Anonymous wrote:The idea of ranking high schools by the ratio of students that take AP/IB exams is ridiculous. And the fact that they market the list as a ranking of school quality is even more ridiculous. The ranking has absolutely nothing to do with teacher quality, safety, student morale, and college acceptance which in my opinion are much more important than the number of kids who cram their schedules full of mind-numbing AP classes.

Yes that is stupid, rank by test scores check out http://www.greatschools.org they also give you FARMS and how much money is wasted on glorified subsidized daycare

woodson, mclean, marshall, madison are all rated 9s based on test scores on http://www.greatschools.org

Anonymous wrote:The idea of ranking high schools by the ratio of students that take AP/IB exams is ridiculous. And the fact that they market the list as a ranking of school quality is even more ridiculous. The ranking has absolutely nothing to do with teacher quality, safety, student morale, and college acceptance which in my opinion are much more important than the number of kids who cram their schedules full of mind-numbing AP classes.

The reason this ranking is worthwhile is that it tells you which high schools allow and even encourage all of their students to take challenging classes. There was a time, and it was not that long ago, when high schools only allowed a small, select group of students to take AP courses and exams. Research began to show that students who had taken even one AP course in high school performed better once in college. So the Challenge index encouraged high schools to allow more of their students to take AP courses. It is good to know which schools are making the effort to provide opportunities to study higher level material to as many of their students as possible. I think that says something about the academic atmosphere of a school.

It's simply one more piece of information to consider, along with the other important qualities cited here.

Anonymous wrote:The idea of ranking high schools by the ratio of students that take AP/IB exams is ridiculous. And the fact that they market the list as a ranking of school quality is even more ridiculous. The ranking has absolutely nothing to do with teacher quality, safety, student morale, and college acceptance which in my opinion are much more important than the number of kids who cram their schedules full of mind-numbing AP classes.

Largely agree, w/two points to keep in mind

- Every single FCPS high school is considered in the top 6% of high schools nation-wide under this ranking system; and

- The rankings may help students when it comes to college admissions, if the admissions staffs understand that the students are attending schools with higher standards (and, yes, I know that many believe NoVa students are disadvantaged when it comes to admission to some state universities).

New poster here- OP, as you can see, people in this area get into lots of debates about which school is better. Generally, the people that live around here in Annandale (myself included) hold out the Woodson pyramid to be the best as far as reputation and rankings.

The Woodson pyramid was redistricted last year to bring all the homes west of the beltway between route 236 and braddock road to the school. Looking at street maps, you can see the area. That change probably won't impact Woodson much because it was all part of a the same wakefield community. The move was VERY controversial.

Some of the other HS, like Annandale, have their strengths too even though they fall lower in scores and rankings. It is more diverse, more immigrants and kids struggling with lower incomes, and it may even be closer to your new house depending on where you live.

Since schools and education are so important around here, it does impact property values - sad but a fact. The new boundary for woodson is already impacting the sales price and pace of sales in the eastern wakefield neighborhood. So, part of your decision, if you go the Annandale route, may be cost. If you feel confident that your kids will thrive in a school where others may be struggling, then you'll have more housing options buying into the Annandale HS pyramid.

Personally, I like most of Annandale. Easy to get anywhere, some very convenient bus lines to the pentagon as a gateway to DC. Nice people, fab restuarants and lots of older communities with tall trees and streams. I live in the wakefield area that is new to woodson - but I bought here 7 years ago when it was annandale HS and I was fine with that. I am enjoying seeing the property values go up, but since I have no plans to move all it does is raise my real estate taxes.

Recommed that you visit the area personnally.

The idea of ranking high schools by the ratio of students that take AP/IB exams is ridiculous. And the fact that they market the list as a ranking of school quality is even more ridiculous. The ranking has absolutely nothing to do with teacher quality, safety, student morale, and college acceptance which in my opinion are much more important than the number of kids who cram their schedules full of mind-numbing AP classes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the Newsweek list, Woodson is number one, Lake Braddock is eighth, and West Springfield is thirteenth. Most of these rankings do not include TJ, since it is actually a Virginia Governor's school with a selective admissions policy.
Here's a link: http://commweb.fcps.edu/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?newsid=1501
These rankings are from before they redistricted Woodson, I don't know if that would have an effect or not.

This is based on Jay Matthews' "Challenge Index": "The Challenge Index measures public high schools’ ability to challenge their students. A school’s ranking is determined by dividing the number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or Cambridge tests given by a school to all its students by the number of seniors who graduated in May or June. The index is designed to identify schools that challenge average students."

By referring to Woodson as number one, I guess you mean in Fairfax County, excluding TJ.

Yes, Fairfax County, as that is what the OP was asking about. And this particular ranking is from 2010, which isn't that long ago.

Anonymous wrote:In the Newsweek list, Woodson is number one, Lake Braddock is eighth, and West Springfield is thirteenth. Most of these rankings do not include TJ, since it is actually a Virginia Governor's school with a selective admissions policy.
Here's a link: http://commweb.fcps.edu/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?newsid=1501
These rankings are from before they redistricted Woodson, I don't know if that would have an effect or not.

These stats are old

Anonymous wrote:If you go to the FCAG website and scroll down to about the sixth posting, you'll find AP/IB Score Information that FCAG obtained by FOIA request. You can compare AP results (exam scores) from school to school over several years.

Link to FCAG website:

http://www.fcag.org/

If you go to the FCAG website and scroll down to about the sixth posting, you'll find AP/IB Score Information that FCAG obtained by FOIA request. You can compare AP [B]results[B] (exam scores) from school to school over several years.

Anonymous wrote:In the Newsweek list, Woodson is number one, Lake Braddock is eighth, and West Springfield is thirteenth. Most of these rankings do not include TJ, since it is actually a Virginia Governor's school with a selective admissions policy.
Here's a link: http://commweb.fcps.edu/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?newsid=1501
These rankings are from before they redistricted Woodson, I don't know if that would have an effect or not.

This is based on Jay Matthews' "Challenge Index": "The Challenge Index measures public high schools’ ability to challenge their students. A school’s ranking is determined by dividing the number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or Cambridge tests given by a school to all its students by the number of seniors who graduated in May or June. The index is designed to identify schools that challenge average students."

By referring to Woodson as number one, I guess you mean in Fairfax County, excluding TJ.

I agree with 12:51.
Kings Park is a wonderful school with a lovely nurturing atmosphere. The school can completely focus on the K through third graders and it shows. Great K-1 classroom program, I think maybe one of the first in the county to implement this concept. Lots of math differentiation.
Kings Glen, by the same token, focuses on fourth through sixth graders just as successfully. Lots of differentiation and a very strong extracurricular drama program.

In the Newsweek list, Woodson is number one, Lake Braddock is eighth, and West Springfield is thirteenth. Most of these rankings do not include TJ, since it is actually a Virginia Governor's school with a selective admissions policy.
Here's a link: http://commweb.fcps.edu/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?newsid=1501
These rankings are from before they redistricted Woodson, I don't know if that would have an effect or not.

I teach outside of FCPS and my son attends 1st grade at King's Park. I really believe that living in Burke for this school was the best decision we could have made. The school has been great with communication, friendly, and open to any questions. My son's teacher has been amazing and he loves going to school to learn. One of the other things I really like about KP is that it is K-3 and they transfer later to KG for 4-6. I highly recommend this school.

There are 25 high schools in Fairfax County. Last year, in terms of SAT scores, Woodson was 4th, Lake Braddock was 8th, and West Springfield was 11th.