Glebe Elementary APS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure I follow what you mean there. Can you elaborate on what you mean by “too tight”?

I think the poster is referring to property, traffic, congestion etc.

I would not consider the area that the poster is considering as too tight. Those streets are already developed and there is not much room for increased tear downs, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's good to hear! How is the community in general? We live on the Hill currently and have a 3 and 4 year old. Are there lots of young kids nearby? Is it easy enough to meet people and build community before starting at school in that area?

I'm the PP you were responding to - and yes, tons of young kids and it is easy to meet other families. My kids are older now, but we did story times at the Westover and Central libraries, music classes at the Langston community center (I think they also have dance and other classes). Plenty of kids in the neighborhood go to nearby daycares and preschools - so my kids knew several neighborhood kids before starting K. There is a nice park/playground in the neighborhood and also nearby at Lacey Woods park - both have younger kids' soccer team practices frequently. It's also very walkable with sidewalks everywhere - so that as kids get older they can have autonomy to go out on their own to the park or friends' houses. That was important to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's good to hear! How is the community in general? We live on the Hill currently and have a 3 and 4 year old. Are there lots of young kids nearby? Is it easy enough to meet people and build community before starting at school in that area?

Absolutely. It has a very engaged community, great administration, and solid teachers with very little turnover. Lots of opportunities outside of school to play sports or do scouts w/neighborhood friends. We went to Dorothy Hamm, not Swanson, after Glebe, and our child was very, very academically prepared. They still see their Swanson friends regularly. You should contact the PTA and ask to chat with someone.

As an adult having moved from the Hill, I like that I can walk to things like Starbucks, wine store, there's a bus a few doors down... It's also an easy walk into Ballston.

[Anonymous]

If you are looking at Glebe, I would suggest looking at Cardinal and Ashlawn as well. Ashlawn has similar demographics as Glebe. All 3 are central Arlington with walkable neighborhoods full of kids.

Get in the waitlists for Overlee, Arlington Forest, and Dominion Hills pools ASAP - it can be a 6+ year wait.

[Anonymous]

I’m OP, thanks for all the feedback. We wandered around the neighborhood quite a bit yesterday with our kids to explore. I was a little struck by how empty the playgrounds were. Is that typical or more of a summer thing? Do people mostly stick around home since they have yards?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's good to hear! How is the community in general? We live on the Hill currently and have a 3 and 4 year old. Are there lots of young kids nearby? Is it easy enough to meet people and build community before starting at school in that area?

Absolutely. It has a very engaged community, great administration, and solid teachers with very little turnover. Lots of opportunities outside of school to play sports or do scouts w/neighborhood friends. We went to Dorothy Hamm, not Swanson, after Glebe, and our child was very, very academically prepared. They still see their Swanson friends regularly. You should contact the PTA and ask to chat with someone.

As an adult having moved from the Hill, I like that I can walk to things like Starbucks, wine store, there's a bus a few doors down... It's also an easy walk into Ballston.

We also had a student with a 504 plan and the teachers always respected it and worked with our child. There is pushback from the administration about dyslexia, and that's really the only negative thing I can think of there (but it's obv a big negative and I can absolutely see it being an issue). I don't entirely understand why the administration won't relent and just offer services to students who test early for dyslexia, and it is distressing. That said, APS across the board has a problem with teaching reading, whether the student has a disability or not. However, it's still head over heals better than what our student received at their DCPS elem school. I am taken aback by either the Principal or the AP saying that kids don't need meds, because they were personally very supportive of our child taking meds. But they can both be probably more informal and personal than what everyone is used to from school administrators.

You do need to sign off on not needing translation services... prior to the 504 meeting, but that's part of the form that isn't unique to Glebe. I assume those questions are asked to make sure everyone can access the meeting and any testing that may need done? There's also notations in everyone's Parentview as to whether your family does or does not need various services.

Glebe has an active group for Spanish speaking parents, a mutlicultural night, and a fiesta night at the end of the year, and the bilingual family specialist, Beronica, is a community legend. She used to and probably still does translate at every PTA meeting. When our youngest was at Glebe, the Principal announced how many different first languages were spoken by the students and it was a big number. That was prepandemic, but I don't believe that's changed much.

Separately, there is also a lot of push in (rather than passively being an available program) from Beronica, the PTA, the administration, and teachers to make sure that all students' financial needs are met, including Thanksgiving dinner delivery, a holiday gift drive, and a pantry. Many students and families receive free or reduced access to PTA events where there are entrance fees, and there are programs to allow students to access enrichment activities. However, there's not a great way for the school to track who may or may not qualify for services, so I can absolutely see someone proactively asking based upon stereotypes, and I can also see the flip side of feeling that that bias is hurtful. I was surprised when I learned that the schools don't automatically receive a list of students who may quality, and I am sorry that the previous poster was hurt by being asked. Again, can see where the discomfort may be.

The whole PTA auction thing is a myth. Those things are cyclical. It's not different from DCPS schools who fundraise via auction. It is adults in proximity to alcohol, so yes people do act accordingly. And yes the PTA raises a lot of money, but it also has a very robust calendar and services it offers.

