This program is a complete SCAM. Do not register or pay for your child to attend. If you need to…read morecancel, it is not a "fee." They stole close to $3,000 from us without a single service rendered. Save your time, money, and a severe headache by googling their reviews (multiple different names, NYLF Pathways, Envision, etc.). Speaking with their customer service department made it extremely clear that they do this often. Complete scam.

To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to express my deep…read moredisappointment and concern regarding my daughter's recent experience at the Envision by WorldStrides Engineering Conference held at Georgia Tech University. Given the program's reputation and the high cost--over $5,000 including airfare--our expectations were for a well-organized, enriching, and professional event. Unfortunately, what my daughter experienced was profoundly lacking in planning, structure, and value. Day One: Students were instructed to arrive early in the day. My daughter, along with a few others, arrived during the designated window and was transported to Georgia Tech, where they sat in a gym for six hours playing Uno. There was no structured activity or lunch provided. Though she had packed snacks, her suitcase was taken and stored in a location she was not allowed to access. Upon being allowed into their rooms, students found there was no hand soap provided. By day three, a college student staff member went to a store to purchase some for the group--completely unacceptable for a program of this scale and cost. Day Two and Beyond: Workshops were disorganized and lacked basic resources. Materials and handbooks that Envision promised would be provided did not arrive until day four. College-aged counselors repeatedly apologized to students for the poor quality of the programming and the missing supplies. The educational content presented was superficial at best--featuring tools like Canva more typical of a basic high school STEAM class than a college-level engineering experience. Shockingly, the speakers lacked relevant qualifications. One had never been an engineer, and the other shared that he had worked in the field for only one year before leaving because he found it boring. No professional engineers were present to guide or mentor the students. When students began work on their capstone projects, many of the necessary materials were missing or unavailable. Technical equipment like computers and projectors often failed, and students faced ongoing technical issues. Evenings were largely spent on social "get to know you" games for 3 hours rather than educational activities. Mid-week, approximately 600 additional students arrived, bringing the total to around 800. All of them were required to eat meals simultaneously in a facility clearly not equipped to handle that volume. During one lunch period, a fire drill occurred, and staff had no clear evacuation plan in place, creating unnecessary confusion and concern for safety. The so-called "free day" was equally disappointing. Promotional materials had advertised sightseeing around Atlanta. Instead, students were taken to view planes in a field for one hour and then spent five hours at a shopping mall. To make matters worse, staff members told my daughter that the original lead coordinator quit just days before the conference began, and the replacement quit midway through the week. Leadership instability of this kind explains, but does not excuse, the lack of professionalism and planning. Families make significant sacrifices for their children to attend programs like these. My daughter, like many others, was excited about the opportunity to learn and grow in her interest in engineering. Instead, she endured a chaotic and unfulfilling week. We ultimately chose to fly her home on day six--two days before the scheduled end of the program--because the experience had deteriorated so severely. We were not alone. Many parents had already withdrawn their children by days four and five. The bright spot was that the Envision liaison I spoke with Victor was helpful and quick to accommodate getting my daughter to the airport. While I understand that our payment is non-refundable, I am writing this to make my voice heard and to warn other families: Do not send your child to an Envision Conference. This program does not deliver what it promises and fails to meet even the most basic standards of organization and care.

Eww, eww, EWWWW!! Keep your kids away from this place! It's quite diverse, socio-economically,…read morebut in an undesirable way. The teachers and administrators are miserable and horrible. None of the kids from this school end up doing much with their lives. In my U.S. History class at this school, I was informed that "some people treated their slaves well !"... !!! Despite that you may have heard that Fairfax County Public Schools are (relatively) very good, unless you can get your kid into McLean High School (and whatever middle school feeds into it), your best option is private school.

Better than elementary school. Some teachers were nice, but some were moody af. I attended Thoreau…read morewhen the school's buildings were old and dirty. There was drama with bullying and gossip around but not as bad like it used to. The counselors can be somewhat helpful to straighten that out. However, the student population was so small it was hard to make really good friends.

