Does the school pyramid really make a difference in the long run?

[Anonymous]

Our Title I elementary (60+% FARMs rate) has extremely low teacher turnover. In fact, the principal noted during a recent PTA meeting that we have one of the lowest turnover rates in the district. When DD was accepted to AAP, we deliberately opted to stay for local level IV because we love the school and its nurturing environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:58 here again,

Just re-read your question in the title of this thread.

I guess my answer to "does the school pyramid really make a difference in the long run?" is:

Maybe. It depends on your kid.

Many people think of it like an insurance policy -- they buy in the best zone they can afford so that they know they've done all they can do for the kid to succeed. Whatever happens from there is on the kid.

This.

I went to a TERRIBLE high school, as did my brother (middle school). There were routine knife fights in my school, and my brother was relentlessly bullied. As recent immigrants, we didn’t have options. Nor did our parents understand that there could be options. We kept our head down, and nose in the books. My brother tested into a really good high school (he didn’t even tell the family about the test. Or the bullying), a horrible commute away, but made it work. My partial college scholarships were insufficient for me to go to private college, so I went to a local one. Then went to a top tier grad school, while working 3 jobs to make it work. We have both done well in life. My brother just made partner, and I am immensely proud of how far we have both come.

TL;DR A really good work ethic, and family support, goes a long way in life. People with options wouldn’t want to put their children through that.

Give me a break. There are no schools in Fairfax or Arlington counties with "routine knife fights".

Where did I say that I went to school around here? I went to school in NYC.

Not the point. Your experience in a New York school with routine knife fights is irrelevant to OP’s question about schools in northern Virginia. Of course people with options wouldn’t choose an unsafe school, but there are no unsafe schools in NoVA.

Parents who’ve pulled their kids out of middle schools like Sandberg and Glasgow might beg to disagree.

How quickly they forget! Remember the gym locker room taser torture at Oakton HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:58 here again,

Just re-read your question in the title of this thread.

I guess my answer to "does the school pyramid really make a difference in the long run?" is:

Maybe. It depends on your kid.

Many people think of it like an insurance policy -- they buy in the best zone they can afford so that they know they've done all they can do for the kid to succeed. Whatever happens from there is on the kid.

This.

I went to a TERRIBLE high school, as did my brother (middle school). There were routine knife fights in my school, and my brother was relentlessly bullied. As recent immigrants, we didn’t have options. Nor did our parents understand that there could be options. We kept our head down, and nose in the books. My brother tested into a really good high school (he didn’t even tell the family about the test. Or the bullying), a horrible commute away, but made it work. My partial college scholarships were insufficient for me to go to private college, so I went to a local one. Then went to a top tier grad school, while working 3 jobs to make it work. We have both done well in life. My brother just made partner, and I am immensely proud of how far we have both come.

TL;DR A really good work ethic, and family support, goes a long way in life. People with options wouldn’t want to put their children through that.

Give me a break. There are no schools in Fairfax or Arlington counties with "routine knife fights".

Where did I say that I went to school around here? I went to school in NYC.

Not the point. Your experience in a New York school with routine knife fights is irrelevant to OP’s question about schools in northern Virginia. Of course people with options wouldn’t choose an unsafe school, but there are no unsafe schools in NoVA.

Parents who’ve pulled their kids out of middle schools like Sandberg and Glasgow might beg to disagree.

How quickly they forget! Remember the gym locker room taser torture at Oakton HS?

That was a one-off incident and you know it. The reason why it was featured so much is because that type of incident is so unusual at Oakton. But say what you want to feel better about being with the poor people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:58 here again,

Just re-read your question in the title of this thread.

I guess my answer to "does the school pyramid really make a difference in the long run?" is:

Maybe. It depends on your kid.

Many people think of it like an insurance policy -- they buy in the best zone they can afford so that they know they've done all they can do for the kid to succeed. Whatever happens from there is on the kid.

This.

I went to a TERRIBLE high school, as did my brother (middle school). There were routine knife fights in my school, and my brother was relentlessly bullied. As recent immigrants, we didn’t have options. Nor did our parents understand that there could be options. We kept our head down, and nose in the books. My brother tested into a really good high school (he didn’t even tell the family about the test. Or the bullying), a horrible commute away, but made it work. My partial college scholarships were insufficient for me to go to private college, so I went to a local one. Then went to a top tier grad school, while working 3 jobs to make it work. We have both done well in life. My brother just made partner, and I am immensely proud of how far we have both come.

TL;DR A really good work ethic, and family support, goes a long way in life. People with options wouldn’t want to put their children through that.

Give me a break. There are no schools in Fairfax or Arlington counties with "routine knife fights".

Where did I say that I went to school around here? I went to school in NYC.

Not the point. Your experience in a New York school with routine knife fights is irrelevant to OP’s question about schools in northern Virginia. Of course people with options wouldn’t choose an unsafe school, but there are no unsafe schools in NoVA.

