What is the best public high school in Fairfax County?

[Anonymous]

Some of the best high schools in the US-- and I am comparing them with Private Schools too. You can take TJ out of the mix because its a magnet school-- it's probably a top five high school in the world. But the others are all excellent. Yes, Langley is at the top of the list but the others are not that far behind. Fairfax can be very proud of its school system!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, I guess this tells us that your child will just get a crappy education at any one of these schools! Any other questions?

Yes - Did you send your kid to private because you didn't know what else to do with the money or because DD/DS had "issues"?

Nope, they go to public schools in the Fairfax County...

...and I went to public schools too. This is why I can employ literary devices such as sarcasm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why would you want to be at the best high school? it's stressful. i would rather that my child is the best at an average school.

look how well it werked out for you

i'm doing very well. thanks!

[Anonymous]

"werked" Hah!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh BS I have never heard any of that and have been to every Langley Football game the last 4 years and half the Lax games. It's just the same old "you suck" etc, that all the teams yell. No special rich kid cheers, sorry!

I've heard this yelled by Langley students in parking lots after basketball games. There was also this incident a few years ago:

http://mclean.patch.com/groups/schools/p/cost-of-vandalism-damage-at-mclean-high-by-langley-students

Don't want to blow this out of proportion, but it happens whether you've witnesed it or choose to acknowledge it.

OMG you save this one cite and parade it out every single time Langley is mentioned. It's ridiculous. You mean you can't find an article about the last food fight in the cafeteria? But please let's not blow anything out of proportion.

Thanks 23:08. My jaw dropped too. What an deliberately unfair piece to post. Let's provide some perspective here.

1) there is an ancient rivalry between the two schools.
2) there is no mention in article about "rich kid" cheers which is what we were discussing (and I am disclosing that I am a happy ex-Langley parent of a graduate, but that makes me knowledgable about what happens and what doesn't happen, what's important and what's not, because we live in the community and had kids in the school. I have no dogs in this race).
3) the incident mentioned in the piece cites to a December 2010 incident. Hullo, it's almost September 2013.
4) my child was a student at Langley at that time and NO ONE talked about that step-dance incident at the school. The McLean principal didn't even respond to Bobbi Bowman's call or whatever she allegedly did at the time of writing the Patch article.
5) Bowman was a notoriously sloppy reporter. Many people wrote Times/AOL headquarters in New York and complained. She did not verify sources. She did not get two sources. She allowed unlimited hostile comments by anonymous sources which violated Patch rules. She had a very left-wing,anti-wealth bias which showed in everything she wrote (don't get me started on her false political reporting). She would show up at every single Republican fundraiser on private property and try to take photos of the nametags and then make a fuss when she was asked to leave for trespassing (the donations were completely legal of course, as was the fundraiser). She would then post a photo of the hostess of the fundraiser, name her, and say she "forced" the Patch off the property. False. I was there. She demonstrated poor judgment. She is no longer with the Time/WarnerAOL-owned Patch. You read into that what you want. The Patch has since gone through at least five new editors but has come up tremendously in professionalism within the last year. There is more accountability.
6) The article alleges that the Langley kids made fun of the McLean step-dancers. News to me. Bobbi states it was a black dance. Bobbi is black. You decide.
7) The REAL story is the end to Color Day. If you don't know about it, Color Day at Langley was held on the last day of spirit day and involved lots of green and gold paint. Parents were divided on it. Some were furious that their kids wound up with paint on them. Others were thrilled to get painted. But all agreed that property damage to local streetsigns and neighboring fences was unacceptable. Langley's principal, Matt Ragone, had just started at Langley about the time of this step-dancing incident (which I've never seen before tonight - trust me, it is a non-story here in McLean, and if 23:38 is correct that this poster keeps trotting out this old piece, I call foul). To his immense credit, he said there would be no more color day celebrations because kids had gotten out of control. Every single year he said it at PTSA: "This is it - we cannot afford the extra cops color day would require, the added security, or the bills from adjacent properties caused by damage on color day." I listened to idiot moms make pleas for the return of color day because "It was fun". Or "We need more spirit". Or "Can't we float a spirit float down Georgetown Pike" (seriously, a mom said that. Sure, think of how many permits that would take. Think of the traffic pile-up and the concerns that the CIA was being targeted by a rogue Langley High float). But Ragone stood firm. The first year there was, of course, some backlash. A few brought mason jars filled with paint and threw them in the lunchroom. Ragone suspended the kids. Year after year he stood firm. Moms would say "But the kids are going to do it anyways" to which Ragone would say "If I have to put in metal detectors and do searches, I will, but this school will act responsibly - we cannot afford to hire more police to monitor this and we cannot afford to pay for any damage". THAT's the story. Oh, but that would be a positive story so would have no place on DCUM.

