Oakton High School

I'm constantly amazed at how poorly run this school is. Oakton has a reputation for graduating students for some of the finest colleges and universities. However my daughter's teacher scheduled a field trip to NYC that conflicts with SAT testing. Hello, anybody home there?? Apparently no one is responsible for approving this, or they are just incompetent and not checking for conflicts like this. Guess the parents must be amazing to offset incompetence like this.
—Submitted by a parent

I've had 4 kids go through Oakton and have been a parent of a student since 2000. Really great school. A few complaints - we hit bad teachers only in math, but consistently one of the kids had a bad math teacher from 2000 - 2011. They dropped Honors classes around 2008 forcing all kids into AP everything or gen ed. Gen ed was ridiculously easy and AP was ridiculously hard so there was no happy medium for the kids. Also lots of emphasis and support of the sports teams but little support for any other student activity. Otherwise, this is a school to be proud of.
—Submitted by a parent

Great school. My son is a rising senior and my daughter will enter the school in a year. My son has nothing but great things to say about his teachers, peers and coaches. He gets good grades and the teachers challenge him and he has a lot of homework and exams/quizzes but that's why it's a great school...because the teachers care. Yes, there are a lot of rich families and the school have clicks and as a parent, I don't care for that either. However, there are average families with good kids as well. You just have to look.
—Submitted by a parent

To start off If I I could give the school a zero I would. Although Oakton high seems to be the top rank school in Fairfax county it is way over rated. Oakton gets the high marks due to high AP testing results that have nothing or very little to do with teachers. My experience with teachers has been a average experience there are some good ones that I really liked and some ok ones and some horrible ones that I dont think should have jobs there. I ran across 3 horrible ones in 3 years. The reason for the high AP scores are from tutors that parents higher. I Knew people that had tutoring multiple days a week. I can only imagine that there were some people that had it 5 days or more. Oakton seems to be controlled by money in almost all areas. The people with money can pay for tutoring multiple days a week while the people with little money are left to fending for themselves. Some teachers stay after school regularly and that helps but generally there are multiple students there as well. Some teachers you will have to stay on them for just a little help. It is really hit or miss. I also ran across several cheaters at the school. The students are rich and dont care for anyone but them.
—Submitted by a student

Oakton is a fantastic school. When I moved back to Fairfax, it was in the top 100 for Newsweek's rankings but has since fallen out of the listing. Don't know why. It is a challenging school and very competitive which can be stressful for the kids. I think my kids have benefited from the competition. Cafeteria is pretty bad (according to my children) but what school cafeteria isn't? The school is very supportive and builds in plenty of opportunities for the children to excel (i.e. Cougar Time and Collaboration days). Teachers stay late to work with kids after school hours most days. All in all, I am happy that we moved close to the school.
—Submitted by a parent

One word to describe OHS. Cliquey. Jocks and preps are all very numerous and annoying.
—Submitted by a student

My daughter has attended Oakton for 3 1/2 yrs. She is a senior this year. We LOVE OHS! Wonderful, dedicated teachers! Student body is very diverse which has been a positive attribute. OHS offers many activities. I do look forward to remodeling. The school is an old building however the class rooms have recent technology for teaching/ learning. My daughter has many wonderful & well rounded friends.
—Submitted by a parent

Oakton has been a great disappointment to me. First of all, hardly any of the students are motivated and just text or listen to their iPods during class. Even though I am taking all honors and am two years ahead of the normal math sequence, my classes still seem completely elementary and are not stimulating at all. My teachers are subpar and don't really know what they are talking about. They are also condescending and treat their students like they're kindergartners. I tried switching out of a class because the teacher was just unbearable, but the administration and guidance departments are just simply not there. I received no help at all and was told I would have to just deal with it. I am a freshman and luckily applying to several independent schools so I can spend as little time at Oakton as possible.
—Submitted by a student

I'm currently a sophomore at Oakton High School and just moved here from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. I lived in Vienna 6 years ago so I'm not completely new in the area, however virtually all of my peers were new to me. At first Oakton seemed terrible to me and I assumed that was just because I was new. It's been a month to the day now since I started at Oakton and it has actually gotten worse in my eyes. I've even had several confrontations with students who were acting snotty, arrogant, and condescending, and unwelcoming. Also, I do not believe that the wealth of Oakton's residents contributes too much to the attitudes of students because I was new in Austin just a few years ago in an area less diverse, and more wealthy than Oakton and I didn't encounter this problem.
—Submitted by a student

