Arlington Elementary Schools: Jamestown, Nottingham, Discovery or Tuckahoe

[Anonymous]

We are building a home and considering lots in the boundary zones of Jamestown, Nottingham, Discovery and Tuckahoe elementary schools. From my research, it seems that these schools are all wonderful academically. I am wondering if anyone can speak to the quality of teachers and administration (are they caring, do they really know what they are talking about?), as well as the general atmosphere of the school (bullying, inclusiveness, etc). Does one school have a better reputation over the other? We are looking for a good, well rounded experience for our children, not just a competitive pressure cooker of an environment.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I would go with Nottingham or Jamestown- very tight knit communities.

Discovery was very disappointing for us - the administration, teachers constantly leaving/rotating, etc.

[Anonymous]

Pick the best lot. These are all demographically similar and the admin/teachers could change any time.

[Anonymous]

We love Nottingham. But I think they're all pretty comparable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pick the best lot. These are all demographically similar and the admin/teachers could change any time.

Agree. You’ll get people with opinions that are ultimately just splitting hairs.
That said, I have a personal preference for W&L over Yorktown for high school. But we went private so it didn’t matter anyway. High school might be a better thing to consider

[Anonymous]

I think that they are pretty comparable. I would pick the best lot. Something to think about with Jamestown is that a lot of kids leave for private in the older grades, especially boys. Are you the country club type? Then pick JES, not the country club type, pick NES. NES has a wonderful community. We live close to DES, NES and TES, and unfortunately, most of the people I know who had kids at DES, were not happy. Even the WMS teacher said that the DES kids are the only ones who aren't prepared for WMS. Tuckahoe seems very small, and the boundary is pretty wide. NES boundary is very small and most people walk to school and the kids play after school.
Honestly though, just go with the flat lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that they are pretty comparable. I would pick the best lot. Something to think about with Jamestown is that a lot of kids leave for private in the older grades, especially boys. Are you the country club type? Then pick JES, not the country club type, pick NES. NES has a wonderful community. We live close to DES, NES and TES, and unfortunately, most of the people I know who had kids at DES, were not happy. Even the WMS teacher said that the DES kids are the only ones who aren't prepared for WMS. Tuckahoe seems very small, and the boundary is pretty wide. NES boundary is very small and most people walk to school and the kids play after school.
Honestly though, just go with the flat lot.

We are at the CC and honestly most of the parents with kids our age have/had kids at Nottingham or Discovery.

[Anonymous]

Pick the place you want to live. All these schools are pretty interchangeable. School admins and teachers come and go. Boundaries might change. We've been at Tuckahoe and been very happy there. My advice is don't get over invested in picking one school for what the one school is right this minute.

[Anonymous]

I'd pick in bounds for Hamm and W&L.

[Anonymous]

How old are your kids now? The younger they are, the more likely they will be affected by an elementary school boundary change. There was an epic fight over the proposal to close Nottingham a few months ago. These schools are interchangeable, just pick the best lot.

[Anonymous]

Pick the best lot for your family. You may end up rezoned, or may choose to go to an option school where your kid may be bused out of the neighborhood anyway.

Personally, if I was to make the decision again, I'd move to South Arlington. I like diversity though.

[Anonymous]

Lots in Arlington were divided by size such that R-20 lots are much larger than R-6; it’s not too complicated, Google it. Generally speaking, neighborhoods farther north and farther east (closer to the river) have bigger lots. There are almost exclusively R-20 lots
NE Arlington and very few on the western side.

Bigger lots means, gen speaking, bigger houses. That means that the most expensive housing in Arlington tends to be North and East.

What does that mean for elementary schools? Like everywhere else in the US, diversity of race and income is coextensive (gen speaking) with housing prices. So, Jamestown and Taylor are the whitest/richest, followed by Nottingham/Doscovery, followed by Tuckahoe, Cardinal. Now people are going to say that’s not true and of course there are a million exceptions; a really really nice huge house in Cardinal. Totally true and, in my opinion, you aren’t a changing that much in terms of all kinds of diversity between these places.

The other piece is that land is flatter the farther you get from the river. Duh. So your chances of getting more useable space may have increase the further you go. Even if you have a huge R-20, 17,000 sq ft lot in Bellevue, it may be a useless forested hillside.

