Langley High School

As a parent who had their child at Langley I say it is outstanding in every way. Around the country, the other schools we have been in do not even compare. The Administration, particlarly the Princiapl, is first class, the counselors attentive, and the teachers are experts in their fields. Personally, mine was happiest in the orchestra and the language programs. There were so many opportunites for excellence there. Also the history and english teachers were exceptional. The parents of children at Langley combine to make it an A-list school.
—Submitted by a parent

My son is a sophmore at Langley HS. He has been very happy and has found the CC team to be his nitch. His grades have not been as exciting. The Public school experience is what you make it. There is no hand holding. It is government at it's 'finest'. As far as a public institution, it runs at its maximum. It cranks out excellent test scores - at the expense of everything else. The Principal, School Board and teachers have their agenda and the students fall into that.
—Submitted by a parent

As a student for the past four years, I have noticed a number of things-good and bad-but still come to the same conclusion: this school is academically and socially a great experience for those who are confident. While the socio-economic role does have a large impact on the stresses of the student body, the pressure originates more so from the parents in the home. Secondly, while it would appear that the expensive lifestyle of the surrounding neighborhood is not reflected in the 'look' of the school, one must remember the school is forty years old and, other than taxes, people cannot contribute monetarily to the education of a public school. Safety-wise, Langley is top-notch, going so far as to hire their own security to insure the well being of its student body. Teachers are exceptional, mainly because they want to come to teach students that want to learn. Preconcieved notions are mostly false.
—Submitted by a student

I am a sophmore at langley high school this year, and some of the comments given on this site have surprised me. Many of the parents talked about their children being teased or not accepted into a group of friends. I have found that most people that go to the school are very friendly, and it just depends on where you look to make friends. Joining the track team really helped me to make many friends, allong with many of the clubs i have been involved with. Although the work load is extremely high and difficult, i have found most teachers to be helpful and receptive to student problems. As far as i know there is NOT mold on the walls...however there is sometimes a lack of toilet paper.
—Submitted by a student

I'm currently a Junior at LHS, and I would recommend this school to prospective students. There are tons of AP and Honors courses available to challenge students and provide the exposure to college level work that is so beneficial in the long run of our education. It is a safe, although emotionally tumultuous environment. There are almost never any physical fights and little to no gang activity The stress level is high, mainly due to overly-demanding parents who expect their children to live up to their standards (aka multi-million dollar houses). In the end, taking advantage of the good classes, dozens of clubs and sports, and other well-organized and funded programs at Langley is up to the student. If a student is motivated and has strong confidence to resist peer pressure to do drugs, Langley is an excellent environment to grow and learn.
—Submitted by a student

As a LHS grad, I feel these reviews are overly emotional and are from the parents perspective instead of the students . I was a B student and used private tutoring to my advantage when I had difficulties. I was a cheerleader, active in extracurricular clubs, volunteering, and hung with the in-crowd.' But that doesn't mean I was never picked on. Private tutoring wasn t paid by my parents as an excuse to go partying at night instead of doing my work. I feel like it s important to remember that high school is high school. There will always be cliques, bullies, psycho teachers, crazed parents, slackers, and those who excel. As awful is it is, that is the high school experience, not the Langley experience. Langley challenged me, frustrated me, pushed me and I am so thankful that I had LHS experiences, good and bad during my first year at college.
—Submitted by a former student

My child hated this school. I do not suggest parents send their kids here unless it is a last resort. The kids were not accepting to my child. The teaching was awful. The school is extremely dirty and nasty. There is mold on the walls. I had been told that my child would get a superb education here, yet, I find that VERY hard to believe.
—Submitted by a parent

I have been reading these rants and raves about Langley. I just have to laugh. 'I moved to loudon county to protect my children' lets stop right here and ask this parents. Are you alway going to moved your kids when life gets tough. Why not stay and attemp to solve the problem if there is one. Thats just one example of rediculous parenting. My only rant about Langley is the Athletic Department.
—Submitted by a parent

I was a former student at Langley for Freshman to sophmore years, but I am now at O'Connell High this year. The reason why I switched is because of two reasons: The social life and the faculty. Once you see beyond the good teachers and high SAT scores you see these two objects stick out like a sore thumb. The social life is horrendus, very rough and very diverse with many cultures. It can be rough on a kid, such as me who was bullied heavily sophmore year. The faculty takes more focus to see the problem to it. When I was bullied, the assitant principle sort of made my situation worse when I was bullied and the principle didn't do either, he was just all talk. If you want to go to better school, consider private school.
—Submitted by Brian, a former student

I m a sophomore at Langley and have a different opinion than the parents and teachers. Many of the students live close to forty minutes away and have to get up at five to make it to school on time. This wouldn t be a problem if it was possible to get to bed at around seven at night but that is near impossible. Each teacher seems to think their class is the most important and so they assign a large sum of homework every night this makes it hard to finish all that as well as other commitments and get to bed at a decent time. Another misconception people have is that the teachers are better than most. Just because the students have high test scores doesn t mean the school is good. Most won t get lower than a B+ because they fear their parents.I could go on but I'm out of words.
—Submitted by a student

