Falls Church Area High Schools (Arlington, Annandale: fit in, 2010, lawyers)

[schoolsinNova]

Would anyone be able to provide information on the high schools in the Falls Church area, particularly Falls Church High School. I am not only curious about the academics but if particular schools are known to have more behavioral issues and fighting than others. Thank you in advance for your time.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by schoolsinNova

Would anyone be able to provide information on the high schools in the Falls Church area, particularly Falls Church High School. I am not only curious about the academics but if particular schools are known to have more behavioral issues and fighting than others. Thank you in advance for your time.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the City of Falls Church has its own school system, and a single high school - George Mason. George Mason is much smaller than any Fairfax County high school and generally has a very good reputation. The demographics are similar to McLean HS in Fairfax and Yorktown HS in Arlington. The main drawback is that, given its small size, it can't offer as many course selections as larger schools. In addition, its sports team often have to travel long distances to play small high schools in more rural parts of the state.

Students who live in Fairfax County but have a Falls Church mailing address may be zoned to four different high schools: Falls Church, McLean, Marshall and Stuart. In recent years, the "pecking order" of these schools in terms of overall academic reputation has been McLean, Marshall, Stuart and Falls Church. A recent national ranking of high schools by US News & World Report rated McLean as #55 in the country ("Gold Medal" status), and rated George Mason, Marshall and Stuart as "Silver Medal" schools. In terms of safety, Stuart has more reported safety-related incidents than any of the other schools, including Falls Church. However, I don't know if that means that Stuart actually has more incidents than the other schools, or just reports them more regularly.

I am in the camp that firmly believes that a motivated student can get a good education at any Fairfax County school, including Falls Church. It's not a school, however, that has had the best of luck in recent years: it's gone through a series of principals, the School Board member who until recently represented the district (Providence) in which FCHS is located did not really pay a lot of attention to the school (compared, for example, to the attention that he paid to Oakton or that Stuart Gibson, the Hunter Mill representative, has lavished on South Lakes); and it continues to have a fairly high number of student transfers to other schools. It currently has the smallest enrollment of any high school in the county, but this may change as a result of a recent redistricting that will send some students currently zoned to Annandale HS to Falls Church HS beginning in the fall of 2010.

Another consideration that matters to some parents is whether the schools offers AP or IB advanced courses. McLean and Falls Church are AP schools, whereas George Mason, Marshall and Stuart are IB schools.

Hope this is helpful; good luck.

[DC Oldtimer]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but in terms of academics, I do not believe there is a dime's worth of difference between the schools in Fairfax County. All are good schools. Of course it is true that some offer more choices, but that is a separate issue from the belief that some schools have better teaching than others.

The differences in test scores, IMO, have nothing to do with the faculty and everything to do with student characteristics. At a school like Woodson, where kids have parents who are doctors, lawyers, scientists, and engineers, of course they are going to have better scores than kids at other schools whose parents are blue collar.

Safety is another matter. IIRC, schools are now required by law to post statistics on incidents. Check the Fairfax county public school website. Each school should have a tab that takes you to data on fights, weapons, and the like.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by DC Oldtimer

I hate to sound like a broken record, but in terms of academics, I do not believe there is a dime's worth of difference between the schools in Fairfax County. All are good schools. Of course it is true that some offer more choices, but that is a separate issue from the belief that some schools have better teaching than others.

The differences in test scores, IMO, have nothing to do with the faculty and everything to do with student characteristics. At a school like Woodson, where kids have parents who are doctors, lawyers, scientists, and engineers, of course they are going to have better scores than kids at other schools whose parents are blue collar.

Safety is another matter. IIRC, schools are now required by law to post statistics on incidents. Check the Fairfax county public school website. Each school should have a tab that takes you to data on fights, weapons, and the like.

I don't think anybody who lives in Falls Church (county or City) goes to Woodson. However, at most high schools in this county, there will be a sizeable cohort of kids from the types of family backgrounds you describe.

Moreover, even if schools are required by law to post statistics on incidents, I'm not convinced they all comply with or interpret that requirement in a consistent manner.

[michgc]

I'll be blunt. Falls Church High School does not have a good repuation. Accurate or not, I cannot say, but it's reputation is not good. I have friends who live in Fairfax who are districted to Falls Church High School, and they said there is no question about it that they will move before their child is high school age. Of course, that's assuming things don't change, which they can, of course.

[v2009]

www.fcps.edu gives you all kinds of info on Fairfax County schools, including incidents statistics, demographics, test scores, etc. Compare it to statistics of the other schools.
FCPS - School Profiles - Falls Church HS

[leighland]

You will find on this forum that many of the posters are very uncomfortable with FCHS because there is no majority race/ethnicity there. Its a 1/3rd white, 1/3rd Hispanic, 1/4th Asian (vietnamese/korean/indians and others).

According to Newsweek 2 or 3 years ago its ranked in the top 200 schools nationally.

It has something called an AVID program, which has something to do with teaching students aggressive college study tactics but I don't know what that means.

Check out v2009's links.

[Alanboy395]

Originally Posted by leighland

You will find on this forum that many of the posters are very uncomfortable with FCHS because there is no majority race/ethnicity there. Its a 1/3rd white, 1/3rd Hispanic, 1/4th Asian (vietnamese/korean/indians and others).

According to Newsweek 2 or 3 years ago its ranked in the top 200 schools nationally.

It has something called an AVID program, which has something to do with teaching students aggressive college study tactics but I don't know what that means.

Check out v2009's links.

Oh, you don't know the half. The posters really get scared when you mention T.C. Williams (my alma mater) because it is 40% black and 20% hispanic. Never mind the better thought of Wakefield HS in Arlington is 40% hispanic and nearly 30% black and Washington-Lee is 31% hispanic and 13% black.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by Alanboy395

Oh, you don't know the half. The posters really get scared when you mention T.C. Williams (my alma mater) because it is 40% black and 20% hispanic. Never mind the better thought of Wakefield HS in Arlington is 40% hispanic and nearly 30% black and Washington-Lee is 31% hispanic and 13% black.

Oh boy, I'm starting to get scared....and it's not even Halloween yet!

[arabellava]

I went to TC as well- "yale or jail"- as the informal motto.. I was yale per say (good undergrad. top MBA)- but for those kids who need a push or are more susceptible to wanting to fit in and gain acceptance- rather than get picked on- it can be an issue. So- do i want my kids to go to TC- no way not FC nor Stuart- it was just a very dramatic difference of life path that frankly I was fine deciding on my own- but it's just a lack of "fit" for those who want to do well since most were skating through. I faced confrontations daily at the school bus- (though I ran into the the "I have to do HS" group on my bus). I fit in in my own style- I could be part of the "popular preppy group" but not fully (not an extended accepted member) but also be friends with the kids who had weird hair colors (that was then), the geeky people etc. My brother is genious level- was considered a nerd since he didn't care about being in the groups- nerds, jocks, "popular",gangs etc. got picked on- he found his nerd super successful millionaire friends that he is still friends with and they all hung out together. I guess I;m saying I'd rather know darn well my kids can handle the very split unequal environment- leaning more towards an attitude of just get a HS diploma. This is removing all the safety issues like a gun and knife being pulled out at school dances and the police showing up- I was so young I thought nothing of it since this is what I "knew" happened. But given a choice I for sure will not give my kids this experience. Why? Because I don;t have to- I can pick other schools more balanced of people who actually want to go to college and be a productive member of society versus those who "had to" go to school. These schools are too extreme. And I am not bashing the education- just the profile of students/demographics. I had the best AP and honors courses that I insisted on taking- counselors were minimal but that is expected in that large of a HS.