Parents who’ve pulled their kids out of middle schools like Sandberg and Glasgow might beg to disagree.

How quickly they forget! Remember the gym locker room taser torture at Oakton HS?

That was a one-off incident and you know it. The reason why it was featured so much is because that type of incident is so unusual at Oakton. But say what you want to feel better about being with the poor people.

And there you have it—the perfect object lesson on why to avoid “top” schools and the people who flock to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:58 here again,

Just re-read your question in the title of this thread.

I guess my answer to "does the school pyramid really make a difference in the long run?" is:

Maybe. It depends on your kid.

Many people think of it like an insurance policy -- they buy in the best zone they can afford so that they know they've done all they can do for the kid to succeed. Whatever happens from there is on the kid.

This.

I went to a TERRIBLE high school, as did my brother (middle school). There were routine knife fights in my school, and my brother was relentlessly bullied. As recent immigrants, we didn’t have options. Nor did our parents understand that there could be options. We kept our head down, and nose in the books. My brother tested into a really good high school (he didn’t even tell the family about the test. Or the bullying), a horrible commute away, but made it work. My partial college scholarships were insufficient for me to go to private college, so I went to a local one. Then went to a top tier grad school, while working 3 jobs to make it work. We have both done well in life. My brother just made partner, and I am immensely proud of how far we have both come.

TL;DR A really good work ethic, and family support, goes a long way in life. People with options wouldn’t want to put their children through that.

Give me a break. There are no schools in Fairfax or Arlington counties with "routine knife fights".

Where did I say that I went to school around here? I went to school in NYC.

Not the point. Your experience in a New York school with routine knife fights is irrelevant to OP’s question about schools in northern Virginia. Of course people with options wouldn’t choose an unsafe school, but there are no unsafe schools in NoVA.

Parents who’ve pulled their kids out of middle schools like Sandberg and Glasgow might beg to disagree.

How quickly they forget! Remember the gym locker room taser torture at Oakton HS?

That was a one-off incident and you know it. The reason why it was featured so much is because that type of incident is so unusual at Oakton. But say what you want to feel better about being with the poor people.

NP here. There’s many advantages to going to a wealthier school but one of the drawbacks is being around pretentious people who look down on being around poor people. It’s unfair of course to say that all or even most people are like this. There’s good people everywhere. But in the long term a kid is going to be much better off being around poor people than being around people like the previous poster.

[Anonymous]

TBH one reason I moved away from West Potomac High zone was when I saw where kids were going for college. No Ivies and not even a Georgetown-bound kid, despite the proximity. That's a huge high school.

This was in 2017 I think so things may have changed.

[Anonymous]

Not PP, but over the past three years the total number of safety violations at Sandberg is considerably higher than at Oakton. The tazing incident at OHS was disgusting, but don’t kid yourself over which pyramid loses more families due to valid safety concerns.

[Anonymous]

^ Sandburg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some good friends of ours live in the Justice district and their daughter was admitted to Cornell.

But they will struggle unless they heavily supplemented

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The real world bears very little resemblance to the population of most “preferred“ pyramids in northern Virginia. My personal opinion is that kids benefit more from exposure to those who are different (both racially/ethnically and socio-economically) than they do from exposure to those who are the same.

I would agree with this poster. My sister and I went to a not so great high school. Only 10% of the kids in my graduating class went to college. My sister and I were both smart and there was huge value in learning to work with and get along with those form different racial and socio economically backgrounds. This skill set has served both of us well in our careers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real world bears very little resemblance to the population of most “preferred“ pyramids in northern Virginia. My personal opinion is that kids benefit more from exposure to those who are different (both racially/ethnically and socio-economically) than they do from exposure to those who are the same.

I would agree with this poster. My sister and I went to a not so great high school. Only 10% of the kids in my graduating class went to college. My sister and I were both smart and there was huge value in learning to work with and get along with those form different racial and socio economically backgrounds. This skill set has served both of us well in our careers.

There’s literally no one coming to DCUM with questions who wants to send their kids to a school where only 10% of the students go to college. You can find SES diversity at every high school in APS and over 90% of the schools in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

I’m only the parent of a 10 year old and younger kids but from what I’ve read the answer is no. Our child goes to a Title I School. The school has a GT magnet program, arts and music and media, newly renovated, diverse, safe decent testing scores for all races. We wanted our kids to be comfortable with all kinds of people and also to go to a neighborhood school. I have never regretted our choice. DH and I are both employed and went to college and have friends in the school district who are both more and less educated than we are.

