FCPS School in McLean vs. Langley
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gastondefoix
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Trying to make a choice for my 5 year old DS entering KG and wanted candid opinions, especially about academics. We are located in McLean, and many of our friends/neighbors send their kids to our highly regarded local elementary school.
Academics are really important for us, and we have been disappointed by progress in our private preschool. He is a likely admit to Little Langley, where several friends have gone or are planning to go. He is social and likely to be happy at either school. How much is the academic difference likely to be between the two? Are we better off saving private school tuition and supplementing with one-on-one instruction at home or outside rather than relying on a school to encourage academic growth? Is Langley equivalent or better than AAP at FCPS from grade 3 and above? All input is valuable as we navigate this decision. Thank you. |
Anonymous
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I don’t have experience with little Langley (but have taught at other similar non-catholic privates). Personally, I think the FCPS education is better in elementary for everything except science. What you lose is the personalized attention of a private school, and the science curriculum in FCPS is terrible. This is mostly a class size issue, but also Langley has teachers who are passionate about science teaching it.
If I were going to pay for private, I’d wait till middle and high school. We have three kids and have been happy with their experiences at McLean and Longfellow, but I also value public education. |
Anonymous
| Our elementary in the McLean pyramid has been a mixed bag. We know a couple families who moved their kids to Little Langley during or after the Covid school shutdown when FCPS was struggling. They seemed happy with the change, but the priority for those specific families was wanting smaller class sizes and more personalized learning. They weren't happy with very large AAP classes and the teacher not really knowing their kid that well. It wasn't necessarily about academic standards, so I'm not sure how things compare on that front. |
Anonymous
| We are zoned for Churchill but send our kids to Langley. I can’t compare since they’ve never gone to public but we are exceedingly happy with Langley. The kids and parents are wonderful. Academically it is challenging — not more than my kids can handle but enough that they have to work hard to do their best. And it’s an environment where kids are motivated to do well and want to be viewed as smart. I’m particularly happy with the math instruction and how great they’ve done at building up my DD’s confidence. Our friends whose kids have moved on to top private high schools say the Langley kids find the transition easy because the work they do at Langley is so challenging. And socially they are all doing great. There’s a big focus on sports at Langley and while I didn’t think I would love that it has turned out to be great for my kids, and it also helps with the transition to high school because the kids will have built in friends through their sports. |
Anonymous
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So I grew up going to private catholic school and I love private school but cannot justify the cost. I also cannot justify the sheltering and cannot express the difficulty I had socially and culture shock going from private school to college and the working world. My husband also went to private and has a similar experience. Our friends that went to public are no less successful because we’re all in an affluent area.
My boys are in fcps Langley pyramid. My older one is in 3rd grade AAP, the class size in AAP is 19, it’s everything I ever wanted from a school. The teacher and academics are top notch. Feels like private school and I can’t say enough good things. It’s very challenging and very engaging. I will say that 2nd grade gened was borderline awful with extremely slow pace and low standards. We are at a center school with an extremely present principal and everything is really fantastic. I miss the coddling and warm and fuzzy that I felt at a private school but otherwise we are extremely satisfied. I would probably not be satisfied if he wasn’t in AAP. |
Anonymous
I think if you are in the Langley pyramid your kids are still pretty sheltered and your kids might still have a culture shock going to college (just drive through the parking lot at Langley and see the cars that teenagers are driving). |