1791 Westwind Way
Mc Lean, VA 22102

I've had two kids here and overall it has been great, this school is far ahead of many private schools. The teachers are highly qualified and have excellent experience either in the classroom or in a related field. I have never waited more than 24 hours to receive a reply when I reach out to a teacher or counselor. My daughter is challenged but not overwhelmed. There is a wide range of electives and lots of choices for after-school clubs. We came from Haycock, and the diversity at Longfellow is better, although there are still very few low-income students. The downside is that it can be high-pressure, some of the kids in the AAP program are great and some are way overconfident. And the start time is painful, but it is the same as every other middle school in FCPS and the area, schools are going to start early. Honestly, I just wish we had more than two years at this school!

Mclean High school has few issues that are ongoing. During the 4 years our family has been involved with MH we have seen teachers that are not qualified, teachers who clearly do not care if students understand and perform. However, there are few very strong teachers that needs to be praised and really apapricited for the work they do. Special Education support is at the 0 out of 10 level. Everything in the Specail Education department is done for a check mark not for a real result.

My child has been attending Westgate since Kindergarten & is now an upper elementary student. He has been very happy at Westgate, has built a good social circle, likes his teachers & classes, & has had no complaints so far. We have had several opportunities to move him to other schools in the area that are supposedly "better", but we chose to keep him at Westgate because of the wonderful sense of community that we have experienced here. My only complaint is that the academic standards seem a bit lax in upper elementary (grades 4-6). Homework is inconsistent (some days they get some, other days they get nothing) & high-performing students don't seem to be challenged enough, even in the AAP program. We still prefer to keep our child in Westgate because he is happy & he is almost at the end of his elementary school journey, but my advice to Westgate would be to tighten its academic curriculum & becomes more serious about homework, assignments, etc. in the future, particularly for grades 4-6.