It's not special. It is distinctive insofar as it has next to no economic diversity. That will start to change a little bit, but not much, with some of the upcoming boundary changes, as Langley will pick up some apartments and condos in Tysons. But they are higher-end units.

Otherwise it's a big public high school with lots of AP courses and lots of kids aiming for top colleges and universities. Plenty of those schools in LCPS, too.

Go where your kid will stand out.

I also wouldn't undersell what I think is an often unspoken downside to the school (Graduated 20 years ago from Langley). The lack of economic diversity impacted a lot of my siblings and peers' expectations/reality of what diversity was like once they hit college. It's a bit of a culture shock to graduate and then make social connections with people from very different economic backgrounds (i.e. my brother being caught off guard that his college friends couldn't afford a spring break trip). There's something to be said about having that exposure earlier in life I think. I know that's a controversial viewpoint maybe, just my two cents from my experience.

The last 2 posts are 100% accurate. The only thing I would add is that Langley may offer additional after school groups or opportunities if your DC is interested in the more academically focused clubs and activities that your school may not have. The PTO is well funded and parent involvement is high to facilitate these things - so you may benefit from that infrastructure.

bsquare wrote:Hey all,
So we're in one of those classic NoVA dilemmas... currently in Loudoun with a kid in LCPS (5th grade) and other is rising Kindergartner. Thinking about moving to Great Falls for the Langley pyramid. But in dilemma with the Great Falls home prices! We'd really be stretching to make it work.
Here's the thing - LCPS has been... fine? Like, no horror stories or anything, but also nothing that makes us go "wow, we're so lucky to be here!" It's just kind of there, you know?
Everyone raves about Langley HS, but I'm trying to figure out if it's REALLY that much better or if it's just hype. For those who know both:

Is the difference actually noticeable day-to-day?
Is there a noticeable difference in academic quality?
What exactly makes Langley so special?
Are kids happier/more engaged/better prepared for college?
Are there specific programs or opportunities at Langley that aren't available in LCPS?
How's the competition/stress level compared to Loudoun schools?

Bottom line - is it worth the financial squeeze and also Lifestyle changes (moving far from friends etc)
Anyone been in this spot? What did you decide and why? Especially interested if anyone's actually made the LCPS → Langley move.
TIA!

You want to be in the middle or higher affluent population of wherever you live and go to school. Stretching yourself to get into Langley will lead to disappointment unless your child is just a natural prodigy. Outside of some bad schools, the main difference in most of these schools in NOVA is the peer population. Langley has a lot of parents with high expectations for their kids and a lot of funds to make whatever they need to happen. If you can't keep up with them in terms of outside enrichment, preparation for testing, etc..., then your child would likely have been better off, and certainly happier at your original school.

There is nothing magical about the school, the teachers or the students. It's a good school but there is almost certainly a very good cohort of students at your LCPS school as well.

My kids are zoned for McLean, and I’m happy about it. But I wouldn’t move to a house I could barely afford to go here. (For Langley either.)
Unless there are other things you are moving for, stay with the school/neighborhood/community that you know

Anonymous wrote:The school has a reputation for rich-kid drug abuse - a few bad apples. Everyone secretly gets tutored and the teachers need to make the tests more difficult to spread the grades out. The kids academically doing well are on top of the food chain. a 4+ GPA with a 1500+ SAT wont get you into a UVA there are too many from Langley. The kids are oblivious that striving isn't a way of life. With all that the kids do enjoy the school and make meaningful friends.

DP. I have heard the quoted bit above more than once. I do not know if it is true.

In the Colleges forum, some believe the best college admissions chances are if one is a very top student (maybe top 5%) in a high FARMS HS. Easier to stand out at a lower performing HS seems to be the reasoning. I do not know if that is true. If it were true then college admissions from Langley HS would be more difficult.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just make sure you don't buy in the Herndon area currently zoned to Langley, or Dranesville or pretty much any area zoned to Forestville Elementary if you want to be safe. Otherwise your kindergartner and possibly your 5th grader will be going to Herndon and not Langley one day.

According to the proposed boundary maps - all options leave GF alone. There a few Great Falls areas already zone to Herndon High and a few Herndon/Reston areas zoned to Langley.

What parts of Great Falls are already zoned to Herndon? I don't see any. Dranesville isn't Great Falls. It's adjacent, but a separate location.

So yeah, the current changes leave GF and Dranesville and the other Herndon addresses that currently go to Langley alone. However it also moves more students into Langley from McLean and puts Langley over 100%. It's a desirable area, and that percentage won't go down no matter how much some people seem to convince themselves it will. As Tysons and the surrounding area grows there will be more pressure to reassign the far western part of the Langley boundary to the much closer Herndon High School. I was just trying to warn the OP who is thinking of moving here specifically for Langley that this is an issue they need to take into account, especially with a kindergartner who won't be in high school until after at least one more boundary review cycle.

Anonymous wrote:Just make sure you don't buy in the Herndon area currently zoned to Langley, or Dranesville or pretty much any area zoned to Forestville Elementary if you want to be safe. Otherwise your kindergartner and possibly your 5th grader will be going to Herndon and not Langley one day.

According to the proposed boundary maps - all options leave GF alone. There a few Great Falls areas already zone to Herndon High and a few Herndon/Reston areas zoned to Langley.

From a grand view - anywhere in Nova has a decent high school. Ignore the rankings - go see for yourself. If you compare the top kids from HHS and Langley and McLean and South Lakes - they are all similar. The AP/DE classes that you can take may change but Langley doesn't offer all the AP/DE classes available either.

What makes Langley different? every kid there is trying to get into a Top 25 College and prepared to be competitive about it. Some drive the hand me down Porsches/Audis/BMWs/Mercedes as their first car. The school has a reputation for rich-kid drug abuse - a few bad apples. Everyone secretly get tutored and the teachers need to make the tests more difficult to spread the grades out. The kids academically doing well are on top of the food chain. a 4+ GPA with a 1500+ SAT wont get you into a UVA there are too many from Langley. The kids are oblivious that striving isn't a way of life. With all that the kids do enjoy the school and make meaningful friends.

Just make sure you don't buy in the Herndon area currently zoned to Langley, or Dranesville or pretty much any area zoned to Forestville Elementary if you want to be safe. Otherwise your kindergartner and possibly your 5th grader will be going to Herndon and not Langley one day.

Hey all,
So we're in one of those classic NoVA dilemmas... currently in Loudoun with a kid in LCPS (5th grade) and other is rising Kindergartner. Thinking about moving to Great Falls for the Langley pyramid. But in dilemma with the Great Falls home prices! We'd really be stretching to make it work.
Here's the thing - LCPS has been... fine? Like, no horror stories or anything, but also nothing that makes us go "wow, we're so lucky to be here!" It's just kind of there, you know?
Everyone raves about Langley HS, but I'm trying to figure out if it's REALLY that much better or if it's just hype. For those who know both:

Is the difference actually noticeable day-to-day?
Is there a noticeable difference in academic quality?
What exactly makes Langley so special?
Are kids happier/more engaged/better prepared for college?
Are there specific programs or opportunities at Langley that aren't available in LCPS?
How's the competition/stress level compared to Loudoun schools?

Bottom line - is it worth the financial squeeze and also Lifestyle changes (moving far from friends etc)
Anyone been in this spot? What did you decide and why? Especially interested if anyone's actually made the LCPS → Langley move.
TIA!