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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
Waynewood ES
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Anonymous
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Hi OP, 14:47 here. I didn't write clearly when I said I met most of the people around here while my kids were in preschool or elementary. I meant that I met people through those activities - eg, volunteering at the preschool (we had dual working parents volunteer there as well), and at evening school activities, not while my kids were at said activities!
I'm sorry you had a brief conversation with a SAHM who was going home to clean her house and didn't know what to do to converse when you said you work full-time. I'm a PT SAHM and frankly it is harder to stay in touch with my F/T mom friends. It's just the way it is. However, I'm part of one of the many informal "mom" groups who get together once a month at night with other neighbors/friends from nearby neighborhoods to play bunco, have a reading club, happy hour, chat or whatever. Our group formed because we all had kids the same age in K together. This is the key, because yes, there are established groups of friends who met initially through their kids - it's just the way it happens, whether we agree with it or like it or not. It's likely that they aren't going to open up as much to newcomers. My advice is that it's better to start or join a new group. Our group is a mix of FT working moms, P/T SAHM and FT SAHMs. Many, if not all of us, have moved in and out of our various work roles over the last few year. Members have moved and new moms join. If you have an offer to join a group like this and the other moms don't seem snobby to you, or you want to start something similar - definitely do so as it may make you feel a lot better about your neighborhood and you'll meet more people as others invite newcomers. I'm sure WW is full of all kinds of people. You will find your own group if you continue to make an effort and let those who can't meet you as the working mom you are move right on by. From what I can tell, just from the nature of established groups, your best bet is to be friendly with all, seek out families new to the neighborhood when possible to be friendly with, and get to know as many families as you can in your child's class next year. I see one person has already responded positively here, so you are on your way. Good luck!! |
Anonymous
Answering your second question first: Yes, I do think a significant part of the problem was specific to the Waynewood neighborhood/school, though it sounds like a few other pockets of Fairfax County might have that mentality too. After the real estate sign went up on the front lawn, we had two separate individuals stop by (people we had never seen or met) and state to us: "SO. You'll be moving to another house in the neighborhood??" as though they were sure they were right. When we politely answered that we needed to move to a different part of Fairfax County (without mentioning that we did not enjoy the arrogant attitude), they got that pinched-nose, disdainful appearance and declared that Waynewood is the best neighborhood in Fairfax County. One of these people flat-out declared that we would never find a better place to live in the area. It's great that they feel this way about their neighborhood, but to presume that they have the superior understanding and know what is best for us is tedious and narrow-minded. Many of the children we encountered there were extremely clique-y (like their moms) and did not seem comfortable with being original/unique. They all had the same brand of jackets and carried the same brand tote bags. It was creepy. I did not find anything remarkable about the school's teachers. My child had one year where the math instruction was TERRIBLE. The female PE teacher was two-faced and sucked up to the 'important' parents. The new location worked out better for us. |
Anonymous
Classic damage control spin. It says nothing useful. "It's just the way it is." This is exactly why we left. |
Anonymous
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I'm confused. I looked up Waynewood Elementary on greatschools because I had never heard of it. (We just left the DC area, but will be moving back in just two years. I'm already trying to figure out where we want to live this time.) Based on what I read in this thread, I expected to see excellent test scores and a high rating. Actually, the test scores were kind of low compared to the school my kids went to in Burke. And it only got a "7" out of 10 on their scale.
Anyone know why? |
Anonymous
10:37 again. 1. The ES is white. You've got some folks who'll vociferously deny it, of course, but it's there. FWIW, when someone posted here a few months ago looking for a mostly-white area to raise their kids, the area between Rt. 1 and the river was heavily recommended. I pointed out they'd still be going to Sandburg/West Potomac for MS and HS, and the fact is, those two are among the lowest scoring MS and HS in the county. You can argue that Sandburg/WePo are acceptable, in which case that makes any FCPS school acceptable. So that then begs the question, why are Waynewood and the other "good" WePo feeders so special? Why not live in Alexandria City and go to TC Williams? 1a. If you want to take race out of it (and I probably should, since OP offered a good explanation of the WW area's appeal), you can say -- many residents there "share general middle-class American values," something that's found in pretty much all of Fairfax County's SFH and TH neighborhoods. 2. I live in Vienna/Thoreau/Madison. Hearing folks who go to WW or the nearby mostly-white ESs lecturing me about diversity cracks me up. So I send my kids to school with Biff and Muffy. So do yours. 