Thoughts about Edison High School Pyramid in FCPS?

[JD984]

A few other facts about Edison:

- was originally built in the mid-1960s and recently received a major renovation (looks very good now)

- one of the smaller schools in the county in terms of enrollment; FCPS recently moved some kids from the Edsall Park/Bren Mar Park neighborhoods previously zoned for Annandale HS to Edison HS to balance enrollments

- traditionally has been strong in sports; best known program now is probably its girls basketball team, coached by Dianne Lewis (typically, a contender for the regional title)

- has the IB program, which appeals to some people, although IB participation is not as high as at Marshall, South Lakes or Robinson (nearest AP schools are Hayfield and West Potomac for those interested in pupil placement)

- also has "Edison Academy" with vocational focus (additional business/IT and trade/industrial courses).

[LillyJo]

Originally Posted by airjay75

Do you have any personal experience with Edison or the IB program upon which you base your statements? If so, please share. I've never heard the IB program referred to as "awful" or better for children "planning on attending college in Europe." Sounds like nonsense to me.

As to the assertion of Edison having "terrible" test scores, that isn't how I would read the data. I'd say its a fairly average school on the whole, likely with some students who perform well above average and some students who perform well below average. It likely reflects the diversity of the community from which it draws and there are probably ample opportunities for kids who are motivated to do well in school as well as those who desire to not take school too seriously.

Edison is far from 'average' in Fairfax county. Yes, I have studied both the AP program and the IB program. There's a reason why the IB program is at the worst schools in the county and the best high schools wanted nothing to do with it.

Why would any parent choose to put their child in a school with a large population of students who have no desire to take their education seriously? Why would they choose that peer group for their children, assuming those parents valued education?

[Vectorhead]

Originally Posted by LillyJo

Why would any parent choose to put their child in a school with a large population of students who have no desire to take their education seriously? Why would they choose that peer group for their children, assuming those parents valued education?

Maybe because NOVA has one of the most expensive places to live in the country? And the ranking of the high schools is very closely tied with the average income of the people in the area? People who were solidly middle class in other places move here and find that their income doesn't go nearly as far. Maybe this isn't the case with the OP but maybe it is.

I have known people who valued education who were very happy with Edison. Does it rank with the "best" high schools in FCPS? No, obviously not. Is it a gang-infested zone of horrors? Absolutely not! The kids who are in the IB program are generally kids who value their education. The kids who go to the special academies that Edison hosts are generally kids who have a passion for a particular field (I've known kids from a much "better" high school who attended the performing arts acadamy and the culinary academy at Edison and loved it).

I would think it would be very discouraging to ask for information about schools and receive absolutely scathing responses. Edison has good points and bad points. It's not all black and white.

[airjay75]

Originally Posted by LillyJo

Edison is far from 'average' in Fairfax county. Yes, I have studied both the AP program and the IB program. There's a reason why the IB program is at the worst schools in the county and the best high schools wanted nothing to do with it.

By average, I was referring to Edison on either a state or national level - if you look at their statistics in that light, I would say it is most definitely an average to near average high school. Of course, Fairfax County is generally considered a very good school district, so an average school by reference to only other Fairfax County schools would be well above average by state or national school standards.

What do you mean by "studied both the AP and IB program"? What is the reason the IB program is at the "worst schools in the county"?

You seem to have a lot of opinions, but you're not really explaining the basis of those opinions. That sort of makes your posts worthless.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by LillyJo

Edison is far from 'average' in Fairfax county. Yes, I have studied both the AP program and the IB program. There's a reason why the IB program is at the worst schools in the county and the best high schools wanted nothing to do with it.

Why would any parent choose to put their child in a school with a large population of students who have no desire to take their education seriously? Why would they choose that peer group for their children, assuming those parents valued education?

There's a difference between correlation and causation.

The IB program is primarily at schools in the county with lower test scores because people in FCPS believed in the 1990s that it would help keep higher-income families at those school pyramids. They may have been overly optimistic, but it hasn't been shown that IB accelerated certain demographic trends that predated the introduction of IB.

Edison is an IB school near a lot of other IB schools (Annandale, Stuart, Lee and Mount Vernon), so it doesn't get a ton of pupil placements. When an IB school is surrounded mostly by AP schools, as at Marshall and South Lakes, it tends over time to get more pupil placements into the school than out of the school. Even if AP is generally more popular, as is the case in Fairfax County, the numbers work in the IB school's favor.

I don't know the basis for your claim that Edison has "a large population of students who have no desire to take their education seriously." That's quite an indictment. I checked the state data and, for the last year for which data was available, the drop-out rate at Edison was about 1.7%.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by LillyJo

Edison is far from 'average' in Fairfax county. Yes, I have studied both the AP program and the IB program. There's a reason why the IB program is at the worst schools in the county and the best high schools wanted nothing to do with it.

Why would any parent choose to put their child in a school with a large population of students who have no desire to take their education seriously? Why would they choose that peer group for their children, assuming those parents valued education?

As someone who graduated from TC Williams HS which I'm sure you consider "awful" as well I'll share my reason. My mother was in a tight spot for a housing budget. Could not even think about private school. Was it her first choice to move her son from the best school system in SE Virginia to the worst in NoVA? No but like she always says, you learn to make do. I did and am now making straight As in grad school at Marymount. I can thank TC for me even wanting to go to college at all. My Edison friends have similar stories. They did the best with what they were given. My belief is you can get a solid education at any HS in NoVA if you want it.

[FCNova]

People make too big a deal of the differences in Fairfax County schools. I don't begrudge any parent from taking schools into consideration when deciding where to live and seeking about the best ones, at least on paper. I certainly do it, why wouldn't you if you're presented with options. But I also know if my kids ended up at Edison or another lowly regarded FFX County school because it was the best option for me they'd be ok. We are so lucky to live in such a great county when it comes to schools.