I grew up in FCPS, so naturally, I bought a house here so I could send my kids to "the best schools in the country." Some years were ok, one was good, but most were awful. Even in the AAP program, at a highly regarded AAP center, content and expectations are weak, and instruction is mediocre at best. We switched our younger son to private after 4th, but our older son insisted on staying with friends for high school. In high school, it only gets worse. His English teacher literally said that only the outgoing kids are going to get As in her class. His math teacher is always marking questions wrong that are right and admitted that she lets her 7th grader grade the tests because she doesn't have time, the Latin teacher literally changes how he grades on a monthly basis...I could go on. I would say he has one teacher this year who is both qualified and actually enjoys teaching.

I have no idea who decided that these are great schools, but I can't wait until we are done with this nonsense. My son at a private school is learning so much more, from teachers who are truly invested.

the current public school system was set up a century ago to create literate and obedient factory workers. It was a great system then but it's completely archaic at this point and there's no amount of money you can pump into a shitty, broken system to make it work.

Homeschooling or unschooling is the future and is slowly starting to shed the label of being only for religious nutjobs and other antisocial types.

IMO kids would be better off with a wifi connection and some guidance to steer them towards fields that interest them and/or they show promise in.

I graduated from one of the better fcps schools in '02 and it might as well have been 1990. There was no curriculum to even attempt to ready kids for the IT revolution. Zero programming opportunities, zero computer science options, and no real concern that the skills of the future were being completely ignored.

I won't even get into how absurd the "socialization" aspect of schooling...when football and other distractions are infinitely more important than academics.

I now have a 4 year old and there's no chance I would allow him to be corrupted by the ridiculous system we have that destroys kids zest for learning and education.

wj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I grew up in FCPS, so naturally, I bought a house
> here so I could send my kids to "the best schools
> in the country." Some years were ok, one was good,
> but most were awful. Even in the AAP program, at a
> highly regarded AAP center, content and
> expectations are weak, and instruction is mediocre
> at best. We switched our younger son to private
> after 4th, but our older son insisted on staying
> with friends for high school. In high school, it
> only gets worse. His English teacher literally
> said that only the outgoing kids are going to get
> As in her class. His math teacher is always
> marking questions wrong that are right and
> admitted that she lets her 7th grader grade the
> tests because she doesn't have time, the Latin
> teacher literally changes how he grades on a
> monthly basis...I could go on. I would say he has
> one teacher this year who is both qualified and
> actually enjoys teaching.
>
> I have no idea who decided that these are great
> schools, but I can't wait until we are done with
> this nonsense. My son at a private school is
> learning so much more, from teachers who are truly
> invested.


I call bullshit. If you have an issue, ask the teacher what is going on. Contact the administration. Oh, you were too lazy to do that? It would have meant you had to take an active role in your kid's education? You want a college acceptance handed to you on a silver platter. If that's what you want, pay 20-30k a year for private school BEFORE college.
And if you think these schools are bad because they're not kowtowing to your every whim, go see the rest of the country. Head to Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Montana. FCPS is paradise compared to those shitshows.

Any parent whose kids transferred from AAP to private/parochial school will tell you that FCPS AAP is not rigorous at all in comparison.

Your kids will learn that when they apply to college.

AAP Parent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Any parent whose kids transferred from AAP to
> private/parochial school will tell you that FCPS
> AAP is not rigorous at all in comparison.
>
> Your kids will learn that when they apply to
> college.


AAP goes through elementary school. College don't give two shits what you do in elementary school. Once they get to high school, AP and IB courses are rigorous as their standards are set by external sources. That's what college notices. If you think the rigor of 5th grade AAP is going to set them up for college, then just pay for the TJ prep test for your kid and live your life through them.

Not that it changes your point, but AAP goes through middle school.

Anyone who thinks FCPS schools are bad has not had much experience with public schools in many other states.

Hey Loser...get the fuck out if you don't like it...YOU are supposed to guide your children, not the school. What a fucking whack.

I think Fairfax schools are a mixed bag.

My kids did well in the system - in fact - really couldn't do any better in terms of academic achievement - but this was largely due to ability and a home centered around education - and yet a lack of helicoptering because, well, the kids have to do the work. I do feel, however, that I was lucky.

I attended a public high school in a suburb of a major city with the high school being part of a very small school district. Except for TJ, which artificially creates a very gifted cohort, no school in FCPS comes even close to matching my high school (it today still has an average - average mind you - of 28 on the ACT.

This small school district is of course a rare breed because the quality of the students is high, there is absolutely no diversity (which has its downside from one perspective), very little poor behavior, and no teachers union, because well, great teachers gravitate to the district because it is such a privilege to teach motivated, interested kids. The superintendent and principals lived in the town, everyone knew them, they were generally highly skilled and professional, and there is no way the town would ever have countenanced an affirmative action or diversity hire who couldn't cut it under the guise of diversity. This is all so distinct from the culture of FCPS.

Education researchers differ on this point, but I think I really benefited from the female teachers I had in my early days. The town was heavily Jewish, and the female teachers teaching then were just by and large outstanding intellects and leaders. The typical professions - physician, attorney, accounting, high level MBA's - were then largely closed to women - no doubt a wrong and negative thing - so teaching attracted them. For children like me, raised in a single mother home with nothing but ambition - I really benefited from these teachers. I ended up doing very well at two private universities, and there is little doubt that the ridiculous head start those teachers gave me - really - they pushed the heck out of me to reading and math work way, way above grade level, was just invaluable. I don't think you see this often today, even in a private school. Parents have to own the process today, and complaining about the nature of the schools does little good.