I don’t have a link but I think parent education level and resources are the biggest predictors of a child’s level of academic achievement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly asking - Does the school pyramid really make a difference in the long run? I grew up in a small city in upstate NY and there was no moving around to a better school district. I got into a great engineering school and have done fine in life. But now, as my family is looking to move from a condo to SFH in NOVA with 2 kids, I'm feeling like I'm missing something. I'm feeling like the competition and school hunting that I see my peers doing when singling out a SFH is too much. My husband I are very engineering and math focused and see our children headed in that direction as well. Do I really need to be in the top school district, 7's and above on great schools?? Top 20 in the state? Will it make a difference in school experience or getting into college depending on what HS you went to? Any hidden gem schools that aren't rated great on GS but are, in fact, great?

For perspective, we are looking for a SFH with decent sized yard and 2000+ sq for $950k or less. Arlington, Falls Church, McLean, Vienna, Alexandria, Annandale, or closer in Fairfax

Don't make this more complicated than it is. You have a good budget and, if you're not looking for a new house with 4000+ feet, you'll have plenty of options. And you probably will prefer an AP school to an IB school if you have a math/engineering focus.

North Arlington might be tougher at $950K and $950K in the Langley district might push you further out that you want to be in Fairfax. But you could find something good zoned for McLean, Madison, Oakton, Woodson, and Fairfax, and they'd all be fine. Same goes for Marshall, if you prefer IB (some STEM-focused families like IB for the greater writing focus, although most prefer AP). Chantilly is further out and is also very good. To the south there is also Lake Braddock, Robinson and West Springfield, although you didn't mention Burke or Springfield.

^ This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:58 here again,

Just re-read your question in the title of this thread.

I guess my answer to "does the school pyramid really make a difference in the long run?" is:

Maybe. It depends on your kid.

Many people think of it like an insurance policy -- they buy in the best zone they can afford so that they know they've done all they can do for the kid to succeed. Whatever happens from there is on the kid.

This.

I went to a TERRIBLE high school, as did my brother (middle school). There were routine knife fights in my school, and my brother was relentlessly bullied. As recent immigrants, we didn’t have options. Nor did our parents understand that there could be options. We kept our head down, and nose in the books. My brother tested into a really good high school (he didn’t even tell the family about the test. Or the bullying), a horrible commute away, but made it work. My partial college scholarships were insufficient for me to go to private college, so I went to a local one. Then went to a top tier grad school, while working 3 jobs to make it work. We have both done well in life. My brother just made partner, and I am immensely proud of how far we have both come.

TL;DR A really good work ethic, and family support, goes a long way in life. People with options wouldn’t want to put their children through that.

Give me a break. There are no schools in Fairfax or Arlington counties with "routine knife fights".

Where did I say that I went to school around here? I went to school in NYC.

Not the point. Your experience in a New York school with routine knife fights is irrelevant to OP’s question about schools in northern Virginia. Of course people with options wouldn’t choose an unsafe school, but there are no unsafe schools in NoVA.

Parents who’ve pulled their kids out of middle schools like Sandberg and Glasgow might beg to disagree.

How quickly they forget! Remember the gym locker room taser torture at Oakton HS?

That was a one-off incident and you know it. The reason why it was featured so much is because that type of incident is so unusual at Oakton. But say what you want to feel better about being with the poor people.

Ahhmmm... sexual assault on the band bus?

Oakton has a nasty case if affluenza. The Administration there needs to stop kowtowing to parents and start dealing with the bullies and LAX Bros.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:58 here again,

Just re-read your question in the title of this thread.

I guess my answer to "does the school pyramid really make a difference in the long run?" is:

Maybe. It depends on your kid.

Many people think of it like an insurance policy -- they buy in the best zone they can afford so that they know they've done all they can do for the kid to succeed. Whatever happens from there is on the kid.

This.

I went to a TERRIBLE high school, as did my brother (middle school). There were routine knife fights in my school, and my brother was relentlessly bullied. As recent immigrants, we didn’t have options. Nor did our parents understand that there could be options. We kept our head down, and nose in the books. My brother tested into a really good high school (he didn’t even tell the family about the test. Or the bullying), a horrible commute away, but made it work. My partial college scholarships were insufficient for me to go to private college, so I went to a local one. Then went to a top tier grad school, while working 3 jobs to make it work. We have both done well in life. My brother just made partner, and I am immensely proud of how far we have both come.

TL;DR A really good work ethic, and family support, goes a long way in life. People with options wouldn’t want to put their children through that.

Give me a break. There are no schools in Fairfax or Arlington counties with "routine knife fights".

Where did I say that I went to school around here? I went to school in NYC.

Not the point. Your experience in a New York school with routine knife fights is irrelevant to OP’s question about schools in northern Virginia. Of course people with options wouldn’t choose an unsafe school, but there are no unsafe schools in NoVA.

Parents who’ve pulled their kids out of middle schools like Sandberg and Glasgow might beg to disagree.

How quickly they forget! Remember the gym locker room taser torture at Oakton HS?

That was a one-off incident and you know it. The reason why it was featured so much is because that type of incident is so unusual at Oakton. But say what you want to feel better about being with the poor people.

^^^^ why Oakton kids have such a serious case of affluenza.