Anonymous wrote:

but I'm sending my kids to Catholic for elementary,

This is a good plan, for elementary and middle. Then go to Woodson. The most confident/happiest, and also hard working students I met at Woodson started at private. They were able to avoid the memo on whether or not they were "gifted"

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Anonymous wrote:I laugh when I see the area around Woodson referred to as blue collar or middle class. We could have afforded other areas but wanted to have good commutes, good schools and not be surrounded by assholes. We are a two SES household and do just fine on our 400k combined income. We save for college, go on vacations and our children do not suffer from our lost salaries.

It is middle class. No one said blue collar, and no one said middle class in a negative way. Middle class doesn't mean no vacations. Many families make significantly less than you do in that area, and may have a harder time saving for college, especially if they have multiple kids. I also don't think people calling the area middle class are being assholes. They are trying to figure out what could be an underlying cause for the suicides to see what can be done to help to prevent any more.

It's common for people to claim test scores are correlated with housing prices and/or income levels. Woodson has test scores similar to Madison and Oakton, where the housing is more expensive, and single-family housing prices similar to South Lakes, Robinson and Centreville, where the test scores are lower. Should that gap be viewed merely as a source of pride, or is it related to factors that have led Woodson to experience far more suicides than any other high school in NoVa? The only assholes on display are those who try to shut down the questions before they are asked, even as the tragedies continue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I laugh when I see the area around Woodson referred to as blue collar or middle class. We could have afforded other areas but wanted to have good commutes, good schools and not be surrounded by assholes. We are a two SES household and do just fine on our 400k combined income. We save for college, go on vacations and our children do not suffer from our lost salaries.

It is middle class. No one said blue collar, and no one said middle class in a negative way. Middle class doesn't mean no vacations. Many families make significantly less than you do in that area, and may have a harder time saving for college, especially if they have multiple kids. I also don't think people calling the area middle class are being assholes. They are trying to figure out what could be an underlying cause for the suicides to see what can be done to help to prevent any more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I laugh when I see the area around Woodson referred to as blue collar or middle class. We could have afforded other areas but wanted to have good commutes, good schools and not be surrounded by assholes. We are a two SES household and do just fine on our 400k combined income. We save for college, go on vacations and our children do not suffer from our lost salaries.

It is middle class. No one said blue collar, and no one said middle class in a negative way. Middle class doesn't mean no vacations. Many families make significantly less than you do in that area, and may have a harder time saving for college, especially if they have multiple kids. I also don't think people calling the area middle class are being assholes. They are trying to figure out what could be an underlying cause for the suicides to see what can be done to help to prevent any more.

It's common for people to claim test scores are correlated with housing prices and/or income levels. Woodson has test scores similar to Madison and Oakton, where the housing is more expensive, and single-family housing prices similar to South Lakes, Robinson and Centreville, where the test scores are lower. Should that gap be viewed merely as a source of pride, or is it related to factors that have led Woodson to experience far more suicides than any other high school in NoVa? The only assholes on display are those who try to shut down the questions before they are asked, even as the tragedies continue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I laugh when I see the area around Woodson referred to as blue collar or middle class. We could have afforded other areas but wanted to have good commutes, good schools and not be surrounded by assholes. We are a two SES household and do just fine on our 400k combined income. We save for college, go on vacations and our children do not suffer from our lost salaries.

It is middle class. No one said blue collar, and no one said middle class in a negative way. Middle class doesn't mean no vacations. Many families make significantly less than you do in that area, and may have a harder time saving for college, especially if they have multiple kids. I also don't think people calling the area middle class are being assholes. They are trying to figure out what could be an underlying cause for the suicides to see what can be done to help to prevent any more.

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Anonymous wrote:PLEASE! This is a serious issue. A child is dead. Can we make our schools better? What can we do to prevent this?

Has FC brought in mental health professionals to interview families and students?

What exactly are the mental health professionals recommending?

They bring them in to 'help with stress reduction'. When I suggested that the school could simply reduce stress, the administrators just looked at me with blank stares. The mental health professionals, on the other hand, could not agree more. They are simply doing their best to counteract the daily damage being done.

INDEPENDENT Health Professionals MUST:

1. First IDENTIFY the PROBLEMS
2. Formally RECOMMEND the best SOLUTIONS

Nothing will improve until this happens. Believe me.

Anonymous wrote:I laugh when I see the area around Woodson referred to as blue collar or middle class. We could have afforded other areas but wanted to have good commutes, good schools and not be surrounded by assholes. We are a two SES household and do just fine on our 400k combined income. We save for college, go on vacations and our children do not suffer from our lost salaries.

Anonymous wrote:I laugh when I see the area around Woodson referred to as blue collar or middle class. We could have afforded other areas but wanted to have good commutes, good schools and not be surrounded by assholes. We are a two SES household and do just fine on our 400k combined income. We save for college, go on vacations and our children do not suffer from our lost salaries.

