New Great Schools Ratings Released for FCPS/APS High Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does FCPS provide a good education anywhere these days?

Yes, many schools in FCPS are excellent, and the best schools in NoVa are in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So to summarize:

Performing above expectations
Marshall (by a lot)
Falls Church
Annandale
Stuart

Performing roughly as expected
TJ
Langley
West Springfield
McLean
Woodson
Madison
Oakton
Robinson
Lake Braddock
Chantilly
Centreville
South Lakes
Fairfax
Westfield
Hayfield
Edison
West Potomac
Herndon

Performing below expectations
South County (by quite a bit)
Mt. Vernon
Lee

I would only say that Marshall is truly performing above and South County below (and maybe Mt. Vernon). The rest are probably still performing about where you would expect (Falls Church, Annandale, Stuart, and Lee) - one point variation on the scale could involve lots of factors.

I'd probably be inclined to give Lee the benefit of a doubt. Annandale and Falls Church (with 52 and 53% FARMS rates respectively) performed as well as Herndon with only a 36% FARMS rate. That's strikes me as fairly impressive.

Or is Herndon performing below expectations? The F/R lunch and ESL rates have risen pretty quickly there and the school may not have adjusted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why Marshall is doing so much better than better than expected? Any theories?

I know IB is hated on this board, but IB. Marshall and SLHS are the two schools where IB has worked at pulling "desireable" kids in. Marshall has the strongest IB IB program in the county, and pull in affluent kids from highly educated families that believe in the IB diploma. Ditto South Lakes. Robinson is the other IB program that works, but based on it's location the IB transfers don't seem to change the SES of the school. SLHS and Marshall IB are pulling in high SES kids to lower SES schools. And managing to hang onto the high SES kids that are zoned there, rather than having them transfer out for AP. Very different dynamic than how IB played out in the eastern county school, where they put a lot of programs in low SES schools without enough high SES kids.

We have friends who tried to pupil place from Marshall to McLean for AP. They were told McLean was closed to transfers but they could transfer to Falls Church. They stayed put.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So to summarize:

Performing above expectations
Marshall (by a lot)
Falls Church
Annandale
Stuart

Performing roughly as expected
TJ
Langley
West Springfield
McLean
Woodson
Madison
Oakton
Robinson
Lake Braddock
Chantilly
Centreville
South Lakes
Fairfax
Westfield
Hayfield
Edison
West Potomac
Herndon

Performing below expectations
South County (by quite a bit)
Mt. Vernon
Lee

I would only say that Marshall is truly performing above and South County below (and maybe Mt. Vernon). The rest are probably still performing about where you would expect (Falls Church, Annandale, Stuart, and Lee) - one point variation on the scale could involve lots of factors.

I'd probably be inclined to give Lee the benefit of a doubt. Annandale and Falls Church (with 52 and 53% FARMS rates respectively) performed as well as Herndon with only a 36% FARMS rate. That's strikes me as fairly impressive.

Or is Herndon performing below expectations? The F/R lunch and ESL rates have risen pretty quickly there and the school may not have adjusted.

The numbers suggest Herndon is performing just about as expected for their current FARMS rate. Not sure how the HHI for non-FARMS families compares between the Herndon zone and Falls Church/Annandale/Stuart. Perhaps that could account for some of the difference.

[Anonymous]

The DCUM crowd will laugh, but it's positive that Stuart went from a 2 to a 3. One of Karen Garza's best moves was to load up the school (and Glasgow) with some of the best administrators in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So to summarize:

Performing above expectations
Marshall (by a lot)
Falls Church
Annandale
Stuart

Performing roughly as expected
TJ
Langley
West Springfield
McLean
Woodson
Madison
Oakton
Robinson
Lake Braddock
Chantilly
Centreville
South Lakes
Fairfax
Westfield
Hayfield
Edison
West Potomac
Herndon

Performing below expectations
South County (by quite a bit)
Mt. Vernon
Lee

I would only say that Marshall is truly performing above and South County below (and maybe Mt. Vernon). The rest are probably still performing about where you would expect (Falls Church, Annandale, Stuart, and Lee) - one point variation on the scale could involve lots of factors.

I'd probably be inclined to give Lee the benefit of a doubt. Annandale and Falls Church (with 52 and 53% FARMS rates respectively) performed as well as Herndon with only a 36% FARMS rate. That's strikes me as fairly impressive.

Or is Herndon performing below expectations? The F/R lunch and ESL rates have risen pretty quickly there and the school may not have adjusted.

The numbers suggest Herndon is performing just about as expected for their current FARMS rate. Not sure how the HHI for non-FARMS families compares between the Herndon zone and Falls Church/Annandale/Stuart. Perhaps that could account for some of the difference.

I guess it is hard to say the exact number a school should be at and a one number difference (3 or 4, 5 or 6, 8 or 9) does not say much because there are so many factors. For example, how are unaccompanied minors factoring into this equation? They have been concentrated in particular schools. Many of them are basically starting at scratch from an education perspective.

