Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have some friends whose kids go to Woodson. They've told me that the environment there is like a pressure cooker. Because the school is known for its high test scores, it's ingrained in the culture that it is very important that it be maintained. Test scores are everything.

That doesn't stand up to the logic test. If that were true, then schools like Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton and others in the DMV area would also have a lot of suicides... but as far as I know, they don't. Something is going on. I suspect that when it happens once, there is a sense that it's a possibility for other kids. But, something needs to be done.

It's not just because they have a good test record. According to the students I've spoken with, it's the over the top culture of perfectionism and lofty standards, specific to Woodson's administration.

I do not doubt this. My daughter was brought to near emotional collapse at another FFX Cty school due to what she called, her inability to please staff and impossibly high standards. No matter what she did, no matter how high her grades were (and she was a straight A student), she felt as if they wanted her to do more and more and more. The administration of these high schools care only about their numbers it seems.

Agree.

No tragedy fails to bring out Bullis Mom and her gripes against Langley, based on her daughter's one year there (which was five or six years ago). Sigh.

I'm still watching kids collapse. And kids are STILL reaching out to me. There is a problem at a lot of the area schools, and people like you are class A reasons why. If you think the problem stops with my kids, it doesn't. And if you think I'm going to let other kids feel suicide is their only option, I won't. If I can help, I will. If you choose to drive these kids over the cliff, it's on your conscience.

Anonymous wrote:Too much pressure and I'd say not just on grades. Can you be in a school play - no, can you play on a sports team - no. Can you make the choir you want - no. EVERYTHING is competitive. From the bus stop to book club, I hear over and over how someone's kid did not make the school play, get on a team, etc. And these are talented individuals. You have to be the best of the best.

When/Where I went to school you could do all of those things. Yes, there were talented kids but just about everyone could participate. You felt connected to your school and your friends. Often these kids do not have any friends around as everyone is on a specialized sports team, practicing music for hours, and then doing homework. None of the teens around us seem to just " hang out."

Most colleges say 3 yrs of a foreign language. Someone said 4 is better. Now a lot are doing 5. If you do that, not much time left for an elective. Again, all stress and very little joy.

Please - now your kid has to save a third-world country from extinction, on top of all the above

These poor kids!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a nurse practitioner and WTW parent, I would argue that our school system is RESPONSIBLE because it takes a village. Kids spend the majority of their waking lives at school or performing work for school. The teachers at WTW know that homework is a problem and yet most don't do anything to fix it. FCPS also has a teacher task force to look at homework loads, but it's been stalled for two years.The WTW Director of Student Services, Dr. Carlin Floyd, gets it, but most of the administration at WTW and in FCPS Central Administration have their head in the sand. It's time that parents and students STAND UP and make their voices heard! Pleas consider honoring Minjoo's life by making a difference and start Speaking Truth to Power.

100% true. I made damn sure to let my voice be heard by the administration at my daughter's high school, and also spoke to students at the high school personally, which really pissed them off. Students still approach me on social media because they need someone to talk to who gets it.

Wrong focus. Teacher and adminstrators are merely responding to what the community wants. These threads are constantly focusing on school performance.

Some parents are obsessed about scores. The schools cave to them. The administrators are in a position to say no to the race to nowhere, and they choose not to. What are the parents who aren't supportive of this to do? Tell there kids not to do the hours of homework, take zeroes on projects with insane time commitments....If the schools give the assignments, all kids are stuck doing them, not just those from families that demand the rat race. It's too late for my kid who is close to starting high school, but I hope at some point the administrators say enough is enough.

