Briar Woods High School

Briar Woods is a great school. There dreama, academics and sports are good! how is stonebridge better?
--Submitted by a student

I graduated from BW this year and it was the best 4 years of my life. I was on the cheerleading team my freshmen and sophomore year and I did drama freshmen through senior year as well as being a hockey manager. Although some teachers aren't the best, my overall experience at Briar Woods was amazing! It was great to be a part of a class that created traditions as well as having my senior year be the football, cheerleading, and softball state champs year. I wouldn't trade my experience as a falcon for anything. Forever Briar Woods <3
--Submitted by a student

I am a Briar Woods alumni. Sure, some of the classes were easy but it was a new school establishing itself, it won't be perfect. I took more than 5 AP classes and felt sufficiently challenged. The AP French class I took was far more challenging than the 300 level French i tested into in college! Loved the art department and the rest of the staff. Everyone was supportive and it was the best three years of high school. I attended Stone Bridge my freshman year and hated it. I felt lost in the crowd and you only got recognition if you were an all star. Sorry, but Briar Woods was way better.

I graduated from this school a few years ago. I spent only my senior year at it and it was the worst school year I've ever experienced. No one tried to make friends with me and I spent the school year eating lunch by myself. The academics were not at all challenging and the lectures were off topic, mostly involving movie watching. I was even harassed by teachers which the principal did nothing about. The students were disrespectful and some even used profanities towards the teachers. The school is unorganized. My name never appeared in the year book nor did a picture of me. No matter how many times I asked they did not issue me a student ID. I'm glad I only had to spend one year there. Thank you Briar Woods for making my senior year unforgettable.
--Submitted by a student

We love everything about this school! The principal, teachers and coaches are caring and professional. The school environment is very positive and safe. If you suggest that other schools are "better" it should be based on first hand experience. My personal, first hand experience tells me that Briar Woods has the same high standards and quality as other Loudoun County High schools with a very proud and enthusiastic student body.
--Submitted by a parent

Terrible teachers. Regret our decision to move here and would highly recommend avoiding this school. Students are much better off and definitely more prepared at schools like Stonebridge.
--Submitted by a parent

I attend a school consistently ranked in the top 25 universities as listed by US Weekly and know several other former Falcons who attend my college. In general, I found that overall we tend to struggle more academically because we don't know how to study. Briar Woods seems to rubber stamp an A on everything due to a weak grading system plagued with obscenely weighted courses. My graduating class had over 50 students with above a 4.0. There is little challenge presented and relatively little is expected. The math department likes to teach students not how to do math, but how to tell their calculators to do math. This practice crippled many of us who went on to take calculus when we realized we didn't actually learn algebra. Decent school, but there is massive room for improvement.
--Submitted by a student

We moved from out of state 2 years ago. Wanted a safe school with great kids and families. We found it here. My second child graduates from it this spring and we feel lucky someone pointed us to this school. Nice new school, friendly staff, great class selection. Very well behaved students, no crime to deal with or bully problems out here. Great for the college bound child.
--Submitted by a parent

I am about to be a senior at Briar Woods and have attended since my freshman year. Overall I have found the school extremely disappointing. Teachers are generally apathetic and the leaders at the school seem to not have a clue. The parents of a select group of students are really the ones that make the decisions, and when something doesn't go their way, even if it was best for the school as a whole, they just kick and scream until it changes. My classmates seem to live in a very materialistic, Briar Woods centered world. The teachers continually hand out undeserved grades just because the parents request an A or they just don't feel like grading the papers(and they will tell the class that, in those words). Overall, it has been an bad experience, not equivalent even to other loudoun county high schools.
--Submitted by a parent

I went to Briar Woods and graduated in 2010. For me, BWHS was an unsatisfactory learning experience. In general, the majority of my teachers were lazy and uninspiring. However, I must say that the social science department at this school is an exception. The worst department in this school is the math department. I continually had irresponsible teachers who did not return tests, fail to give out grades, and often would give false passing grades. The parents run the school more so than the principal which makes it difficult for kids who try to do things the right way. The kids were generally bratty and dependent on their parents kicking and screaming at the administration to make things go their way whether it was beneficial to other students or not. In my opinion the probelms at this school stem from its lack of strong leadership and initiative from the principal.
--Submitted by a student