As a recent grad of Westfield, I am writing this post in order to give readers a better understanding of the school and the controversy(s) surrounding it. I was active in clubs, varsity athletics, and had a wide array of friends.

ADMIN: Principal Thomas has done a fantastic job. I know he has been personally responsible for many "at-risk" kids going on to graduate and live productive lives. He has done as well as any man could do when faced with all of the problems and controversies that Westfield has faced.

ACADEMICS: Westfield has its share of useless classes/teachers, as well as an equal share of valuable ones. The bottom line is that if a student wants to challenge his/her self, they have all of the resources available to them. AP classes are great, but at the same time a schedule with 5+ AP classes is rediculous.

ATHLETICS: We do have a good coaching staff, but a good amount of our succes IS/WAS due to our size. I predict that our domination of the Concorde District will come to an end once redistricting and downsizing are complete.

EXTRACURRICULARS: If you want to be a part of the school community, there is a club for you. Get involved.

VIOLENCE CONTROVERSY: Honestly, Westfield had nothing to do with the two shooters. These were mentally ill individuals that should have gotten help from their families.

HEROIN: This crime saga involved a miniscule percentage of the Westfield community. However, I do think it shows a problem with the Centreville community (VA Run in particular). These were kids with too little supervision and too much of daddy's money. I do know that some of these individuals (for me personally, Alicia) had had scarring events earlier in their life that contributed to their drug use. I don't excuse their behavior, but understand that things are not always as they seem. Westfield does all it can to crack down onn drug use within the school.

OTHER: I admit I am disgusted by some of my fellow students' actions. The girl (name withheld) who killed a woman in a drunk driving case should be locked up. I have seen evidence that she still lives the "party" lifestyle and this makes me wonder if she really regrets the MURDER she commited. But again, this is not representative of the entire school population.

OVERALL: I think Westfield is a great school. If you want to, you can excel and go on to lead a productive life. It bothers me when people hear where I graduated and think of shootings or heroin, but I realize that their perceptions (though incorrect) are very understandable. In the end, it is up to the 99% of the guiltless students to make a positive name for our school.

GO BULLDOGS!

no one gives a shit what you think.

love,

fairfax county

TEH SKOOL BORED MUST GO!1!!1!!!

JACK DALE = ASHOLE FAGOT

Blessed are the murderous.

Alum Wrote:
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The girl (name withheld) who
> killed a woman in a drunk driving case should be
> locked up. I have seen evidence that she still
> lives the "party" lifestyle and this makes me
> wonder if she really regrets the MURDER she
> commited.

and here is a great example of our flawed justice system. Drug related death gets you decades in prison, alcohol related death results in a slap on the wrist.

the wrist slapping hurts. it hurts really bad. a good way to discourage people from continuing to do such an act.

eesh Wrote:
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> TEH SKOOL BORED MUST GO!1!!1!!!
>
> JACK DALE = ASHOLE FAGOT


hahahaha ashole????

Dane Bramage Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Alum Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> The girl (name withheld) who
> > killed a woman in a drunk driving case should
> be
> > locked up. I have seen evidence that she still
> > lives the "party" lifestyle and this makes me
> > wonder if she really regrets the MURDER she
> > commited.

This girl will end up one day nixing herself with a bullet or rope.
>
> and here is a great example of our flawed justice
> system. Drug related death gets you decades in
> prison, alcohol related death results in a slap on
> the wrist.

each event on its own is not representative of the school. But all together, Westfield has produced a cop killer, mass murderer, drug ring ,multiple drunk drivers. No other school has this impressive combination. Other schools may have drunk drivers or drug rings, but no other school comes close. And don't blame it on the size of the school, the secondary schools have more kids packed into one bulding and they dont have as many problems

Alum,

I enjoyed your thoughtful and well-written post. Your comment about how it was unreasonable for students to take AP classes made me wonder how Westfield students would have felt if FCPS offered them three rather than two choices for each academic subject. In other words, would you and your friends have wanted to be allowed to choose between AP, "college prep," and general education for your core academic subjects?

Alum Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As a recent grad of Westfield, I am writing this
> post in order to give readers a better
> understanding of the school and the controversy(s)
> surrounding it. I was active in clubs, varsity
> athletics, and had a wide array of friends.
>
> ADMIN: Principal Thomas has done a fantastic job.
> I know he has been personally responsible for many
> "at-risk" kids going on to graduate and live
> productive lives. He has done as well as any man
> could do when faced with all of the problems and
> controversies that Westfield has faced.
>
> ACADEMICS: Westfield has its share of useless
> classes/teachers, as well as an equal share of
> valuable ones. The bottom line is that if a
> student wants to challenge his/her self, they have
> all of the resources available to them. AP
> classes are great, but at the same time a schedule
> with 5+ AP classes is rediculous.
>

I took 2 AP classes my junior and senior years (4 total) as well as honors classes in my freshman and sophomore years. I got into a selective school that is top 50 in the nation for my major. I dont think it is unreasonable for students to take AP classes, I just think some kids overdo it and ruin their social lives/have no free time. I think 2-3 AP classes a year is perfect because it challenges students without overwhelming them. I'm not saying kids shouldn't set high standards, but I think they should carefully consider what their goals are and what they need to do to reach those goals.