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Anonymous wrote:^^^ that's not the teachers fault. How often do you hear parents on this thread spouting off about merit pay for teachers. Teachers who produce get better pay. Well how the hell is that measured? Oh that's right! Test scores.
Check out the thread on Hayfield. Bunch of a$$holes talking about how terrible Lee, Annandale, Stuart etc... are. They would never send their kids to a GS 5! Well, pick your poison. You want your property values, I guess some eggs get cracked in that omelette. God forbid you don't have a big enough "peer" group.
Quit blaming the administration and teachers. Or move ffs. You don't like the culture of that GS 10 school? Well honey, there are a bunch of 5's right down the road.

Much easier to spout off about how great her $40,000 private was.

Sweetheart- my kid is slated to go to a very undesirable high school, as per these threads. The only people who have my sympathy in these scenarios are the kids. You parents are the worst.

Exactly. Do you think it was my first choice to pay big money to send my three kids to private high schools? I was quite happy with the elementary and middle school so I'm not the private school 'snob' these folk want to make me out to be. It ended up being a necessity because it is my KIDS that mattered. Your child will probably do fine in the 'undesirable' school because you get it.

Who put a gun to your head and made you live in Great Falls and send your kids to Langley? If it was so horrible, you could have pupil placed them to South Lakes or Marshall. Easier to spend hundreds of thousands on privates, I guess, and then come on here railing against people trying to do their best at the public schools or the "illegal children" who attend them.

THIS. We live in Great Falls and our kids attend Langley. They are happy and enjoy school. But if they didn't? We would do exactly as the PP suggested and pupil place for South Lakes or Marshall. What's the point of spending so much money on privates that cultivate the same - or WORSE - culture of competitiveness? Why wouldn't you place your child in a less competitive school if they were feeling pressure?

All privates are not alike. If you tried to pupil place in South Lakes because your kid was not happy or thriving at Langley, you would be put in the Non-IB program and if your kid was smart, the principal would tell you it was not a good idea. You have to start IB Freshman year.

I hear this a lot from fellow Great Falls people. They have the big house, expensive cars, large diamonds, take multiple expensive vacations, but when it comes to their kids, they think private school as an alternative is a waste. That's your choice. There are a lot more unhappy kids than you think at Langley, and other competitive publics, but they are loathe to talk about it with what they feel are unsympathetic adults.

Coming from a Jewish family, education is very important to us. Jews studied even in concentration camps, and have always equated education and survival. Perhaps that makes me particularly attuned to whether or not my kids enjoy learning, rather than just going through the motions. My boys attended a private many here either have never heard of, or if they have, make fun of. Too bad, because they are missing out.

The fact is, Fairfax county schools have been going downhill and a lot of that is due to the school board and the way our tax dollars are spent.

So wait a minute. Aside from your obsession with the size of other women's diamonds, you keep claiming that privates (specifically Bullis, of course) are the panacea for "unhappy kids." No mention of all of the wealth on constant display at these privates - wealth that far exceeds what one finds at even the "best" publics. You complain about the competitive parents at FCPS high schools, but no mention at all of the same type of parents who populate private schools. Why is this? Why do you think privates - specifically Bullis - are so much healthier and lower-stress for kids? Hint: they're not. You're simply paying a fortune to happily be lulled into feeling like your kids are not under the academic and social pressure you claim they would be at a public. You're so full of it.

Smaller classes. Better meals. Individualized curriculum. Better guidance support. Need I go
He n?

"Better meals"??? Oh, honey.

Food is fuel. Or do only eat kale?

My kids and most of the other kids I know bring their own healthy, nutritious meals from home. It's called common sense.

I would imagine you have to, given the crap served up in the publics.

Perhaps, but at least we don't have the racism problem that Bullis has.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:You really think a guidance counselor with hundreds of students is going to be able to properly guide students? They may give some helpful information or talk to a student if a student comes to them, but they aren't going out of their way to encourage kids to take classes well above their comfort zone. They may encourage kids take some AP classes, but I don't think they're the ones encouraging kids to take 5 plus AP's.

Exactly. We regularly get emails from school instructing parents to wisely counsel their kids about NOT taking too many APs. There is constant information about how much work AP classes entail and to be sure students aren't overloading on those classes. No one has ever encouraged or insisted students take more than they can handle.

There have been recent lawsuits. Don't doubt it

OMG. Links, please?

Loudoun County parents sue over suicide of their son:

http://loudounnow.com/2016/12/06/loudoun-parents-sue-school-counselor-over-sons-suicide/

NY parents sue:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/upstate-n-y-parents-sue-school-daughter-suicide-article-1.2808970

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/23/mundelein-high-school-sued-in-connection-to-teens-/

Here's a college case:

https://bossip.com/902420/update-father-of-upenn-track-star-who-jumped-to-her-death-says-stress-over-school-led-to-her-suicide/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, maybe collectively, people should calm down and smart kids should take themselves out of the rat race. If a tier 3 school finds themselves with smart tier 1 students who didn't want to take 15 APs, then maybe that school will become better quality in the long run.

This is exactly the path we're taking with our kids. Couldn't agree more.