Your Opinions on Woodbridge High Schools (Lake Ridge, Fairfax: transfer, private schools, colleges)

[ChristineVA]

I have been a resident of Woodbridge for 14 years. Both of my kids have predominantly attended private school. I currently have a daughter who is a senior in a private school in Fairfax County and a son who is an 8th grader in a private school in Woodbridge.

My daughter attended 9th grade at Woodbridge Senior High School and participated in the Fine Arts specialty program there (drama). She liked it well enough but there was so much crap going on in the schools and she was so burnt out with it by the end of the year that we made the decision to put her back in private school. She has really enjoyed her private school experience and, except for the expense, we have no regrets.

So, now it is time for my daughter to go to college and my son to enter high school. The thoughts of these two tuitions has me losing sleep! So, I'm toying with the idea of putting my son in public high school and am looking at the IT program at Forest Park. My son is a much better student than my daughter so he'd probably do okay academically; however, he is less social and knows no one going into the public schools. I have also talked to a 1 or 2 parents in the Forest Park district and have heard that a drug problem has sort of exploded there and they don't feel the same about that school as they did even 4 years ago. I'm not crazy about Woodbridge High School either.

I guess I'd just like to hear some positive stories about any of the Woodbridge high schools, if there are any. Certainly I know that there are kids coming out of them that are doing great, but what if your kid is just average. Any good stories?

[EMTnest]

Can I say all schools have problems -- there is no perfect school out there including private ones. Can your son handle the IB program at Gar-Field? Yes, their reputation is not so great but it is a school within a school for the IB program. My friends' kids have and are going through the program and they have great things to say about it. Due to the scheduling of IB courses, all the IB kids end up traveling together (lunch, PE etc.) so the friends he makes will be kids who want to achieve and learn. Have also heard good things about the admin in regards to discipline which is NOT a small matter when you see how some principals handle the behaviors of some of these kids.

[Iaponte]

Check out schoolsmatter.com. Woodbridge High School has a pretty high score in Math and Reading. Woodbridge High is Located in Lake Ridge - very nice area in Woodbridge.

[EMTnest]

Her daughter attended Woodbridge HS and was pulled out to attend private school. I don't believe she wants to send her son to WHS. I have heard things about WHS but once again, no school is perfect and how your child performs in the school is dependent upon many things but I can't stress how important the friends they make is. You want them to have friends who believe education is important and school is important. College preparation begins in 8th grade especially if you are taking high school courses which the grades will appear on your high school transcript. The college application process is very competitive especially if you want to attend UVA or W&M -- all four years of high school counts!

[ChristineVA]

Yes, my daughter did attend Woodbridge and it was just an okay school. I know a lot of kids, though, that did very well there. My DD, at that time, was in several of the advanced classes (not AP but advanced level for freshman) and I cannot say I was impressed. The history teacher had no business even teaching and it was a joke and my daughter had her makeup applied professionally every day in Advanced Biology. As I said, I wasn't overly impressed.

Of course, my daughter was not the type of student that knew how to excel with extraneous stuff going on; hence, we made the decision to get back into private school where those shenanigans were not allowed in the classroom--which is what she needed.

Really, though, I don't blame the school system--the fault lies with my child. I am hoping and I believe that my son is much more studious, but I never thought my daughter would succomb to some of what was going on. She was hanging out with a lot of serious minded students, too, but it didn't rub off on her.

I know not everything will be perfect but I was hoping to hear from some parents who were, overall, exceptionally pleased with one of the county schools.

[Nemesis16]

I went to TJ in Fairfax freshmen year then switched to Woodbridge. Overall, I'd say Woodbridge is a pretty sound school. You get what you put in. Same with college. And same with life I'm assuming. As far as AP classes, I can confirm that AP Cal (both), Govt., and European are all legit college level like classes. What I found profoundly exceptional with the AP regiment is that you actually have a voice and an opinion, unlike most of the conventional teaching methods preached to us like we had to absorb it in and that's that.

I believe my graduating class was roughly 400 give or take students and here's an approximate estimate of where they went after hs:

10 or so went to UVA (some of these students got into more "selective schools like Brown, Yale,etc but choose UVA)
15-20 went to VA tech
30-40 went to GMU
25 or so went to VCU
40 or so went to other small liberal arts colleges or big sport schools around America
another 40 or so maybe more went NOVA ( a decent amount of good students went here to save money and transfer)
and the rest I'm not really sure, probably working

Overall though, I'd say WSHS gave you the tools to success and it was up to you to put in the effort to excel. Grades weren't inflated and you got what you deserve.

[barryhussein]

No way, Jose!

[Nemesis16]

^ Yassum, I guess the parents brought the whips!

[ChristineVA]

Nemesis,

Can I ask when you attended? My friend's daughter went there and graduated in 2004. In the 4 years since she started and then my daughter went, the school changed quite dramatically (graduating class was closer to 700 students). Hey, I don't think it's a bad school and I think all the public schools can be phenomenal if you are an advanced student. She wasn't and got dragged down in the "muck and mire" and there were so many racial incidents that *she* got tired of it--not me. By the time April/May rolled around of her Freshman year she said "I'm just so sick of the daily crap around here."

I'd like to give the public schools another shot but I'm waiting to hear something positive from a parent or student who is in the middle of it. I had some very good reports over the years on Forest Park High School, but I've recently heard from some of my son's friends who attend and two other parents that, apparently, a drug problem has "exploded" there. Again, they were very happy 3-4 years ago but there has been a fairly dramatic change over the last few years.

I'm trying to figure out what the heck is going on?

[jaywallace]

I'm putting my kids in private school. Just a personal opinion. I went through the school system in PWC, I think the options in private schools are better.