Reply to Freshmen Orientation at High School

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]FCPS needs to have a general information session for parents of rising high school students that explains the high school curriculum, diploma requirements, IB, AP, the variety of academy programs, and extracurricular activities. FCPS is a huge school system with many different high schools and a wide variety of programs. For example, some schools offer certain foreign languages that others don’t, or diploma/trade certificate programs, or a music/art/theater focus. The assumption is that students will attend the school they are zoned for, but when the county offers so much variety in programs, how are parents supposed to know what’s available to our students? It’s overwhelming. If students are expected to attend their base high school, shouldn’t they all be basically the same and offer the same subjects, diplomas, programs?[/quote]

They have that in the spring when the kids are picking their schedules [/quote]

Does each HS have its own info session? That would be useful after a student has decided to attend a particular school, but what I’m looking for is an info session that describes what’s available for HS students across FCPS. Who knows, my child may want to attend an IB school instead of an AP one, or attend one of the academies like the health career one at Mt. Vernon or the computer/IT one at Edison.[/quote]
You’re probably just best off contacting those schools directly. [/quote]

I agree, but I shouldn’t have to do that. There should be an FCPS “High School 101” info session for parents of middle school students as well as people moving into FCPS from other systems. I think the reason FCPS doesn’t have one is to cut down on the number of requests to attend an out-of-bounds school. However, parents should be able to easily find out about the variety of courses at FCPS high schools without digging through the website for each school. I came from a county where the high schools were basically carbon copies of each other, with the same courses, diploma options, etc. That’s not the case here![/quote]

That sounds like a huge hassel when all that information can be found online.[/quote]

Sure, it may be a hassle for FCPS, but when there’s so much variation among the county’s high schools re: subjects/diplomas/academies offered, an info session for parents should absolutely be provided. Since there is no standardization or consistency among high schools and each one seems to offer different things, it’s unconscionable to provide no guidance to parents about how to navigate the system. Instead, parents are told that students are expected to attend their base school unless there’s an extenuating circumstance. In a system that offers so much variety, parents shouldn’t be kept in the dark about their options. The only base school alternative that gets attention is TJ, although there are other diploma, certificate, academy options. Also, what if my child really wants to learn Japanese or Arabic? Do I have to search through each HS website to find out where those are offered, and then attempt to pupil place? Why does FCPS offer so many different options if they don’t expect students to take advantage of them?[/quote]

1. I think they expect parents to know how to navigate a web site and explore options.

2. There are a fair number of presentations about high school options (TJ, AP, IB, Academies) held at the middle schools.

3. They don't want to over-promise.  For example, they can tout IB, but it's not so attractive to someone at Langley if it turns out the closest IB program that is actually open to pupil placements is Annandale.  [/quote]

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