Kingstowne schools

[Anonymous]

We are looking at houses in the Fairfax county part of Alexandria. We are focusing on SFHs in Kingtowne. The elementary schools are Lane and Franconia. Neither school seems to have the best scores, which is fine with us. The socioeconomic and racial diversity is more important to us. It seems that people prefer the lane/Hayfield pyramid over Franconia/Twain/Edison. Im trying to figure out why. Any feedback you have about either school would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Because Lane/Hayfield is less poor and less diverse than the Edison pyramid.

[Anonymous]

Island Creek/Hayfield better than lane or Franconia.

[Anonymous]

Edison is saddled with IB, and Hayfield managed to escape that curse.

[Anonymous]

Just move south a bit and you'll be in South County pyramid or move out west to West Springfield pyramid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Edison is saddled with IB, and Hayfield managed to escape that curse.

+1

There are no apartments in Island Creek and there aren't very many in Hayfield ES's zone (mainly the ones in Kingstowne proper). Hayfield secondary has AP. Test-wise, Hayfield and Edison are pretty much on par. It's just that Edison has IB -- which isn't as flexible.

[Anonymous]

My son goes to Franconia and it is an amazing school. Dedicated teachers, leadership is on point, plenty of after school clubs for kids, field trips, etc. The school membership is a real-world representative mix of all demographic groups (ethnicity, SES, religion, etc.)--meaning this school looks like what the world looks like. We specifically bought our house in this area so that he could go to Franconia (and Twain and Edison by extension).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Edison is saddled with IB, and Hayfield managed to escape that curse.

+1

There are no apartments in Island Creek and there aren't very many in Hayfield ES's zone (mainly the ones in Kingstowne proper). Hayfield secondary has AP. Test-wise, Hayfield and Edison are pretty much on par. It's just that Edison has IB -- which isn't as flexible.

I do not understand about IB - is it International Baccalaureate? I thought that was supposed to be a good thing?

[Anonymous]

PP, let me ask you this... if IB was a "good thing" wouldn't the top five schools in FCPS be clamoring for it? What do Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton and Woodson have in common? All AP schools. You connect the dots.

To be fair, I do think that IN THEORY, getting an IB diploma is quite an accomplishment. In practice, very few get the IB diploma b/c of all the hoops required. IB is a lot less flexible than AP. For instance, my kid who is in 7th grade will be excluded from getting an IB diploma if she decides to try later (doubtful) b/c she is not taking a foreign language next year in 8th grade. Without that, she can't fulfill the language requirements for IB diploma. That seems inflexible to me -- that a 7th grader should have to be that far into the planning (she has no idea what IB even is) and she isn't ready to take foreign language yet. Then there is the TOK class and the 150 hours of community service (50 hrs in each of three different areas (environment, physical activity, arts)... I give credit to those who do it, but I am not a fan.

AP allows for much greater customization without the overarching "you didn't complete the whole diploma" concept. Pick which classes you want to take at the college level and go with it. IB requires you to take one class from each of six genres and 4 have to be 2 yr long classes. I think it's a lot to expect 16-17 yr olds to commit to taking 2 yr classes (kids in college don't even commit to that).

Anyway -- some people like it, some don't. But, the numbers and the demand (or lack of demand) pretty much tell the story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, let me ask you this... if IB was a "good thing" wouldn't the top five schools in FCPS be clamoring for it? What do Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton and Woodson have in common? All AP schools. You connect the dots.

To be fair, I do think that IN THEORY, getting an IB diploma is quite an accomplishment. In practice, very few get the IB diploma b/c of all the hoops required. IB is a lot less flexible than AP. For instance, my kid who is in 7th grade will be excluded from getting an IB diploma if she decides to try later (doubtful) b/c she is not taking a foreign language next year in 8th grade. Without that, she can't fulfill the language requirements for IB diploma. That seems inflexible to me -- that a 7th grader should have to be that far into the planning (she has no idea what IB even is) and she isn't ready to take foreign language yet. Then there is the TOK class and the 150 hours of community service (50 hrs in each of three different areas (environment, physical activity, arts)... I give credit to those who do it, but I am not a fan.

AP allows for much greater customization without the overarching "you didn't complete the whole diploma" concept. Pick which classes you want to take at the college level and go with it. IB requires you to take one class from each of six genres and 4 have to be 2 yr long classes. I think it's a lot to expect 16-17 yr olds to commit to taking 2 yr classes (kids in college don't even commit to that).

Anyway -- some people like it, some don't. But, the numbers and the demand (or lack of demand) pretty much tell the story.

Well said. IB sounds better than it is.

[Anonymous]

Thank you!
I have never realized that!
I'm just trying to understand what's what.
No one I ever talked to about it pointed that out to me.