Underwhelmed by FCPS

[Anonymous]

We are in a highly rated elementary school. So far (3 three), we are unimpressed with FCPS. We wanted a solid public school system, thus the move the FCPS. We're not pushing our children to go to AAP, we actually prefer they stay at their base school with other kids from the same neighborhood. Overall experience has been so/so. On the one hand, you've got highly competitive parents pushing for their children to transfer to AAP, and a highly motivated PTA that does numerous interesting activities and enrichment programs. However, the general education track seems unimpressive. In fact I went to a public school system that is less reputable that FCPS and felt like the standard and effort was higher. At the parent teacher conference, we were old one of our DC was doing "great." However, she seems to struggle with basic homework that we help her with. A lot of sheets come back ungraded and incomplete. This has been the case for the last 3 years. I get the impression the teachers are overwhelmed with the class size. They have had 26-28 children in a class and 1 teacher except for kindergarten with an instructional aid which made a big difference. Interested what other people have experienced?

[Anonymous]

It varies by teacher for us. There is a wide range. There have been a few super stars who really impressed me, but the bar is set low for what is allowed by administration. There are teachers who haven't mastered the basics of classroom management enough to even get to effective teaching. There are teachers who don't have a strong command of the material themselves, but that is more rare. I would say 75% rarely check the homework other than to see that it is completed, but I understand with large classes it may be near impossible. I have found teacher mistakes in study guides and even in correcting with the wrong answer, but I expect that now and then when someone is overworked and overwhelmed.

So it's gets better and it sometimes get's worse. Teacher plays a huge role, but so does class size and various other factors.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in FCPS, so naturally, I bought a house here so I could send my kids to "the best schools in the country." Some years were ok, one was good, but most were awful. Even in the AAP program, at a highly regarded AAP center, content and expectations are weak, and instruction is mediocre at best. We switched our younger son to private after 4th, but our older son insisted on staying with friends for high school. In high school, it only gets worse. His English teacher literally said that only the outgoing kids are going to get As in her class. His math teacher is always marking questions wrong that are right and admitted that she lets her 7th grader grade the tests because she doesn't have time, the Latin teacher literally changes how he grades on a monthly basis...I could go on. I would say he has one teacher this year who is both qualified and actually enjoys teaching.

I have no idea who decided that these are great schools, but I can't wait until we are done with this nonsense. My son at a private school is learning so much more, from teachers who are truly invested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in FCPS, so naturally, I bought a house here so I could send my kids to "the best schools in the country." Some years were ok, one was good, but most were awful. Even in the AAP program, at a highly regarded AAP center, content and expectations are weak, and instruction is mediocre at best. We switched our younger son to private after 4th, but our older son insisted on staying with friends for high school. In high school, it only gets worse. His English teacher literally said that only the outgoing kids are going to get As in her class. His math teacher is always marking questions wrong that are right and admitted that she lets her 7th grader grade the tests because she doesn't have time, the Latin teacher literally changes how he grades on a monthly basis...I could go on. I would say he has one teacher this year who is both qualified and actually enjoys teaching.

I have no idea who decided that these are great schools, but I can't wait until we are done with this nonsense. My son at a private school is learning so much more, from teachers who are truly invested.

I grew up in FCPS too. I bought in APS.

My experience as a kid was much liked OP described. I had some really shitty teachers.

I'm not thrilled with our admin staff--but I have a 3rd and 5th grade and in 6 years only encountered one teacher we were underwhelmed by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in FCPS, so naturally, I bought a house here so I could send my kids to "the best schools in the country." Some years were ok, one was good, but most were awful. Even in the AAP program, at a highly regarded AAP center, content and expectations are weak, and instruction is mediocre at best. We switched our younger son to private after 4th, but our older son insisted on staying with friends for high school. In high school, it only gets worse. His English teacher literally said that only the outgoing kids are going to get As in her class. His math teacher is always marking questions wrong that are right and admitted that she lets her 7th grader grade the tests because she doesn't have time, the Latin teacher literally changes how he grades on a monthly basis...I could go on. I would say he has one teacher this year who is both qualified and actually enjoys teaching.

I have no idea who decided that these are great schools, but I can't wait until we are done with this nonsense. My son at a private school is learning so much more, from teachers who are truly invested.

We've actually considered moving to the "cheaper" part of Northern Va and sending our kids to private school but that's a huge expense and moving and starting all over again is draining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in FCPS, so naturally, I bought a house here so I could send my kids to "the best schools in the country." Some years were ok, one was good, but most were awful. Even in the AAP program, at a highly regarded AAP center, content and expectations are weak, and instruction is mediocre at best. We switched our younger son to private after 4th, but our older son insisted on staying with friends for high school. In high school, it only gets worse. His English teacher literally said that only the outgoing kids are going to get As in her class. His math teacher is always marking questions wrong that are right and admitted that she lets her 7th grader grade the tests because she doesn't have time, the Latin teacher literally changes how he grades on a monthly basis...I could go on. I would say he has one teacher this year who is both qualified and actually enjoys teaching.

