented at Fairfax but there are in fact schools that teach history through the lens of white oppression.
How exactly is DEI and restorative justice implemented at Fairfax?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Home prices are not really "relatively similar" in Fairfax City vs the Woodson pyramid. There is a lot more housing variety in Fairfax City (Fairfax HS) and city taxes are slightly lower than county taxes.

There is definitely more housing variety in the fairfax pyramid with more high density housing.
The average single home price in fairfax city is about the same as the woodson pyramid when you compare apples to apples.

On a $1,000,000 home the annual difference in real estate taxes is about $650.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently they are proud of their restorative justice and DEI programs, if that's something you are seeking in a HS: https://fairfaxhs.fcps.edu/about/10-reasons-fairfax-high-school-stands-out

That’s not a bad thing.

It depends on how it is implemented.

Most kids love tacos and dumplings but it shouldn't come with a lecture on how white people are the source of all evil in the world.

Lucky for you that’s not being taught. My DC is there. So I would know.

I have no idea how it's being implemented at Fairfax but there are in fact schools that teach history through the lens of white oppression.
How exactly is DEI and restorative justice implemented at Fairfax?

Even if it's implemented in a benign way, there are opportunity costs to spending time on promoting a political POV, versus spending that time on more hard core academics, like math and science. It's a competitive world out there, and our kids need to be prepared to compete with kids from countries that are focused on academics, not navel-gazing at how to be more understanding of others' struggles. Interestingly, this is just as important for the kids who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The way to overcome disadvantage in this country is through education and it has been for decades and decades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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).

PP here.
If you want to be close to Herndon, I would take a close look at the Oakton pyramid over the Fairfax pyramid. It is a lot closer and IMHO a little bit better for a kid like yours.
YMMV.

This is your answer.