Question about re zoning elementary schools in S. Arlington

[Anonymous]

^^^ I've lived in South Arlington for 5 years and am plenty critical of APS, but the above is hyperbole and oddly offbase to the point of being trollish. Redistricting at the ES level is addressing overcrowding, by bringing new ES online and, therefore, rezoning to fill the new schools. The HS thing is an issue and has been poorly managed by APS, but odds are that all students will still be attending adequate comprehensive schools that are moderately overcrowded by the time OP's kids are there. The reality is that Arlington schools are still very good, the class sizes are smaller than in Fairfax, and OP's kids will be fine even in a Title I school. Not to mention, shorter commutes let OP spend more time with her kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I've lived in South Arlington for 5 years and am plenty critical of APS, but the above is hyperbole and oddly offbase to the point of being trollish. Redistricting at the ES level is addressing overcrowding, by bringing new ES online and, therefore, rezoning to fill the new schools. The HS thing is an issue and has been poorly managed by APS, but odds are that all students will still be attending adequate comprehensive schools that are moderately overcrowded by the time OP's kids are there. The reality is that Arlington schools are still very good, the class sizes are smaller than in Fairfax, and OP's kids will be fine even in a Title I school. Not to mention, shorter commutes let OP spend more time with her kids.

There it is again. "Your kids will be fine". Maybe at Oakridge or Fleet. Anywhere else you'll have to spend a lot of time making sure and speaking up when things aren't fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know that re zoning is expected in 2019 in S. Arlington due to the new elementary school. Does anyone know that if you kid goes to one of the schools effected will they be moved to another elementary school that year or would the re-zoning only impact incoming students or students that voluntarily move?

Sorry if this has been asked before.

Hi,

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I am.new to this board because we may be moving to the area. Where will the new school be? Which elementary schools are likely to be effected? I would hate to have us move into a new house/school only to make my poor kids move again 2 years later!

Additional re-districting will happen again in another few years; so it's really not so simple to give you an answer that guarantees you won't be impacted the next time around even if you avoid it this time. Unless you move really close (like spitting distance) to a neighborhood school that is guaranteed not to be switched to an option school in upcoming years, there's still a chance you'll be impacted by new boundaries. Fleet opens at Thomas Jefferson site next year. Reed will open in Westover in another few years. Some option programs might get relocated, which affects neighborhood schools.

+1 Buy the house you like and don't worry too much about the schools. If your kids do have to move, they won't be the only ones. If it's that important to you that they never get redistricted then you should rent so you can easily switch homes to stay in the school zone you want.

Lol, don't worry about the schools. "All schools are good schools"?

All schools are good! But the company........

[Anonymous]

Just from a real estate perspective- I would avoid buying property currently zoned Henry, that will likely be rezoned to Drew or Randolph. That’s not being smart with your money. Either buy in areas assured to stay at their current school or wait till the decisions are made. Don’t pay a premium for a school You won’t attend.
Not against homes zoned to underperforming schools, but their prices reflect the school ratings. Don’t over pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just from a real estate perspective- I would avoid buying property currently zoned Henry, that will likely be rezoned to Drew or Randolph. That’s not being smart with your money. Either buy in areas assured to stay at their current school or wait till the decisions are made. Don’t pay a premium for a school You won’t attend.
Not against homes zoned to underperforming schools, but their prices reflect the school ratings. Don’t over pay.

Yup. Or arna valley/long branch creek. It's in the Oakridge walk zone but the maps and questionnaire that were posted by APS in the spring - before the process was killed - made it pretty plain that they are considering busing half of oakridges walk zone to Drew.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just from a real estate perspective- I would avoid buying property currently zoned Henry, that will likely be rezoned to Drew or Randolph. That’s not being smart with your money. Either buy in areas assured to stay at their current school or wait till the decisions are made. Don’t pay a premium for a school You won’t attend.
Not against homes zoned to underperforming schools, but their prices reflect the school ratings. Don’t over pay.