FCPS sucks.
change my mind

All schools in the USA suck. The only thing our kids are qualified to do is run the fryer or Fanta dispenser at Arthur Treachers.

wj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I grew up in FCPS, so naturally, I bought a house
> here so I could send my kids to "the best schools
> in the country." Some years were ok, one was good,
> but most were awful. Even in the AAP program, at a
> highly regarded AAP center, content and
> expectations are weak, and instruction is mediocre
> at best. We switched our younger son to private
> after 4th, but our older son insisted on staying
> with friends for high school. In high school, it
> only gets worse. His English teacher literally
> said that only the outgoing kids are going to get
> As in her class. His math teacher is always
> marking questions wrong that are right and
> admitted that she lets her 7th grader grade the
> tests because she doesn't have time, the Latin
> teacher literally changes how he grades on a
> monthly basis...I could go on. I would say he has
> one teacher this year who is both qualified and
> actually enjoys teaching.
>
> I have no idea who decided that these are great
> schools, but I can't wait until we are done with
> this nonsense. My son at a private school is
> learning so much more, from teachers who are truly
> invested.

"His English teacher literally said that only the outgoing kids are going to get As in her class" I teach English for FCPS. I have some kids, more than a few, who sit and say nothing in class. We read great poems. We read exciting short stories. We read thrilling speeches. The kids are asked to comment on them, to wrestle with the ideas raised in them. They are asked to compare them to other things we've read, to movies they have seen, etc.

Some kids do a good job with this. Even if they don't have anything profound to say, they say something, and they give it a shot. Other kids make very good connections, offer opinions supported by the text, etc. They listen to what others say and work their thoughts into their own.

And that one group of kids sit and says nothing. They offer no opinions, no ideas, make no comparisons. And it's not like it really comes out on paper, either.

So yeah, sucks to be them, but they're not getting A's. And if you think the business world and good colleges want people who sit and say nothing and do nothing, you're sadly mistaken.

Any parent whose kids transferred from AAP to private/parochial school will tell you that FCPS AAP is not rigorous at all in comparison.

Your kids will learn that when they apply to college.

--------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, that's why UVA is filled with kids from NoVa public schools

why i hate moronic posters Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Any parent whose kids transferred from AAP to
> private/parochial school will tell you that FCPS
> AAP is not rigorous at all in comparison.
>
> Your kids will learn that when they apply to
> college.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> ------
>
> Yeah, that's why UVA is filled with kids from NoVa
> public schools

What does UVA's standards have to do with the FCPS AAP? Do you have data comparing the performance of UVA students who were educated publicly to those who were educated privately?

Let me guess - you're a public school grad?

I hate fcps

I HATE FCPS

I HATE FCPS

I HATE FCPS

I HATE FCPS

The FCPS system sucks shit. Fucking Corrupt Pieces of Shit. The teachers are fucking assholes and child abusers that don't teach anything. It is a fucking scam. Who has a 12 year old kid grade high school papers? Typical lazy fucked up FCPS cunty teacher. AAP is also bullshit. It's for rich parents who suck the principal's cock and donate money and volunteer time. I feel sorry for these fucking kids that have to go to this shithole every day.

09878987987777666 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I grew up in FCPS, so naturally, I bought a
> house
> > here so I could send my kids to "the best
> schools
> > in the country." Some years were ok, one was
> good,
> > but most were awful. Even in the AAP program, at
> a
> > highly regarded AAP center, content and
> > expectations are weak, and instruction is
> mediocre
> > at best. We switched our younger son to private
> > after 4th, but our older son insisted on
> staying
> > with friends for high school. In high school,
> it
> > only gets worse. His English teacher literally
> > said that only the outgoing kids are going to
> get
> > As in her class. His math teacher is always
> > marking questions wrong that are right and
> > admitted that she lets her 7th grader grade the
> > tests because she doesn't have time, the Latin
> > teacher literally changes how he grades on a
> > monthly basis...I could go on. I would say he
> has
> > one teacher this year who is both qualified and
> > actually enjoys teaching.
> >
> > I have no idea who decided that these are great
> > schools, but I can't wait until we are done
> with
> > this nonsense. My son at a private school is
> > learning so much more, from teachers who are
> truly
> > invested.
>
> "His English teacher literally said that only the
> outgoing kids are going to get As in her class" I
> teach English for FCPS. I have some kids, more
> than a few, who sit and say nothing in class. We
> read great poems. We read exciting short stories.
> We read thrilling speeches. The kids are asked
> to comment on them, to wrestle with the ideas
> raised in them. They are asked to compare them to
> other things we've read, to movies they have seen,
> etc.
>
> Some kids do a good job with this. Even if they
> don't have anything profound to say, they say
> something, and they give it a shot. Other kids
> make very good connections, offer opinions
> supported by the text, etc. They listen to what
> others say and work their thoughts into their
> own.
>
> And that one group of kids sit and says nothing.
> They offer no opinions, no ideas, make no
> comparisons. And it's not like it really comes
> out on paper, either.
>
> So yeah, sucks to be them, but they're not getting
> A's. And if you think the business world and good
> colleges want people who sit and say nothing and
> do nothing, you're sadly mistaken.

Bullshit. The people in government don't do shit and get a paycheck.

My kid's in the Spanish immersion nonsense, where his science/math is taught by a Spanish-speaking person. My issue is this person does not actually have a very strong command of English. Seems a bit...ironic/inconsistent.

At my university there was a computer science instructor who could barely speak a few words of engrish. He was so bad he wrote on the board top to bottom instead of left to right. He also worked part time in a Chinese restaurant in town. You had to read the textbook if you wanted to learn anything and it's questionable if the instructor served much purpose.

There are some pretty good schools in Northern Va but they are all private.