Anonymous wrote:Are you in the Lee HS district? We have the same concerns. We love our house, neighborhood, commute, proximity to shopping and entertainment, everything - except the high school.

We don't plan to move, and will likely take our chances with Lee HS, but are doing our research on private schools and even homeschool options.

Many parents in our neighborhood are doing the same - or moving when the kids near HS age.

It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more middle-class or upper middle-class families moved or transferred their students out of Lee the lower the scores sank. This has not been a handful of moves or transfers, but hundreds. Going forward, if people kept their students at Lee you would see a quick turn around in the scores. They won't ever be as high as Langley or West Springfield because the demographics won't support that, but they would certainly improve from where they are now. FCPS allowed this to happen through poor boundary management (the last two boundary changes to affect Lee took wealthy students out of the school) and through its liberal pupil placement policy.

Lee is the smallest high school in FCPS so there are many opportunities for students to participate. If your student is motivated then they will do fine at any FCPS school. Your student's individual scores may greatly exceed the Lee average as my students did (and I wish he was a little bit more motivated).

Anonymous wrote:Can someone breakdown where the high schools are?
Which are western and which are eastern?

Going by location of the schools (not their boundaries):

Eastern - Langley/McLean/Marshall/Falls Church/Stuart/Annandale/TJ/Lee/Edison/Hayfield/Mount Vernon/West Potomac

Central - South County/West Springfield/Lake Braddock/Robinson/Woodson/Fairfax/Oakton/Madison

Western - Herndon/South Lakes/Chantilly/Centreville/Westfield

Can someone breakdown where the high schools are?
Which are western and which are eastern?

West Springfield and Lake Braddock are not in the eastern portion of anything, unless you are comparing to Loudoun. Hayfield is middling, but isn't all that bad.

Anonymous wrote:The only MIT PHD and Georgetown PHD I know both went to Hayfield. The only kids I know who dropped out of college went to TJ and SoCo (OK, the TJ kiddid finish at GMU. And I'll give the two South County kids a few more years to find themselves). I actually think going to hayfield helped the two PHd'er in their undergrad - UVA and an northern Ivy (I can't recall which).

I'd wait till your kid is in at least 5 or 6th grade. so much can change in a few years.

+1.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you were even tempted to think of Arlington as an alternative to the Kingstowne/Telegraph Road area , the threads on the schools forum about the racism at Yorktown, overcrowding at W-L, pitiful academic performance at Wakefield, and cast of crazy APS School Board members (Van Doren, Lander, etc.) will quickly confirm that you're better off looking at places like West Springfield and Burke instead.

Yet you guys bring it up. So weird.

Sounds like you need to develop thicker skin or move.

From my superior location? Umm... no...

Keep telling yourself that...LOL.

http://thebullelephant.com/northern-virginia-sat-scores-by-school-for-2016/

We don't worry about averages. We don't have average children.

True. Wakefield has below-average students.

The only MIT PHD and Georgetown PHD I know both went to Hayfield. The only kids I know who dropped out of college went to TJ and SoCo (OK, the TJ kiddid finish at GMU. And I'll give the two South County kids a few more years to find themselves). I actually think going to hayfield helped the two PHd'er in their undergrad - UVA and an northern Ivy (I can't recall which).

I'd wait till your kid is in at least 5 or 6th grade. so much can change in a few years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you were even tempted to think of Arlington as an alternative to the Kingstowne/Telegraph Road area , the threads on the schools forum about the racism at Yorktown, overcrowding at W-L, pitiful academic performance at Wakefield, and cast of crazy APS School Board members (Van Doren, Lander, etc.) will quickly confirm that you're better off looking at places like West Springfield and Burke instead.

Yet you guys bring it up. So weird.

Sounds like you need to develop thicker skin or move.

From my superior location? Umm... no...

Keep telling yourself that...LOL.

http://thebullelephant.com/northern-virginia-sat-scores-by-school-for-2016/

We don't worry about averages. We don't have average children.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you were even tempted to think of Arlington as an alternative to the Kingstowne/Telegraph Road area , the threads on the schools forum about the racism at Yorktown, overcrowding at W-L, pitiful academic performance at Wakefield, and cast of crazy APS School Board members (Van Doren, Lander, etc.) will quickly confirm that you're better off looking at places like West Springfield and Burke instead.