Finally, keep in mind that this is a public school system and the powers that be are constantly changing the boundaries, etc, for each of these places. So if you buy believing you really really like what you hear about Nottingham and it’s your dream school, just know that you could easily be moved/schools closed etc. It’s just part of being in a public school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots in Arlington were divided by size such that R-20 lots are much larger than R-6; it’s not too complicated, Google it. Generally speaking, neighborhoods farther north and farther east (closer to the river) have bigger lots. There are almost exclusively R-20 lots
NE Arlington and very few on the western side.

Bigger lots means, gen speaking, bigger houses. That means that the most expensive housing in Arlington tends to be North and East.

What does that mean for elementary schools? Like everywhere else in the US, diversity of race and income is coextensive (gen speaking) with housing prices. So, Jamestown and Taylor are the whitest/richest, followed by Nottingham/Doscovery, followed by Tuckahoe, Cardinal. Now people are going to say that’s not true and of course there are a million exceptions; a really really nice huge house in Cardinal. Totally true and, in my opinion, you aren’t a changing that much in terms of all kinds of diversity between these places.

The other piece is that land is flatter the farther you get from the river. Duh. So your chances of getting more useable space may have increase the further you go. Even if you have a huge R-20, 17,000 sq ft lot in Bellevue, it may be a useless forested hillside.

Finally, keep in mind that this is a public school system and the powers that be are constantly changing the boundaries, etc, for each of these places. So if you buy believing you really really like what you hear about Nottingham and it’s your dream school, just know that you could easily be moved/schools closed etc. It’s just part of being in a public school system.

I think this is very well stated. I would also add that houses closer to the river are more likely to be under very loud flight paths (you can search this forum for threads). Arlington is a very large public school system with a population that's growing due to high density housing. Don't get too attached to any particular school. On the plus side, you can afford to go private.

[Anonymous]

The new principal at Tuckahoe is really great and very invovled. We've been happy there. But like so many have said the boundaries or admin could easily change. Keep in mind Tuckahoe spilts for middle between Williamsburg and Sawson (depending where you live). Its the only elementary shool with a spilt but there has been talk of changing that (all to Williamsburg).
Also, some of these schools have varying homework policies. Tuckahoe currently does not give homework in any grade. I believe this is the same for Nottingham. I believe Jameston does have homework and unsure about Discovery. Personally I would like to see some homework in the older grades to prepare them for middle school. Probably not a deal breaker but something to think about.

I don't think you can go wrong and I'd probably choose based on lot, the street, distance to school...ie are you are walker but 20 minutes away becuase you are going to end up driving your kids every morning...Is the street a cul-de-sac, busy/not busy road, distance to middle school...youd be surprised how many are considered walkers but are really far. I might also go knock on some neighbors doors and get a feel for the street. I know that seems crazy but if you plan to live there for the next 20 years you want good neighbors! And seems some streets are really social and have lots of kids, while others are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots in Arlington were divided by size such that R-20 lots are much larger than R-6; it’s not too complicated, Google it. Generally speaking, neighborhoods farther north and farther east (closer to the river) have bigger lots. There are almost exclusively R-20 lots
NE Arlington and very few on the western side.

Bigger lots means, gen speaking, bigger houses. That means that the most expensive housing in Arlington tends to be North and East.

What does that mean for elementary schools? Like everywhere else in the US, diversity of race and income is coextensive (gen speaking) with housing prices. So, Jamestown and Taylor are the whitest/richest, followed by Nottingham/Doscovery, followed by Tuckahoe, Cardinal. Now people are going to say that’s not true and of course there are a million exceptions; a really really nice huge house in Cardinal. Totally true and, in my opinion, you aren’t a changing that much in terms of all kinds of diversity between these places.

The other piece is that land is flatter the farther you get from the river. Duh. So your chances of getting more useable space may have increase the further you go. Even if you have a huge R-20, 17,000 sq ft lot in Bellevue, it may be a useless forested hillside.

Finally, keep in mind that this is a public school system and the powers that be are constantly changing the boundaries, etc, for each of these places. So if you buy believing you really really like what you hear about Nottingham and it’s your dream school, just know that you could easily be moved/schools closed etc. It’s just part of being in a public school system.

There are pluses and minuses to all NW schools. I'd buy for the neighborhood that you get a good feeling for and the best lot you can buy. All APS schools follow the same SOLs. All four schools will be alright in the end. And then your kid will graduate and you'll realize that the elementary school experience was just a stepping stone. Not the end goal.