I have no idea who decided that these are great schools, but I can't wait until we are done with this nonsense. My son at a private school is learning so much more, from teachers who are truly invested.

I grew up in FCPS too. I bought in APS.

My experience as a kid was much liked OP described. I had some really shitty teachers.

I'm not thrilled with our admin staff--but I have a 3rd and 5th grade and in 6 years only encountered one teacher we were underwhelmed by.

OP here. Interesting comment. Another consideration is whether S. Arlington schools would be better than FCPS b/c we can't afford N. Arlington but S. Arlington would be feasible and a very short commute for DH.

[Anonymous]

My experience has been different. We are in the Edison pyramid and DD is in 6th grade AAP. So far she has been to two schools (base school and AAP center) and we have been happy with all her teachers, really no complaints at all.

[Anonymous]

we are in a Mclean pyramid AAP center base school and thus far have had a great elementary education for our multiple kids trough 5th grade. We've had 1 lack luster teacher(but not awful) We do consider ourselves lucky as this doesn't seem to be the norm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in a highly rated elementary school. So far (3 three), we are unimpressed with FCPS. We wanted a solid public school system, thus the move the FCPS. We're not pushing our children to go to AAP, we actually prefer they stay at their base school with other kids from the same neighborhood. Overall experience has been so/so. On the one hand, you've got highly competitive parents pushing for their children to transfer to AAP, and a highly motivated PTA that does numerous interesting activities and enrichment programs. However, the general education track seems unimpressive. In fact I went to a public school system that is less reputable that FCPS and felt like the standard and effort was higher. At the parent teacher conference, we were old one of our DC was doing "great." However, she seems to struggle with basic homework that we help her with. A lot of sheets come back ungraded and incomplete. This has been the case for the last 3 years. I get the impression the teachers are overwhelmed with the class size. They have had 26-28 children in a class and 1 teacher except for kindergarten with an instructional aid which made a big difference. Interested what other people have experienced?

Yep. Only difference in MCPS is they say "fine" instead of great. Get involved politically at the Local level - only way to make a difference. The drive to larger classrooms is nuts. Meanwhile, those who can pay for private school with smaller class sizes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My experience has been different. We are in the Edison pyramid and DD is in 6th grade AAP. So far she has been to two schools (base school and AAP center) and we have been happy with all her teachers, really no complaints at all.

We are also in the Edison pyramid and have been really happy with all the teachers we have had. Plan to send older child to Springfield Estates AAP. Our great school rating is so so but teachers have been excellent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in FCPS, so naturally, I bought a house here so I could send my kids to "the best schools in the country." Some years were ok, one was good, but most were awful. Even in the AAP program, at a highly regarded AAP center, content and expectations are weak, and instruction is mediocre at best. We switched our younger son to private after 4th, but our older son insisted on staying with friends for high school. In high school, it only gets worse. His English teacher literally said that only the ioutgoing kids are going to get As in her class. His math teacher is always marking questions wrong that are right and admitted that she lets her 7th grader grade the tests because she doesn't have time, the Latin teacher literally changes how he grades on a monthly basis...I could go on. I would say he has one teacher this year who is both qualified and actually enjoys teaching.

I have no idea who decided that these are great schools, but I can't wait until we are done with this nonsense. My son at a private school is learning so much more, from teachers who are truly invested.

So you take your kid's word as gospel...?

[Anonymous]

You need aap

[Anonymous]

Why would you not send your kids to AAP if they get in? Your kids are either in pool via tests or not. If they are not smart enough for AAP, then they are probably in the right place in gen ed.

[Anonymous]

Oh, yes, I agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It varies by teacher for us. There is a wide range. There have been a few super stars who really impressed me, but the bar is set low for what is allowed by administration. There are teachers who haven't mastered the basics of classroom management enough to even get to effective teaching. There are teachers who don't have a strong command of the material themselves, but that is more rare. I would say 75% rarely check the homework other than to see that it is completed, but I understand with large classes it may be near impossible. I have found teacher mistakes in study guides and even in correcting with the wrong answer, but I expect that now and then when someone is overworked and overwhelmed.

So it's gets better and it sometimes get's worse. Teacher plays a huge role, but so does class size and various other factors.

Keep in mind that in the elementary grades, homework is not supposed to count towards the child's academic grade. I can see why teachers only check for completion. I can also understand why some don't assign hw.

Any more I think a class size of 26 is fairly typical and unfortunately a high number is in the range of 29-31.