Reply to Which public school system is best? (Arlington, fairfax, DC, MD)

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[quote=Anonymous]Here's the thing--there is no best.

Do not waste energy and fret and fret and wring your hands for the [b]BEST[/b] school...as if there is one that would even meet that description.

There are many, many great public schools in the DC Metro area (DC, VA and MD--all included).  Look for a nice solid school with a good parent reputation and be very careful of the 'intense' ones.

I say this as somebody that did not attend 'the best' Fairfax Co schools.  Mine were considered mid-pack, but the education I received fabulous.  The community fabulous and my friends and I ended up at some truly great universities...yes a few ivies sprinkled in.  It was also a very nice group of kids--no mean girls, clicks, etc.  I attribute a bit of that (and I may get flamed) to a nice middle of the road student body--no real extreme wealth, etc.

DH went to a public HS where only 5% of the kids go onto a 4-year college.  His mom was a single mom, Kindergarten teacher with a night job too.  He was not in GT, etc..mainly because his mom never followed through.  He got perfect SAT and into an exclusive private university.  The guy is naturally smart---taught himself two languages which he speaks like a native, etc..

I think people in this area are so caught up in the 'best, most exclusive' this and that and can't see the forest for the trees.  I also am a firm believer that it is much MUCH BETTER to be the big fish in the small pond when applying to a University and not an entire Senior class of Big Fishes.  The environment can also be much more toxic for the fish...all those tiger mom fish.

So--for own kids---we picked a good school pyramid.  Top-notch but certainly not 'the best' according to the many posts on here.  We pretty much could afford to live in any school district, but we looked into lifestyle and a bit of diversity for the kids.  I've seen that on another thread of only looking at location and forgoing schools..but trust me we studied the schools hard.  We even moved from another area for these schools.

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