Reply to I grew up hearing that the NoVA public schools were the best in the state

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Reply to "I grew up hearing that the NoVA public schools were the best in the state"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, I'm 50 and grew up attending all FCPS schools.  They actually were excellent at the time.  I now send my own kids to them, and sadly they are no longer excellent.  Maybe compared to other areas, but not compared to how they used to be.  FCPS has coasted on its reputation for far too long.  I think they got complacent in the 80's and just let things slide.  Grammar, writing - these are just not emphasized enough.  It's sad that they've gone downhill.  [/quote]

The demographics have changed considerably since you were growing up as well. [/quote]

Fairfax County used to be almost entirely middle class. There used to be farm land and undeveloped parcels. I remember watching the change in the 90’s when I was in high school. 
There has also been a shift in educational philosophy. They teach everything differently now. I’m not an educator, so I can’t speak to that. 
They mainstream all kids. In the 80’s, special needs kids went to a different school. 
So much has changed it’s impossible to compare FCPS’s of the 70’s/80’s/90’s to today. 
But I agree that the quality isn’t the same.[/quote]

I went to elementary and middle school in Herndon in the late 80s/early 90s. Elementary was good but if Herndon Middle School (formerly Herndon Intermediate) is worse now than it was then, it should be shut down. Honestly. Even then, teachers were ineffective, classes were enormous and loud, kids were getting in fights on a daily basis, sexual harassment was rampant, bullying was out of control. Things I learned during those 2 years:
- Don't make eye contact if someone bumps into me in the hall. 
- Don't react if a boy pinches my butt because if his girlfriend found out he did it, I'd get jumped. 
- I must suck at math because only the boys in my Algebra I class were given study materials and encouraged to take the TJ test. 
- Don't forget my backpack in the lunchroom because someone will steal it (first time) or dump milk in it (second time) 
- If I accidentally sat at the wrong lunch table, I'd get jumped
- Best course of action is stay as quiet and invisible as possible at all times.

Obviously that school is still at the bottom of the FCPS rankings, but it's not like it was a good school back then either, by any measure.
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