Anonymous wrote:
Ned December 19, 2012 at 05:17 PM
I am a 2004 graduate of South Lakes and an IB certificate holder. As I am the only one in this discussion so far to have gone all the way through the program and experienced life afterward, I would like to offer my experiences. I have no problems admitting I was a midland student in the IB world. I graduated with a 3.3 and certs in HL physics/history and SL english/math/art, I was not a full diploma candidate so TOK was not in my course load. I went on to graduate from Longwood University with honors. What the IB program did for me was put me LEAPS and BOUNDS ahead of my peers in college. It's true that I did not receive any credit for my IB classes but I did receive plenty of knowledge. My first year at Longwood was a breeze since it was essentially a repeat of my senior year at South Lakes. Some might say thats a bad thing but as a student who went through it I say those people are idiots. It allowed me to transition into college life with far greater ease than friends from other parts of the state/country. I didn't have the smack in the face of "college level classes" since I was already expected to achieve at that level (at least) the year before. The advantage I had over my classmates due to the IB program was absurd. Simply put, I was ready for college, others weren't. period. This is only my case and there are a lot of variables but all of my friends experienced the same thing. It was rough in HS but beyond worth it in the long run. Buck up Mr. Stein...

Anonymous wrote:"I have been in several classes where I have learned very little about the topic. This is no fault of the teacher, but rather the fault of the curriculum. The curriculum for IB History of the Americas places a heavy weight upon the teaching of things like the OPVL, which is a method of evaluating historical sources. This leads to less time being spent on historical analysis and historical fact, and more time being spent on assorted IB requirements.

Finally, there's the most unpleasant fact of them all. IB is designed for international students. (hence the name International Baccalaureate) However, the vast majority of students do not apply outside of the country. This makes the much-touted IB Diploma worthless. Moreover, universities truly do not care about whether or not the student obtains the IB Diploma.

Only seven high schools offer IB in Fairfax County. If it was as wonderful as some would have you believe, wouldn't all of FCPS offer it?"

- Paul Stein, SLHS IB student

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing: AP classes prepare kids to take and pass a test. Whether you succeed or not die not necessarily depend on how hard you work. I know. I was an AP student. Now, the IB is writing intensive, it's curriculum is blind up together in a holistic theory of learning and the work it requires is much much higher than AP. AP is great for those who think grades are the be all and end all. IB works for students who are innately curious, enjoy learning for its own sake and work hard. My DD is in the IB at Marshall. Everyone of my friends kids have done or are doing IB either here in FCPS, other school systems or overseas. Of course, my cohort of friends are all international professionals with so-called "third culture kids" so maybe that is why we gravitate to IB. Almost all the expat schools overseas are IB.

Keep drinking the IB Kool Aid. I'm sure your references to the "holistic theory of learning" come in handy with your self-described circle of "international professionals." Meanwhile all the top schools in the county, including Madison, will stick with the more demanding, in-depth AP curriculum.

NP here. You are so wrong if you think AP is more demanding. Many kids opt into AP instead of IB because IB so hard. True, there are more AP class topics but IB is much more work overall and involves a lot more organization and writing. It's great college prep -- not that AP isn't -- but you should not discount IB as less demanding without learning the facts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what neighborhoods in Vienna go to Marshall? dumpy ones behind Courthouse Road?

This one?

http://goo.gl/maps/ahBRg

Anonymous wrote:22:13 and 22:37 The neighborhoods in Westbriar Elementary, Wolftrap Elementary, Vienna Elementary, Freedom Hill Elementary, Dunn Loring Woods (Cunningham Park and Stenwood) all have children who go on to Marshall. Many houses over $1 million. I don't think they appreciate being called "dumpy". People need to be more careful with what they consider dumpy these days in Vienna. Vienna is so expensive that any area of the town is primarily upper middle class now. Cunningham Park has always been considered the dumpiest of all Vienna, but I noticed this year it had the highest DRA reading scores of all the Vienna area schools so even houses in that boundary are on the up and up. Berryville and Tanglewood I believe are still Vienna. The only area I can think that might be considered Oakton in the Madison high school boundary is along Stewart Mill Road which friends in Flint Hill Elementary near to Vienna complain is "so far" away for them to drive to. For all we know. that area someday will shift over to Oakton High and Crossfield Elementary since Crossfield is undercrowded. I' m not sure why you're trying to tear down a neighboring school so much. I grew up here 20 years ago and know the area pretty well. Even then, all the schools around here were considered very good including Marshall and South Lakes. We knew many children from church who attended these neighboring high schools. 2534 Swift Run Street, 9004 Lupine Den Dr., and 9597 Thistle Ridge Lane are all for sale in the Marshall High School pyramid for over 1 million as an example of non-dumpy houses feeding into Marshall. Maybe they don't have as much land as houses along Stewart Mill Road which unfortunately was turned from a pretty country road into McMansion land, but they are soon to be near at least 3 metro stations.

Anonymous wrote:what neighborhoods in Vienna go to Marshall? dumpy ones behind Courthouse Road?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing: AP classes prepare kids to take and pass a test. Whether you succeed or not die not necessarily depend on how hard you work. I know. I was an AP student. Now, the IB is writing intensive, it's curriculum is blind up together in a holistic theory of learning and the work it requires is much much higher than AP. AP is great for those who think grades are the be all and end all. IB works for students who are innately curious, enjoy learning for its own sake and work hard. My DD is in the IB at Marshall. Everyone of my friends kids have done or are doing IB either here in FCPS, other school systems or overseas. Of course, my cohort of friends are all international professionals with so-called "third culture kids" so maybe that is why we gravitate to IB. Almost all the expat schools overseas are IB.

Keep drinking the IB Kool Aid. I'm sure your references to the "holistic theory of learning" come in handy with your self-described circle of "international professionals." Meanwhile all the top schools in the county, including Madison, will stick with the more demanding, in-depth AP curriculum.

Anonymous wrote:22:13 and 22:37 The neighborhoods in Westbriar Elementary, Wolftrap Elementary, Vienna Elementary, Freedom Hill Elementary, Dunn Loring Woods (Cunningham Park and Stenwood) all have children who go on to Marshall. Many houses over $1 million. I don't think they appreciate being called "dumpy". People need to be more careful with what they consider dumpy these days in Vienna. Vienna is so expensive that any area of the town is primarily upper middle class now. Cunningham Park has always been considered the dumpiest of all Vienna, but I noticed this year it had the highest DRA reading scores of all the Vienna area schools so even houses in that boundary are on the up and up. Berryville and Tanglewood I believe are still Vienna. The only area I can think that might be considered Oakton in the Madison high school boundary is along Stewart Mill Road which friends in Flint Hill Elementary near to Vienna complain is "so far" away for them to drive to. For all we know. that area someday will shift over to Oakton High and Crossfield Elementary since Crossfield is undercrowded. I' m not sure why you're trying to tear down a neighboring school so much. I grew up here 20 years ago and know the area pretty well. Even then, all the schools around here were considered very good including Marshall and South Lakes. We knew many children from church who attended these neighboring high schools. 2534 Swift Run Street, 9004 Lupine Den Dr., and 9597 Thistle Ridge Lane are all for sale in the Marshall High School pyramid for over 1 million as an example of non-dumpy houses feeding into Marshall. Maybe they don't have as much land as houses along Stewart Mill Road which unfortunately was turned from a pretty country road into McMansion land, but they are soon to be near at least 3 metro stations.