Reply to Chantilly High or Langley?

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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][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Fairfax county high schools are all diverse,

Every single one

People just like to complain [/quote]

I used to live in Alexandria and now live in McLean. Both schools are incredibly diverse, just in different ways. Our school in Alexandria had a large Spanish speaking population and our McLean school has more Asians and Middle Eastern students.[/quote]

Langley has next to no economic diversity. Chantilly does, as does every other high school in FCPS besides Langley. [/quote]

There is economic diversity - middle class, UMC and rich. They just don’t have poor kids.

Some other schools may have poor kids, middle class and some UMC.[/quote]

You have a warped understanding of “middle class.” No middle-class kids go to Langley, and relatively few who are UMC. It’s overwhelmingly wealthy and very wealthy.[/quote]

If so then OP  can just move to the Langley pyramid since that’s what she values.

Thread over and if that works out for her family great and if not we don’t need to care.[/quote]

Either school will work out well with a focused student . It is harder to get into UVa from Langley. There are only so many from one school who will be accepted. I went to a public school in the Midwest with average scores better than Langley  (27 ACT average[. Single mother in poverty.. Not much diversity although Michael Jordan's son attended. My aunt thought my brother and I had academic talent so she got us an apartment in the well off town. I was put off a bit by the wealthy but the school had a middle class element which was very good at athletics. I did not know I had top level NCAA scholarship sports talent until 10th grade, so the sports  element turned out to be  essential. If the school had mostly soft effete rich kids, I would have had to figure something out. In this vein, Chantilly would win over Langley hands down. I sent two kidx the Ivy League, with one TJ and the other Oakton. They would have had the same success at Chantilly. Not enough hungry and intense athletes at Langley. They haven't sent anyone to D 1 in years in my diverse sp9rt. To be good you have to train with maniacal intensity.

I couldn't disagree more with the notion that you become who you hang with (obviously must avoid criminals). I went to two of the best schools in the nation, and learned more about values and hard work from Teamsters workers I worked with over the summer. They were sending kids to college on a union wage and they had no hesitancy in kicking my rear to get good grades in college.  I used to think they were just messing with me but that was incorrect. They treated me like a son and loved me enough to be tough on me.  Hanging with the wealthy kids would have done me no favors. They are today my formative influences, a kid without a father. Today those kind of summer jobs would be looked down on as it wasn't an internship but rather dirty hard work where being tough meant keeping your mouth shut.

And your daily choices matter. The national level athletes I competed against almost to a one chose teaching or coaching. A good choice. My brother and I made overt  choices 
not to do that and went into sophisticated and challenging intellectual and professional fields.  Our overt choices, and not who we hung with, made a difference. I am not saying a kid can't obtain these kinds of values while at Langley but don't be fooled into thinking the school will do it. Posh zip codes do nothing. 
[/quote]

I respectfully disagree. Our family believes that your peer group, especially during the formidable teen years is extremely important.

We are zoned for Langley. My kids have such nice friends who come from good families with well educated parents. My kids have a high bar on what they think is normal. All their friends are good students. I do think it may be harder to stand out because there are so many strong students that are well rounded and good at everything.[/quote]

If the bubble works for you, great. I measured my peers by how mentally tough and resilient they were, not whether they met a standard of normality. I couldn't smoke pot or drink - I was nationally competitive from 15 - rich kids get second chances- I knew cidnt. You likely know better, though. From single mother poverty, I went to Duke all on my own on athletic scholarship   (magna cum laude) and Georgtown (again on my own with no debt and summa cum laude). Did not push my kids in any way but did send both to Princeton. My union guys taught me to be very tough and reslient, not something I associate with Langley where mommy and daddy hover. I am sure you and your kids went to better schools than me and my kids, so I will concede to as to the advantages of an effete environment. [/quote]

