Anonymous
08/08/2015 18:30
Subject: Re:Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
PP is exactly the type of ratings-obsessed person who leads many to consider fleeing to other jurisdictions. God forbid your average test scores arguably tip you into the bottom third of FCPS high schools - no matter that FCPS is the highest performing of any of the large school districts in the DC region - someone will call it out as if the school is a basket case. By the same logic, W-L in Arlington is in the bottom half of schools in APS, and Gid forbid PP looks at some of the Loudoun stats. Ridiculous.
Anonymous
08/08/2015 17:03
Subject: Re:Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How is Westfield High School?
I would like to know as well, looking at houses in that boundary
It's not Mt. Vernon or Lee bad, but it's not a strong high school. You'd do better to shift your search slightly & get Oakton or Chantilly.
Could you please elaborate why is it not a strong high school?
It actually is a strong high school. Just big and somewhat more diverse thanO Oakton and Chantilly, but still AP.
Which is code for saying that Westfield has a significantly higher % of students who don't identify as white or Asian (37% vs 20% Oakton & 25% Chantilly); higher FARMS % (26% vs 13% & 17%) higher ESL % (9% vs 6% & 5%). It also has lower test scores (SOL pass & SAT) and lower college bound %. It a GS 6 vs GS 8 for Oakton and Chantilly. So, not terrible, but not strong either.
FCPS won't rank it's high schools, but US News would be glad to do it for them. And based on college readiness and English and math proficiency, it comes in 16th or 17th out of the 25 traditional high schools. After the 14 that are actually ranked, and after Herndon, and about tied with Centerville. So top of the bottom 1/3 of high schools. Of course there are kids there who are smart and successful, and no one is saying it's Stuart, Lee, Mt. Vernon bad. But by almost any objective metric, there are lots of better FCPS high schools. And if you want to live in that part of the county, you can probably get get a better high school without paying a lot more for a house.
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools?page=2
Anonymous
08/08/2015 16:44
Subject: Re:Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How is Westfield High School?
I would like to know as well, looking at houses in that boundary
It's not Mt. Vernon or Lee bad, but it's not a strong high school. You'd do better to shift your search slightly & get Oakton or Chantilly.
Could you please elaborate why is it not a strong high school?
It actually is a strong high school. Just big and somewhat more diverse thanO Oakton and Chantilly, but still AP.
Which is code for saying that Westfield has a significantly higher % of students who don't identify as white or Asian (37% vs 20% Oakton & 25% Chantilly); higher FARMS % (26% vs 13% & 17%) higher ESL % (9% vs 6% & 5%). It also has lower test scores (SOL pass & SAT) and lower college bound %. It a GS 6 vs GS 8 for Oakton and Chantilly. So, not terrible, but not strong either.
None of which speaks to whether a specific student would do any better at Chantilly or Oakton than Westfield. There is a very large cohort of high-achieving kids at Westfield.
Anonymous
08/08/2015 16:21
Subject: Re:Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How is Westfield High School?
I would like to know as well, looking at houses in that boundary
It's not Mt. Vernon or Lee bad, but it's not a strong high school. You'd do better to shift your search slightly & get Oakton or Chantilly.
Could you please elaborate why is it not a strong high school?
It actually is a strong high school. Just big and somewhat more diverse thanO Oakton and Chantilly, but still AP.
Which is code for saying that Westfield has a significantly higher % of students who don't identify as white or Asian (37% vs 20% Oakton & 25% Chantilly); higher FARMS % (26% vs 13% & 17%) higher ESL % (9% vs 6% & 5%). It also has lower test scores (SOL pass & SAT) and lower college bound %. It a GS 6 vs GS 8 for Oakton and Chantilly. So, not terrible, but not strong either.
Anonymous
08/08/2015 16:03
Subject: Re:Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How is Westfield High School?
I would like to know as well, looking at houses in that boundary
It's not Mt. Vernon or Lee bad, but it's not a strong high school. You'd do better to shift your search slightly & get Oakton or Chantilly.
Could you please elaborate why is it not a strong high school?
It actually is a strong high school. Just big and somewhat more diverse thanO Oakton and Chantilly, but still AP.
Anonymous
08/08/2015 15:39
Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:honestly, the insanity that is Fairfax County is making me think moving to PWC or Stafford is the better choice for our family. My husband works north of Fredericksburg and our first is an average student. Getting away from the pressure cooker might be a welcome change in general. FCPS has made it pretty obvious that they cater to the upper class and gifted.
This is exactly what we're thinking too. We've had it up to here with FCPS bending over backwards for the "gifted" students, AAP, etc. I'd love a normal high school environment for my kids.
You get that "AAP services" in HS are open enrollment honors/AP/ IB, right? You're against these things?