Get enough parents together to 'storm' the administration. Take your concerns, as a group, to media, and be willing to speak out. Hold administration's feet to the fire. The FFX CTY school board actually told me they would "make sure my daughter never got her driver's license" if I dared enroll her in a private driving school, rather than use the school's. I wanted the transcripts for the two written chapters she did take, as the private driving school requested them. When I called the DMV about it, they had a good laugh and said "we have accredited the private driving school - the darn school board can't do anything about it". When I cited the law to them - in writing - I got the transcripts. Their attempt at bullying was remarkable and would certainly have broken some people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a nurse practitioner and WTW parent, I would argue that our school system is RESPONSIBLE because it takes a village. Kids spend the majority of their waking lives at school or performing work for school. The teachers at WTW know that homework is a problem and yet most don't do anything to fix it. FCPS also has a teacher task force to look at homework loads, but it's been stalled for two years.The WTW Director of Student Services, Dr. Carlin Floyd, gets it, but most of the administration at WTW and in FCPS Central Administration have their head in the sand. It's time that parents and students STAND UP and make their voices heard! Pleas consider honoring Minjoo's life by making a difference and start Speaking Truth to Power.

100% true. I made damn sure to let my voice be heard by the administration at my daughter's high school, and also spoke to students at the high school personally, which really pissed them off. Students still approach me on social media because they need someone to talk to who gets it.

Wrong focus. Teacher and adminstrators are merely responding to what the community wants. These threads are constantly focusing on school performance.

Parents often have the 'wrong focus'. Teachers and administrators need to have the cojones to stand up to parents and let the parents pull their child out of the school if they are unhappy. And don't tell me about elections - I pay a lot of tax dollars and most of that money goes to teaching kids who are here illegally, and those people still keep getting elected by the same idiots who demand so much of their kids, they destroy them in the process.

My close friend has been fighting this with me after seeing her son at a near collapse point, trying to jump through hoops to make these idiot teachers and administrators happy (they want their test scores and ranking, you see). I went to pick him up at a therapy appointment and told him that it is NOT him, that HE was fine and WILL be fine in life, that it's the morons in this area and the school system that's in the wrong, and just because they are the authority figures, it doesn't make them right. The therapist said "listen to her - she's 100% correct". The mental health professionals in this area are trying to help undo the destruction the schools are inflicting. My DD's pediatrician called my DD's high school abusive, and said he doesn't use that word lightly - that it's exactly what he means - and it's not normal for such a huge amount of kids in one area to need mental health services.

I had a long talk with my friend's son on the way home and really opened his eyes to the political warfare inside the school system. He needed to hear it - ALL students need to hear it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a nurse practitioner and WTW parent, I would argue that our school system is RESPONSIBLE because it takes a village. Kids spend the majority of their waking lives at school or performing work for school. The teachers at WTW know that homework is a problem and yet most don't do anything to fix it. FCPS also has a teacher task force to look at homework loads, but it's been stalled for two years.The WTW Director of Student Services, Dr. Carlin Floyd, gets it, but most of the administration at WTW and in FCPS Central Administration have their head in the sand. It's time that parents and students STAND UP and make their voices heard! Pleas consider honoring Minjoo's life by making a difference and start Speaking Truth to Power.

+1000 Just try to tell the schools to tone it down. Lately mine have had to do the senior walk around in their accepted college t shirts. Works for those going to elite schools .... not so nice for others. It's been that way since K.

I don't see anything wrong with this, as long as the schools encourage the students to pursue whatever path they choose. And I feel like our school does - the counselors are just as positive about kids going to NVCC and ECU as they are about those heading off to UVA or Princeton.

Conversely, I don't know why a school should put out a gag order on students letting each other know what their post-graduation plans are. If the kids can't handle that information, they have bigger problems.

Agree. How do these kids make it through beach week?

Anonymous wrote:

but I'm sending my kids to Catholic for elementary,

This is a good plan, for elementary and middle. Then go to Woodson. The most confident/happiest, and also hard working students I met at Woodson started at private. They were able to avoid the memo on whether or not they were "gifted"

AMEN to this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have some friends whose kids go to Woodson. They've told me that the environment there is like a pressure cooker. Because the school is known for its high test scores, it's ingrained in the culture that it is very important that it be maintained. Test scores are everything.

That doesn't stand up to the logic test. If that were true, then schools like Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton and others in the DMV area would also have a lot of suicides... but as far as I know, they don't. Something is going on. I suspect that when it happens once, there is a sense that it's a possibility for other kids. But, something needs to be done.

