Why are Herndon schools so poor?

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by The Dissenter

I’m NOT sorry. A poor school in Northern VA is miles ahead of a poor or mediocre school in Hampton Roads or Richmond.

This is a very good point. "Poor" or "Mediocre" schools in NoVA are still far and away above most of the public schools in the country.

And, a "great" school doesn't make a "great" student. A "great" student is made from the student wanting to be great, a wonderful teacher, and involved parents. That can happen at any school.

[FCNova]

I think at the HS level it's not that big of a deal. You're pulling from a larger pool with a big mix of different areas. There are a couple of elementary schools that might not be the greatest in this area though. I agree with previous statements though that "bad" in this area really isn't that bad. But here's the deal. There are some areas in Herndon(like Sterling) that have lower income and are less affluent than the rest of Nova. The issue with that is parental involvement is one of the biggest factors in how well a kid does, and these places can tend to have less of that. Seems like it wouldn't affect your kid too much but if you have a classroom with a ton of kids who are struggling or causing problems your kid doesn't exactly get a lot of attention from the teacher. Not an environment they can't succeed, just not ideal especially if they do need some help to really excel.

I will say the flip side can be bad too. In very affluent areas most of the kids are being pushed by parents and do well, and can lead to an extremely high pressure environment.

[LakeLifePA]

Everyone here knows the issue, but I guess no one will say it. (Unless I'm missing a comment by someone I've put on ignore.) The issue, quite frankly, is all the illegal immigrants in the area living 10+ to a rental house. That along with some of the low rent townhome and apartments in the area, and it's a recipe for an underperforming school district in an area does have a large upper-middle class income population as well.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by Robert20170

is all the illegal immigrants in the area living 10+ to a rental house.

Legal immigrants, as well as American citizens, can and do also live 10+ people to a home. But, it's good to know you've been checking the papers of your neighbors to specifically know their legal status.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by tgbwc

You wrote you thought of it as a “wealthy area”.

I’m not familiar with how Schooldigger sets its ratings.

Schooldigger apparently bases its ratings on test scores, which are heavily driven by Socio economic status and related demographic factors such as language spoken at home. Some people consider it nonetheless a useful way to judge a school, while others think it has little bearing on how well a student of any given socioeconomic status will do. I am not personally familiar with the schools in question, but would note they are part of FCPS, and thus share the funding and policies that all FCPS schools have.

[JD984]

Herndon covers a lot of territory. As in many other parts of Fairfax County, students with Herndon addresses attend many different schools.

Some of the areas that feed into Herndon MS and Herndon HS (specifically, the areas zoned for Clearview, Dranesville, Herndon and Hutchison ES) have seen large increases in their ESOL/FARMS (English-learning and/or low-income) populations over the past decade. This has also been the case at Coates ES, a newer school that feeds primarily into Carson MS and Westfield HS.

Other parts of Herndon that have more single-family neighborhoods and fewer garden apartment and townhouse complexes haven't seen demographic changes on the same scale. These areas feed into Armstrong, Forestville, Floris, Fox Mill, or Oak Hill ES. Except for Armstrong, these elementary schools feed primarily to middle schools other than Herndon MS (Cooper, Carson, and Franklin) and high schools other than Herndon HS (Langley, Oakton, South Lakes and Westfield).

About a decade ago, Herndon families fought to stay out of a redistricting that might have sent them to South Lakes HS in Reston; now, quite a few families zoned for Herndon are pupil placing their kids to South Lakes. In addition, people who live in some of the more expensive parts of Herndon increasingly say they live in "Oak Hill" rather than "Herndon."

[leighland]

Town of Herndon schools are fabulous. My son is in an active Boy Scout troop and a NASA sponsored robotics program. I love it here. Tons on history, lots of cultural activities, community center is new, etc. Except for my neighbors who are home owners not renters. Maybe you mean unincorporated Fairfax County that uses the name "Herndon" as a postal address.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by JD984

Herndon covers a lot of territory. As in many other parts of Fairfax County, students with Herndon addresses attend many different schools.

Some of the areas that feed into Herndon MS and Herndon HS (specifically, the areas zoned for Clearview, Dranesville, Herndon and Hutchison ES) have seen large increases in their ESOL/FARMS (English-learning and/or low-income) populations over the past decade. This has also been the case at Coates ES, a newer school that feeds primarily into Carson MS and Westfield HS.

Other parts of Herndon that have more single-family neighborhoods and fewer garden apartment and townhouse complexes haven't seen demographic changes on the same scale. These areas feed into Armstrong, Forestville, Floris, Fox Mill, or Oak Hill ES. Except for Armstrong, these elementary schools feed primarily to middle schools other than Herndon MS (Cooper, Carson, and Franklin) and high schools other than Herndon HS (Langley, Oakton, South Lakes and Westfield).

About a decade ago, Herndon families fought to stay out of a redistricting that might have sent them to South Lakes HS in Reston; now, quite a few families zoned for Herndon are pupil placing their kids to South Lakes. In addition, people who live in some of the more expensive parts of Herndon increasingly say they live in "Oak Hill" rather than "Herndon."

Oak Hill is Fairfax County not Town of Herndon. Historically it was the Black Hood of Herndon but ceded to the county in mid 20th century. Just like Falls Church ceded their black neighborhood to FFX County-Falls Church. Oak Hill was in the news for an E0 tornado along Crestview in the past year