I returned briefly to James Madison High School to request my official high school transcript in…read moreapplying for university, having spent some time after graduation doing other things. I entered Ms. Geary's office requesting that she send my official transcript due to my computer failing to send to her a corresponding form for the university. Immediately upon entry, I was greeted with an unfriendly face and repulsive attitude. Apart from having to pry her to do her job, she remained snarky, and made for an unpleasant conversation. For someone I remembered to be pleasant years ago, I was caught off guard.

This high school student population was so small I only had a few good friends left over from…read moremiddle school and couldn't find new ones. :/ The teachers were a lot nicer than elementary and middle school but some tend to have favoritism with the jocks and you can definitely tell. Also the counselors weren't helpful in selecting classes, recommendations, and college prep at all. The new principal sucks and the way he is renovating the school with the building designs looks really cheap.

They dont care about anyone st the dchool, they are unfair, the staff is mean, the kids are always…read moresmoking in the bathroom and they just want us out. Overall my child is much happier at thouro now. I am just very disappointed in kilmers actions and i hope they reflect on this review. Also they always would put indoor recces and lunches. They took away the basketball hoops for lunches so its not the same, hence why we transferd. Go Eagles

I like how much the kids get to socialize even in times of this pandemic. My child has made really…read moregood friends and there is limited drama. The counselors there are very involved and will help a student out with any problems. Kilmer is an overall amazing school to put your children in and I 100% recommend it.

If you want criticism that's fair and realistic, here are some common complaints students sometimes…read morehave about Oakton High School: Heavy academic pressure and competition School can feel overly focused on academics instead of student balance Some students say it's harder to stand out because the school is highly competitive Older parts of the building or inconsistent maintenance complaints Homework load can feel intense depending on teachers/classes

never again experience, teachers are rude don't help students at all ESPECIALLY the band teacher…read moreAND the orchestra teacher. no matter what teacher you get depends on your grade. did i mention the band and orchestra teacher? TRASH

Nurturing environment that expects every child to rise to excellence, but appreciates every child…read moreas unique. Emphasizes character, sports, & STEM learning. Great parent community. Students from many different backgrounds and countries. I feel that every adult in that building knows and loves every child in that building.

I have 4 kids two of which are attending Green Hedges. Also, I have attended both private and…read morepublic schools growing up. From my personal experience, this school's attention and love for the kids is as good as it gets. The experience and education these kids get is amazing. I feel so lucky every time I think about having such an amazing school for my kids to attend. Both of our kids just love the program and it has felt amazing to see how much they have grown from attending the school and interacting with the other kids. The staff is amazing and the families that we have met clearly have core values and a focus that we want our kids to be around.

Our family completed 9-12 here, and I say family because we attended Oakcrest not just as a…read morestudent, but also the involvement and commitment as parents and siblings to foster and support the formation of our daughter brought us to the school functions several times a week. Our daughter is not academically inclined and Oakcrest is an elite college preparatory school. With that being said, we have asked on several occasions if she wishes to explore easier alternatives. She refuses to and has cried over it because of how much she loves her teachers and her friends. Our family and extended family have joined efforts in investing in our daughter's education at Oakcrest specifically in hopes that she will form into a beautiful, young lady and that she will have a safe place to learn about God, to love herself, and to build friendships that last a life time. The smiles and cheerfulness is not just on brochures, it's actually in person as well! How incredible it is to see the girls are so happy here at this school. By following the Opus Dei teachings, the school has been able to be mindful of what those teachings really mean as they've built a culture surrounding it. The social norms and mainstream media issues are not completely isolated from the girls, but they definitely are kept at bay. We find this to be vital as the girls already have enough on their plate during these teenage years to navigate through the hormones and self-identity struggles. They know those things exist and they can be exposed later once they've learned who they are and how they want to perceive the media rather than the media having a say over their life. Our family is heavily involved in the school functions and appreciate Oakcrest's faculty and staff for their dedication. We would be happy to recommend Oakcrest to others with similar values who are looking to have a Christ-centered education and for the girls to see their personal worth and how that plays a role in living out the sanctity of daily life.

Oakcrest prepared my daughters for the colleges of their choice. The teachers are amazing -…read morechallenging and supportive.