Yes, let us disregard Bobbi's reporting, because she is black. Way to go to, PP.

[Anonymous]

Really, you should read before you post. 10:56 didn't say that. Bobbie's own 2010 article at the bottom says:

Stepping is a dance performance, made popular by black fraternities and sororities, involving chanting, singing, stomping of the feet, and clapping of the hands in a synchronized manner. McLean’s step team has a diverse racial make-up.

Then the poster says: 6) The article alleges that the Langley kids made fun of the McLean step-dancers. News to me. Bobbi states it was a black dance. Bobbi is black. You decide. .

She or he says "let you decide". How can that be racist? S/he posts Bobbi's own words to describe the dance step. Bobbi raised the race issue not the poster.

[Anonymous]

The point is that it is grossly unfair that someone keeps trotting out a 2010 "Patch" article (really!, "the Patch", come on) to slander the Langley kids. That is not fair.

[Anonymous]

I think the point was that the Langley poster clearly implied a black reporter would be biased when reporting on an incident that involved black students.

Stop while you're behind.

[Anonymous]

...and this subject goes --- SIIIDEWAYS....

[Anonymous]

No implication. She quotes the article and says "you decide". Meanwhile, 2400 kids at Langley get slandered and feel bad for this non-story that appeared in an internet story in 2010. I don't know who keeps trotting it out (I've never seen it) but PPs say it keeps reappearing. So some McLean mom has a grudge. Not fair.

[Anonymous]

Actually, it is Bobbi who is implying that the Langley kids are racist by bringing up the race issue in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No implication. She quotes the article and says "you decide". Meanwhile, 2400 kids at Langley get slandered and feel bad for this non-story that appeared in an internet story in 2010. I don't know who keeps trotting it out (I've never seen it) but PPs say it keeps reappearing. So some McLean mom has a grudge. Not fair.

You must be pretty dense. How again did you end up at Langley?

There is no way to read the other Langley poster's comments as not suggesting that the reporter's article was racially biased because she was black. It's just cringe-worthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't it be easier to simply list the FCPS high schools to avoid?

No. It's mean spirited and you can find high-achieving kids at every school in the county.

Basically any of them not on that list

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, it is Bobbi who is implying that the Langley kids are racist by bringing up the race issue in the first place.

So true. Read this excerpt:

"At the game, which was hosted at McLean, Langley students hurled insults at McLean’s step team, shouted demeaning messages at the opposing fans, and even managed to put seventeen holes in McLean’s gym bleachers using their feet. By the end of the game, the police were involved, and one officer was even hit when a McLean student threw a water bottle across the gym. In a school-wide address on Monday morning, Principal Matt Ragone expressed his disappointment at Langley’s behavior, saying that he “expected better,” and that “Langley should be THE model school for good and positive behavior just as we are the model academically and on the playing field.” Mr. Ragone later addressed the abuse inflicted on the McLean step team, saying, “Their step team gets mocked by a lot of schools, not just Langley. Those girls are really courageous to get out there in front of everybody, just to be made fun of. * * * Mr. Ragone said he was saddened when on Friday, Langley became one of the many schools to mock the step team. “People see us [making fun of them] and think it’s a racial reaction….They accuse us of being racist. And I really don’t know what to say to that.”

Oh, wait. That was from the Langley student newspaper, not the Patch. I guess Ms. Bowman should have reported "Boys will be boys" and "those minority girls were just asking to be insulted."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't it be easier to simply list the FCPS high schools to avoid?

No. It's mean spirited and you can find high-achieving kids at every school in the county.

Basically any of them not on that list

So West Springfield is as bad as Mount Vernon?