DC NW vs Fairfax County elementary schools

[Anonymous]

Do they even compare? We are pondering a move back to Fairfax County...We always hear how good the elementary schools in DC NW are, btw my child attends Janney elementary. But how good really is good? as good as the best MD or VA elementary schools?

I would miss the "urban" vibe of Tenleytown but would do it for my child.

[Anonymous]

I think your class size would grow substantially in fairfax. But you would probably get a better choice in curriculum (more breadth and GT) and better schools for middle and high school. Financially if you have one kid, its probably cheaper to stay put and potentially go to private high school. I've run the numbers many times for a move to Maryland if you are interested.

[Anonymous]

How old is your child? Class sizes vary substantially from one school to another in FCPS, with generally class sizes pretty low in thrid and below. They grow quite a bit larger in 4th+. They are growing again next year due to budget cuts in FCPS, but I dont know what class sizes are like in DCPS for comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think your class size would grow substantially in fairfax. But you would probably get a better choice in curriculum (more breadth and GT) and better schools for middle and high school. Financially if you have one kid, its probably cheaper to stay put and potentially go to private high school. I've run the numbers many times for a move to Maryland if you are interested.

OP here. I have two kids and private school for both would be very difficult, if not impossible for us. We could probably afford one in private school, but not two. Yes thank you, I would be very interested in getting the numbers if you do not mind sharing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old is your child? Class sizes vary substantially from one school to another in FCPS, with generally class sizes pretty low in thrid and below. They grow quite a bit larger in 4th+. They are growing again next year due to budget cuts in FCPS, but I dont know what class sizes are like in DCPS for comparison.

Right now my son is 5, my daughter is 2. Maybe I am anxious over nothing but I am so unsure what to do and I do not want to sabotage my son's education out of ignorance. Right now, his class size is OK, about 20 kids.
Which FCPS schools would offer the smaller size classes?

[Anonymous]

I think the upper NW elementary schools are more relaxed, more recess, more play, than FCPS, which is what I like.

Deal is changing fast these days, hopefully for the better. I know people who are thrilled there right now, consider it better than Janney, and others who find it big and overwhelming.

Given all that, I'd probably vote for staying in DC until your oldest graduates from Janney, and then looking at Deal at that point, and at your kid at that point and deciding what's best for that particular kid.

[Anonymous]

I am in a similar situation - and for now I have decided to stay in DC.

We are hoping that public elementarty school works for our children - and who knows where Deal will be 5 years from now. We value the diversity and options that the city offers and are hoping that the continues to be prgress made for DC Public Schools.

[Anonymous]

Actually, the upper NW elementary schools have better scores than FCPS. Take a look at the following analysis of standardized test data. (White students in DC is an easy proxy for upper NW schools.) Notice how DC has better scores than anyone else in the country. Interesting, right?

http://www.schoolinfosystem.org/archives/2007/10/a_different_loo.php

[Anonymous]

if i owned a home and was zoned for janney, i wouldn't even CONSIDER leaving for VA. no way. no how.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, the upper NW elementary schools have better scores than FCPS. Take a look at the following analysis of standardized test data. (White students in DC is an easy proxy for upper NW schools.) Notice how DC has better scores than anyone else in the country. Interesting, right?

http://www.schoolinfosystem.org/archives/2007/10/a_different_loo.php

No, that states that white children in DC have better scores than white children in Virginia. That is very different than a comparison to white children in fairfax county. I would suspect there is a much broader range of socioeconomic circumstances for white children across the entire state of Virginia than there is for DC, where the vast majority of white children in dc public schools are well off financially and being raised by educated parents. I suspect the demographics for white children in DCPS is actually a huge advantage in this comparison.

[Anonymous]

Fairfax school and Montgomery Co schools will both have larger class sizes in ES all the way up to MS. Before you make a move, go visit the schools and spend at least half a day there.

[Anonymous]

IMHO, good is good no matter which school system with involved parents.

So we moved from DC to FFX this summer. We did not move because of schools.

Our DDs had been at Shepherd ES in PK and 2nd where we our girls had an exceptional experience in the classroom (skip the other spin that was going on there the past few years). And yes, the test scores were in the high 70s last year, whatever (test scores don't show everything; that's a different thread for a different time).

All the upper NW, west of the parkers on this list probably have had great experiences at their school too.

