Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those statements could be attributed to any school and I don't care who says them, it is an opinion-not a fact. And, I am not a part of the McLean Langley community.

Any school with the same demographics, yes. But she IS talking about what she sees in her practice. I have heard the same thing from other medical professionals in the area. I assumed they know of what they speak

A mental health professional whose office is in downtown McLean is going to see more kids from Langley and McLean than from other schools. I will give Dr. Sporn the benefit of the doubt, and assume that she's reporting what her patients tell her, but her patients aren't necessarily representative of most students in the pyramids. PP tells us frequently that she'd be happy if her private-school DD goes to a lesser-known university (like Vanderbilt, LOL), but these pyramids have plenty of kids who happily go off to schools like VT, VCU, and JMU with those around them wishing them to the best. I wonder whether they'd get the same reception at Bullis.

Actually, I don't care where she goes to school as long as she's happy. Vanderbilt is in the Heart of Nashville, and any acoustic guitar player would love to spend time there, hence my statement.

I have made it a point to speak with many medical professionals in the area. Langley's reputation is notorious for stress. Do you see all those posters at Langley and the parent seminars and coffee addressing it?

If you look at where Bullis kids go to school, it's all over the map, and that is good, at least for us

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those statements could be attributed to any school and I don't care who says them, it is an opinion-not a fact. And, I am not a part of the McLean Langley community.

Any school with the same demographics, yes. But she IS talking about what she sees in her practice. I have heard the same thing from other medical professionals in the area. I assumed they know of what they speak

A mental health professional whose office is in downtown McLean is going to see more kids from Langley and McLean than from other schools. I will give Dr. Sporn the benefit of the doubt, and assume that she's reporting what her patients tell her, but her patients aren't necessarily representative of most students in the pyramids. PP tells us frequently that she'd be happy if her private-school DD goes to a lesser-known university (like Vanderbilt, LOL), but these pyramids have plenty of kids who happily go off to schools like VT, VCU, and JMU with those around them wishing them to the best. I wonder whether they'd get the same reception at Bullis.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those statements could be attributed to any school and I don't care who says them, it is an opinion-not a fact. And, I am not a part of the McLean Langley community.

Any school with the same demographics, yes. But she IS talking about what she sees in her practice. I have heard the same thing from other medical professionals in the area. I assumed they know of what they speak

Anonymous wrote:Those statements could be attributed to any school and I don't care who says them, it is an opinion-not a fact. And, I am not a part of the McLean Langley community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember seeing a documentary where fat teens talked about being bullied horribly. These kids were moved by their parents to a private school where they were helped with their weight loss at the same time they were being educated. All those kids said how much better things were for them, how much happier they were, how they had thought about suicide, but now saw a future ahead of them. They described a situational depression, and that type of depression is horrible when you feel trapped. And high school kids ARE trapped, in that if parents don't hear their concerns, if administrators don't hear their concerns, they feel hopeless.

My point, of course, is not about weight so please don't go there. My point is that environment makes a huge difference, and we DO have choices for our kids. One can move them to another public school in the area, move them to private school, or home-school (there are large communities of home-schoolers, programs, social events, etc).

For me, as I've mentioned, my first son had a learning disability that would now be accommodated (i.e. kids can bring tablets, etc), but at the time, was not. Moving him to a school where the kids brought laptops daily made the problem disappear. My daughter was just not happy in her public high school. After moving her, she's discovered that she loves a smaller, interactive environment where she has more influence and can get to know her teachers as people. She's choosing a college with that in mind. My youngest simply got a taste for private over public, and that was it for him. He moved to the same school as my eldest child, and it's like he has always belonged there.

All three kids loved the public elementary. My daughter loved the public middle school, the same one my son hated. Listening to the kids, understanding their needs and desires, made a huge difference.

Kids go through K-12 one time; why keep it miserable for them? Why allow administrators to do so? School boards? Politicians? As parents, it's our job to fight for what isn't working and sometimes, to know when to drop and punt.

