No School Tours at Abingdon Elementary?

[Anonymous]

My son is a 1st grader at abingdon and we're very happy with it. We toured it during the information sessions they had in February/March of the year before he started kindergarten. I know it's hard to be patient when you're eager to start researching, but you'll have a chance to tour all of your options in February/March. Keep your eye on the APS website--tour dates will be posted around December or January.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a public school, right? Why would they spend their time and efforts taking parents on tours?

ACPS offers tours to parents of it's elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

Also, if you want to apply for any choice school, you need to attend Abingdon's info session in the spring and get the principal's signature and also the choice school's info session / signature. Relax. There are plenty of information sessions, and if you really are interested in the school, like others have said, check out the events. You can also read about Abingdon in the Fairlington Civic Association's newsletter every month. http://www.fca-fairlington.org/

[Anonymous]

Also, don't bother going to the APS Kindergarten Information Night. All the information, including tour dates, forms, etc. will be made available online. It was a big pain to go, we had to hire a sitter, only to be crammed into an overflow capacity room (the second overflow room, because both the HS auditorium and the first overflow room had filled) to watch the presentation on a feed and the audio was messed up for part of it. Parking was a nightmare and I saw two parents fighting over a spot almost get physical. That whole experience only served to make me feel more stressed out about the process, and I didn't get anything from it that I couldn't have accessed online. The scheduled tours are more helpful and I felt like I made an informed decision based on those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, don't bother going to the APS Kindergarten Information Night. All the information, including tour dates, forms, etc. will be made available online. It was a big pain to go, we had to hire a sitter, only to be crammed into an overflow capacity room (the second overflow room, because both the HS auditorium and the first overflow room had filled) to watch the presentation on a feed and the audio was messed up for part of it. Parking was a nightmare and I saw two parents fighting over a spot almost get physical. That whole experience only served to make me feel more stressed out about the process, and I didn't get anything from it that I couldn't have accessed online. The scheduled tours are more helpful and I felt like I made an informed decision based on those.

+1

Waste of time, unless you want to see our joke of a superintendent and get a quick laugh.

[Anonymous]

Our APS principal gave us a tour in the spring after we moved into Arlington, but it did not involve going into any classroom where students were learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Waste of time, unless you want to see our joke of a superintendent and get a quick laugh.

You can watch him online in one of those waste-of-resources Snapshots, then weep for the state of APS administration. (If you're not in Arlington, you can just watch and laugh your ass off. He is awful as an administrator, but the lack of self-awareness -- I am sure he thinks these things make him seem likable and competent -- is hilarious if you don't think about the fact that this guy has power.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Waste of time, unless you want to see our joke of a superintendent and get a quick laugh.

You can watch him online in one of those waste-of-resources Snapshots, then weep for the state of APS administration. (If you're not in Arlington, you can just watch and laugh your ass off. He is awful as an administrator, but the lack of self-awareness -- I am sure he thinks these things make him seem likable and competent -- is hilarious if you don't think about the fact that this guy has power.)

Yes, laugh then weep.

[Anonymous]

This is an ingoing issue at Abingdon. Many PPs have correctly pointed out that you will need to wait until spring to attend information sessions and do the standard tours, but the answer you got from the school isn't quite right either. Parents are always welcome to visit, and that includes prospective parents. I would get the principals info from the website and email her. Ask what she suggests. I bet you'll get a more helpful response than you did from the front office staff.

Also, to be fair, it's not unusual for front office staff at schools to be pretty surly and less than helpful. I'm not excusing that, I'm just saying it's probably not worse there than anywhere else.