Yet you guys bring it up. So weird.

Sounds like you need to develop thicker skin or move.

From my superior location? Umm... no...

Keep telling yourself that...LOL.

http://thebullelephant.com/northern-virginia-sat-scores-by-school-for-2016/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you were even tempted to think of Arlington as an alternative to the Kingstowne/Telegraph Road area , the threads on the schools forum about the racism at Yorktown, overcrowding at W-L, pitiful academic performance at Wakefield, and cast of crazy APS School Board members (Van Doren, Lander, etc.) will quickly confirm that you're better off looking at places like West Springfield and Burke instead.

Yet you guys bring it up. So weird.

Sounds like you need to develop thicker skin or move.

From my superior location? Umm... no...

This can be solved easily. Bishop Ireton and then your kid gets a good education and you won't have to move.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you were even tempted to think of Arlington as an alternative to the Kingstowne/Telegraph Road area , the threads on the schools forum about the racism at Yorktown, overcrowding at W-L, pitiful academic performance at Wakefield, and cast of crazy APS School Board members (Van Doren, Lander, etc.) will quickly confirm that you're better off looking at places like West Springfield and Burke instead.

Yet you guys bring it up. So weird.

Sounds like you need to develop thicker skin or move.

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you were even tempted to think of Arlington as an alternative to the Kingstowne/Telegraph Road area , the threads on the schools forum about the racism at Yorktown, overcrowding at W-L, pitiful academic performance at Wakefield, and cast of crazy APS School Board members (Van Doren, Lander, etc.) will quickly confirm that you're better off looking at places like West Springfield and Burke instead.

Yet you guys bring it up. So weird.

OP, if you were even tempted to think of Arlington as an alternative to the Kingstowne/Telegraph Road area , the threads on the schools forum about the racism at Yorktown, overcrowding at W-L, pitiful academic performance at Wakefield, and cast of crazy APS School Board members (Van Doren, Lander, etc.) will quickly confirm that you're better off looking at places like West Springfield and Burke instead.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many neighborhoods in eastern Fairfax are great places to live and raise a family - Fort Hunt, Stratford Landing, Hayfield, Kingstowne, Saratoga. Great locations, good housing stock, etc. Why are some of the schools in those areas performing poorly? Good neighborhood schools are suddenly not so good. What's going on FCPS?

Huh? These areas look very good compared to, say, South Arlington.

The houses is south Arlington are comparatively much more expensive.

That is true, but they are being bought by people who don't care about the public schools.

Umm..no. Just not true at all.

Wakefield has some of the lowest SAT scores in NoVa. If OP has issues with Hayfield, she will have even more issues with lower performing Wakefield.

Yes yes, and people still pay a premium for it. We certainly prefer it to Stuart or wherever. Besides who said Op should look in south Arlington? She likely can't afford a comparable home located there.

What does it mean to "pay a premium" for a house there? Over what? You could just as easily say houses there sell "at a discount" compared to North Arlington, Falls Church, McLean, etc.

Stuart has higher SAT scores than Wakefield, and a growing IB diploma program. I'm not sure what Wakefield's selling point is other than the building and the basketball program, but in any event OP has better options in Fairfax than South Arlington.

Honestly, how daft do you have to be to not understand how much more expensive real estate is in any part of Arlington ( south Arlington included) compared to houses zoned Hayfield ( which I think is a perfectly fine school).

Take it to the Real Estate forum. You aren't being constructive here, and nothing you say is going to make Wakefield sound attractive as an alternative to the Hayfield pyramid.

I'm sorry that you are so insecure about your life choices. I'm sure the Wakefield graduate destined to be your child's boss will go easy on them!

Wakefield opened over 60 years ago. The Wiki page for the school features but four "notable alumni," one of whom was a professional wrestler and another of whom was the Fort Hood shooter.

The odds for your prediction are not looking great.

Most people are priced out of north Arlington, it's really no big deal. Boy, it certainly seems it stick in people's craw that they are priced out of " the worst part" of the county. Listen, not every one is going to have a great commute. Hopefully a strong peer group will make up for your absence at home.