Reply to McLean HS vs. Bishop O'connell

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]McLean does have a stronger academic reputation than O’Connell but that’s not the only consideration.  What does DS want?  It seems an introverted kid might want to stay with as many of his current friends as possible. [/quote]

It's not an option.  They are scattering to different public schools, none of which we are zoned for.  [/quote]

In that case I’d go with McLean. It’s apparently your base school, it’s stronger academically than O’Connell, and it has lots of ECs where an introverted kid can find his niche.  [/quote]

It's not actually our base school; we would have to move.  Or rent something there for 4 years.  I hate my current house so this is kind of a plus, but also irrelevant.  I don't like our base school, and the scores there are abysmal.  [/quote]

What’s your base school and why do you hate it?  What experience do you actually have with it?  Have you actually sent a kid to it?   This is relevant to this discussion for sure. [/quote]

It's Lake Braddock.  I heard we can also go to Robinson if we wanted IB, since LB doesn't have that.  But the scores of Robinson are even worse than LB.  We have friends at both, and haven't heard anything good.  They say both schools are huge and basically a free for all, with the Covid effect causing most kids to be so far behind that teachers aren't even teaching the regular curriculum.  That's aside from the social aspects, like widespread bullying.  Anyway, that's what friends say, although they still send their kids there.  After our poor public ES experience, I'm wary of going through something similar.   [/quote]

What scores are you looking at?[/quote]

+1.  There’s no way I’d move to McLean just to send my kid to high school there instead of either one of these schools.  They’re just fine for most kids.  Your friends sound like drama queens.

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+1 (and we’re a happy McLean family). [/quote]

Robinson 9-12 and McLean are very close in size and LB is bigger but has a larger facility so it doesn't feel overcrowded. If you're moving and concerned about school size, why look at McLean and not Langley?

Bishop O'Connell is a solid choice but it might depend on whether your child would be in all honors/APs at McLean or more so in grade-level classes. I'd stick with McLean if you know they'll be successful in the highest track all 4 years and can handle 10+ APs, and look closer at O'Connell if it will be mostly honors with just a few APs here and there. If it's all regular, I would definitely lean towards O'Connell.[/quote]

10+ AP?  That's an awful lot.  My McLean kids did 7 and 9 AP classes and were well prepared for college having taking mostly Honors and AP courses.  The kids at McLean taking a mix of Honors and AP courses are just as strong as the vast majority of O'Connell kids.  The kids just taking regular courses might fare better at O'Connell - smaller class sizes and fewer kids with limited English skills.

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