Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 21:03     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I've heard that Annandale HS has gone downhill pretty badly. So this year the principal from Westfield is being transferred to Annandale.


It's a long-term legacy of turning Jefferson into a STEM magnet. Annandale ended up with all the lower income areas zoned to Annandale (right inside the Beltway) or Jefferson (near Landmark) and over time FCPS moved wave after wave of other single family neighborhoods to other schools - Falls Church, Lake Braddock, Woodson and Edison. The school did well when it was truly diverse, but is now at risk.


+1

Thank you to Tessie Wilson for messing with the Annandale boundary.
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 21:02     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The struggling schools - Lee, Stuart, Mt Vernon- they need IB for tracking. It's a lifeline for their higher achieving students.


This is exactly my problem with IB in those schools. AP would probably be a better choice overall, but IB will never be removed because it provides a school within a school to segregate the higher SES kids.


Not only that, but have you look at the IB pass rate for these schools (vs South Lakes and Marshall). These schools only have only a small handful of kids who can pass an IB class. The other 750 kids in each class are screwed.


Great point!

IB pass rates (4 or better on IB exam) in school year 2014-14:
Annandale: 81.0
Edison: 80.8
Lee: 94.9
Marshall: 85.1
Mount Vernon: 75.3
Robinson: 82.2
South Lakes: 86.0
Stuart: 64.4
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 19:37     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:funny thing - there is definitely more than one person posting on this thread that is unhappy with the environment in fcps in general.

I'm a poster who is only thinking about moving (so no "impending move"), and it isn't about schools, but a less high pressure system where people aren't so obsessed with status sounds nice.


That's ok. Not everyone's children can be leaders.

You're an asshole.

Signed,

A Gen Ed student who grew up to be a leader.
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 19:34     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Langley, yes. Mostly about spoiled, entitled kids and parents with outsized egos.

Also, terrible mix of privilege and wealth and recreational drugs and competition over has and has more.



Yet another thread that devolves into Langley hate. I'm a Langley parent and the above is nonsense. Of course, if you had children who actually attended this school, you'd know that. Stop spreading these disgusting rumors about a school and student body about which you know nothing.

You know, I understand what you're saying, but at a certain point, don't you have to look at the sheer volume and uniformity of those stories and admit to yourself maybe there's something to them?


DP here. Given DCUM's demographics, it stands to get more attention than other schools, due to its location and the wealth of the student body alone. The reviews here will always be mixed. Go to the Maryland board and it's quite similar where Walt Whitman is concerned.
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 19:28     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Langley, yes. Mostly about spoiled, entitled kids and parents with outsized egos.

Also, terrible mix of privilege and wealth and recreational drugs and competition over has and has more.



Yet another thread that devolves into Langley hate. I'm a Langley parent and the above is nonsense. Of course, if you had children who actually attended this school, you'd know that. Stop spreading these disgusting rumors about a school and student body about which you know nothing.

You know, I understand what you're saying, but at a certain point, don't you have to look at the sheer volume and uniformity of those stories and admit to yourself maybe there's something to them?
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 19:21     Subject: Re:Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:South Lakes. I've heard bad stuff about it 20 years ago and a few years ago.


My son transfers from a very rigorous private school in another state and LOVES South Lakes. It's diverse and that's what makes it interesting for him. He says the kids are more friendly than at his other school, and the academics are solid.
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 16:54     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
I wonder how many of these "bad stories" people hear about the "lesser" FCPS HS's are merely the greatschools rating (or some other way of measuring average test scores). Seems like I always hear people talk poorly about some of these schools, but when you ask them whether they have any direct (or even indirect) knowledge of the school, they know nothing. Might be able to give me the FARMs or ESOL percentage of the school, but that's about it.
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 16:25     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:I've heard that Annandale HS has gone downhill pretty badly. So this year the principal from Westfield is being transferred to Annandale.


I've heard the same and that the decrease was very rapid, like a noticeable change within 5 years. I've also heard Falls Church and to a lesser extent, Edison are benefiting.
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 12:12     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:I've heard that Annandale HS has gone downhill pretty badly. So this year the principal from Westfield is being transferred to Annandale.


It's a long-term legacy of turning Jefferson into a STEM magnet. Annandale ended up with all the lower income areas zoned to Annandale (right inside the Beltway) or Jefferson (near Landmark) and over time FCPS moved wave after wave of other single family neighborhoods to other schools - Falls Church, Lake Braddock, Woodson and Edison. The school did well when it was truly diverse, but is now at risk.
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 12:09     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:I've heard that Annandale HS has gone downhill pretty badly. So this year the principal from Westfield is being transferred to Annandale.


