Why stay in DC when none (yes, including upper NW schools) seem to compare to Arlington?????????????

[Anonymous]

Breaking it down:

"The great part about public education in DC is that we have so many options now, no matter where you live in the city. "

Just like Arlington County!

"And we have public options for language immersion schools, expiditionary schools, montessori schools and traditional schools. You may have to enter a lottery, and it may be frustrating, but you have options"

Just like Arlington County! Claremont and Key for language immersion, Campbell for expEditionary, Drew for Montessori, ATS for traditional.

" In the suburbs if the neighborhood school isn't a good fit for your child your only other option is private (and we have that option too in DC)."

Wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think any of you ladies understood my point. You are doing the Kreutzer thing again.

I never made a judgment on the quality of DC schools vs. Arlington, MoCo or anywhere else. That market is well-explored by now. Here, again, is the argument I was making:

Someone upthread said the advantage of DCPS over Arlington is the presence of school options. And I say, this is wrong. ACPS has plenty of lottery-based options. So it is incorrect to claim that DC has that advantage (over Arlington). Do any of you disagree?

My second point is that education options that depend on luck of the draw are not as attractive as options available to all.

I understood that point perfectly - and responded to it. All you're doing is repeating yourself, and insisting that others don't understand. If you'd care to respond, please do so. You can dispense with the references you dredged up from your college Russian Literature class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think any of you ladies understood my point. You are doing the Kreutzer thing again.

I never made a judgment on the quality of DC schools vs. Arlington, MoCo or anywhere else. That market is well-explored by now. Here, again, is the argument I was making:

Someone upthread said the advantage of DCPS over Arlington is the presence of school options. And I say, this is wrong. ACPS has plenty of lottery-based options. So it is incorrect to claim that DC has that advantage (over Arlington). Do any of you disagree?

My second point is that education options that depend on luck of the draw are not as attractive as options available to all.

I understood that point perfectly - and responded to it. All you're doing is repeating yourself, and insisting that others don't understand. If you'd care to respond, please do so. You can dispense with the references you dredged up from your college Russian Literature class.

Do you still think that presence of lottery-based school options is an advantage over Arlington PS, seeing as it has plenty of lottery-based options too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think any of you ladies understood my point. You are doing the Kreutzer thing again.

I never made a judgment on the quality of DC schools vs. Arlington, MoCo or anywhere else. That market is well-explored by now. Here, again, is the argument I was making:

Someone upthread said the advantage of DCPS over Arlington is the presence of school options. And I say, this is wrong. ACPS has plenty of lottery-based options. So it is incorrect to claim that DC has that advantage (over Arlington). Do any of you disagree?

My second point is that education options that depend on luck of the draw are not as attractive as options available to all.

I understood that point perfectly - and responded to it. All you're doing is repeating yourself, and insisting that others don't understand. If you'd care to respond, please do so. You can dispense with the references you dredged up from your college Russian Literature class.

Do you still think that presence of lottery-based school options is an advantage over Arlington PS, seeing as it has plenty of lottery-based options too?

I didn't make that statement, or ever address that point. I addressed the bolded point above. If you look hard, I'm sure you can find the post.

[Anonymous]

We'll have to agree to disagree over the joys of nailbiting, then. But I am glad you don't question the presence of educational choices outside of DC boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We'll have to agree to disagree over the joys of nailbiting, then. But I am glad you don't question the presence of educational choices outside of DC boundaries.

So, no response? Gottcha.

Oh, and Tolstoy is overrated.

[Anonymous]

This discussion is hysterical. I remember reading posts where lots of people said they hated the lottery and hated walking past neighborhood schools on the way to charters, and now that an outsider is pointing out the same flaws in dcps, everyone's all up in arms and trying to cover up dcps flaws. Old posts lament over not enough charters and not enough options. One VA resident criticizes and we're suddenly awash in good schools. Is it so hard to sometimes swallow your pride and admit there's something wrong with dcps to an outsider?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'll have to agree to disagree over the joys of nailbiting, then. But I am glad you don't question the presence of educational choices outside of DC boundaries.

So, no response? Gottcha.

Oh, and Tolstoy is overrated.

At least he was a good speller. Maybe his mom put him in a good IB school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Part of the education VA kids are getting is that women are 2nd class citizens who can't be trusted to make their own health decisions.