Anonymous
08/08/2015 15:12
Subject: Re:Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How is Westfield High School?
I would like to know as well, looking at houses in that boundary
It's not Mt. Vernon or Lee bad, but it's not a strong high school. You'd do better to shift your search slightly & get Oakton or Chantilly.
Could you please elaborate why is it not a strong high school?
Anonymous
08/08/2015 14:57
Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:honestly, the insanity that is Fairfax County is making me think moving to PWC or Stafford is the better choice for our family. My husband works north of Fredericksburg and our first is an average student. Getting away from the pressure cooker might be a welcome change in general. FCPS has made it pretty obvious that they cater to the upper class and gifted.
This is exactly what we're thinking too. We've had it up to here with FCPS bending over backwards for the "gifted" students, AAP, etc. I'd love a normal high school environment for my kids.
You get that "AAP services" in HS are open enrollment honors/AP/ IB, right? You're against these things?
Anonymous
08/08/2015 14:42
Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:honestly, the insanity that is Fairfax County is making me think moving to PWC or Stafford is the better choice for our family. My husband works north of Fredericksburg and our first is an average student. Getting away from the pressure cooker might be a welcome change in general. FCPS has made it pretty obvious that they cater to the upper class and gifted.
This is exactly what we're thinking too. We've had it up to here with FCPS bending over backwards for the "gifted" students, AAP, etc. I'd love a normal high school environment for my kids.
What do you consider "normal"? Schools with no AP or IB opportunities? Schools where band and sports are the only extra-curriculars and there aren't other theatre and journalism programs or special-interest clubs? You won't find high schools like that in FCPS. On the other hand, there is no AAP in high school, so I'm not sure what your point was there.
Anonymous
08/08/2015 14:36
Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
The thing is, everyone has complaints about their high school, whether it's FCPS or another county. Whether they attended recently, or back in the 80's. High school is (generally) a universally bad experience. There will always be the rich kids, the jocks, the smart kids, etc. etc. That's what high school is! A bunch of cliques and you're lucky if you find yourself some like-minded friends. I went to school in the midwest, and all of these descriptions could have applied to my very middle-of-the-road high school.
Good luck finding the "perfect" school, because it doesn't exist. Teens are teens, the whole world over.
Good luck finding the "perfect" school, because it doesn't exist. Teens are teens, the whole world over.
Anonymous
08/08/2015 14:33
Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:honestly, the insanity that is Fairfax County is making me think moving to PWC or Stafford is the better choice for our family. My husband works north of Fredericksburg and our first is an average student. Getting away from the pressure cooker might be a welcome change in general. FCPS has made it pretty obvious that they cater to the upper class and gifted.
This is exactly what we're thinking too. We've had it up to here with FCPS bending over backwards for the "gifted" students, AAP, etc. I'd love a normal high school environment for my kids.
Anonymous
08/08/2015 14:29
Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:They are all awful and so smugly self-satisfied. FCPS is a self-contained provincial asylum which sends about 90% of its students to roughly five in-state universities. These poor kids are born, live their lives and die without ever leaving the confines of the Commonwealth of Virgnia.
Their students graduate woefully unprepared for the rigors of life and college academics.
Sorry your kid didn't get into a decent Va. school. You are an idiot.
This is a typical response from a mindless FCPS student lacking any and all analytical skills. Rather than supporting your position with a reasoned argument you make false assumptions and personal attacks. This FCPS student like many others would destroy others rather than listening and spending the time and effort required to improve themselves.
Hurry up and get out of bed. You are already late for two-a-days!
There's no analysis in your post. You are just bitter, useless excrement.
+1
PP's post is not even legible. Complete loon.
Anonymous
08/08/2015 14:27
Subject: Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Langley, yes. Mostly about spoiled, entitled kids and parents with outsized egos.
Also, terrible mix of privilege and wealth and recreational drugs and competition over has and has more.
Yet another thread that devolves into Langley hate. I'm a Langley parent and the above is nonsense. Of course, if you had children who actually attended this school, you'd know that. Stop spreading these disgusting rumors about a school and student body about which you know nothing.
May I borrow your magic mirror, Crazy Lady? How do you know a thing about me? Can you see me now? How many fingers? That's right just one...
Wow. So you're saying you do have kids attending Langley? Right. Didn't think so.
That's some kind of chip on your shoulder though...
Anonymous
08/07/2015 22:34
Subject: Re:Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
South Lakes. I've heard bad stuff about it 20 years ago and a few years ago.
Anonymous
08/07/2015 22:06
Subject: Re:Which fcps high school do you hear the worst stories about?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How is Westfield High School?
I would like to know as well, looking at houses in that boundary
It's not Mt. Vernon or Lee bad, but it's not a strong high school. You'd do better to shift your search slightly & get Oakton or Chantilly.