Marshall High School

During my time at the school, as an African American student, I have faced immense racism from students and from staff as well. Ranging from stereotypes to even the N-Word. Being that the school is around 6% black, if you are a black student I would likely avoid this school at all costs, because the staff will disregard your grievances regardless of the severity. Unsurprisingly, this school has the reputation in northern virginia of being the “racist school,” and even had news coverage on the racist allegations regarding the football team. Furthermore, the IB program at this school is honestly pretty bad, and I would recommend you go to a school with AP instead.

The College Readiness rating is completely and egregiously wrong!!Marshall is an International Baccalaureate School. Its students obtain college credits through the IB program and do not take AP examinations. The rating should be based on IB partcipation not AP participation (of which there is none). US News rates Marshall as the number 4 school in the state and the top IB program in the state as well. What is disconcerting is that this discrepancy has been reported as early as two years ago and nothing has been done to produce an accurate rating.

GCM’s academics are above average of other schools in the area and do their best to have a well rounded curriculum but really as a former student the most important thing in learning is having a good teacher that you can relate to and that is able to provide proper assistance catered to you as an individual. Some teachers and administrative staff when I was there (2021 grad) seemed like they did not want to be there as much as my peers and that definitely was not a great thing to have but there were on and off days. The IB program is the best. There is not doubt having your child taking IB classes instead of AP will make them stand out in college as they are the most like college level classes given the pace and amount of knowledge you gain from those classes. IB on the higher level can give your child college credit depending on how well they do on their final exams and it really is a lifesaver to getting through freshman year of college. I would also recommend students take advantage of the Academy classes as they also give you good work-life experience and can give you licensures to entry level positions such as a Medical Assistant or Certified Nursing Assistant (really helpful if you are looking into getting into healthcare). Few downsides though, As a student of mixed race I have had some racial profiling occur through fcps throughout my life deciding if I should be in ESOL despite English being my only language among other actions against me despite being a quiet and shy kid. Which made me feel alone sometimes at least by administrative staff and some teachers but most peers of mine were very reasonable and modern. Another downside, GCM has a lot of money going into their football and other sports teams respectively and not much going to their arts programs (fine or theatre) which was a big disparity that keeps a lot of the young artists at Marshall from doing much besides some art sales that usually get overlooked for sports events. Overall, they still need to work on a lot of stuff and teaching through COVID was a big rough patch that they were still figuring out by the time I left. I believe they have the room to grow more into being a more accepting community and to being one of the top schools in the county.

The IB program makes them really top notch. The renovated classrooms are also nicer than some college classrooms. Overall a great environment for learning.

Strong Leader, educators and staff that care about students, a plan for all students to succeed. A school that cares about who the student is becoming and encourages interests beyond academic. No school is perfect, but GCM has been a wonderful experience for my children. Strong academics, athletics, and arts. Excellent preparation for college and career. So grateful for Marshall!