A difference of two GS numbers from the schools with like F/R lunch and ESL numbers starts to say a little more - like South County (bad) and Marshall (good).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS Middle schools are looking pretty good too.



There are 9 Mss that were a 9 or 10. The big AAP Centers:

Carson
Rocky Run
Longfellow
Cooper (coming on line as a Center)
Frost

All 10s

Franklin (LLIV only)
Irving (LLIV only)
Kilmer
Thoreau (LLIV only)

All 9s

Stone
LBSS
Robinson
South County MS

All 8s

Jackson
Hughes

Both 7s

Twain is a 6

Hayfield
Holmes

Both 5s

Herndon MS
Key MS

Both 4s

Glasgow
Poe

Both 3s

You left out Sandburg and Whitman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The DCUM crowd will laugh, but it's positive that Stuart went from a 2 to a 3. One of Karen Garza's best moves was to load up the school (and Glasgow) with some of the best administrators in FCPS.

I wouldn't laugh. Unless you completely rezone a school, turn around don't happen overnight. They happen one GS point every year or too. If there is an upward trend, then good for Stuart.

And, FWIW, I think Karen Garza did several good things. For example, I hate the early start time for my MS student. But, I'm glad we are dealing with it for only two years and at a younger age. I was also very glad to get rid of half day Mondays. They made life really tough for working parents. I'm very unhappy that she didn't give notice this time last year, and give the SB time to get a search underway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The DCUM crowd will laugh, but it's positive that Stuart went from a 2 to a 3. One of Karen Garza's best moves was to load up the school (and Glasgow) with some of the best administrators in FCPS.

Agree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS Middle schools are looking pretty good too.



There are 9 Mss that were a 9 or 10. The big AAP Centers:

Carson
Rocky Run
Longfellow
Cooper (coming on line as a Center)
Frost

All 10s

Franklin (LLIV only)
Irving (LLIV only)
Kilmer
Thoreau (LLIV only)

All 9s

Stone
LBSS
Robinson
South County MS

All 8s

Jackson
Hughes

Both 7s

Twain is a 6

Hayfield
Holmes

Both 5s

Herndon MS
Key MS

Both 4s

Glasgow
Poe

Both 3s

You left out Sandburg and Whitman.

Not intentionally. I just scanned the GS list for FCPS and pulled them out.

Sandburg 5
Whitman 4

But check out the GS difference between South County MS (8) and SC HS (6). Don't all the South County MS students go on the the HS? It's not a split fever, is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The DCUM crowd will laugh, but it's positive that Stuart went from a 2 to a 3. One of Karen Garza's best moves was to load up the school (and Glasgow) with some of the best administrators in FCPS.

Waste of time and money. A better thing would be to setup more trades training and teen pregnancy sex Ed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DCUM crowd will laugh, but it's positive that Stuart went from a 2 to a 3. One of Karen Garza's best moves was to load up the school (and Glasgow) with some of the best administrators in FCPS.

Waste of time and money. A better thing would be to setup more trades training and teen pregnancy sex Ed.

TROLL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DCUM crowd will laugh, but it's positive that Stuart went from a 2 to a 3. One of Karen Garza's best moves was to load up the school (and Glasgow) with some of the best administrators in FCPS.

Agree

That area has a great commute downtown and some nice housing stock. There is better potential for Stuart than some of the other underperformers. If they can get it up to a 4, millenials will do the rest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS Middle schools are looking pretty good too.



There are 9 Mss that were a 9 or 10. The big AAP Centers:

Carson
Rocky Run
Longfellow
Cooper (coming on line as a Center)
Frost

All 10s

Franklin (LLIV only)
Irving (LLIV only)
Kilmer
Thoreau (LLIV only)

All 9s

Stone
LBSS
Robinson
South County MS

All 8s

Jackson
Hughes

Both 7s

Twain is a 6

Hayfield
Holmes

Both 5s

Herndon MS
Key MS

Both 4s

Glasgow
Poe

Both 3s

You left out Sandburg and Whitman.

Not intentionally. I just scanned the GS list for FCPS and pulled them out.

Sandburg 5
Whitman 4

But check out the GS difference between South County MS (8) and SC HS (6). Don't all the South County MS students go on the the HS? It's not a split fever, is it?

Straight feed. Some schools care more about SOLs than others. In other contexts, people complain about a focus on standardized tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DCUM crowd will laugh, but it's positive that Stuart went from a 2 to a 3. One of Karen Garza's best moves was to load up the school (and Glasgow) with some of the best administrators in FCPS.

Agree

That area has a great commute downtown and some nice housing stock. There is better potential for Stuart than some of the other underperformers. If they can get it up to a 4, millenials will do the rest.

+1

I see strong potential for improvement in all the closer-in schools if they can hold it together. Those shorter commutes are just too attractive.