This fall our DDs started started all-day K and 3rd at Freedom Hill ES in Tysons Conrner. Freedom Hill was just completely rebuilt and has a very diverse ethnic and racial demographics (AS 30, BL 5, HIS 22, WH 37 OTH 7) and a high mobility rate (38pct). It is also an FCPS community centered advanced academics program school (aka G&T 12pct). Test scores are 10-15 pts higher though the new school has a much higher ESL pct (33 that is split Spanish, Arabic, Hindi and Korean). Classes are about 2 kids bigger than last year. The girls are thriving and my older DD is in adv acad for language arts/reading.

Another big difference DCPS -- all day Pre-K and K. FCPS -- no PK and only some schools have all day K. Also, FCPS has very strict rules on visiting the schools, especially in the classroom during the teaching day (you can't). The before/after care wait list is a mile long at many schools. Also, the FCPS school day is 2 hours shorter on Mondays for teacher planning periods (try doing that on a 9-5 job).

My take from this is that even DC schools with middling "official" DC-CAS scores, do indeed prepare children to be succesful academically assuming involved parents. The issue is that DC schools have limited options to further challenge children in the proficient or advanced groups. Those programs end up being PTA supported or specialty program schools (not "neighborhood" schools).

What do we not miss? All the school-based budget angst of who/what may be cut, etc. if enrollment isn't reached... central office bureaucracy... M Rhee...

What do we miss? Ken Giles and the music program at Shepherd. You CAN NOT find what he does at the ES level in school anywhere else.

[Anonymous]

15:08, thank you for a well articulate comparison.

[Anonymous]

Also, FCPS has very strict rules on visiting the schools, especially in the classroom during the teaching day (you can't). The before/after care wait list is a mile long at many schools.

As with anything else, this varies from school to school in FCPS. Our FCPS ES is not hard to visit during the day. They don't like parents coming into the classroom unannounced (obviously) but many teachers (not all) welcome and eagerly solicit parent volunteers for the classroom.

I moved from SAH to WOH FT this year and the Monday early release is a big issue, but there are many child care providers around to fill this need. Lots of Monday afternoon sitters if your after school SACC is full. We have been on the after school SACC waitlist for over a year, but before school had no wait list. The nice thing about SACC is it gives you coverage for all the teacher work days, snow days, even if you are only in before care.

I don't know about class sizes in DCPS, but in our school our K classes are around 20, and 1st-3rd have all been 20-24. My DD is in a GT class (aka advanced academics per the previous poster). The deal breaker for us with DCPS woupd be the lack of dedicated GT programming. This has been HUGE for our kid. Our demographics are similar to what the PP said. Our school has a great deal of racial and ethnic diversity and also economic diversity (about 30% on free and reduced lunch). Our test scored are in the 90s for most subjects and grades, some high 80s. I agree that test scores do not tell the whole picture. A good friend lives in a different part of the cunty and her school's profile is very different. FCPS is a HUGE disctrict and there are lots of school to school differences. You just can't say what any FCPS ES will be like based on someone else's experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Also, FCPS has very strict rules on visiting the schools, especially in the classroom during the teaching day (you can't). The before/after care wait list is a mile long at many schools.

As with anything else, this varies from school to school in FCPS. Our FCPS ES is not hard to visit during the day. They don't like parents coming into the classroom unannounced (obviously) but many teachers (not all) welcome and eagerly solicit parent volunteers for the classroom.

I moved from SAH to WOH FT this year and the Monday early release is a big issue, but there are many child care providers around to fill this need. Lots of Monday afternoon sitters if your after school SACC is full. We have been on the after school SACC waitlist for over a year, but before school had no wait list. The nice thing about SACC is it gives you coverage for all the teacher work days, snow days, even if you are only in before care.

I don't know about class sizes in DCPS, but in our school our K classes are around 20, and 1st-3rd have all been 20-24. My DD is in a GT class (aka advanced academics per the previous poster). The deal breaker for us with DCPS woupd be the lack of dedicated GT programming. This has been HUGE for our kid. Our demographics are similar to what the PP said. Our school has a great deal of racial and ethnic diversity and also economic diversity (about 30% on free and reduced lunch). Our test scored are in the 90s for most subjects and grades, some high 80s. I agree that test scores do not tell the whole picture. A good friend lives in a different part of the cunty and her school's profile is very different. FCPS is a HUGE disctrict and there are lots of school to school differences. You just can't say what any FCPS ES will be like based on someone else's experience.

Each school is different in FCPS since it has site based management. Class sizes vary dramatically between schools based on principals and extra programs. If they favor a program regular classroom teachers in the budget will be used for the program. GT varies from school to school. You could find your child in a class way above the published ratios. FCPS is not so great and schools in DC-MD get a lot more press coverage.