Yep. Trying to decide whether to sell now or wait til this plays out. What is annoying is that we bought several years ago FOR Henry. But oh well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I've lived in South Arlington for 5 years and am plenty critical of APS, but the above is hyperbole and oddly offbase to the point of being trollish. Redistricting at the ES level is addressing overcrowding, by bringing new ES online and, therefore, rezoning to fill the new schools. The HS thing is an issue and has been poorly managed by APS, but odds are that all students will still be attending adequate comprehensive schools that are moderately overcrowded by the time OP's kids are there. The reality is that Arlington schools are still very good, the class sizes are smaller than in Fairfax, and OP's kids will be fine even in a Title I school. Not to mention, shorter commutes let OP spend more time with her kids.

There it is again. "Your kids will be fine". Maybe at Oakridge or Fleet. Anywhere else you'll have to spend a lot of time making sure and speaking up when things aren't fine.

Not all of us are so uptight about elementary. Kids of two smart, highly educated, involved, and well-off parents are very likely to do well in school. This describes most of the parents in Arlington who fret about schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I've lived in South Arlington for 5 years and am plenty critical of APS, but the above is hyperbole and oddly offbase to the point of being trollish. Redistricting at the ES level is addressing overcrowding, by bringing new ES online and, therefore, rezoning to fill the new schools. The HS thing is an issue and has been poorly managed by APS, but odds are that all students will still be attending adequate comprehensive schools that are moderately overcrowded by the time OP's kids are there. The reality is that Arlington schools are still very good, the class sizes are smaller than in Fairfax, and OP's kids will be fine even in a Title I school. Not to mention, shorter commutes let OP spend more time with her kids.

There it is again. "Your kids will be fine". Maybe at Oakridge or Fleet. Anywhere else you'll have to spend a lot of time making sure and speaking up when things aren't fine.

Not all of us are so uptight about elementary. Kids of two smart, highly educated, involved, and well-off parents are very likely to do well in school. This describes most of the parents in Arlington who fret about schools.

The problem is that those kids are likelier to be bored, or unchallenged because the school is geared to a population that needs a lot of attention to language learning and basic instruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I've lived in South Arlington for 5 years and am plenty critical of APS, but the above is hyperbole and oddly offbase to the point of being trollish. Redistricting at the ES level is addressing overcrowding, by bringing new ES online and, therefore, rezoning to fill the new schools. The HS thing is an issue and has been poorly managed by APS, but odds are that all students will still be attending adequate comprehensive schools that are moderately overcrowded by the time OP's kids are there. The reality is that Arlington schools are still very good, the class sizes are smaller than in Fairfax, and OP's kids will be fine even in a Title I school. Not to mention, shorter commutes let OP spend more time with her kids.

There it is again. "Your kids will be fine". Maybe at Oakridge or Fleet. Anywhere else you'll have to spend a lot of time making sure and speaking up when things aren't fine.

Not any more time than parents at north Arlington schools do whether they need to or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I've lived in South Arlington for 5 years and am plenty critical of APS, but the above is hyperbole and oddly offbase to the point of being trollish. Redistricting at the ES level is addressing overcrowding, by bringing new ES online and, therefore, rezoning to fill the new schools. The HS thing is an issue and has been poorly managed by APS, but odds are that all students will still be attending adequate comprehensive schools that are moderately overcrowded by the time OP's kids are there. The reality is that Arlington schools are still very good, the class sizes are smaller than in Fairfax, and OP's kids will be fine even in a Title I school. Not to mention, shorter commutes let OP spend more time with her kids.

There it is again. "Your kids will be fine". Maybe at Oakridge or Fleet. Anywhere else you'll have to spend a lot of time making sure and speaking up when things aren't fine.

Not any more time than parents at north Arlington schools do whether they need to or not.

A south Arlington parent making sure their kid isn't twiddling their thumbs without peers while the rest of Thebes's class drills on SOLs is not the same thing as north Arlington helicoptering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I've lived in South Arlington for 5 years and am plenty critical of APS, but the above is hyperbole and oddly offbase to the point of being trollish. Redistricting at the ES level is addressing overcrowding, by bringing new ES online and, therefore, rezoning to fill the new schools. The HS thing is an issue and has been poorly managed by APS, but odds are that all students will still be attending adequate comprehensive schools that are moderately overcrowded by the time OP's kids are there. The reality is that Arlington schools are still very good, the class sizes are smaller than in Fairfax, and OP's kids will be fine even in a Title I school. Not to mention, shorter commutes let OP spend more time with her kids.