Im a current student, sophmore, at oakton high school. I agree with most of the other reviews. Oakton is a very competitive and hectic school. Basically, slackers won't survive. The atmosphere is not really relaxed due to the tough, non ten point grading system that we have. Everyone is striving for their absolute best. We, the students, are overly uptight about grades and stressed out. Oakton high school is a very good school academic and sports wise but its really competitive so outsiders, new students, have a hard time catching up and making friends. The cliques are terrible here too. Most people are obsessed with material things such as clothing. (ex: Hollister). I encourage new students to hope for the best and try their hardest to keep up.
—Submitted by a student

I'm a parent of a current Oakton student and have been disappointed in my interactions with the student body, coaches, and staff. Luckily my child is a great athlete and good student; but for the most part, kids just slide through the system. It is supposedly very competitive in both academics and athletics but I think the hype is the higher than average income of the families who feed into the school. For the most part the kids are snotty and cliquey. Too bad.
—Submitted by a parent

I'm a junior at Oakton right now and I just recently moved to Northern Virginia. I must admit that I felt very out of place from the day I walked into the school. Coming from a smaller community, I was quite unprepared for the hectic and overly-competitive atmosphere. I gave Oakton a fair chance, but it was quite disappointing. The atmosphere is very unwelcoming and somewhat aloof and none of the students/staff really made me feel welcome. The school is full of cliques, and many of the kids are snobby and stuck-up. The school is extremely competitive in all aspects: sports, academics, etc. This is probably due to the wealthy community in which these students live. I found the school to be kind of a 'sink or swim' situation. It's hard to make friends and break into the tight circle of cliques. I don't recommend this school to the average student.
—Submitted by a student

Great school and athletic dept. My brother is there now and is doing a great job in preparing for his college experience.

I was really not impressed with Oakton. I felt the atmosphere was very unwelcoming and many of the students are in their tight knit cliques. It was a huge disappointment after all of the positive things I have heard. The leadership is lacking.

This school has been a huge disappointment, and has not at all lived up to its billing. Students are generally treated as if each one is a problem. Average students are simply moved through the system. Gifted kids are completely ignored. Your child has to be tough and resilient to find their place. The teachers are a mixed bag. Some of the teachers are fabulous, but many talented teachers have left. Knowing what I know now, I would have insisted on enrolling my child in some other county high school.
—Submitted by a parent

Our child will be graduating from Oakton this spring, and he has had a very positive high school career at OHS. The academics are phenomenal, and the AP courses that he took have prepared him well for a challenging college curriculum. The teachers are very involved and well qualified. The music program is fantastic, and provided many leadership opportunities. We found the level of parental involvement to be very high, with many volunteer opportunities available. The safety at the school, which was very important to us, is very good. The education available at OHS stacks up well to any private school education I have ever seen.
—Submitted by a parent

Self-motivation is a must for students who go here!
—Submitted by a parent

Oakton High School is one of the best public schools I've encountered. Their academics are challenging, but level appropriate. Students are very well prepared for college. Their music, arts and athletic programs consistently excel in region and state wide competition. The parents are very involved in the school. The students engage in typical high school activities (i.e. wild partying), but this does not seem to interfere with their academic performance. The teachers are generally dedicated and seem to enjoy their work. This is a very good school.
—Submitted by a former student

Oakton is one of the best schools in the state. Not only are their academic programs and extra-curricular activities very rewarding, they have great sports, music, drama and newspaper. The only downside to the school is the speading out of the boundaries. Half of the students are from Herndon and have to travel about 20 minutes to school, while the other third are from the Oakton / Vienna areas where the level of income fluctuates greatly. While a majority of the students come from upper-middle-class families, some lower-income students exist as well, which is mainly where the racial / economical barriers are drawn. In terms of the guidance department, as a 2005 graduate I didn't care much for the guidance department. Overall, the school provides a great environment for all social groups and helps give students a great four years.
—Submitted by a former student

My daughter has attended Oakton for 6 months, though not into sports, band or music, she has enjoyed her experience with the drama department. Most of her teachers are extremely well educated and professional. Blackboard is a tool on the internet that is used to keep the kids upto date on homework assignments, grades and activites that are available. Emails are sent to parents regularly if a student has failed a test or is failing a class. Sports is very competitive so prepare early if you wish to get on any team. This is a large school but very well organized and safe. I would highly recommend this school.
—Submitted by Susan, a parent