New Great Schools Ratings Released for FCPS/APS High Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And what's up with South County doing so poorly?

What was it previously? All schools have fluky off years.
6 isn't horrible. They can come back from that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And what's up with South County doing so poorly?

What was it previously? All schools have fluky off years.
6 isn't horrible. They can come back from that.

Used to be 8 two three years ago. 6 is OK though.

[Anonymous]

We looked at moving to South County a couple years ago. And I got the strong impression that people who are DCUM middle class (priced out of Langley, McLean) and who value shiny and new in housing (and the MS/HS) moved there, while people who are hard core education head toward the Western county and older housing stock. Maybe I'm wrong, but we took a long hard look at what was going on with the schools there and passed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your neighbors are smart you will have a high gs rating. We lived in a 7 zone and many of the neighbors cleaned houses, mowed lawns and were blue collar. Now in my gs 9 neighborhood it's all white collars. Always ackward trying to drum up small talk with the guy who worked on your house.

You have to be a troll or so stuck up your own arse that you don't realize how ridiculous this sounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If your neighbors are smart you will have a high gs rating. We lived in a 7 zone and many of the neighbors cleaned houses, mowed lawns and were blue collar. Now in my gs 9 neighborhood it's all white collars. Always ackward trying to drum up small talk with the guy who worked on your house.

I went to a high school in south Florida that was about 95% Latino and about 50% ESOL (house was in a blue collar, low SES neighborhood). I'm American but had to learn Spanish in order to get by socially. I parlayed that cultural/linguistic capital into a graduate degree from Georgetown and am now struggling with the idea of leaving my white, high SES kiddos in the Stuart pyramid. I feel pretty damn lucky to be able to talk to my lawn guy in his native language, and know that coming up in that environment made me a smarter, more culturally literate and tolerant human being. BUT it's almost impossible for me to look at those annoying GS numbers on RedFin as I'm considering what neighborhood to move to.

Wish I could say I've figured this out. I want my kids' exposed to economic and cultural diversity, and maybe even a little (monitored) hardship (like being a linguistic minority) but Goddamn if I want them to receive anything but the best education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your neighbors are smart you will have a high gs rating. We lived in a 7 zone and many of the neighbors cleaned houses, mowed lawns and were blue collar. Now in my gs 9 neighborhood it's all white collars. Always ackward trying to drum up small talk with the guy who worked on your house.

You have to be a troll or so stuck up your own arse that you don't realize how ridiculous this sounds.

I don't know. Can you imagine the horrors of living in a GS 7 neighborhood with THE POORS???? And having to *gasp* make small talk to the unwashed masses??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And what's up with South County doing so poorly?

What was it previously? All schools have fluky off years.
6 isn't horrible. They can come back from that.

Six isn't objectively bad but South County has fewer FARMS kids than Marshall does. They should be doing much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If your neighbors are smart you will have a high gs rating. We lived in a 7 zone and many of the neighbors cleaned houses, mowed lawns and were blue collar. Now in my gs 9 neighborhood it's all white collars. Always ackward trying to drum up small talk with the guy who worked on your house.

I went to a high school in south Florida that was about 95% Latino and about 50% ESOL (house was in a blue collar, low SES neighborhood). I'm American but had to learn Spanish in order to get by socially. I parlayed that cultural/linguistic capital into a graduate degree from Georgetown and am now struggling with the idea of leaving my white, high SES kiddos in the Stuart pyramid. I feel pretty damn lucky to be able to talk to my lawn guy in his native language, and know that coming up in that environment made me a smarter, more culturally literate and tolerant human being. BUT it's almost impossible for me to look at those annoying GS numbers on RedFin as I'm considering what neighborhood to move to.

Wish I could say I've figured this out. I want my kids' exposed to economic and cultural diversity, and maybe even a little (monitored) hardship (like being a linguistic minority) but Goddamn if I want them to receive anything but the best education.

If it makes you feel any better, my friend's daughter who went to Stuart was accepted at an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Wish I could say I've figured this out. I want my kids' exposed to economic and cultural diversity, and maybe even a little (monitored) hardship (like being a linguistic minority) but Goddamn if I want them to receive anything but the best education.

This. This. And more this. And I imagine most of the "liberal elite" feel this way. But what's the alternative? To be fine raising your kids in a rich white bubble? Or to be fine with your kids getting a bad education? Like PP, I want to a majority-minority high school with a > 50% FARMS rate. And I do want better educational and extra curricular opportunities for my kids. So, I get that this attitude I'd off putting. But, not sure what the alternative is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

Wish I could say I've figured this out. I want my kids' exposed to economic and cultural diversity, and maybe even a little (monitored) hardship (like being a linguistic minority) but Goddamn if I want them to receive anything but the best education.

