Why would kids leave Longfellow after 7th grade? 8th is not a typical entry year in private school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I meant size of Rachel Carson (not Rocky Run) compared to Longfellow.sorry about that.

Anecdotally, I know several Longfellow to McLean teens who choose McLean because they felt the benefits didn't out weigh the hassles of TJ. The commute for one is a hurdle, especially if you can walk to your home HS. That is more freedom for the student. They want to be with their friends, since Rachel Carson is a split feeder to so may HS- that may not be a factor for them. In recent years, we have seen no rhyme or reason who gets in to TJ and who doesn't. Students we thought were slam dunk didn't get accepted- others that were extremely iffy did. That puts a damper on the next year. There is definitely a sector that has cooled to TJ. There is another set of kids that go to private in HS and maybe they also did not see the benefits out weighing the negatives.

Longfellow is SO much closer to TJ than other areas like Rocky Run etc. I'm surprised the commute isn't more of a deterrent for Rocky RUn kids-it is way out there.

Yes, it is, but it is still a deterrent and that goes for Rachel Carson too. Again, the post was about Rachel Carson, not Rocky Run. I don't know why people keep responding about Rocky Run. Rocky Run's admission stats are so similar to Longfellow- there isn't a real difference to figure out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More kids at Longfellow can afford to apply to privates.

Agree. Our family and many others prefer private schools. Many very capable Longfellow students did not even apply to TJ.

The kids in our neighborhood who go private mostly do so before they get to Longfellow.

The number of seventh graders at Longfellow this year is a good bit higher than the number of eighth graders. It will be interesting to see whether Longfellow applications to TJ go back up then.

That has been true for the past few years. The enrollment at Longfellow seems to be in a growth period and many leave after 7th.

Not that I can tell. There were more eighth graders than seventh graders, for example, in both the 2012-13 and 2011-12 school years. It seems likely there will be more next year as well.

In addition, the mobility rate at Longfellow is well below the county average and lower than at nearby Kilmer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More kids at Longfellow can afford to apply to privates.

Agree. Our family and many others prefer private schools. Many very capable Longfellow students did not even apply to TJ.

The kids in our neighborhood who go private mostly do so before they get to Longfellow.

The number of seventh graders at Longfellow this year is a good bit higher than the number of eighth graders. It will be interesting to see whether Longfellow applications to TJ go back up then.

That has been true for the past few years. The enrollment at Longfellow seems to be in a growth period and many leave after 7th.

Anonymous wrote:More kids at Longfellow can afford to apply to privates.

True, but that isn't a change.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More kids at Longfellow can afford to apply to privates.

Agree. Our family and many others prefer private schools. Many very capable Longfellow students did not even apply to TJ.

The kids in our neighborhood who go private mostly do so before they get to Longfellow.

The number of seventh graders at Longfellow this year is a good bit higher than the number of eighth graders. It will be interesting to see whether Longfellow applications to TJ go back up then.

Anonymous wrote:More kids at Longfellow can afford to apply to privates.

Agree. Our family and many others prefer private schools. Many very capable Longfellow students did not even apply to TJ.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if overall applications are down because of the renovation.

Yeah, that must be it.

It can partially explain it. Living through a renovation sucks.

I'm skeptical that's an important consideration, given the other advantages associated with TJ. I think the main causes are (1) growing satisfaction with base school options, (2) commute, and (3) concern on the part of more students that they don't have much chance of getting into TJ and probably wouldn't fit in anyway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if overall applications are down because of the renovation.

Yeah, that must be it.

It can partially explain it. Living through a renovation sucks.

More kids at Longfellow can afford to apply to privates.

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if overall applications are down because of the renovation.

Yeah, that must be it.

I wonder if overall applications are down because of the renovation.

Anonymous wrote: AAP (8th) % of AAP who applied
Carson 291 82%
Rocky Run 244 73%
Longfellow 240 69%
Kilmer 207 80%
Frost 160 64%
Lake Braddock 171 52%
Jackson 128 58%
Twain 91 89%

On the other hand, of the students who applied, these are percentages for those making the first cut from those who applied is about the same for Carson, Rocky Run, and Longfellow (about 75%) and lower for the other schools (65%-37%). So it doesn't appear that the lower fraction of Longfellow or Rocky Run students applying to TJ versus Carson (69% and 73% compared with 82%) is of any higher or lower caliber. Of course, if the math tests for the semifinal selection were harder these might or might not change, but it is impossible to know which direction they would change. The only thing that can be said now is that the students applying from each of the top 3 schools are of similar caliber at least as far as the semifinalist pool selection is concerned. It doesn't say anything about those not applying either, but looking at the same data point from a couple of years ago when an equal fraction of Carson and Longfellow students applied, the semifinal percentage success rate was similar for Longfellow (73.8% and 76%) and Carson was at (68%). So it has increased this year for Carson.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I meant size of Rachel Carson (not Rocky Run) compared to Longfellow.sorry about that.

Anecdotally, I know several Longfellow to McLean teens who choose McLean because they felt the benefits didn't out weigh the hassles of TJ. The commute for one is a hurdle, especially if you can walk to your home HS. That is more freedom for the student. They want to be with their friends, since Rachel Carson is a split feeder to so may HS- that may not be a factor for them. In recent years, we have seen no rhyme or reason who gets in to TJ and who doesn't. Students we thought were slam dunk didn't get accepted- others that were extremely iffy did. That puts a damper on the next year. There is definitely a sector that has cooled to TJ. There is another set of kids that go to private in HS and maybe they also did not see the benefits out weighing the negatives.

Longfellow is SO much closer to TJ than other areas like Rocky Run etc. I'm surprised the commute isn't more of a deterrent for Rocky RUn kids-it is way out there.

I am the pp to whom you replied. I was comparing Longfellow to Rachel Carson not Rocky Run. Yes, the commute from Herndon would be greater than from Langley/McLean, but the commute to TJ is still a hurdle from McLean/Langley and people see it as a significant deterrent.

Anonymous wrote:Which part of Longfellow feeds to langley? I thought cooper went to langley?

There are AAP kids from Churchill Road, Spring Hill and Franklin Sherman who go to Longfellow and then Langley. Cooper also feeds to Langley but has not had AAP.