FCPS engineered this downfall via redistricting.
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 12:06     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The thing is, everyone has complaints about their high school, whether it's FCPS or another county. Whether they attended recently, or back in the 80's. High school is (generally) a universally bad experience. There will always be the rich kids, the jocks, the smart kids, etc. etc. That's what high school is! A bunch of cliques and you're lucky if you find yourself some like-minded friends. I went to school in the midwest, and all of these descriptions could have applied to my very middle-of-the-road high school.

Good luck finding the "perfect" school, because it doesn't exist. Teens are teens, the whole world over.


+1000
There's a reason movies like "The Breakfast Club" resonated with so many people. High school, generally, sucks. Those of you trying to make one particular high school or another out to be this horrible experience clearly have a significant chip on their shoulders, for whatever reason. High school, no matter where it is and no matter the demographics, will generally be a stressful experience for most kids. There are always going to be cliques, drugs, sex, mean girls, bullies, whatever. So please: those of you obsessed with tearing down certain schools, do a little soul-searching and come back to us once you've found the perfect high school. It doesn't exist.


Untrue. My high school hardly had any of those things. It was private. People like you, who believe this is normal and OK, are the reason most high schools are pits of social toxicity. Once you've experienced a place where the adults don't think it's OK, you realize that it doesn't have to be like that.


Exactly correct!!


It is absolutely untrue for my high school experience, which was at a FCPS school on here a lot of people have bashed. I went there in the 90s and I LOVED my 4 years of high school! Loved them! You really cannot believe everything you read on here.
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 11:55     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
I've heard that Annandale HS has gone downhill pretty badly. So this year the principal from Westfield is being transferred to Annandale.
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 10:52     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The struggling schools - Lee, Stuart, Mt Vernon- they need IB for tracking. It's a lifeline for their higher achieving students.


This is exactly my problem with IB in those schools. AP would probably be a better choice overall, but IB will never be removed because it provides a school within a school to segregate the higher SES kids.


Not only that, but have you look at the IB pass rate for these schools (vs South Lakes and Marshall). These schools only have only a small handful of kids who can pass an IB class. The other 750 kids in each class are screwed.
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 10:34     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The thing is, everyone has complaints about their high school, whether it's FCPS or another county. Whether they attended recently, or back in the 80's. High school is (generally) a universally bad experience. There will always be the rich kids, the jocks, the smart kids, etc. etc. That's what high school is! A bunch of cliques and you're lucky if you find yourself some like-minded friends. I went to school in the midwest, and all of these descriptions could have applied to my very middle-of-the-road high school.

Good luck finding the "perfect" school, because it doesn't exist. Teens are teens, the whole world over.


+1000
There's a reason movies like "The Breakfast Club" resonated with so many people. High school, generally, sucks. Those of you trying to make one particular high school or another out to be this horrible experience clearly have a significant chip on their shoulders, for whatever reason. High school, no matter where it is and no matter the demographics, will generally be a stressful experience for most kids. There are always going to be cliques, drugs, sex, mean girls, bullies, whatever. So please: those of you obsessed with tearing down certain schools, do a little soul-searching and come back to us once you've found the perfect high school. It doesn't exist.


Untrue. My high school hardly had any of those things. It was private. People like you, who believe this is normal and OK, are the reason most high schools are pits of social toxicity. Once you've experienced a place where the adults don't think it's OK, you realize that it doesn't have to be like that.


Exactly correct!!
Anonymous
Post 08/10/2015 09:37     Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:AP classes are college level and pretty intense. If you don't have the background going into those courses you will have a difficult time.

The idea that kids are all walking in, acing those AP courses and then scoring high enough on the AP exams to actually place out of college courses...is probably overblown.


My DC got 34 credits from his University for his AP classes- it made him a sophomore. He took 7 APs and received 4s and 5s. He was around the 75-80th percentile for GPA. I know this because he just missed the cut off for the GPA medal to wear for graduation and 100 out of just less than 500 received it. He graduated from one of the 5 HS in FCPS about which people tend to crow on DCUM.

It all depends on which university or college you student attends. Some give nothing, others give quite a bit.


I too took all AP classes and entered college a sophomore, something which about 40 out of 500 students did at my well-respected non-local academic HS did. I'm sure it happens here, probably in greater numbers. There's nothing wrong with it, it was a very good preparation for my college engineering degree. But most kids, even here, don't do all honors and all AP and get 4s and 5s on all the tests.



40 out of 500 students would be more along the lines of what I would expect but even that number is on the high side for getting 4/5s in all AP classes in HS. That's a heck of a course load for a HS kid. To think that 1 out 5 kids in any given HS in this area are able to take and ace such a heavy course load + tests is truly amazing to me.