We'll stay in NW DC rather than be under the rule of governor tranvaginal and his merry band of misogynists, thanks. I'll take a little corruption in the leadership over that, any day.

+100

[Anonymous]

NP here. I think what is so offensive about the original post is the idea that nothing in the DC public options compares to Arlington public schools.

I am personally very impressed with Arlington Public schools and if I left DC I would definitely consider it.

I am one of the people that is very happy with my child's upper NW school, which OP called out in the title as not even close. Other people through moving, lottery luck, or some combination of luck and persistence have found schools that work for them. That is not denying DCPS warts, that is saying there is some good that on balance is as good or better than what Arlinton has to offer and if you can find it for many it is worth staying in the city and it is not accurate to brush everything DC has to offer as inferior to all Arlington schools.

I will admit nothing in DCPS comes close to my understanding of HB Woodlawn as a middle/high school option. But that too is a lottery and given my luck in lotteries I would not move just to take the chance my kids could get in.

[Anonymous]

As the PP noted, the inital post was pretty inflammatory, but let me see if I can craft a thoughtful response and overlook the OP's original post that was both offensive and wrong.

First, I will not dispute that Arlington schools are good. That's a fact. A poster noted that Arlington schools have lottery options for different learning models, so you guys all also have choices. You guys live close into the city so you also don't really have to worry about horrible commutes and its fairly Metro accessible.

Congratulations, Arlington is a great place to live...for SOME people. Please keep in mind that every place isn't everyone's "cup of tea." I've lived in NY, Philadelphia, Chicago, Maryland, DC and Geogia (I know, the last one was an outlier ) There were nice things to be found about every city I lived in, but some had "energy" that I just personally didn't click with even as friends of mine loved the place and wouldn't think about living anywhere else.

I didn't grow up in DC, but it feels like "home" to me (which confounds the friends I made in Georgia ). So you see, although Arlington is nice, when I ride through it it feels like "meh". No connection. However, I get that your heart may skip a beat when you ride down Clarendon Blvd. If it does, then perhaps your spirit connects with the place and if you have children and can afford to move, then you should definitely consider it.

Actually (and I really am not saying this to be mean but...) I wish people like OP would (if they haven't already) move to Arlington (or anywhere but here) sooner than later. They complain all the time; they hold several lottery spots well into August because they're just not happy with ANYTHING and they fret over EVERYTHING (and of course that creates even more mania in the system); plus they bolt DCPS/Charters somewhere between 1st and 3rd grade or shortly after the second kid arrives. Their attitude and actions simply make it more difficult for those of us who really want to stay and who are committed to the public schools here.

Would I consider leaving DC for better school options? Sure. But not right now. My kids attend a sought after charter which they love and we live in a great location. DC is the right place for our family at this moment.

So why stay in DC? Because we like it and we're happy here and even though OP thinks the educational experience here is inferior to Arlington schools, that's simply not the case for my family nor many others who have chosen to stay.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand this thread. So what if people in DC have to be a bit more entrepreneurial when it comes to finding suitable schools for their kids? It probably means they have to get more invested in their kids' education in the process. We've been reasonably happy with our kids' schools in Fairfax - zero interest in living in Arlington - but there definitely are many parents who think that, just because they live in a school district with top scores, they can simply turn their kids over to the schools and expect the schools to do the rest. The DC system seems more like a laboratory that forces parents to ask questions and get involved. Just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

Our play group had 6 of us in it when we started in 2001. I am the only one that still is in DC the others are in Fairfax and Montgomery County. All of them said they wanted to move because it was too stressful to have to worry about what was happening in their kids education. When we get together they cannot tell me a whole lot about what is happening in their kids classrooms. I ask because I am extremely involved because I did stay in DCPS and wanted a comparison to make sure we were still getting the right level. I think some people have more background, energy, desire whatever to be that involved others need the reassurance. DCPS is no piece of cake but it is an alternative headache to the beltway.

[Anonymous]

I would go there myself!

[Anonymous]

Quick quiz
1) Who has longer lifespans: residents of cities or residents of suburbs in a country with 39,000 traffic fatalities per year ? (Hint: it's not the residents of the suburbs.)

2) between 2005 and 2010, who got more kids into Harvard: The 4 schools in Arlington County or 4 DCPS schools (Wilson, Banneker, School without Walls and Ellington)? (Hint: think tie)