Glebe does split middle schools: about half to Dorothy Hamm and about half to Swanson. Then those schools shake it up again to W&L or Yorktown for high school. That said, APS boundaries are ever changing, Dorothy Hamm and Swanson are both good middle schools, and by middle school the kids are biking to one another's houses, meeting at the parks, on their devices with one another so it's not a huge deal. But it is definitely a downside. We didn't find that part as disruptive as when our son was the only child on our block to attend our neighborhood DCPS, though. Here he has a community. It is disruptive, though, for sure.

Tight lots is a weird thing to care about, unless you're looking for a neighborhood of new builds, maybe? But it also sure seems like the developers can squeeze just about anything you want into those lots. You have multiple parks and sidewalks and bike paths over in Waycroft-Woodlawn, though. Mature trees and well landscaped yards. Deer frolic around. Kids ride bikes. It's very lovely. The downsides to me would be that a lot of the new development is ugly, Wash Blvd, George Mason, and Glebe are busy roads, and I'm thinking of a third one. I can't come up with it. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m OP, thanks for all the feedback. We wandered around the neighborhood quite a bit yesterday with our kids to explore. I was a little struck by how empty the playgrounds were. Is that typical or more of a summer thing? Do people mostly stick around home since they have yards?

That's absolutely a summer thing. Once the kids hit 4th or 5th grade, they are also congregate at the parks after school. A lot of people are out of town and this weekend was a big turn over weekend for kids who do overnight camps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were at Glebe but didn’t love it; it has a larger degree of economic diversity than other N Arlington schools, which leads to a lot of bragging about diversity, but what we found was economic segregation. I was friends with a (non-white) mother who commented that as soon as you mentioned an ethnic sounding name, many parents got a glazed over look and backed away (figuratively). Also the admin - we have a obviously non-white last name despite being white, and were constantly called about free lunch or made to waive Medicaid during 504 meetings; I asked our friends w/european last names and they didn’t receive the calls or the awkward forms during meetings, so that left a bad taste. The UMC parents were annoying, which is to be expected in the area, I suppose, but the Halls Hill neighborhood seems to attract a thirsty/insecure crowd. A number of the Glebe teachers were awesome, but we had an equal number of abysmal ones. Not great with 504 plans - counselor told us dyslexia can’t be diagnosed until st least 3rd grade (we had a private neuropsych eval and diagnosis, and pointed out research shows poorer outcomes waiting until 3rd); principal told our friends their kid didn’t need adhd meds bc she had adhd and didn’t use them. Main downside to Glebe is that the current boundaries split the school for middle school, then the middle schools also split for high school. So basically our kids would only have continued on with the kids in our neighborhood - and on our street, of the 5 houses that had kids our age, we were the only ones at Glebe! Others were option school, private, etc, so no classmates. Could be fine, but definitely think the Jamestown/nottingham/tuckahoe kids who are together from kinder have an advantage there.

We moved to a different APS school and were much happier. However, families we left behind seem happy, so it’s personal preference. Good luck.

Everyone gets the Medicaid form. It allows the school to get reimbursed by Medicaid for any services the school provides to an eligible student. The parents of EVERY child who has an IEP or 504 get one of those forms in the IEP packet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are looking at Glebe, I would suggest looking at Cardinal and Ashlawn as well. Ashlawn has similar demographics as Glebe. All 3 are central Arlington with walkable neighborhoods full of kids.

Get in the waitlists for Overlee, Arlington Forest, and Dominion Hills pools ASAP - it can be a 6+ year wait.

Overlee BLOWS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m OP, thanks for all the feedback. We wandered around the neighborhood quite a bit yesterday with our kids to explore. I was a little struck by how empty the playgrounds were. Is that typical or more of a summer thing? Do people mostly stick around home since they have yards?

It's hot, mosquito-y, and vacation season. There are ton of kids at playgrounds in the fall and spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m OP, thanks for all the feedback. We wandered around the neighborhood quite a bit yesterday with our kids to explore. I was a little struck by how empty the playgrounds were. Is that typical or more of a summer thing? Do people mostly stick around home since they have yards?

It's hot, mosquito-y, and vacation season. There are ton of kids at playgrounds in the fall and spring.

We go to the pool instead of the playground in the summer.

[Anonymous]

Ashlawn feeds to Kenmore, I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ashlawn feeds to Kenmore, I think.

Ashlawn is split between Swanson and Kenmore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m OP, thanks for all the feedback. We wandered around the neighborhood quite a bit yesterday with our kids to explore. I was a little struck by how empty the playgrounds were. Is that typical or more of a summer thing? Do people mostly stick around home since they have yards?

It's hot, mosquito-y, and vacation season. There are ton of kids at playgrounds in the fall and spring.

We go to the pool instead of the playground in the summer.

How do you go to the pool during the 6+ year wait?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m OP, thanks for all the feedback. We wandered around the neighborhood quite a bit yesterday with our kids to explore. I was a little struck by how empty the playgrounds were. Is that typical or more of a summer thing? Do people mostly stick around home since they have yards?

It's hot, mosquito-y, and vacation season. There are ton of kids at playgrounds in the fall and spring.

We go to the pool instead of the playground in the summer.

How do you go to the pool during the 6+ year wait?

There are pools without a waitlist (e.g., Knights of Columbus), or several clubs offer partial/summer memberships for those waiting to be full members, or you can go with friends, or you can go to a public water park (e.g., Ocean Dunes). There are options.