Anonymous wrote:IB is interesting but honestly not the experience many parents want or expect. It's a lot of hoops and rubrics, not really expanding your child's skills for college. So few students go for the IB diploma and there's little incentive for the school to make it exciting, enriching, or doable. FCPS is just too big for that and IB is just one of many "things." I grew up and was educated in Sweden and UK and have kids here so just being realistic.

Op here. Is the program or the diploma a lot of rubics/hoops? I’ve heard the advantage of it is that it’s writing intensive. Is that true?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Marshall parent here. Some of the parents are rather unsophisticated about what an IB diploma means. Your kid should only do it if they enjoy the breadth of the curriculum. It’s not necessarily going to get a kid into a top school, and some of the parents have unrealistic expectations only to find their kids ending up at places like JMU and VCU.

What, exactly, is wrong with JMU and VCU? Sounds like you might be the unsophisticated parent if these are the types of schools you see fit to put down.

Calm down. Nothing is wrong with those schools but they're not exactly Duke or Stanford.

No one claimed they were. But they are certainly very good state schools to which I would be proud to send my own kids.

IB is interesting but honestly not the experience many parents want or expect. It's a lot of hoops and rubrics, not really expanding your child's skills for college. So few students go for the IB diploma and there's little incentive for the school to make it exciting, enriching, or doable. FCPS is just too big for that and IB is just one of many "things." I grew up and was educated in Sweden and UK and have kids here so just being realistic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Marshall parent here. Some of the parents are rather unsophisticated about what an IB diploma means. Your kid should only do it if they enjoy the breadth of the curriculum. It’s not necessarily going to get a kid into a top school, and some of the parents have unrealistic expectations only to find their kids ending up at places like JMU and VCU.

What, exactly, is wrong with JMU and VCU? Sounds like you might be the unsophisticated parent if these are the types of schools you see fit to put down.

Calm down. Nothing is wrong with those schools but they're not exactly Duke or Stanford.

Well I’m not sure what point the PP was trying to make. I think parents in AP schools face same disappointment of having their kids take a boatload of AP courses and yet not make into Ivy. Any parent who thinks a kid is a shoe in at a T20 is going to be mostly disappointed nowadays.

Don’t disagree but the IB diploma as a special credential is hyped more, which can lead to more unrealistic expectations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Marshall parent here. Some of the parents are rather unsophisticated about what an IB diploma means. Your kid should only do it if they enjoy the breadth of the curriculum. It’s not necessarily going to get a kid into a top school, and some of the parents have unrealistic expectations only to find their kids ending up at places like JMU and VCU.

What, exactly, is wrong with JMU and VCU? Sounds like you might be the unsophisticated parent if these are the types of schools you see fit to put down.

Calm down. Nothing is wrong with those schools but they're not exactly Duke or Stanford.

Well I’m not sure what point the PP was trying to make. I think parents in AP schools face same disappointment of having their kids take a boatload of AP courses and yet not make into Ivy. Any parent who thinks a kid is a shoe in at a T20 is going to be mostly disappointed nowadays.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Marshall parent here. Some of the parents are rather unsophisticated about what an IB diploma means. Your kid should only do it if they enjoy the breadth of the curriculum. It’s not necessarily going to get a kid into a top school, and some of the parents have unrealistic expectations only to find their kids ending up at places like JMU and VCU.

What, exactly, is wrong with JMU and VCU? Sounds like you might be the unsophisticated parent if these are the types of schools you see fit to put down.

Calm down. Nothing is wrong with those schools but they're not exactly Duke or Stanford.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Marshall parent here. Some of the parents are rather unsophisticated about what an IB diploma means. Your kid should only do it if they enjoy the breadth of the curriculum. It’s not necessarily going to get a kid into a top school, and some of the parents have unrealistic expectations only to find their kids ending up at places like JMU and VCU.

What, exactly, is wrong with JMU and VCU? Sounds like you might be the unsophisticated parent if these are the types of schools you see fit to put down.

There’s nothing wrong with those schools, but some parents were quite explicit about their expectation that their kids would get into more prestigious schools merely because they were on track to get an IB diploma. And, of course, it’s not that simple.

Anonymous wrote:Former Marshall parent here. Some of the parents are rather unsophisticated about what an IB diploma means. Your kid should only do it if they enjoy the breadth of the curriculum. It’s not necessarily going to get a kid into a top school, and some of the parents have unrealistic expectations only to find their kids ending up at places like JMU and VCU.

What, exactly, is wrong with JMU and VCU? Sounds like you might be the unsophisticated parent if these are the types of schools you see fit to put down.

Anonymous wrote:Marshall is one of the few high schools that has the vast majority of kids coming from the same Middle School and Elementaries, it makes for a great community feeling.

Not sure why you’d say this. Most of the ES that send kids to Marshall (Westbriar, Wolftrap, Vienna, Lemon Road, Westgate, Cunningham Park) are split feeders, as are both of the middle schools that feed into Marshall (Kilmer and Thoreau). There are two ES (Freedom Hill and Shrevewood) that feed entirely to Kilmer and Marshall, but the third ES that feeds entirely to Marshall (Stenwood) splits to both middle schools first.

- former GCM parent

Marshall is one of the few high schools that has the vast majority of kids coming from the same Middle School and Elementaries, it makes for a great community feeling.

Former Marshall parent here. Some of the parents are rather unsophisticated about what an IB diploma means. Your kid should only do it if they enjoy the breadth of the curriculum. It’s not necessarily going to get a kid into a top school, and some of the parents have unrealistic expectations only to find their kids ending up at places like JMU and VCU.

OP here. Thank you for the feedback. I’m less concerned about my kids getting college credits and getting into top schools and more concerned about them being well prepared for college work. I’ve heard there is a lot of writing. I’m happy to hear there are challenging courses. We plan to attend the IB info night. The diploma does seem like a ton of work and I’ve read mixed things about whether it’s worth it.

I have two students at Marshall and have been very happy with the administration and most of the teachers my kids have had. Many of the staff have been there a long time (some even went to Marshall when younger). School is very diverse and as PP said, it's been great for my kids to make friends with a diverse bunch of kids. Impressed with classes so far and will definitely prepare them well for college. Haven't noticed an issue with drugs/alcohol other than emails being sent out - could be certain peer groups. Doesn't seem to be an issue. Overall we have been very happy.