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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
Timber Lane ES/Luther Jackson MS/ Falls Church HS - any feedback?
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Anonymous
| We live in this school pyramid and are expecting our first. I know FCHS is below average for FFX County in SAT scores, but have no idea how to evaluate the ES & MS. Any feedback on these particular schools or advice for how to decide if these schools are acceptable or we should be planning to move in a few years? |
Anonymous
| I know Timberland has a high percentage of ESL students (so does our school and I see it as a plus, but not everyone does). It is a year round schedule. I'm not sure, but it might be a Title I school. The scores may not be terribly high, but you need to take into account the number of non-native English speakers because that would naturally bring the scores down. I know some families there and they seem to like it. |
Anonymous
|
Well, as long as we're thinking ahead.....
If your child qualifies for GT, Timber Lane is a split feeder into GT programs. The centers are either Mantua/Jackson or Haycock/Longfellow. This will be based on your address. It would be worth checking on, because Haycock/Longfellow is arguably the best GT center combo in the county. But I feel your pain because we are in your pyramid. But as my child gets older, I know more peopel with kids at Jackson and FCHS and really, everyone I know with kids there is pleased. Jackson is newly renovated and is a nice facility. FCHS is one of the smallest high schools in the county and many people love that for their kids. I guess if it were me, I would wait and see how things go before feeling like you need to move. |
Anonymous
I think one of the possible budget cuts in FCPS is to get rid of year round schools. |
Anonymous
| They are proposing to get rid of year round schools. Timber Lane is a Title I school, and if they need to cut full day K, the proposal is for Title I schools to keep full day K. Something to think about if this is important to you. |
Anonymous
| I don't know if this information will interest you, but my DC just participated in the District X honors orchestra, which is comprised of the top orchestra students from a large number of local middle and high schools. There were MANY students from Luther Jackson. I was very impressed. |
Anonymous
|
8:23 again. Someone posted this link on another thread in another forum, but it gives average class sizes by school in FCPS:
http://www.fcps.edu/Reporting/va_standards_quality/pdfs/ElmClassSizeAvg2009.pdf Title I schools have lower class size averages because they get more money for lower teacher ratios. The class size average for Timber Lane is 19 across the school. Compare that to 24-28 in other schools. |
Anonymous
|
I had and have children at Timber Lane, and I am very happy with the school. We've had great teachers, and the administration is super-responsive. Parents are always very welcome at school.
Our pyramid is different from yours -- other than Timber Lane ES -- so I can't speak about your MS or HS. |
Anonymous
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Jackson MS has been on the upswing since FCPS decided to create a GT center there a year or two ago. The fact that out-of-boundary students at Thoreau and other middle schools voluntary choose to go to Jackson for the GT program creates good publicity for the school.
Falls Church HS may be quite different in a few years - FCPS redistricted a bunch of Annandale HS kids to Falls Church, beginning next fall. The enrollment may be considerably larger in five years than it is today. |
Anonymous
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Even after the boundary changes, FCHS is still projected to be significantly under capacity and Annandale is still projected to be over capacity.
http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/spring2009/annandale/adoptedboundaryplan.pdf |
Anonymous
OP here. Thank you for the info, but I don't quite understand. I feel like there is a language people use talking about schools that I don't understand yet! I assume GT is gifted and talented or something like that? What is a "split feeder"? Also, I hope this isn't a controversial topic, but can someone explain the pros and cons of a high number of ESL students? I suppose a pro would be diversity and an opportunity to learn/hear other languages and a con would be as someone mentioned generally somewhat lower test scores? I'm a little lost here. Thank you! |
Anonymous
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GT = gifted and talented, althouth the new "official" name is AAP = advanced academic programs
FCPS is notorious for it's schools being "split feeders". That is, not all the kids in a ES will go to the same MS and HS. Some kids in your school will go to MS at Jackson, but some go to Longfellow. The GT/AAP system makes it even more complicated, because the GT center for your ES could be Mantua ES or Haycock ES, again depending on address. Confusing no? IMO there are relatively little disadvantages to having a high ESL population in ES. Your child is exposed to kids from a broad background, and in a Title I school there are more services and smaller class sizes. The main concern IMO would be does the MS and HS have a large enough population to permit advanced classes in subjects like math and science. The MS GTC (GT center or more correctly now, AAC) at Jackson has made a big difference in the quality and quanity of offerings there. Kids in the area who used to go to Frost or Kilmer for the GTC now mainly stay at Jackson. |
Anonymous
Yes - that's correct, but keep in mind that the effect of boundary changes takes a while to register, since students already in high school are grandfathered at their current schools. Also, Falls Church historically has had a large number of transfers to other schools - primarily Marshall, Stuart and Woodson. If the school's reputation improves, the number of transfers may decline. As to overcrowded Annandale, I think FCPS held off on a further redistricting while it decided whether to undertake a larger redistricting study, but if the enrollment continues to grow I'd expect some Annandale students to be reassigned to Woodson and/or Stuart in a few years. |
Anonymous
Thank you. Can anyone explain the "transfers to other schools" - how does that work? Can anyone request that their child attend a school other than the one assigned to your geographic area, or are there only a certain number of transfer slots open? Thank you to 8:24 for explaining the split feeders! |
Anonymous
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Transfers are not that easy to get. Generally it is because they want a program that is not available at their school, perhaps something like an IB program or one of the academies.
http://www.fcps.edu/dss/osp/StudentRegistration/student-transfer/index.htm Also, transportation is not provide in the case of transfers. |