Yes, Linda, that's well said, but not everyone can afford three private school tuitions, and you never should have extrapolated to the extent you did based on your daughter's own personal experience to bash Langley, particularly over the past 10 days. That was incredibly painful and distressing to people there at a time when what they most needed was love and support.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember seeing a documentary where fat teens talked about being bullied horribly. These kids were moved by their parents to a private school where they were helped with their weight loss at the same time they were being educated. All those kids said how much better things were for them, how much happier they were, how they had thought about suicide, but now saw a future ahead of them. They described a situational depression, and that type of depression is horrible when you feel trapped. And high school kids ARE trapped, in that if parents don't hear their concerns, if administrators don't hear their concerns, they feel hopeless.

My point, of course, is not about weight so please don't go there. My point is that environment makes a huge difference, and we DO have choices for our kids. One can move them to another public school in the area, move them to private school, or home-school (there are large communities of home-schoolers, programs, social events, etc).

For me, as I've mentioned, my first son had a learning disability that would now be accommodated (i.e. kids can bring tablets, etc), but at the time, was not. Moving him to a school where the kids brought laptops daily made the problem disappear. My daughter was just not happy in her public high school. After moving her, she's discovered that she loves a smaller, interactive environment where she has more influence and can get to know her teachers as people. She's choosing a college with that in mind. My youngest simply got a taste for private over public, and that was it for him. He moved to the same school as my eldest child, and it's like he has always belonged there.

All three kids loved the public elementary. My daughter loved the public middle school, the same one my son hated. Listening to the kids, understanding their needs and desires, made a huge difference.

Kids go through K-12 one time; why keep it miserable for them? Why allow administrators to do so? School boards? Politicians? As parents, it's our job to fight for what isn't working and sometimes, to know when to drop and punt.

Yes, Linda, that's well said, but not everyone can afford three private school tuitions, and you never should have extrapolated to the extent you did based on your daughter's own personal experience to bash Langley, particularly over the past 10 days. That was incredibly painful and distressing to people there at a time when what they most needed was love and support.

Anonymous wrote:I remember seeing a documentary where fat teens talked about being bullied horribly. These kids were moved by their parents to a private school where they were helped with their weight loss at the same time they were being educated. All those kids said how much better things were for them, how much happier they were, how they had thought about suicide, but now saw a future ahead of them. They described a situational depression, and that type of depression is horrible when you feel trapped. And high school kids ARE trapped, in that if parents don't hear their concerns, if administrators don't hear their concerns, they feel hopeless.

My point, of course, is not about weight so please don't go there. My point is that environment makes a huge difference, and we DO have choices for our kids. One can move them to another public school in the area, move them to private school, or home-school (there are large communities of home-schoolers, programs, social events, etc).

For me, as I've mentioned, my first son had a learning disability that would now be accommodated (i.e. kids can bring tablets, etc), but at the time, was not. Moving him to a school where the kids brought laptops daily made the problem disappear. My daughter was just not happy in her public high school. After moving her, she's discovered that she loves a smaller, interactive environment where she has more influence and can get to know her teachers as people. She's choosing a college with that in mind. My youngest simply got a taste for private over public, and that was it for him. He moved to the same school as my eldest child, and it's like he has always belonged there.

All three kids loved the public elementary. My daughter loved the public middle school, the same one my son hated. Listening to the kids, understanding their needs and desires, made a huge difference.

Kids go through K-12 one time; why keep it miserable for them? Why allow administrators to do so? School boards? Politicians? As parents, it's our job to fight for what isn't working and sometimes, to know when to drop and punt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Crazy U" should be required reading for every parent and high school teacher who cares, but especially for the Fairfax County School Board.

Anyone think the Board would read it?

they want their version of the Oscar, so no

Spot on.

Anonymous wrote:I sent copies to my College's admissions office as well as our public high school's college admissions director. They howled.