Not Happy With Public Schools (Lynchburg, Fairfax: homes, magnet school, college)

[Emily Landsford]

90% of the schools are good. 80% of the schools are EXCELLENT.


Well, we have not been here long, but we are not happy with the public schools. Our first grader has 26 other students in his class. He is "gifted and talented" but only is pulled for challenging coursework one hour here and there. He sits bored in class most of the time.

We are in Haymarket, Virginia. Love the area. We love the friendly community. However, if you have an above-average child, public school is not a good choice.

We looked at all the Catholic school out here -- Seton, All Saints and Linton Hall. They are all full. We are considering St. Paul's School. We have not yet taken a tour yet. We hear great things about their preschool.

Anyone with experience at St. Paul's School (esp. first grade) please reply. This will be very helpful.

[idrive]

I'm not sure a Catholic school would meet your child's needs either. Perhaps the class sizes may be smaller, but are the Catholic schools big on individuation of curriculum? I

[guyincognito]

Originally Posted by Emily Landsford

90% of the schools are good. 80% of the schools are EXCELLENT.


Well, we have not been here long, but we are not happy with the public schools. Our first grader has 26 other students in his class. He is "gifted and talented" but only is pulled for challenging coursework one hour here and there. He sits bored in class most of the time.

We are in Haymarket, Virginia. Love the area. We love the friendly community. However, if you have an above-average child, public school is not a good choice.

We looked at all the Catholic school out here -- Seton, All Saints and Linton Hall. They are all full. We are considering St. Paul's School. We have not yet taken a tour yet. We hear great things about their preschool.

Anyone with experience at St. Paul's School (esp. first grade) please reply. This will be very helpful.

I was in the GT program in Prince William County nigh on probably 10-15 years ago now. At the elementary school and middle school levels, it was maybe about a day a month where we were pulled from regular classes and had a chance to do more challenging activities like programming, logic puzzles, speaking Russian, etc. When he gets to high school he'll have similar opportunities plus AP (or IB) courses, and they now do the whole magnet school thing. Or he can apply to go to TJ.

I met some friends in college that went to Catholic school and generally they seemed no more or less prepared for school than their public school counterparts. But they did have lots of stories about all the delinquents that got expelled from public school and ended up in Catholic school causing trouble.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

My first grader is also bored and I think he might be gifted - so they pull him out for an hour here and an hour there for more challenging work . But - he will be tested by the end of 2nd grade (at least that is what I have heard) and if he is indeed "gifted" Fairfax County gives you the option of sending him to a gifted school. Check with your school to see what they do.

[Denton56]

As the schools in Virginia dilute the gifted and talent programs, more and more gifted kids are going to private schools. Gifted kids are the fasted growing group of home schoolers. Public schools value diversity over everything else. Since classes of gifted kids are largely Asian and White, they are not PC. Unfortunately public school administrators care more about their political agendas than meeting the educational needs of children. They do not seem to realize that driving the highest preforming students out of public schools hurts public schools and all those students who are left behind.

Twenty years ago Fairfax county had REAL educational programs for the best and the brightest. That is no longer true. I would urge the parents of any gifted child to seek private schooling or home school. Sad, but necessary if your child is to have his/her educational needs met.

[Muffy62]

I can only speak to Pr. Wm.'s gifted program. Your child if identified as "gifted" will be pulled out for an hour or hour and half each week. In the middle school level, a "gifted" child is normally placed in "extended" math and Language Arts. Extended math in 6th grade combines all of 6th grade and half of 7th grade curriculum. Extended math in 7th grade combines the latter half of 7th grade and 8th grade curriculum. Your child will be taking Algebra in 8th grade. If your child does not get into "extended" math -- your child will not be taking Algebra in 8th grade.

Both my children went through the gifted program and I was able to supplement their education at home. You have to decide what is best for your child. Home schooling and private school were options we decided against.

[LynchburgLover]

Have you considered home-schooling? There is a large and growing network in Northern Virginia.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by Denton56

Twenty years ago Fairfax county had REAL educational programs for the best and the brightest. That is no longer true. I would urge the parents of any gifted child to seek private schooling or home school. Sad, but necessary if your child is to have his/her educational needs met.

20 years ago the demographics of Fairfax County were completely different. It is not the same place at all. Currently, 24.5% of the County is Foreign born with only 41% Naturalized citizens. From 1965-69 there were 12,000 foreigners living in the county compared to over 61,000 from '95-2000.

And, except for South Korea, these people are coming from destitute countries.
* El Salvador (10%)
* Korea (10%)
* Vietnam (8%)
* India (7%)
* Philippines (4%)
* Peru (3%)
* Bolivia (3%)

My MIL from Columbia, never had plumbing or electricity when growing up and learned her English, in her 30's, in the USA watching TV. She is able to read/write in Spanish on a middle school level.

As regulars know, I am not a fan of 'gifted' programs but I do believe the County is on the verge of falling behind in educating all kids, especially when there is such a wide diversification of their needs.

I read on this forum that the county is 500 million in debt. Don't see that helping either.

[URL="http://www.city-data.com/county/Fairfax_County-VA.html"]http://www.city-data.com/county/Fairfax_County-VA.html[/URL]

[leighland]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

Have you considered home-schooling? There is a large and growing network in Northern Virginia.

I have many friends who homeschool and to do it right, you really need to have the vocation to do it. No activity is not education, or made educational. There is lots of interaction with programs and activities with other homeschooling families. Seriously, everyday is very busy and no day is not packed with things to do, either inside or outside the home. Now most of the serious, head-stuck-in-a-book may account for only 3 hours a day total (spread thought the day) but everyone I know who homeschool's have at least 4 kids at home so you need to keep each kids busy with studies/activities of each appropriate age. Phew!

The good thing is that VA has waaaay liberal laws governing homeschooling, and on the flip side, many "homeschoolers" get away with not doing as they ought (kids expelled from school who are now "homeschooling" but are goofing off all day because the parent can't control the child for whatever reason).

States like CA are becoming more and more restrictive on homeschooling due to things such as Teacher Union pressure and availability of children to Police (a Minor can be interviewed by a policeman within the confines of a public school without a parents permission or presence while homeschooling parents can refuse that interview and the police must leave the home.)

[Stephen 81]

Originally Posted by leighland

20 years ago the demographics of Fairfax County were completely different. It is not the same place at all. Currently, 24.5% of the County is Foreign born with only 41% Naturalized citizens. From 1965-69 there were 12,000 foreigners living in the county compared to over 61,000 from '95-2000.

And, except for South Korea, these people are coming from destitute countries.
* El Salvador (10%)
* Korea (10%)
* Vietnam (8%)
* India (7%)
* Philippines (4%)
* Peru (3%)
* Bolivia (3%)

I'm not sure that your statistics indicate that FCPS is a system in danger of collapsing. Fairfax County had a lot fewer native-born Americans in 1965-69 than 95-2000, so those numbers are misleading, assuming "number of foreigners in a county" is even correlated with underperforming schools.

Also, just because someone has emigrated from a "destitute" country (and I"m not sure that all of those countries qualify) doesn't mean that they don't have a Masters degree. I would venture to say that the Indians living in Fairfax County are more educated and have higher salaries than the native-born Americans here. The Peruvian and Bolivian communities here are unlike most Latino communities here and elsewhere, in terms of educational and professional backgrounds.

While I agree that having a lot of EFL kids in a school system causes the system to use up resources it would otherwise spend elsewhere, I don't think it's very accurate to say "more foreigners = worse schools".