Both my children graduated from Langley. Academically they did very well and were very prepared their first year at college. As a parent I refused to pay for the extra tutoring and SAT prep classes many of the other students sought - mine did well academically on their own initiative. Socially - they were not in the 'in' crowd, but both found their own group of friends and were quite happy. Only negative is that during their time in high school, they considered themselves from a 'poor' family, even though our family income was over $150K. They quickly got over that when they went to college and saw that the real world was not at all like Langley High School and they realized how fortunate they were. As a a parent it was real piece of mind for my children to go to a public school that was had a safe environment.
—Submitted by a parent

My son recently graduated from LHS - I agree with some of the comments here. LHS is only as good as it is reputed to be because of the types of families that live in this area. Parents are very invovled, competitive, and have money to spend on extra tutoring, etc. The teachers are no better than other Fairfax Co. schools. In fact, my son had his share of mediocre teachers. Current principal is a nice guy, but in the few situations I needed addressed, he was totally ineffectual. I'm glad by son has moved on - it was not the best experience!
—Submitted by a parent

I am a current LHS student who just finished 11th grade. I dont wear designer clothes, do drugs or drink and thus I am not popular...not that this is any different at any other school, but I have my friends. My favorite quality is that there are no gangs and virtually no fights at LHS. Teachers are of excellant quality and strive for every student to succeed. the theater program is exclusive & tiny but the music and language programs are awsome. (I highly suggest Russian, its easy and fun!). LHS is a great school.
—Submitted by Laura, a student

Langley is the best of the best, theres no comparing it. Newsweek's March 2000 ranking of the best high schools in the nation gave LHS the hot spot of 25. LHS was one of the best experiences of my life and I miss it dearly!
—Submitted by a former student

Langley is a top notch public school, no question about it. In response to the parents concerned with their child's self-esteem since he or she is not part of the 'in crowd', true, many Langley students concerned with material success. Yet these infatuations with brand names and status come not from the vanity of the students, but from the superficiality of their yuppie parents. To be fair, many students at Langley care little for Prada or Tiffany & Co., and the majority of parents are not superficial. Yet these cliques are just noise-makers. They are not attending governor's school, they are not competing for the PSAT-NMSQ awards--they are attending parties, they are competing for popularity. Let those who wish to learn, learn, and those who wish to be spoon fed, be spoon fed. Langley is a great learning experience, both in terms of character development and intellectual stimulation.
—Submitted by a student

Classes are enormous and teachers are over worked. No coordination between Departments to ensure that students are not overwhelmed with homework. Teachers are often difficult to reach because of the large student load. Very hard to break into extra curricular activities (sports and drama). Sports teams are all pros, making it impossible for those who are not really good to participate. Drama productions are generally small with parts given to an elite group. Very little emphasis on writing since teachers simply don't have the time to correct written work. Parents who think they are sending their kids to a top notch private school are kidding themselves. We have one child at Langley and one in a private school and believe me, there is no comparison.
—Submitted by a parent

I have one kid attending Langley High School and one that will next year. It's simple, the real estate property values that feed into this school are extremely high and will remain high. This fact alone will always support the higher educational caliber of the students. I moved into the Langley High School district so I didn't have to send my kids to a private school. The Principal and Teachers are better than average Fairfax County schools - and also want to be here because the students are easier to school in general. Langley is the equivalent of a private school education; and you make your payments via high property taxes.
—Submitted by a parent

I am a former student at Langley and am surprised by some of the comments I read. Like every high school, there's going to be the 'in-crowd'. Always has, always will. I found that everybody found their 'clique' and seemed happy with their own group. Judging from my experience at Langely, I think the parents of the students have more of an issue with the cliques than the students do. What really matters is the quality of the education. The teachers I had were amazing and the school prepared me well for higher education.

My daughter graduated from Langley and I have a son in 11th grade. The school has been very cooperative with our unusual demands, both of my children had to withdraw to move overseas and then came back. I think Langley is a slice of the real world in D.C. It is multiethnic, fast-paced and socially demanding. It's a great school in a great city if you can handle it.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter is a graduate of Langley and my son is currently a junior there. Both children had wonderful experiences at the school, both academically and socially. They were encouraged to take advanced courses (both Honors & AP) but were not forced to do so. Thus, they took advanced courses in their areas of interest and excelled. Socially, both were able to find many friends with similar interests even though neither are/were considered in the 'popular' crowd and neither participated in school sports. The one incident of bullying/teasing that my son experienced was addressed immediately by both staff and principal - of course my child did report the incident to the teacher of the class. An ethics program is being expanded this year to address this and other issues of adolescence. One of the great strengths of Langley is its Humanities program, both History and English, at all grade levels. The depth and quality of the instruction is outstanding! Parental involvement is both encouraged and appreciated at the school level. I just had to say 'yes' to volunteering and I haven't lacked for opportunities.
—Submitted by a parent