Anonymous wrote:OP here. We live in Madison boundary but are considering IB at Marshall. McLean isn't an option.

While you may be able to pupil place to Marshall, FCPS won't provide transportation. I would not want to schlep my kid back and forth from Vienna to the other side of Tysons for IB at Marshall every day, unless I planned to send him or her to a college or university outside the U.S.

Also, depending on where you are in the Madison boundary, your IB option is South Lakes, not Marshall.

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is into Math, Science and Engineering Marshall would be the best pick.

For other subjects it would IB (Marshall) vs AP (Madison).

Test scores and graduation rates for both schools are nearly identical so it would boil down to commute, IB vs AP and whether STEM is something of interest to your child. I think that in general Madison may have a stronger sports program but it may be due to the larger school size.

Marshall Test Scores:
https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/report.do?division=29&schoolName=1392

Madison Test Scores
https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/report.do?division=29&schoolName=1368

STEM Info

http://commweb.fcps.edu/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?newsid=2311

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/career_technical/gov_academies/index.shtml

I disagree, I think the AP curriculum serves the science and math student better than the IB curriculum and the new stem program at Marshall can be accessed whether a student is fulltime at Marshall or at one of the other area HSs. AP plus the Stem program is the best.

Anonymous wrote:Madison is the whitest school in the area. If you are looking for diversity along with equal or better test scores I would recommend McLean or Marshall.

Madison is 30% minority. McLean has more Asians than Madison, and Marshall has more Hispanics, but it's not like Madison is some 95% white school in the middle of Iowa or Minnesota.

OP here. We live in Madison boundary but are considering IB at Marshall. McLean isn't an option.

Madison is the whitest school in the area. If you are looking for diversity along with equal or better test scores I would recommend McLean or Marshall.

The reason for that I think is because it's the town's high school. Not necessarily because of academics. There are enough kids that go to Marshall now, that most town events have kids from both schools. I know a lot of parents in the Madison district that think about sending their kids at least part of the time to Marshall and vice versa.

Anonymous wrote:Spend some time in Vienna a while and ask people whether they'd rather send their kids to Madison or Marshall. The vast majority will tell you Madison.

If you spent some time in McLean and ask whether you'd send their kids to Madison or McLean they would say McLean.

If you spent some time in Arlington and ask whether you'd sent their kids to Madison or Yorktown they would say Yorktown.

Spend some time in Vienna a while and ask people whether they'd rather send their kids to Madison or Marshall. The vast majority will tell you Madison.

If your kid is into Math, Science and Engineering Marshall would be the best pick.

For other subjects it would IB (Marshall) vs AP (Madison).

Test scores and graduation rates for both schools are nearly identical so it would boil down to commute, IB vs AP and whether STEM is something of interest to your child. I think that in general Madison may have a stronger sports program but it may be due to the larger school size.

Marshall Test Scores:
https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/report.do?division=29&schoolName=1392

Madison Test Scores
https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/report.do?division=29&schoolName=1368

STEM Info

http://commweb.fcps.edu/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?newsid=2311

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/career_technical/gov_academies/index.shtml

Madison is stronger across the board: better academics, stronger athletics, better extra-curriculars like band and crew, and more local community support. The IB program is good for developing college-level writing skills, but you can get that in AP courses and being an IB diploma candidate doesn't count that much in terms of college admissions compared to grades, SAT/ACT scores and extra-curriculars.

Having said that, if you've found a house you like in the Marshall district, it's still a good school, even if it's not as sought-after as Madison.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marahall this year started a stem program which will also be attractive to science and math kids.

Which McLean students can access and still stay at McLean for the rest of their studies.

Marshall students can go to McLean if they want to do AP.

I think the point is that if you don't want to leave your home school Marshall has some more math , science and engineering programs.

Anonymous wrote:Marahall this year started a stem program which will also be attractive to science and math kids.

Which McLean students can access and still stay at McLean for the rest of their studies.

Marahall this year started a stem program which will also be attractive to science and math kids.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had to decide between these two? Which did you choose and why?

We had the choice between Marshall and McLean. We chose McLean becasue our DCs are science and math kids and have a relative deficit in English/writing. The AP programs works better for them than the IB.

Has anyone had to decide between these two? Which did you choose and why?