There it is again. "Your kids will be fine". Maybe at Oakridge or Fleet. Anywhere else you'll have to spend a lot of time making sure and speaking up when things aren't fine.

Not any more time than parents at north Arlington schools do whether they need to or not.

A south Arlington parent making sure their kid isn't twiddling their thumbs without peers while the rest of Thebes's class drills on SOLs is not the same thing as north Arlington helicoptering.

I love how these comments always assume that NONE of the lower income kids or kids whose parents speak another language could be ahead or gifted or invested in school. Really , MO peers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I've lived in South Arlington for 5 years and am plenty critical of APS, but the above is hyperbole and oddly offbase to the point of being trollish. Redistricting at the ES level is addressing overcrowding, by bringing new ES online and, therefore, rezoning to fill the new schools. The HS thing is an issue and has been poorly managed by APS, but odds are that all students will still be attending adequate comprehensive schools that are moderately overcrowded by the time OP's kids are there. The reality is that Arlington schools are still very good, the class sizes are smaller than in Fairfax, and OP's kids will be fine even in a Title I school. Not to mention, shorter commutes let OP spend more time with her kids.

There it is again. "Your kids will be fine". Maybe at Oakridge or Fleet. Anywhere else you'll have to spend a lot of time making sure and speaking up when things aren't fine.

Not any more time than parents at north Arlington schools do whether they need to or not.

A south Arlington parent making sure their kid isn't twiddling their thumbs without peers while the rest of Thebes's class drills on SOLs is not the same thing as north Arlington helicoptering.

I love how these comments always assume that NONE of the lower income kids or kids whose parents speak another language could be ahead or gifted or invested in school. Really , MO peers?

Where does your kid go?

[Anonymous]

The first years are critical. I seriously judge people who are blasé about their kids at the underperforming schools. Blasé at Long Branch? Great. Blasé at Randolph? I judge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The first years are critical. I seriously judge people who are blasé about their kids at the underperforming schools. Blasé at Long Branch? Great. Blasé at Randolph? I judge.

I am very comfortable with your judgment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I've lived in South Arlington for 5 years and am plenty critical of APS, but the above is hyperbole and oddly offbase to the point of being trollish. Redistricting at the ES level is addressing overcrowding, by bringing new ES online and, therefore, rezoning to fill the new schools. The HS thing is an issue and has been poorly managed by APS, but odds are that all students will still be attending adequate comprehensive schools that are moderately overcrowded by the time OP's kids are there. The reality is that Arlington schools are still very good, the class sizes are smaller than in Fairfax, and OP's kids will be fine even in a Title I school. Not to mention, shorter commutes let OP spend more time with her kids.

There it is again. "Your kids will be fine". Maybe at Oakridge or Fleet. Anywhere else you'll have to spend a lot of time making sure and speaking up when things aren't fine.

Not any more time than parents at north Arlington schools do whether they need to or not.

A south Arlington parent making sure their kid isn't twiddling their thumbs without peers while the rest of Thebes's class drills on SOLs is not the same thing as north Arlington helicoptering.

I love how these comments always assume that NONE of the lower income kids or kids whose parents speak another language could be ahead or gifted or invested in school. Really , MO peers?

Where does your kid go?

Not the poster you're asking the question to; but I agree with the poster's comment - and my answer is that my kids go to Barcroft.
Regarding the previous comment about SA v NA parent involvement not being the same type - it doesn't matter. The point was spending "a lot of time making sure and speaking up." NA helicoptering in schools involves trying to influence or control things so that their child is challenged and having his needs met. Same as that SA parent who's "making sure their kids isn't twiddling their thumbs without peers." People who are so narrow-minded and stubbornly down on SA schools will grasp at anything to differentiate any point from NA - just won't admit north and south have anything at all in common.