Fairfax County Public Schools

Before we moved here, lots of folks told us that Fairfax County was known for its great school system. Our landlords told us that the schools were the best in the nation. At least one writer agrees. The subject of the book Education Empire cites the county system as the best in America. I would say they appear to be pretty good. Here is a recent conversation with Aly.

Me: How was school today?
Aly: Good. This is usually her answer to most questions.
Me: On a scale of one to ten?
Aly: Seven
Me: What's the worst thing about your school?
Aly: I would say the teaching style She's 8.
Me: Teaching style? What does that mean?
Aly: Well, at my old school, we learned by playing games. There are no games at this school.
Me: I think that's the BEST thing about your new school.

As for Zak, remember how he got detention on day 2? It wasn't really detention. He forgot a homework assignment (hey, it was his first day), so the teacher met with him at the Teen Center to be sure he understood the assignment. By the time he actually met with her, he had completed it, so she let him tutor others who stayed after for help. He asked about moving to an Honors class, but they require not just an assessment test, but a 4-6 page handwritten essay about his life. And what he was most excited about? He's using power tools in shop class (they learned only theory of industrial arts in Indiana) and they are building a CO2 car in science (he would have had to wait till the 8th grade for that).

If Fairfax County has the best school system in the nation, then Aly's elementary school must be the most sought after. They were very strict, even suspicious, regarding whether we were in the West Springfield Elementary district. Apparently folks in neighboring schools are always trying to find a way into this one.

So far, things are going well. I can't imagine that a cross-country move and transfer to new schools could have gone better. I don't expect we won't have any problems, but I'm happy to note nothing major so far!