2b. I lived diversity (Oakridge/Gunston/Wakefield) and NOT in Shirlington or Crystal City -- the 1940s duplexes were my stomping grounds for several years. I lived near immigrants who refused to socialize outside their nationality. I lived next door to lower SES folks who'd have drunken arguments involving either them -- or their relvatives -- between 4pm and 1am at random, 1-3 times a week. My wife even called the cops on them twice. There was a drug dealer across the street. (*) There were at least three boardinghouses on my block. That probably sours my attitude about diversity being an absolute good 3. It is highly convenient to commute into Arlington/Alexandria/DC by car, and single-family houses can run between 450k and 800k, within reach of mere mortals such as those who populate the town of Vienna, Fairfax City, Burke, the Woodson area east of Fairfax, and the area just south of Tysons and Falls Church city. (*) Well, cars would stop by for 10-15 minutes and then leave. One day the police came and took the residents away along with their two pit bulls. FWIW, they were among the better neighbors and the pit bulls seemed friendly enough. So I'd recommend the area if: (1) you want a little less noise than Alexandria/Arlington offer (2) walkability for some/most errands is un-important (I think you can still walk to school, the pool, and around the neighborhood for playdates, though.) (3) you work in DC/Arlington/Alexandria or are ok with going to Huntington Metro and then zipping in. (4) are OK with Sandburg/West Potomac. this is more than I can say about my old neighborhood, which I might recommend to a single guy or childless couple who's willing to take a chance on gentrification happening in 4-5 years (the young family we sold to bailed in under a year despite renovating the heck out of the place.) To the OP, if your neighbors have been great so far, I don't know why they'd suddenly turn into demons once your DC hits Kindergarten. There is a chance that you will run into psychotic kid/parent living on the other side of the school zone, but that can happen anywhere. I'm sure a core of 3-5 poisonous parents in one grade can make things miserable for the others in that grade but things are still ok for the other grades. For all I know 17:09 might've run into a "poison pack" and decided to move (he/she never did say where they live now.) |
Anonymous
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I have another question about Waynewood Elementary and I do live in the school district. Was there an incident between two children at Waynewood's SACC program?
My child is not old enough to go to school there yet (but is almost ready to) and I had just heard this from a neighbor. If anyone has more details I would appreciate it. Such as when and how this was handled. |
Anonymous
If you wanted to go by test scores - and people certainly have different views on this - you'd find that West Potomac seniors score substantially (about 50 points) above the national average on SATs, while TC Williams seniors, on average, score substantially (about 65 points) below the national average. There are some FCPS schools where the scores are below the state and national averages. It just happens that West Potomac is not one of them, at least not recently. That doesn't tell you much about how an individual student would fare at either school. It may tell you that, in overall terms, West Potomac has a larger percentage of high-achieving students than is currently found at TC Williams. For some parents, that might be a sufficient basis to send a kid to Sandburg/West Potomac, but not to ACPS. |
Anonymous
Sure! I can be reached at fauoe00@gmail.com. |
Anonymous
Thanks 14:47. I appreciate your words of encouragement and honesty. It's a whole new world when your kids enter "real" school and I guess I'm just a little nervous. Thanks again! |
Anonymous
let me get this straight: you're worried about ONE incident that happened at SACC? That is the "dealbreaker" for you to take your kid to Waynewood or not? You people need to get a grip. On Sandburg and West Potomac: they are both fine schools. Every school in Fairfax County is better than most public schools across the country. WP's lower "test scores" could be attributed to many things. Since, you're looking to take your kid to Waynewood, i'll take the popular belief from those that live in Waynewood: It's all the poor minorities at West Potomac that bring the scores down. In fact, there are a lot of minorities at West Potomac. And there are many kids there not doing well in school. However, you will find that at EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL, except maybe Thomas Jefferson, where every kid thinks he is an ivy leaguer because they went to a good high school, has underachieving students. I loved West Potomac. I loved the diversity, I loved the teachers. If you want a lilly-white school, take your kid to Bishop Ireton or O'Connell, where you'll get subpar teaching and crappy facilities. And, likely your kid will get into drugs because he's surrounded by other rich kids. Most of the well to do kids that go to West Potomac mostly hang out with the other well-to-doers, so if you really truly are scared of all those "poor minorities" screwing up your kids high school scores and grades, etc. there really isn't much to worry about. If your kid has a good head on his shoulders, he'll be fine. There are fights at every school, there are troublemakers at every school. There are drugdealers at every school (often it's the white kid with all the money and the succesful parents). If anything, West Potomac prepares you for the real world (where there are people of every color, size, shape, character), other than a school like McLean or TJ or Oakton. |
Anonymous
Uh nooooo...I am not worried about one incident during SAAC in regards to sending my child to the school but I am worried about sending my child to SAAC there when I was told of a molestation incident. So if anyone has information about if there truly was a molestation incident between two children I would like to know more about that before I send my child to SAAC there. Call me an alarmist...but molestation makes me uncomfortable. |
Anonymous
| If you decide against Waynewood, Fort Hunt is an option. Great Spanish immersion program and a new principal who is really focussed on academics. |
Anonymous
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My family and I moved to Waynewood 5 years ago and we love it! We didn't know anyone but we met a lot of our friends through the school and then the pool. Also the fireworks on Crowley are awesome! In reference to the school situation I went to Waynewood then Sandburg and now go to West Potomac. There is a huge difference between the elementary school and ms/hs but I feel like I was mature enough to handle the change, my main group of friends still lives in and around ww.
P.S. I hope you find what you are looking for, our families might run into each other at the block party! |