Reply to Marshall High School - Lowest Graduation Rate vs. TJ, Langley, McLean, Woodson, Madison, Oakton

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Reply to "Marshall High School - Lowest Graduation Rate vs. TJ, Langley, McLean, Woodson, Madison, Oakton"

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[quote=Anonymous]I've been both a Langley parent and a Marshall parent (quite recently).  Both schools have excellent academics and both my kids were appropriately challenged.  IB and AP play to different strengths in a student, and we are lucky to be in FCPS where we have an opportunity to find the best fit for our children (be it IB, AP or athletics).  Where the schools differ is the student/parent community.  Marshall is a diverse school with a low-key parent community.  My child never felt pressured to wear Prada or Pulitzer -- I think most of the time she wore pajamas.  The community seems to be good at accepting kids for who they are and embracing "unique"  Not a ton of parent involvement, but i always saw the principal, assistant principals and teachers at all of the sporting events.  Parents seemed nice, but mostly kept to themselves.  Kids from lots of different backgrounds and experiences.

At Langley, there is a very strong parent community, they are vocal and have a strong hand in running the school.  We had lots of dinners, get-togethers, meetings, etc.  Most meetings were during the day, so perhaps not a lot of Langley parents work in traditional professional environments.  At Langley, we experienced a bit more of "keeping up with the Joneses" (but TBH there are kids who come from enormous wealth that attend the school).  Homecomings were totally different experiences -- at Marshall, the kids got together for dinner and then went to the dance.  Sometimes there was an after-party.  At Langley we had pictures at a local country club, pre-party at a parent's house, dinner, dance, after party and sleep-overs.  There was a bus taking the kids from place to place.  It cost me a fortune -- every year.

Having been at two different schools, to me it is like finding the right job.  There are lots of accounting, legal ... jobs, but the key is finding the right fit where you feel comfortable and want to work.  I think its the same with high schools.  At most schools, students learn the same material, but finding an environment in which they thrive is what makes their high-school experience successful.

And, for what its worth -- both of my kids graduated and so did all of their friends and they all went on to college.

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