You sound like you have a real chip. I don’t think you wrote anything about Chantilly. Did you or your kids go to Chantilly High? I can’t tell from your long post. Sounds like you just have something against Langley or UMC/rich folks. I’m assuming with all your hard earned accomplishments and your kid’s degrees that you are also UMC/rich?[/quote]
I’m not who are responding to FYI.  Btw, most people on DCUM are UMC or well off so I’m not sure why think people are against UMC? People are pointing out that having educated parents and being UMC is not what sets Langley apart from other FCPS high schools.  It’s the lack of SES diversity.  But when people point that out, some Langley parents get defensive.  I have no issues with Langley.  Kids near us go to Langley (after recent boundaries were changed) and you can’t tell them apart from other kids in the area.  We almost would have ended up in that boundary when looking for houses.  I think what is off putting is some of the comments from certain Langley parents (not most!!!) that assume that Langley is superior academically because of the parents’ level of education/importance placed on education/“good families.”   You can find that in any FCPS schools-even “bad” ones.   You can certainly find it in your average to above average schools.  You go look at scores at other nearby schools of students who a non-ESL/low income-and they are all high.

Langley or not-I agree with PPs that it’s important to be realistic with kids about how they are privileged.  Yeah mom and dad work hard but so do tons of other people who don’t make tons of money.  Yes, your parents are educated and smart. But guess what kid? Tons of smart peeps out there either didn’t finish their education or they did but are not in a lucrative career.   The fact that you are getting an excellent education, have tons of resources, and will most likely have college paid for means you are way ahead of the game.   [/quote]

You nailed it. It’s the “rope-a-dope” played by some (not all) Langley parents (claiming when convenient that Langley families are just regular folks when otherwise regularly touting the school’s superiority) that gets tiresome.  [/quote]

DP.  Here’s what gets tiresome:  people (you, for example) who get so offended when Langley parents state they are happy with the school and their kids’ friends.  You are triggered and deeply insecure whenever someone says something positive about Langley.  NO ONE has claimed it is “superior,” they have simply stated why they prefer the school or what made them choose it.  Substitute any other school for “Langley,” and you’d have no problem with parents praising their school.

Sounds like a YOU problem.  [/quote]

I always wonder if posters like you have even the slightest bit of self-awareness as to how you come off.  It’s anything but a good look for Langley. [/quote]

DP here. We live in McLean zoned for Langley and most of our neighbors go to private school. Some do have that attitude that Potomac, Sidwell, St Albans and Bevoir type schools are superior. They may very well be. I think the difference is that we can afford to send our kids to private school and choose to send them to public school because we don’t want our kids to go to school with only rich kids. I know this may be surprising but most of the kids in public are not rich. I don’t get offended or bent out of shape that our kids don’t go to St Albans. I want my kids to be around kids who are more down to earth.

It is fine to not want to move to McLean and send your kids to Langley High. We like the homes here and the close proximity to DC. I don’t go around attacking our colleagues and neighbors who send their kids to Potomac or Sidwell.

[b]I wonder if these people constantly rattling on about Langley’s lack of SES actually hangs out with anyone in McLean[/b].[/quote]

The answer to that is a resounding no.  It's always the people who have[u] nothing [/u]to do with the school who come here and write their usual hateful posts.  They look ridiculous.
DP [/quote]

I'm a Langley parent and I replied very early in the thread about the lack of SE diversity in Langley. I'm not hating on the school and don't take it personally when someone points it out, but it is what it is. We've lived in 3 states in similar suburban areas and there is a very noticeable difference here. [/quote]

Not the pp. I was really surprised at the number of Asians in McLean. I didn’t expect that at all. I was always the token Asian growing up so I was glad to see the Asian diversity. There are so many different types of Asians in McLean from children of diplomats, recent immigrants, 2nd and 3rd generation Asian Americans, mixed Asians like my kids. [b]I realize that this isn’t considered the right type of diversity for most others but it was great for us.[/b] [/quote]

DP.  Yep.  I'm not concerned about what constitutes the "right type of diversity" for others. [/quote]
People are talking about SES diversity when it comes to Langley not ethnic. [/quote]

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