Abingdon ES

[Anonymous]

My son is a few years away from going to ES but our neighborhood school is Abingdon. I don't know anyone around w/ kids in elementary school so I'd love to hear more about the school. We have quite a few friends of ours tell us the school is no good but they don't know anything about it. My son is 3 years old and very bright. He recently started reading and learns things very quickly. Will he get lost in the shuffle at a school with a number of non-English speakers? TIA.

[Anonymous]

I do not have first-hand experience with Abingdon although my understanding is that it is fairly similar to the school my child attends (Barrett) in terms of having a mix of kids and abilities. At Barrett, they have an entire kindergarten class that is ESL so the non-native English speakers in the other classes are usually on par, or at least much closer, to their native-English-speaking peers. They do break the classes into groupings for Reading and Math; as is always the case, the kids know which group is the "best" readers and the "worst" but I think they learn more in these groupings at their own level and pace. My child did not know how to read upon entering kindergarten and is in one of the middle groups for both reading and math and learning a lot.

I think it's worth asking at the school how they structure the day, whether they group the kids, how many kids are (will be) in the class, and so on. I would also take into account the personality of your child. If he is more outgoing and more of a leader I think he's less likely to get "lost in the shuffle". If he's a bit more reserved/quiet/shy then it might be more of a possibility.

HTH

[Anonymous]

I hear the principal is great, and everyone I know with children there is happy.

[Anonymous]

i've heard terrific things about this school. i think a lot of s.arlington schools get a bad rep, but now that so many of the n.arlington schools are suffering due to such high enrollment #'s. they've had to get rid of certain classes they used to offer just to accommodate the kindergarden class which DOUBLED in size. i would personally like to send our kids to a public school w/lower #'s, esp since they all follow the same curriculum. obviously teachers, staff, facilities are all important but class size is also a big factor in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Hey, OP...do you like your neighborhood? We're thinking of buying a house there and I'm just not sure what it really is like. Are there a lot of renters? Do you participate in the neighborhood association? Is there a "neighborhood" feeling? I was worried about Abingdon, too so I asked a friend who teaches in the county. She had very good things to say but of course, everyone is different. You could always try for one of the lottery slots at a different school?