This. This. And more this. And I imagine most of the "liberal elite" feel this way. But what's the alternative? To be fine raising your kids in a rich white bubble? Or to be fine with your kids getting a bad education? Like PP, I want to a majority-minority high school with a > 50% FARMS rate. And I do want better educational and extra curricular opportunities for my kids. So, I get that this attitude I'd off putting. But, not sure what the alternative is.

But is it truly accurate to say the lower-rated GS schools in FCPS provide a bad education? I'm not convinced. Not all high-FARMS, majority-minority schools are created equal.

[Anonymous]

Does FCPS provide a good education anywhere these days?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

Wish I could say I've figured this out. I want my kids' exposed to economic and cultural diversity, and maybe even a little (monitored) hardship (like being a linguistic minority) but Goddamn if I want them to receive anything but the best education.

This. This. And more this. And I imagine most of the "liberal elite" feel this way. But what's the alternative? To be fine raising your kids in a rich white bubble? Or to be fine with your kids getting a bad education? Like PP, I want to a majority-minority high school with a > 50% FARMS rate. And I do want better educational and extra curricular opportunities for my kids. So, I get that this attitude I'd off putting. But, not sure what the alternative is.

But is it truly accurate to say the lower-rated GS schools in FCPS provide a bad education? I'm not convinced. Not all high-FARMS, majority-minority schools are created equal.

This is how I feel. Maybe there is an order of performance among the " bad" schools, but I have to believe they have plenty to offer.
This is florida - where schools largely suck, or Compton.
These scores are driving people away from these schools and doing so much harm. Yes, we need info, but this system is terrible for our area and the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

Wish I could say I've figured this out. I want my kids' exposed to economic and cultural diversity, and maybe even a little (monitored) hardship (like being a linguistic minority) but Goddamn if I want them to receive anything but the best education.

This. This. And more this. And I imagine most of the "liberal elite" feel this way. But what's the alternative? To be fine raising your kids in a rich white bubble? Or to be fine with your kids getting a bad education? Like PP, I want to a majority-minority high school with a > 50% FARMS rate. And I do want better educational and extra curricular opportunities for my kids. So, I get that this attitude I'd off putting. But, not sure what the alternative is.

But is it truly accurate to say the lower-rated GS schools in FCPS provide a bad education? I'm not convinced. Not all high-FARMS, majority-minority schools are created equal.

I don't know if a school like Mt. Vernon provides a bad education. But I do think some schools provide a better education. Otherwise, the same 3 middle schools would not account for 2/3 of FCPS's TJ admits year after year after year. And yes, a lot of kids at Carson apply, so a lot get in. But, almost 1/2 of Carson applicants are accepted some years. vs fewer than 1/7 from lower performing MSs.

Now, this is a chicken or the egg problem. Is Carson better than Glasgow, or do stronger students attend Carson because their parents choose that school? I think it's some of both, and that they feed on each other. The stronger the students, the better the school, so it attracts stronger students. So, I would agree that very high or very low GS numbers can be self fulfilling prophesies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

Wish I could say I've figured this out. I want my kids' exposed to economic and cultural diversity, and maybe even a little (monitored) hardship (like being a linguistic minority) but Goddamn if I want them to receive anything but the best education.

This. This. And more this. And I imagine most of the "liberal elite" feel this way. But what's the alternative? To be fine raising your kids in a rich white bubble? Or to be fine with your kids getting a bad education? Like PP, I want to a majority-minority high school with a > 50% FARMS rate. And I do want better educational and extra curricular opportunities for my kids. So, I get that this attitude I'd off putting. But, not sure what the alternative is.

But is it truly accurate to say the lower-rated GS schools in FCPS provide a bad education? I'm not convinced. Not all high-FARMS, majority-minority schools are created equal.

This is how I feel. Maybe there is an order of performance among the " bad" schools, but I have to believe they have plenty to offer.
This is florida - where schools largely suck, or Compton.
These scores are driving people away from these schools and doing so much harm. Yes, we need info, but this system is terrible for our area and the kids.

X100

Great Schools. Pfft. Should be called "White Schools." In 5-10 years the school systems will be bussing kids and rezoning like crazy to undo the segregation that these simplistic, reductive "scores" are causing.

And I love their little "the more you know" PSA about diversity: "Studies show that diversity in school leads to long-term benefits for students. Discover why!"

No thanks. I get it. What I'd like to discover is what your organization is doing to prevent the white flight that your reductive scores cause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And what's up with South County doing so poorly?

What was it previously? All schools have fluky off years.
6 isn't horrible. They can come back from that.

Six isn't objectively bad but South County has fewer FARMS kids than Marshall does. They should be doing much better.

While Marshall has more FARMS kids than South County, the non-FARMS kids there come from wealthier families. And there are more non-FARMS than FARMS kids at both schools.