Discussion on abysmal APS college results

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a county based system. If Yorktown was its own school district and set it's own zoning laws, it would be a "better" school district in terms of getting kids into top colleges.

Do you mean like Falls Church City, which is a Class-2 city within Arlington County ??

What? FCC is not in Arlington County.

FCC is not in Fairfax County and it is not a class 1 city like Norfolk or Alexandria City. FCC is a class-2 city within Arlington County, just like Fairfax City is a class 2 city within Fairfax County. FCC and Arlington even have a joint fire station on 29. Fairfax County learned this when they initially sued FCC over public water (by filing the suit in the wrong court). In Virginia, a class 2 city can have its own school system, and always has its own taxes/budget, but it uses the circuit courts and general district courts of the associated county.

Wrong. FCC is an independent city. It is not part of Arlington Co or Fairfax Co.

It really isn't. It uses Arlington County for Circuit Court. See the official FCC webpages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a county based system. If Yorktown was its own school district and set it's own zoning laws, it would be a "better" school district in terms of getting kids into top colleges.

Do you mean like Falls Church City, which is a Class-2 city within Arlington County ??

What? FCC is not in Arlington County.

FCC is not in Fairfax County and it is not a class 1 city like Norfolk or Alexandria City. FCC is a class-2 city within Arlington County, just like Fairfax City is a class 2 city within Fairfax County. FCC and Arlington even have a joint fire station on 29. Fairfax County learned this when they initially sued FCC over public water (by filing the suit in the wrong court). In Virginia, a class 2 city can have its own school system, and always has its own taxes/budget, but it uses the circuit courts and general district courts of the associated county.

Wrong. FCC is an independent city. It is not part of Arlington Co or Fairfax Co.

It is not a class 1 city because it does not have its own Circuit Court. Instead, it uses Arlington County Circuit Court. See the official city web pages and the VA Code.

[Anonymous]

"http://fallschurchva.gov/1439/Courts"

If "cases are appealed, they are heard in Arlington County Circuit Court." FCC is a Class 2 city -- because it does not have its own Circuit Court.

[Anonymous]

By contrast, Alexandria City is a class 1 city because it does have its own Circuit Court.

[Anonymous]

That doesn't mean FCC is part of Arlington County, which is the wrong statement I was correcting. It's an independent city. Cities and counties can have agreements with each other for shared services for efficiencies. Doesn't make one part of the other.

[Anonymous]

The City of Falls Church shares some services with Arlington like fire safety and the APS Arlington Career Center. A tiny city can’t do it all on its own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a county based system. If Yorktown was its own school district and set it's own zoning laws, it would be a "better" school district in terms of getting kids into top colleges.

Do you mean like Falls Church City, which is a Class-2 city within Arlington County ??

What? FCC is not in Arlington County.

FCC is not in Fairfax County and it is not a class 1 city like Norfolk or Alexandria City. FCC is a class-2 city within Arlington County, just like Fairfax City is a class 2 city within Fairfax County. FCC and Arlington even have a joint fire station on 29. Fairfax County learned this when they initially sued FCC over public water (by filing the suit in the wrong court). In Virginia, a class 2 city can have its own school system, and always has its own taxes/budget, but it uses the circuit courts and general district courts of the associated county.

Wrong. FCC is an independent city. It is not part of Arlington Co or Fairfax Co.

It is not a class 1 city because it does not have its own Circuit Court. Instead, it uses Arlington County Circuit Court. See the official city web pages and the VA Code.

The point is that FCC has its own school system and property values there are tied to the schools so there is political pressure to keep them good. Plus it is a small system so there is less fighting for resources within the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The City of Falls Church shares some services with Arlington like fire safety and the APS Arlington Career Center. A tiny city can’t do it all on its own.

Arlington allows FCC students into the Career Center?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The City of Falls Church shares some services with Arlington like fire safety and the APS Arlington Career Center. A tiny city can’t do it all on its own.

Arlington allows FCC students into the Career Center?

Of course. Since the Career Center opened over 50 years ago, George Mason HS now Meridian HS students have always attended classes and are bussed in from Falls Church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The City of Falls Church shares some services with Arlington like fire safety and the APS Arlington Career Center. A tiny city can’t do it all on its own.

Arlington allows FCC students into the Career Center?

Of course. Since the Career Center opened over 50 years ago, George Mason HS now Meridian HS students have always attended classes and are bussed in from Falls Church.

Interesting. Where can I find info on how many FCC students do this? And how much FCC pays Arlington for this?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I was hoping to kickstart a conversation on APS college acceptance results, and why people think they are so poor

For background - I live in Arlington now with two kids, but grew up in a comparably wealthy suburbs of Chicago and went to New Trier, a public but well off HS. At NT, we had a classes of about 800, but pretty consistently stellar college placement results (few dozen ivy leagues, even more state flagship, etc)

In comparison, APS's college acceptances are shockingly poor. I understand the narrative in Arlington for why; there are a lot of wealthy NOVA suburbs so high performing DMV HS seniors are a dime a dozen, so it is just harder to stand out. But the sale argument also applies for the wealthier suburbs of Chicago that somehow have way better placement

Hey OP, how do you know what the college acceptance results are across APS? The only acceptances I know for sure are my own kid, and then what my kid's friends choose to share.

We only have the lists of where students attend for the comparison schools, as well. We are comparing apples to apples.

No, you said in your original post that you are comparing APS results today with your high school's results back when you went there. College admissions has changed quite a bit since then. Educate yourself on that first.

+1

How old are you kids, OP?

You have a lot to learn about modern college admissions.