Why Are Washington Area High Schools So Great?

Examiner column for December 3.

 U.S. News and World Reports has published a list of the 100 best high schools in America. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is #1, with Langley and Oakton in Fairfax County and Walt Whitman, Thomas Wootten, and Winston Churchill in Montgomery County also in the top 100. I have spent the last 20 years teaching at two of them, so I know part of what makes these Washington area schools so great.

    First of all, we start out with good students. TJ, where I spent four years, vetted every student with extensive tests and teacher recommendations. My son was one of the lucky few chosen for the TJ graduating class of 1994. TJ is unparalleled in quality of courses and students.

    I taught 9th, 11th, and 12th grade there for four years, and I loved the students. They were loyal for years to come. I went to Juliette’s wedding when she was in graduate school, and read Eric’s short stories online years after he had graduated. Mike invited me to his graduation from Stanford. Andy, now working at the Library of Congress, keeps in touch by email. And my son married a TJ classmate whom he met after college---a testament to the powerful TJ network that bonds graduates to one another forever.

    Oakton High School, my home for the past 16 years, also has qualities that create a good learning environment. I confess that when I was forced to leave TJ due to staffing cuts, I couldn’t imagine a life teaching students who were not of that caliber. How could I do what was successful at TJ in a “regular” school, without losing the interest of the students?

    Well, guess what? I learned that “regular” students can handle challenging reading, writing, and discussions. At Oakton, I co-created a “Senior Seminar” that incorporates the interdisciplinary philosophy at the heart of TJ’s curriculum. I can’t claim that Senior Seminar is the reason Oakton scores high in this national ranking, but I do know that the enrollment of more than half the senior class in this double Advanced Placement course helps put Oakton among schools that expose many students to advanced courses, with no admission barriers to limit enrollment. I agree with College Board that open enrollment to the best classes is America’s solution to the education crisis.

    I was not happy when I had to leave TJ, but what I brought to Oakton was the knowledge that students are most responsive not when I am lecturing or even when they are working on projects--it is when they can talk about how books and classroom topics relate to their lives.

    Does our government have the right to watch us all the time? (“1984”) What makes for a good marriage? (“Their Eyes Were Watching God”) Does introspection justify inaction? (“Hamlet”) These were important questions debated at TJ, and later at Oakton.  In Senior Seminar, art mirrors life, and that keeps students engaged.

     Engagement is what makes the difference between rote learning and education. That is at least part of what makes a school among the best in America.

Comments

[Bob F]

I absolutely agree with you, Erica. Just like the repetitive correct answer to the 3 most important things in French cooking (butter, butter, butter)and the 3 most in real estate (location x3), when it comes to learning it is engagement, engagement, engagement!