What extra do Mclean and Vienna do for their town high schools that make them so special?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Mason is the only HS in Falls Church City. McLean is the high school for central McLean. Madison is the high school for the Town of Vienna. Langley is the high school for all of Great Falls.

Marshall is the high school for a regional shopping mall, some office parks, and a bunch of random neighborhoods in Falls Church, Vienna, Dunn Loring and McLean. There really isn't any community that takes much interest in the school compared to the others.

This is your platform agains Marshall on every thread for at least the past three years. Not everyone wants/needs that Midwestern/southern town feel where life revolves around the high school. This is northern Virginia. It's not like that here. Never has been, never will be.

No one is suggesting life should revolve entirely around the local high school. However, Marshall is particularly deficient in terms of not having a community feel compared to many of the schools with which it likes to be compared. The kids know it, the parents know it, and the people avoiding the district to buy elsewhere know it. You are in denial about something that is well known in local circles and not really up for debate.

remind me the community feel of langley in great falls (the largest geo graphic school district)

Or the strange carved out areas of mclean?

Oakton?

Woodson?

The list goes on, but yes, congratulation on Town of Vienna having the largest strip continuous strip mall traffic jammed road inside the beltway with a gathering area.

Who am I to speak about my very own McLean, probably the saddest collection of stores and restaurtants this area has to offer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Mason is the only HS in Falls Church City. McLean is the high school for central McLean. Madison is the high school for the Town of Vienna. Langley is the high school for all of Great Falls.

Marshall is the high school for a regional shopping mall, some office parks, and a bunch of random neighborhoods in Falls Church, Vienna, Dunn Loring and McLean. There really isn't any community that takes much interest in the school compared to the others.

This is your platform agains Marshall on every thread for at least the past three years. Not everyone wants/needs that Midwestern/southern town feel where life revolves around the high school. This is northern Virginia. It's not like that here. Never has been, never will be.

No one is suggesting life should revolve entirely around the local high school. However, Marshall is particularly deficient in terms of not having a community feel compared to many of the schools with which it likes to be compared. The kids know it, the parents know it, and the people avoiding the district to buy elsewhere know it. You are in denial about something that is well known in local circles and not really up for debate.

"Not everyone wants/needs that Midwestern/southern town feel where life revolves around the high school. This is northern Virginia."

(not pp you replied to)
Not everyone - but many people. The lack of "town feel" except in the richest areas here is part of what I miss about where I'm from.

Would be nice to know that some schools have this feel to them and help create SOME sense of community although I think there's a way to put it more positively such as "x y z schools are really great at creating a sense of place/community support" rather than in a negative attack the way PP framed it: "x school is the school for a mall, office parks and random neighborhoods with no community taking much interest in them".

Anonymous wrote:George Mason is the only HS in Falls Church City. McLean is the high school for central McLean. Madison is the high school for the Town of Vienna. Langley is the high school for all of Great Falls.

Marshall is the high school for a regional shopping mall, some office parks, and a bunch of random neighborhoods in Falls Church, Vienna, Dunn Loring and McLean. There really isn't any community that takes much interest in the school compared to the others.

This is your platform agains Marshall on every thread for at least the past three years. Not everyone wants/needs that Midwestern/southern town feel where life revolves around the high school. This is northern Virginia. It's not like that here. Never has been, never will be.

^ that school does not suck.

9:55 - paraphrased " yeah but if we did not reply you might think that suck does not suck!"

Thank you for proving my point. Honestly - how people in the best districts do not realize that going out of their way to trash improving schools that are less well ranked is uncalled for is beyond me. It is just snotty.

- the VA house hunter, not a Marshall parent

Anonymous wrote:It's indicative of people who do know the school explaining why the hyping of SOL scores isn't going to make Marshall more desirable. Did you ever ask yourself why prices are higher and there are so many more upper-bracket sales in nearby districts?

Did you ever ask yourself why it matters so much to you that prices are higher or there are many more upper-bracket sales in nearby districts? That's not how everybody makes decisions. Moving here from overseas 10 years ago, our priority was diversity -- both economic and racial. We got that with Marshall. We didn't do an SOL or SAT comparison cuz short of those scores being in the toilet, who cares which school's average was the highest. We have smart kids and knew they'd do well if they worked hard.