It's not just because they have a good test record. According to the students I've spoken with, it's the over the top culture of perfectionism and lofty standards, specific to Woodson's administration.

I do not doubt this. My daughter was brought to near emotional collapse at another FFX Cty school due to what she called, her inability to please staff and impossibly high standards. No matter what she did, no matter how high her grades were (and she was a straight A student), she felt as if they wanted her to do more and more and more. The administration of these high schools care only about their numbers it seems.

Agree.

No tragedy fails to bring out Bullis Mom and her gripes against Langley, based on her daughter's one year there (which was five or six years ago). Sigh.

Yep. I've had three kids go through Langley, four years each, with many friends in their various circles. It's mighty tiresome to hear her resurrect her old, exaggerated grudges, especially after so many years have passed - based on the one year her daughter went there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have some friends whose kids go to Woodson. They've told me that the environment there is like a pressure cooker. Because the school is known for its high test scores, it's ingrained in the culture that it is very important that it be maintained. Test scores are everything.

That doesn't stand up to the logic test. If that were true, then schools like Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton and others in the DMV area would also have a lot of suicides... but as far as I know, they don't. Something is going on. I suspect that when it happens once, there is a sense that it's a possibility for other kids. But, something needs to be done.

It's not just because they have a good test record. According to the students I've spoken with, it's the over the top culture of perfectionism and lofty standards, specific to Woodson's administration.

I do not doubt this. My daughter was brought to near emotional collapse at another FFX Cty school due to what she called, her inability to please staff and impossibly high standards. No matter what she did, no matter how high her grades were (and she was a straight A student), she felt as if they wanted her to do more and more and more. The administration of these high schools care only about their numbers it seems.

Oh, hello again, Bullis Mom.

but I'm sending my kids to Catholic for elementary,

This is a good plan, for elementary and middle. Then go to Woodson. The most confident/happiest, and also hard working students I met at Woodson started at private. They were able to avoid the memo on whether or not they were "gifted"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a nurse practitioner and WTW parent, I would argue that our school system is RESPONSIBLE because it takes a village. Kids spend the majority of their waking lives at school or performing work for school. The teachers at WTW know that homework is a problem and yet most don't do anything to fix it. FCPS also has a teacher task force to look at homework loads, but it's been stalled for two years.The WTW Director of Student Services, Dr. Carlin Floyd, gets it, but most of the administration at WTW and in FCPS Central Administration have their head in the sand. It's time that parents and students STAND UP and make their voices heard! Pleas consider honoring Minjoo's life by making a difference and start Speaking Truth to Power.

+1000 Just try to tell the schools to tone it down. Lately mine have had to do the senior walk around in their accepted college t shirts. Works for those going to elite schools .... not so nice for others. It's been that way since K.

I don't see anything wrong with this, as long as the schools encourage the students to pursue whatever path they choose. And I feel like our school does - the counselors are just as positive about kids going to NVCC and ECU as they are about those heading off to UVA or Princeton.

Conversely, I don't know why a school should put out a gag order on students letting each other know what their post-graduation plans are. If the kids can't handle that information, they have bigger problems.

Haha the kids don't care what the counselors. Think they have been trained for 13 years by that point.

I think the counselors and administrators help shape the tone at a school. If the parents aren't good role models, and only care about "the very, very best," the teachers and administrators can try to send a different message.

But the notion that schools should ban t-shirt days because someone may feel bad because they didn't get into the same elite school as Chloe is over-the-top. If t-shirts deserve a trigger warning, God knows what else will once those kids head off into the real world.

I'm sure the whole school thinks Princeton and VCU are exactly the same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a nurse practitioner and WTW parent, I would argue that our school system is RESPONSIBLE because it takes a village. Kids spend the majority of their waking lives at school or performing work for school. The teachers at WTW know that homework is a problem and yet most don't do anything to fix it. FCPS also has a teacher task force to look at homework loads, but it's been stalled for two years.The WTW Director of Student Services, Dr. Carlin Floyd, gets it, but most of the administration at WTW and in FCPS Central Administration have their head in the sand. It's time that parents and students STAND UP and make their voices heard! Pleas consider honoring Minjoo's life by making a difference and start Speaking Truth to Power.

