Haycock vs Chesterbrook - Pros and Cons - Please Help

[chessmom]

Originally Posted by JEB77

In the last school year for which data has been reported (2010-11), Haycock reported a grand total of two disciplinary incidents and Chesterbrook did not report any.

That may give you some comfort but, as Claremarie said, some amount of bullying among adolescents is inevitable and bullied students may not report it to authorities (or tell parents) in any event. Others may disagree, but my own sense is that, in affluent areas like McLean and WFC, the "Mean Girl" syndrome among middle-school girls is more common than physical harassment involving either boys or girls.

Unless you have specific reason to think your child will be a target, I would not worry unduly about this, but instead would simply try to keep the communication lines open so your kid feels comfortable confiding in you if there is a problem. If your kid thinks you will immediately run off to raise this with administrators and other parents, my bet is that he or she will be less likely to tell you about it.

Thank you. That's what I was looking for. I am worried about going to a school where 7 kids are constantly jumping on one kid and no one does anything about it... I knew that wouldn't happen there but wanted to make sure... Where can I find those statistics?

[JD984]

Originally Posted by chessmom

Thank you. That's what I was looking for. I am worried about going to a school where 7 kids are constantly jumping on one kid and no one does anything about it... I knew that wouldn't happen there but wanted to make sure... Where can I find those statistics?

Haycock:

FCPS - School Profiles - Haycock ES - Demographics

Chesterbrook:

FCPS - School Profiles - Chesterbrook ES - Demographics

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by chessmom

Thank you. That's what I was looking for. I am worried about going to a school where 7 kids are constantly jumping on one kid and no one does anything about it... I knew that wouldn't happen there but wanted to make sure... Where can I find those statistics?

This is a general comment about ANY school and not specific to Haycock and/or Chesterbrook -- but these statistics are only useful if the school reports the issue and therefore the incident is recorded in the statistics. I know of several anecdotes (where "anecdotes" <> data) where FCPS students were bullied, the incidents were reported to teachers/principals, and not much (if anything) was done.

[Forehead]

I went to Haycock back in the mid 80's - early 90's and was actually there this weekend; visiting parents and took my kids to the playground. Whoever said Haycock has a nice playground wasn't there 20-25 years ago when there was a giant wooden playground with tons to do. That playground had character; the metal stuff they have now seems so sterile by comparison.

One thing that jumped out at me was the number of trailers. When I was in 5th or 6th grade, Haycock got their first two trailers, I spent half a year in one of them. There are tons of trailers now, all over what used to be a field for gym class, and partially over a blacktop area where we used to play basketball. The building could clearly use some updating as well.

Chesterbrook is a smaller school, but I don't know much else about it. I like where Haycock is situated, more in a neighborhood area, than I do Chesterbrook, which is nearer to a shopping center and has only one entrance off a main road, but this is really a minor issue. Your kid would get a solid educational foundation at either school if they are willing to listen and learn.

As for bullying, it's a fact of adolescence. I was lucky in that I didn't have to deal with it much at all, but I certainly observed it. As someone else mentioned, in a wealthier area like that, your kids would more likely have to deal with verbal and emotional harassment than being jumped by seven other teenagers like you read about in newspapers. Sure, it happens, but it's relatively rare in this area.

[choff5]

Originally Posted by Forehead

I went to Haycock back in the mid 80's - early 90's and was actually there this weekend; visiting parents and took my kids to the playground. Whoever said Haycock has a nice playground wasn't there 20-25 years ago when there was a giant wooden playground with tons to do. That playground had character; the metal stuff they have now seems so sterile .

Probably going off topic here but the comment on the old wooden playground brought back memories. It could have been a Leathers playground, built by the community. Those were BIG in the late '70's/early 80's here if Fairfax. I remember donating money for boards to my neighbor's kids before I even had kids, then playing on that playground years later when mine were little. Unfortunately wood has splinters, and lots of upkeep so the wooden playgrounds eventually dissappeared or were mandated taken down and what you see now is the replacement. But, you are right, they definitely had character.