If % of high income families at a school is your barometer, have at it, but it seems silly to get worked up because a school you don't think well of is appealing to others. Most Marshall parents don't want Marshall to become an "in" school because that would change the character of the student body.

There are a lot of people who think that the price of houses, SOL scores, and whether there is a "town center" nearby are indicators of whether one high school is "better" than another. The plain fact is that these high schools are more alike than they are different. Way more alike. The housing prices vary, but once you get to a certain level, honestly, how much difference does a few thousand more make? They all offer the same classes and curriculum. They all have a range of students. They all have specialized services. All of them are good schools in the total scheme of schools in the DMV or the USA.

Anonymous wrote:It's indicative of people who do know the school explaining why the hyping of SOL scores isn't going to make Marshall more desirable. Did you ever ask yourself why prices are higher and there are so many more upper-bracket sales in nearby districts?

Well a lot of people who move to the area use redfin and zillow which shows greatschool SOL rating as the indicator for school quality. The SOL scores do make a difference. In general people who hold on to the dear old 90s mantra of school quality will refute any schools not part of the original desirability. The only other reason would be to look for a place with all White and low minorities which is Madison or Langley and McLean.

Disclaimer we in McLean high so I don't have a bias against Marshall

Anonymous wrote:It's indicative of people who do know the school explaining why the hyping of SOL scores isn't going to make Marshall more desirable. Did you ever ask yourself why prices are higher and there are so many more upper-bracket sales in nearby districts?

The nearby districts like Mclean, Langley, Falls Church and Madison have been better rated for years. As you said, they all have town centers nearby, Falls Church being entirely incorporated. That doesn't mean that Marshall isn't doing better than it was previously. Personally I think Marshall and Chantilly are doing just as well if not better than some of the older schools that have been highly rated for ages. Of your list, Woodson, and Oakton don't really have strong town centers either and they are also doing very well if not better than the high schools with town centers.

It's indicative of people who do know the school explaining why the hyping of SOL scores isn't going to make Marshall more desirable. Did you ever ask yourself why prices are higher and there are so many more upper-bracket sales in nearby districts?

This whole thread has been further indication of what the other Marshall thread suggested - people at some of these other nearby schools seem really overly invested in tearing down another school and working to demonstrate why it is not good. If you're confident in your own choices you don't need to spend time tearing others down - unless you're just a nasty person.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Mason is the only HS in Falls Church City. McLean is the high school for central McLean. Madison is the high school for the Town of Vienna. Langley is the high school for all of Great Falls.

Marshall is the high school for a regional shopping mall, some office parks, and a bunch of random neighborhoods in Falls Church, Vienna, Dunn Loring and McLean. There really isn't any community that takes much interest in the school compared to the others.

Spoken like someone who knows absolutely nothing about the school. But keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel good.

You know it's true. No community takes any particular interest in Marshall. It sucks for the kids when they see the community support students at other schools receive. Sorry if you can't handle it.

I reiterate my previous comment. Obviously, you don't know Marshall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Mason is the only HS in Falls Church City. McLean is the high school for central McLean. Madison is the high school for the Town of Vienna. Langley is the high school for all of Great Falls.

Marshall is the high school for a regional shopping mall, some office parks, and a bunch of random neighborhoods in Falls Church, Vienna, Dunn Loring and McLean. There really isn't any community that takes much interest in the school compared to the others.

Spoken like someone who knows absolutely nothing about the school. But keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel good.

You know it's true. No community takes any particular interest in Marshall. It sucks for the kids when they see the community support students at other schools receive. Sorry if you can't handle it.

If you look at the map madison (which i probably your zone, i can smell you from a mile away), isn't just vienna, it's far out, mclean and langley aren't any better.

BTW we are in McLean and there isn't really a community feel for the entire area, the map is cut up and far reaching. The entire DC area is very transient. People come and go everywhere. It's not a small Mulberry, NC like town where people grow up and band together.

Haha. Town of Vienna, FCC and downtown McLean all have more of a small-town vibe than Tysons.

I guess Marshall is the community school for "America's next great city" but Tysons isn't so great yet.