+1000 Just try to tell the schools to tone it down. Lately mine have had to do the senior walk around in their accepted college t shirts. Works for those going to elite schools .... not so nice for others. It's been that way since K.

I don't see anything wrong with this, as long as the schools encourage the students to pursue whatever path they choose. And I feel like our school does - the counselors are just as positive about kids going to NVCC and ECU as they are about those heading off to UVA or Princeton.

Conversely, I don't know why a school should put out a gag order on students letting each other know what their post-graduation plans are. If the kids can't handle that information, they have bigger problems.

Haha the kids don't care what the counselors. Think they have been trained for 13 years by that point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a nurse practitioner and WTW parent, I would argue that our school system is RESPONSIBLE because it takes a village. Kids spend the majority of their waking lives at school or performing work for school. The teachers at WTW know that homework is a problem and yet most don't do anything to fix it. FCPS also has a teacher task force to look at homework loads, but it's been stalled for two years.The WTW Director of Student Services, Dr. Carlin Floyd, gets it, but most of the administration at WTW and in FCPS Central Administration have their head in the sand. It's time that parents and students STAND UP and make their voices heard! Pleas consider honoring Minjoo's life by making a difference and start Speaking Truth to Power.

+1000 Just try to tell the schools to tone it down. Lately mine have had to do the senior walk around in their accepted college t shirts. Works for those going to elite schools .... not so nice for others. It's been that way since K.

I don't see anything wrong with this, as long as the schools encourage the students to pursue whatever path they choose. And I feel like our school does - the counselors are just as positive about kids going to NVCC and ECU as they are about those heading off to UVA or Princeton.

Conversely, I don't know why a school should put out a gag order on students letting each other know what their post-graduation plans are. If the kids can't handle that information, they have bigger problems.

ITA. There is also no law saying that the students have to participate in college tee day and probably more than a few won't participate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a nurse practitioner and WTW parent, I would argue that our school system is RESPONSIBLE because it takes a village. Kids spend the majority of their waking lives at school or performing work for school. The teachers at WTW know that homework is a problem and yet most don't do anything to fix it. FCPS also has a teacher task force to look at homework loads, but it's been stalled for two years.The WTW Director of Student Services, Dr. Carlin Floyd, gets it, but most of the administration at WTW and in FCPS Central Administration have their head in the sand. It's time that parents and students STAND UP and make their voices heard! Pleas consider honoring Minjoo's life by making a difference and start Speaking Truth to Power.

+1000 Just try to tell the schools to tone it down. Lately mine have had to do the senior walk around in their accepted college t shirts. Works for those going to elite schools .... not so nice for others. It's been that way since K.

I don't see anything wrong with this, as long as the schools encourage the students to pursue whatever path they choose. And I feel like our school does - the counselors are just as positive about kids going to NVCC and ECU as they are about those heading off to UVA or Princeton.

Conversely, I don't know why a school should put out a gag order on students letting each other know what their post-graduation plans are. If the kids can't handle that information, they have bigger problems.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a nurse practitioner and WTW parent, I would argue that our school system is RESPONSIBLE because it takes a village. Kids spend the majority of their waking lives at school or performing work for school. The teachers at WTW know that homework is a problem and yet most don't do anything to fix it. FCPS also has a teacher task force to look at homework loads, but it's been stalled for two years.The WTW Director of Student Services, Dr. Carlin Floyd, gets it, but most of the administration at WTW and in FCPS Central Administration have their head in the sand. It's time that parents and students STAND UP and make their voices heard! Pleas consider honoring Minjoo's life by making a difference and start Speaking Truth to Power.

100% true. I made damn sure to let my voice be heard by the administration at my daughter's high school, and also spoke to students at the high school personally, which really pissed them off. Students still approach me on social media because they need someone to talk to who gets it.

+10000 to both of these posters.

DS transferred out of Woodson to a nearby FCPS HS and as part of that process, I spoke up about the homework load as well as the stress level. We worked with the student services staff and dialed back the stress level. But we are only one family with one student.