Anonymous wrote:very very large classes

+1

Call St Luke today to arrange a tour for and you and your DH. The k class might be full. Otherwise, Churchill Rd is a fine big school.

I swear I my kid attends a different FCPS then some of your kids. There are a few disruptive kids in his class but they are not so bad as to impact anyone getting work done, more annoying then anything. He has not told me, nor have I heard from the back seat chatter driving to places with his friends, of any kids being trans or discussing gender identity or feeling guilty about being white. I have heard them discuss the sex ed stuff and what they are talking about is perfectly safe/normal. There is one kid who pretends to barf through the entire period or until he is removed and that is it.

Academically his school is fine. Math, even advanced math, is a bit slow so we enrich there. He enjoys reading. His handwriting is on par with the other boys in his class, which we are working on and I see his Teachers comments to work on.

To read what some of you write he is relegated to the back of the class as a UMC white kid and reading books about he should feel guilty and marry another man. That isn’t happening.

Anonymous wrote:OP - from reading your post I can tell you will be much happier in private. You live in McLean so tell your DH this is non-negotiable and you must do St. Luke’s, Potomac, or Langley School. You will be unhappy at Churchill Road given the politics of FCPS and the huge class sizes, and it will be even worse for you when half your neighbors talk about how their kids are thriving in privates.

Of course the half of those who are not thriving will not say that so OP won't hear any negatives from them, unless she becomes one of them.

OP - from reading your post I can tell you will be much happier in private. You live in McLean so tell your DH this is non-negotiable and you must do St. Luke’s, Potomac, or Langley School. You will be unhappy at Churchill Road given the politics of FCPS and the huge class sizes, and it will be even worse for you when half your neighbors talk about how their kids are thriving in privates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a wealthy area with a high SES demographic. Your child will be just fine.

Yes but it’s a weird weird world in that cross section of SES and feel good social justice politics. These are people who will happily hire a college counselor at $20K/ year to hold their kid’s hand through Sat prep, college search, and essays, but who consistently lament the lack of “equity” in schools. And they see no irony in their own contribution to the inequity whatsoever. They will tolerate the dissolution of the AAP program, again, to champion equity—but will be the first to enroll their kid at mathnasium or Kumon to get that extra edge. Personal practices do not align with their publicly held political positions, and they see no issue with this at all.

No one I know IRL who does any of these extra things wants the dissolution of AAP or is harping about equity. They are actually concerned about academics and are quite vocal about it. Especially in higher SES areas. Now some might also believe in LBGTAQ rights, women’s rights, BLM. But I’m not sure how these are opposing wanting strong academics? Can you expand?

Anonymous wrote:This is a wealthy area with a high SES demographic. Your child will be just fine.

Yes but it’s a weird weird world in that cross section of SES and feel good social justice politics. These are people who will happily hire a college counselor at $20K/ year to hold their kid’s hand through Sat prep, college search, and essays, but who consistently lament the lack of “equity” in schools. And they see no irony in their own contribution to the inequity whatsoever. They will tolerate the dissolution of the AAP program, again, to champion equity—but will be the first to enroll their kid at mathnasium or Kumon to get that extra edge. Personal practices do not align with their publicly held political positions, and they see no issue with this at all.

Anonymous wrote:Send him to Saint Luke’s!

Can you elaborate?

This is a wealthy area with a high SES demographic. Your child will be just fine.

Churchill Road is the local Level IV center for the AAP program.

Send him to Saint Luke’s!

Your DS deserves to be educated in a caring environment, away from cheap politics, and brain washers. Being 35 hrs per week immersed in Churchill Rd ES will be too much for him.

very very large classes

Push back, OP. Explain to your DH that you’d like to give your child the foundation you want him to have that aligns with your worldview. Then if you want to send them out into the big bold progressive fcps world to have that challenged in high school, great! But at least they’ll have some true context for a different viewpoint before being told that it’s “evil,” “unkind,” or “dangerous” to disagree with an approved narrative.

Fcps is not a neutral ground.

So at least make an informed decision and realize that your child will spend 7+ hours per day five days per week immersed in the fcps worldview, which is super progressive. That’s just a fact. So you need to determine whether this is a good fit for your family.
For many families in this area, it’s perfect.
But if it’s not a good fit for yours, then make a different choice because there is no middle ground much less conservative voices represented in fcps. There just aren’t.

Our DS will enter kindergarten next year! The plan was always to send him to the local parochial catholic school but my husband really wants to send him to public.
I am a VERY nervous since I grew up going to private throughout (the families and academics were great)
Are the kids and families friendly at Churchill? Is there weird gender and woke ideology at Churchill? Are the academics good? Do they use textbooks or are they on screens mostly? Is there homework to reinforce concepts? Any other reassurance is welcomed!
Thank you!
Worried parent