Reply to FCPS High School prestige ranking

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It’s important to avoid URMs in ES and MS (AAP works well here), but in most FCPS HS, you can find high achieving groups of kids. I wouldn’t want my kid to go to small number of FCPS HS but for the most part it’s not that big of a deal[/quote]

There's an interesting thread on Next Door from a Marshall parent considering a pupil placement to Falls Church for AP.  The thread is full of Falls Church parents talking about how good the school is, and there is only one post from a Falls Church student, which I've noted below, slightly edited for spelling:

[i]Hello my name is R***, I am currently a student at FCHS. To be quite honest, if you have the choice to not go to Falls Church I would take it. I would highly recommend not transferring your kid. The school has been under renovation for quite some time, and will continue to be under renovation for the next couple years, we have no ceiling in the hallways and the pipes often leak causing floods. The people at FC are not a good influence, 70% of the students are immigrants and don't speak English, and there is rampant drug use all throughout the school. We are also extremely poor, our prom this year was in our cafeteria, and we rarely have money to do school things such as field trips, etc. Not to mention a good number of the staff and admin are extremely unfriendly and seem like they hate their life. I'm graduating in a year and I am glad I am almost out of this place. I would highly recommend sending your kid somewhere else.[/i]

Sure, there will always be disaffected teens, but it was a reminder that the accounts from parents, who tend to look out for their property values, are often different from the accounts of kids actually attending some of these schools. [/quote]
I saw that thread too. There are actually 2 posts now from FCHS students. In the interests of balance, here’s the second one:

[i]I'm a current FCHS student who's taken nearly every AP class offered (headed to Stanford in the fall), and I can confidently say the quality of education is strong. Our teachers truly care about preparing us to succeed on AP exams and compete nationally.
FCHS is deeply committed to academic resilience and growth, and the diverse community we're part of creates a learning environment that colleges and universities genuinely value. Many of my classmates are going on to top-tier universities and the state schools.

Regarding safety concerns, particularly the MS-13 rumors: that gang doesn't operate here. Mr. Gray, our school security is 
already highly effective, and additional safety measures, like built-in metal detectors, are being added across the county (I believe FCHS will get them next year).
These won't disrupt student life, but will quietly strengthen safety.

I'm very involved in leadership and service at FCHS, and my best friends are at some of the
"higher-ranked" schools in the county (Madison, Woodson, Marshall, South County). From what they share, they deal with real drug problems. There's a difference between vaping (countywide issue) and the small but dangerous drug issues. Of course, no one can say for sure who's consuming what, but it's safe to assume everything happens everywhere.

Lastly, the renovation is literally done (as an architecture student, rehabilitation and rejuvenating a space takes time; nothing we can do about it). The school has never flooded and our multilingual immigrant students speak sufficient English and increase school diversity.

"Rumors" tell a different story than a student, parent, or staff's.
Nonetheless, as someone who nearly chose Marshall for IB (ask my parents); I agree with [other posters] high school is what you make of it. [/i]
[/quote]

And the first student's response:

[i]"I’ve had one experience during my freshman year, where the whole cafeteria hallway was flooded and after to this day there are still leaks although not as big. As to my anecdote of “rampant drug use” someone in the period of my Spanish class started bleeding out of his eyes, two kids were arrested for drug trafficking, and every single time I walk in the bathroom there are kids either smoking or vaping. As for me not talking in English with another peer, for a fact if you look at our school demographic chart, you can clearly see it’s mostly Hispanic immigrants. I have tried to talk to a good number of them, and they have no clue what I am saying at all, even just basic conversations. I have asked why our prom was in the cafeteria to people in SGA and they said it’s because we don’t have money, maybe that’s not true that’s what I was told.

I did not post my review to start an argument, that is my personal opinion about Falls Church High School, I understand many people will disagree with me, but I did not post this so that people can argue. People should form their own opinion, based on their own research and I was just stating what I believe."[/i][/quote]

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