I think "college prep" basically translates to honors courses if I am correct. My cousin is at Westfield now and I know that they have replaced "honors" classes with "college prep" or something similar. I think these are fine in 9th/10th grade, but I think AP's really are what count in 11th and 12th.

Alum,

What I meant by "college prep" was different than the honors classes kids take in 9th and 10th grades. Over a decade ago (before my children were in high school), FCPS reportedly was more like many other school districts, and offered three levels of the same course in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades. For example, a junior might have had a choice of AP English Language, a middle-level college prep English course, and general education English 11. Ditto for many other core academic courses.

Do you think juniors and seniors would have appreciated having an option to take a class that was harder than gen ed but easier than AP?

i go to westfield high school now and i am a freshman i have noticed alot of people who do drugs and there are several fights at my school but the teachers and the principals do everything in their power to help fix the solution and keep everyone safe:) i love westfiel high school <3

LETS GO BOMBERS
Brittany

just a tip, but when you're trolling, try to get the school's mascot right. it makes your story a lil more believable.

pathetic Wrote:
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> just a tip, but when you're trolling, try to get
> the school's mascot right. it makes your story a
> lil more believable.



FAIL

I'm a senior at Westfield and I can say with certainty that the reason it has a bad reputation is because its full of stereotypes.

The jocks, druggies, preps, ap obsessed kids, theater kids, etc.

Everyone is so cliquey and stereotypical and that is the source of all the school's problems.

There's nothing anyone can do about it. That's just the way the kids in Virginia Run are raised.

Westfield was like the wild wild west on some days I consider myself lucky to have made it out of there alive.

I went there.. it was full of cliques as a spanish kid from Culmore. i never vibed with the stereotypical spanish kids cuz they were fake as shit living in super centreville. but there are alot of good kids. i was friends with the nerds and the pops .. nerds rule the popular kids are all fucked up in the head. fuck them fools, i knew mike keenndy. ppl called him goth kid n shit. but he actually listened to alot of good hip hop. he did go crazy and sprayed the cops. and the azn kid lived by me and i heard people bugged him alot. but FUCK WESTFIELDS if u didnt have money or wasnt good at sports they didnt give a shit about u.

Alum: don't matter what I think. We are in Oakton HS zone. They have 2,300 students and I always hear "a kid can get lost in the shuffle" there." Now Westfield is much much bigger so I can just imagine what it m ust be like for the average kids over there. These reputations are very hard to live down. Now where are you goig to college? What really matters is what do college admissions officers think about Westfield diploma?

Sun God Allah Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I went there.. it was full of cliques as a spanish
> kid from Culmore. i never vibed with the
> stereotypical spanish kids cuz they were fake as
> shit living in super centreville. but there are
> alot of good kids. i was friends with the nerds
> and the pops .. nerds rule the popular kids are
> all fucked up in the head. fuck them fools, i knew
> mike keenndy. ppl called him goth kid n shit. but
> he actually listened to alot of good hip hop. he
> did go crazy and sprayed the cops. and the azn kid
> lived by me and i heard people bugged him alot.
> but FUCK WESTFIELDS if u didnt have money or wasnt
> good at sports they didnt give a shit about u.


And the cops got to spray him back, rot in hell

I went to westfields. I was pretty much the roamer of the halls so to speak. didn't graduate but got my ged at Mountainview. teachers didn't give a shit except for tv and writing classes. pretty much skipped every english class to go to every lunch period. good times. eventually they said I'd be better off leaving. Guess they didn't want to spend too much time focusing on one kid. our education system needs a serious kick in the ass. I'm not saying its horrible, but it certainly didn't do good for me. Some people can't learn when they're shoved in a classroom full of 30 people. just my 1.5 cents.

Ryan Parsons Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I went to westfields. I was pretty much the roamer
> of the halls so to speak. didn't graduate but got
> my ged at Mountainview. teachers didn't give a
> shit except for tv and writing classes. pretty
> much skipped every english class to go to every
> lunch period. good times. eventually they said I'd
> be better off leaving. Guess they didn't want to
> spend too much time focusing on one kid. our
> education system needs a serious kick in the ass.
> I'm not saying its horrible, but it certainly
> didn't do good for me. Some people can't learn
> when they're shoved in a classroom full of 30
> people. just my 1.5 cents.

You skipped every english class and then blame them for not having time to focus on one kid?

You get from education what you put into it. AT EVERY LEVEL. You have no one to blame but yourself.

> Some people can't learn
> when they're shoved in a classroom full of 30
> people.


Yeah, they're called retards.