This is a serious post.

We moved to Fairfax 8 years ago. I was a bit worried about FCPS based on things I read about over the top discipline leading to student suicides and just overall unfairness. My kids have been in school for these past years and I see almost no discipline. One of my kids is harassed regularly. The administrators are trying, but can't seem to do anything. The bullies just ke coming back. I went on a field trip with my 6th grader and could not believe the way the kids talked to or around their teachers. Lots of cussing, and one kid called the teacher the B word. I couldn't believe it. The teacher handled it, but why should she have to?

Hard to admit, but my oldest is into drugs now and got caught once at school. She got nothing but a few days of in school suspension. She is still using and tells me it is legal in a lot of places and the school does not mind. It's only marijuana now I think, but I feel I am losing the argument.

I am not a perfect mother, but put this up because it seems the schools are letting the kids run things. Any advice from other parents? Maybe not the best place to ask based on some stuff I have read, but saw some FCPS posts here with some ideas. Thought I would ask.

Parents rule FCPS. They complained about the grading system and now we have the 10 point system. They complained about discipline and now there is none. The district is now seen as just another school system. Not elite.

I think you need to enroll your children in PGPS or DCPS and check back with us.

FCPS is in no way elite. I suspect it never was- probably just marketing. Take away Thomas Jefferson, FCPS has the least National Merit Scholars per capita than 90% of the school systems in the country.

Their elementary system is overcrowded and unless your child is in the top 97 percentile, a minority, can't speak english, or troubled, there will be very little attention given to your child.

If you have other choices (private, home school, Louden County)-- definitely do it. In the end it comes down to the intelligence and fortitude of your child. An overreactive parent is not going to make them smart or successful. But studies show that giving your child the best opportunities early on will lead to greater success.

Parent question Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is a serious post.
>
> We moved to Fairfax 8 years ago. I was a bit
> worried about FCPS based on things I read about
> over the top discipline leading to student
> suicides and just overall unfairness. My kids have
> been in school for these past years and I see
> almost no discipline. One of my kids is harassed
> regularly. The administrators are trying, but
> can't seem to do anything. The bullies just ke
> coming back. I went on a field trip with my 6th
> grader and could not believe the way the kids
> talked to or around their teachers. Lots of
> cussing, and one kid called the teacher the B
> word. I couldn't believe it. The teacher handled
> it, but why should she have to?
>
> Hard to admit, but my oldest is into drugs now and
> got caught once at school. She got nothing but a
> few days of in school suspension. She is still
> using and tells me it is legal in a lot of places
> and the school does not mind. It's only marijuana
> now I think, but I feel I am losing the argument.
>
> I am not a perfect mother, but put this up because
> it seems the schools are letting the kids run
> things. Any advice from other parents? Maybe not
> the best place to ask based on some stuff I have
> read, but saw some FCPS posts here with some
> ideas. Thought I would ask.


I understand what you are saying I sent my kids to elementary school in Fairfax county but switched them to the Highland school in Warrenton. Yes it is expensive and the bus ride is long but the difference it is making in my kids lives is priceless. The tuition takes my wife's entire paycheck essentially making us a one income family forced to live in a townhouse but we think it is our only option.

http://www.highlandschool.org/index.cfm

Pull up youporn.com or pornhub and show her all the girls he smoked weed in school and talked back to their teachers.

noname100000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> FCPS is in no way elite. I suspect it never was-
> probably just marketing. Take away Thomas
> Jefferson, FCPS has the least National Merit
> Scholars per capita than 90% of the school systems
> in the country.
>
> Their elementary system is overcrowded and unless
> your child is in the top 97 percentile, a
> minority, can't speak english, or troubled, there
> will be very little attention given to your
> child.
>
> If you have other choices (private, home school,
> Louden County)-- definitely do it. In the end it
> comes down to the intelligence and fortitude of
> your child. An overreactive parent is not going
> to make them smart or successful. But studies
> show that giving your child the best opportunities
> early on will lead to greater success.

Louden?

noname100000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> FCPS is in no way elite. I suspect it never was-
> probably just marketing. Take away Thomas
> Jefferson, FCPS has the least National Merit
> Scholars per capita than 90% of the school systems
> in the country.

Aside from being bad grammar you also have questionable logic.

One fifth or one sixth of Fairfax County's top students attend TJ. Remove 18 to 29% of the top students from any school system and you will see performance on tests designed to identify top performing students will plummet.

Fairfax County's claim to fame traditionally had little to do with its top students. Its reputation was built on the quality of the typical student it was turning out. That is where it is increasingly suffering now. As greater attention and more resources have been devoted to students with special needs or abilities the quality of education the typical student has been getting has declined. The result is that parents who can afford it are increasingly sending their very average student kids to private schools.

It is true that militant parents advocacy groups - especially for special education - are responsible for the lack of consequences. When they rewrote the students rights and responsibilities regulation FCPS caved in to parents who did not want any smear on the permanent records of their students.You reap what you sow. FCPS is great for publicizing anti-bullying initiatives, but when you take away actual punishment and substitute such frippery as restorative justice, the kids can see right through it. They know that there will not be consequences for bad behavior or drug use.

Re: "Take away Thomas Jefferson, FCPS has the least National Merit Scholars per capita than 90% of the school systems in the country."

Can you source this statistic? I could not find anything; even on the NMSC website.

In fact, NMSC does not publish the list of scholarship winners (citing privacy concerns) or even the list of high schools with winners. Instead, NMSC leaves it up to each school district to decide what to publish, if anything.

For 2018, 2,500 students won the National Merit Scholarship. (Perhaps this is the standard number of awards. I didn't bother to look).

Forty-four FCPS students won this award, with 34 of them attending TJHSST.

It's tough comparing apples to oranges here. (Won't stop me though).

In California, students from 153 high schools won the 2018 scholarship, with six or more honorees from 9 high schools. (I know: too much math). Two of them are magnet schools, Troy and North Hollywood, with 11 and 9 winners, respectively.

Clearly, in this case, TJHSST outpaced these CA magnet schools.

Our other FCPS high schools? One scholarship each.

Bottom line is the scholarship is just that, with the award based upon more than the PSAT score.

While FCPS may not be the nation's flagship for public school systems, as a parent of three FCPS students, I'm thankful they got their education here and not in a vast majority of other areas or school systems.

FCPS: The best of the worst!