OMG. 2.5 miles outside. Practically in South Riding.

Anonymous wrote:Both schools are VERY comparable academically. I think the reason people talk about Woodson so much is because it is a great school inside the beltway. As demand goes up (and a lot of people see closer to DC as highly desirable), so does the "buzz" of a good school.

Seriously, both schools are so great that you'd have to really split hairs to see a difference. Some people might like some things (like the school colors) at one school over another, but different strokes for different folks. You are in a great position to be picking between these two.

I think you need to look at a map. Woodson is 2.5 miles OUTSIDE the beltway.

Anonymous wrote:For people who bought the houses because of Woodson HS, it is a loss if they have to move to Robinson...

Anyone who bought in that island should have known they could be redistricted to Robinson, the closer school.

For people who bought the houses because of Woodson HS, it is a loss if they have to move to Robinson...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they were from a particularly affluent and vocal area that intimidated the school board into letting them go to Woodson from that area. Little did they know that Robinson was really just as good and a lot more convenient!

The public hearing on the Fairfax/Lanier boundary study is this evening. I wouldn't be surprised if some people from that neighborhood testify that they shouldn't be moved to Robinson. But I think it's hard for the School Board to back down once there's a Staff recommendation to reassign that area to Robinson, which is much closer.

Much of the testimony consists of parents in the Woodson island objecting to being moved to Robinson. Some "demanded" that the School Board not change the boundaries and threatened to move to Arlington or "Loudon" (sic) if they get moved to Robinson - as if there are never boundary changes in those counties. Overall, many came across as quite arrogant.

I did think it was interesting that some claimed the island was created in the 80s when an altruistic neighborhood in Fairfax Station agreed to leave their beloved Robinson to relieve overcrowding there, at a time when Woodson was under-enrolled. Someone at FCPS must know whether this passes the laugh test. If it's revisionist history, I don't think the School Board will hesitate to eliminate the island.

The measurements that are discussed -- both the Washington Post ranking and the SAT scores -- do not speak to any one person's experience in these schools. If Robinson has a higher percentage of kids taking remedial math, then you would see a lower average SAT score -- but if your kid does not belong in remedial math, it tells you nothing at all about the experience your child wil have. It could be that the grade-level and above math classes are stronger at Robinson, but at the same time is has a high proportion of kids needing remedial math. I'm not saying this is the case, but certainly I think the arguments about quality of education based on average SAT scores tells you very little. (Similarly the WP metric is just a metric like any other -- it could tell you something about the amazing teachers at Woodson or it could tell you that, on average, the kids going to Woodson are more academically prepared or game the system more or what-not).

At best, these arguments may tell you something about the culture of the two schools. I would be very interested to hear what people have to say about that -- especially the culture of the academic achievers in each school. I don't really care what average SAT scores are, but I do care whether the top students in mathematics are getting similar opportunities and exposure to advanced mathematics. Any comments much appreciated.

WRT the bullying that put the "island" to be districted to Woodson: as a parent in that area, I think that comment is very shortsighted/simplistic. First of all, most of us did not live there when the original decision was made as to where we would be zoned. I have lived there 12+ years and it was always Woodson. Second, the school make a "community" in that neighborhood, and many parents have put time and money through a variety of efforts in helping make Woodson a great school - our community contributed like many others. I think the feeling that something is being taken away is completely reasonable. In particular, my spouse and I looked to be part of the Woodson district when we had young kids, because we heard it was such a great school -- so I am sad that something I thought was part of my home and my community is likely not going to be possible.

That said, I feel that Robinson has a great reputation -- and I am interested in know what others have to say especially about its advanced courses (IB or AP).

I have also heard amazing things about their orchestra -- any one have any comments or comparisons to make about that?

http://commweb.fcps.edu/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?newsid=2218

Well, on this list, Robinson is much further down the list than Woodson.

The main differences, as far as I can see, is that Robinson is larger, has IB, and combines middle and high school (schools are separate, but on the same campus- which I am not crazy about.) Robinson seems a little more sports-oriented than Woodson. Woodson's test scores are somewhat higher. other than that they are fairly similar.

Anonymous wrote:Because they were from a particularly affluent and vocal area that intimidated the school board into letting them go to Woodson from that area. Little did they know that Robinson was really just as good and a lot more convenient!

The public hearing on the Fairfax/Lanier boundary study is this evening. I wouldn't be surprised if some people from that neighborhood testify that they shouldn't be moved to Robinson. But I think it's hard for the School Board to back down once there's a Staff recommendation to reassign that area to Robinson, which is much closer.

Because they were from a particularly affluent and vocal area that intimidated the school board into letting them go to Woodson from that area. Little did they know that Robinson was really just as good and a lot more convenient!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The area slated to move from Fairfax to Woodson is the Fairfax Villa ES area. At the same time, a smaller Woodson "attendance island" in Fairfax Station that sits in the middle of the Robinson district would get moved to Robinson.

This is good to hear. It never made any logical sense that those particular FFX Station kids would go to Woodson. Granted, we all know why they "got" to go to Woodson but still...

Do tell...........

Anonymous wrote:The average score is higher at Woodson. I will need to have the variance of the scores to make a statistically sound conclusion . However, since the average scores have been higher consistently for many years, that suggests that the same kid would end up higher if he went to Woodson than Robinson

No it doesn't. It just suggests Woodson has a higher percentage of kids who score high.