Herndon HS? (Reston, Fairfax: house, neighborhood, buy)

[Novamom06]

Hello - I was wondering if anyone could give me any insights on Herndon HS. We are considering homes in North Reston, and understand Armstrong elementary is excellent, but the ratings for Herndon MS and Herndon HS seem a little lower. Any first hand experience to share?

Thanks!

[dullnboring]

Herndon High School and Herndon Middle School are both pretty good schools. Armstrong Elementary pulls from a largely upper middle class neighborhood. Herndon MS and HS, as is the case with many high schools, casts a much wider net over a large area which therefore now includes a broader diversity of students in terms of economic level, native language, and living situations. As such, it won't receive the same glowing reviews as some of the elementary feeder schools receive. On the other hand, for some of the lower-performing schools that feed into the same pyramid, it's a step up. Herndon High School is a good school and has the same generous opportunities in terms of academics and extracurriculars offered at the school as do the highest performing schools in Fairfax County.

Originally Posted by mroy

What is that supposed to mean?

I think it's supposed to be a not so subtle dig at Herndon's large Latino population; even though Herndon HS is only 18% Latino, a figure that isn't really exponentially higher than most of the neighboring high schools.

[lchoro]

Enrollment in Herndon public schools is 26.5% Hispanic per FCPS.

Fairfax County Public Schools - Department of Information Technology

The 2000 census had the percentage of Hispanic Herndon residents at 26%.

Herndon town, Virginia - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder

I've seen other surveys that showed that the Hispanic population in Herndon was now at 40%. I expect that the Hispanic student enrollment is probably undercounted since many Hispanics may also be classified as White, Mixed, or Black because one of the parents is non-Hispanic or because they come from the Carribean.

[lchoro]

Originally Posted by Novamom06

Hello - I was wondering if anyone could give me any insights on Herndon HS. We are considering homes in North Reston, and understand Armstrong elementary is excellent, but the ratings for Herndon MS and Herndon HS seem a little lower. Any first hand experience to share?

Thanks!

Herndon HS has moved up in the latest ratings (144) while South Lakes HS has been fallen considerably in the WaPo rating of high schools. If you want to enroll your kids in an Advanced Program courses, you'll have to send them to Herndon as SLHS only offers the IB curriculum.

The Challenge Index | washingtonpost.com

[dullnboring]

Originally Posted by lchoro

Enrollment in Herndon public schools is 26.5% Hispanic per FCPS.

Fairfax County Public Schools - Department of Information Technology

The 2000 census had the percentage of Hispanic Herndon residents at 26%.

Herndon town, Virginia - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder

I've seen other surveys that showed that the Hispanic population in Herndon was now at 40%. I expect that the Hispanic student enrollment is probably undercounted since many Hispanics may also be classified as White, Mixed, or Black because one of the parents is non-Hispanic or because they come from the Carribean.

Out of curiosity, where did you get the 26.5% number for Herndon's public schools as a whole? The best I can tell, the FCPS website does not provide information on a town by town basis and the only way to figure out such things would be to manually add up the numbers oneself to figure such a thing out. With that said though, after looking at all of the figures on a school by school basis, it seems to me that likely the figure probably is in fact somewhere around the 25% range.

The site states that Herndon High School is 19% Hispanic, Herndon Middle School is 23% Hispanic. The elementary schools range from 5% Hispanic (Aldrin ES) to 50% Hispanic (Hutchison ES). As Hispanic is an ethnicity not a race, a person can be both Hispanic and Black, white or Asian, and as such, I do not think there is a significant undercounting at the student level.

As for the town of Herndon itself, I too have heard estimates somewhere around the range of 40% Latino. I'm not sure. It's certainly nowhere near being an all-Latino barrio though as a lot of people seem to think it is. I think the Latino presence is more visible by simple virtue of the fact that many of those who live in Herndon do not have cars so they are out walking around, so I think people may overestimate their numbers. I'll be interested in seeing what the figures are in the upcoming 2010 Census.

[lchoro]

They may be going to South Lakes HS if redistricting goes through. Aldrin and Armstrong appear to be likely candidates according to the Connection.

[novanative75]

I grew up in the Northern Virginia area, attending school in Fairfax County and have also worked for FCPS.
Let's put it this way, I would not buy a house if the HS was Herndon or South Lakes for that matter. FCPS is a great school system but some are better than others, of course! I, personally, would not send my kids there.

[NOVAfan]

Both my sons have had very positive experiences at HHS. My oldest is now a junior in college; my youngest is a junior at HHS. They had involved teachers and staff members. The PTSA is very active and does a lot to support the school. It is a diverse and active community with a renowned marching band that constantly wins awards, as does the Guitar Ensemble, Dance Team and even the NROTC team! Academically, they provide a full range of AP classes in addition to the standard high school offerings. As for extracurricular activities, there's everything from Key Club and the National Honor Society to award-winning Robotics to Animae to Amnesty International. And don't forget our sports teams! Our kids graduate and go on to William & Mary, UVA, VA Tech, Duke, Indiana University - you name it and our students have been accepted there.

I think we get a bad rap because our school is so diverse, but look beyond the color-blindness! We have high achievers of all races and economic backgrounds, which closely mimics the real world. Would you rather your child excel in that sort of environment and receives preparation for their life after high school, or put them in a fishbowl and hope they can swim once they're thrown into the pond?

[Fern435]

Originally Posted by NOVAfan

Both my sons have had very positive experiences at HHS. My oldest is now a junior in college; my youngest is a junior at HHS. They had involved teachers and staff members. The PTSA is very active and does a lot to support the school. It is a diverse and active community with a renowned marching band that constantly wins awards, as does the Guitar Ensemble, Dance Team and even the NROTC team! Academically, they provide a full range of AP classes in addition to the standard high school offerings. As for extracurricular activities, there's everything from Key Club and the National Honor Society to award-winning Robotics to Animae to Amnesty International. And don't forget our sports teams! Our kids graduate and go on to William & Mary, UVA, VA Tech, Duke, Indiana University - you name it and our students have been accepted there.

I think we get a bad rap because our school is so diverse, but look beyond the color-blindness! We have high achievers of all races and economic backgrounds, which closely mimics the real world. Would you rather your child excel in that sort of environment and receives preparation for their life after high school, or put them in a fishbowl and hope they can swim once they're thrown into the pond?

Thank you, NOVAfan! I'm glad you posted this. Many posters tout the diversity here in northern Virginia, then in their very next post warn people away from schools with higher numbers of non-white students, higher percentages of free/reduced lunch students, etc. There's an automatic assumption that schools in wealthy areas have NO problems, and every student will have higher test scores and a better education. That's simply not true. Sometimes the worst situations occur with the well-to-do students, and the school refuses to do anything that will anger the "important" parent(s).

[caromc]

We are looking to move to Herndon in a few months. There are no "gangs" at our local HS. Is there a large gang population at Herndon High?