I should start by saying I'm an educator myself and this was a bad experience. 1. Our child…read moreattended an after school activity and the bus from that activity came to pick her up. Around October my husband went to watch our child's activity about 30 minutes after she was supposed to arrive and she was not there. When we asked the people in charge of the activity they said the school informed them our child wasn't there. However she did attend school that day and we hadn't heard anything. We began calling the school and I was about to call the police. In the end, the school forgot to get her to the bus and when they discovered this, instead of calling to inform us, they called the activity place to come back to pick our child up. It took over 45 minutes for her to get to her destination and in that time we didn't know what was happening or where she was. We did meet with the assistant principal(AP) who did take responsibility for their mistake. 2. After my mother, a retired elementary principal went on a field trip with our child's class she told me I needed to volunteer to observe what was happening in the classroom. I did just that. Upon arrival the class was still in a special. I was alerted to their return down the hallway to yelling, noise, and one student running into various empty classrooms. The students arrived and the teacher left the para, who happened to be a substitute, with 29 students. I started pulling groups to read in the hallway. Each time I entered the classroom chaos was occurring. One child was running around hitting others, another child was flipping his chair and actually tripped me, another child took her book bag and hit it over the head of another. The para was almost in tears asking me how to call the office for help. I, as the parent, went and got help. All the while, my child was sitting at her desk almost in tears and begging me to take her home. 3. I called a meeting with the AP about what I had witnessed. She was upset and claimed she would fix things. I was invited to observe again and that time during carpet time one child went up to another and kicked her in the head. The AP looked at me embarrassed and said something to the child. No children were listening and it was chaos again. 4. During COVID I realized my child was well behind in reading. I needed to put her on a program to catch her up. If she hadn't been home due to COVID she would not be able to read. We pulled her out and she is now thriving.

South Lakes. What a…read moreplace. I really loved my time here except for that I hated it because high school is the worst place on earth. Anyway, it gets such a bad rep but who gives a shit. It's a great school with great teachers. There are so many different types of people and it's so diverse. I wouldn't have gone anywhere else!

South Lakes High School is a public high school for grades 9-12 located in Reston in Fairfax…read moreCounty, VA. They have a great piece of land which allows for ample parking on both sides of the school. The inside of the school was renovated pretty recently, so classrooms, common areas, gymnasiums, etc. are in great shape and have top of the line technology. It also happens to share some land with Langston Middle School which is convenient for the county. The teachers and staff are wonderful. I've had a chance to work with them frequently through my volunteer role with the Relay For Life of Reston. A really unique thing about this school is that they have a huge JROTC program. It allows for the students to get involved with activities outside of the classroom, get mentored, learn leadership/organization skills, become more motivated and have more discipline, and really prepare them for the real world/college. I can't talk highly enough about the JROTC program and the influence it has in these kids lives, especially when they may not be receiving a lot of support at home. I have gotten to know Sargaent Handy and Major Schuler over the years; they are such wonderful role models and I'm so grateful for their service. Shout out to Linda and Susan in the activities office, they're a huge help to us too!

Mclean High School used to be tops in nation. Then about 2010, they brought in barely educated…read morecounselors , who told parents " the child is 18, I cannot release any information to you". Same counselors may have told student to tell parent "if he touches you he goes to jail". Case in point. Do not recall details, but I was admonishing step daughter for her behavior. This had been going on for months, Low grades, claimed no need to study, it was easy. She was on top of stairs and I was at bottom. "you touch me you go to jail". Had no laid hand on her ever, never threatened such. She was. new to U.S. some culture shock perhaps, wanted to fit in, high school cliques being what they are she may have suffered, but no more than many other students in similar situation who graduated with honors. She may have complained to counselors, which is good to have someone outside the home to speak with re any perceived "home issues". In my view, the counselor, did no look at the record and grades, and even though the advise may have been correct, I am certain, it did not go beyond that, in that eg. you should not miss classes, grades need to go up, and ask specific questions re any perceived fears. There was a reason that there was a banner in front of the high school, "number 19 (as I recall ) in the nation" and within 1-2 years such banner was gone and may not have stayed tops. Two three discussions with school staff clearly indicated that they lacked training and had no real interest in the students other, than go through the motions .Hope things have changed. I cannot imagine in my day, if I went to a counselor with a problem,and the counselor spoke with my parents the counselor would say "he is an adult".