Barcroft elementary/ south Arlington crisis

[Anonymous]

I too send kids to Barcroft. Many families love the community feel, the teachers are some of the best in the County, and it's a great place to have a family. A lot of what is written above is uninformed and largely reactionary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I too send kids to Barcroft. Many families love the community feel, the teachers are some of the best in the County, and it's a great place to have a family. A lot of what is written above is uninformed and largely reactionary.

Please clear your Calender for one of the meetings. Also, please share some specifics about your experience at the school. Certainly, people are reacting strongly to some of the above reports. Your kid's education is a huge factor in life, and people are justifiably concerned. This thread welcomes some good news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here who cannot afford to move to north Arlington - to the poster who said we could just live in a cheap condo. Well, no we can't.

Those condos are in many places more expensive than my house. To rent is more expensive then my mortgage. I make low six figures too, but I am a single mom with very little child support. And if I were to sell, I would lose equity and pay huge transaction costs.

So, not such a great option.

Ditto here. Bought right at the downturn, and had saved up to be sure we'd have a mortgage that could weather uncertain financial times.
Condo living does have is perks, but it does not make sense for us financially. Also, I prefer raising a child with a yard- nothing against those who don't have 'em. I'm certain they feel zero envy watching us mow in 100 degrees and pull weeds all the live long day.

[Anonymous]

I think the barcroft PTA should know about the meetings, what ever meetings you are talking about. See then how many happy parents you have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the barcroft PTA should know about the meetings, what ever meetings you are talking about. See then how many happy parents you have.

I don't know. This info was on the Douglas park listserv and I believe Barcroft listserv. I would
Imagine they are aware and many will be present.
It's amazing to me that any parent wouldn't have a clue about what is happening over there. Like really?

[Anonymous]

Guys, it isn't just Barcroft that is failing. Granted, they are approaching oak ridge as far as space and students (although oak ridge has very different demographics), Campbell, Douglas park, drew, abingdon etc. none of them are showing academic achievement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Guys, it isn't just Barcroft that is failing. Granted, they are approaching oak ridge as far as space and students (although oak ridge has very different demographics), Campbell, Douglas park, drew, abingdon etc. none of them are showing academic achievement.

Absolutely. This thread touches on all of those schools. I think the reason for the focus on Barcroft is because of obvious drops in the test scores, and it was a neighborhood school that was enjoying improved numbers and some community pride. It's nice to even see the other schools mentioned. Try finding info on them on these threads. It's few and far between, because they have been written off by many. Let's hope that changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While, it scratches a certain itch to imagine a much needed dose of reality shipped over to Jamestown, I'm in agreement that busing will not solve the problems the county is creating.
We need actual community planning. It boggles the mind that we can know what we do about functional, diverse neighborhoods, and then do almost exactly the opposite.

This is really an offensive statement. You should be ashamed of yourself. Seriously.

Nope. Not even a little.

You are despicable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While, it scratches a certain itch to imagine a much needed dose of reality shipped over to Jamestown, I'm in agreement that busing will not solve the problems the county is creating.
We need actual community planning. It boggles the mind that we can know what we do about functional, diverse neighborhoods, and then do almost exactly the opposite.

This is really an offensive statement. You should be ashamed of yourself. Seriously.

Nope. Not even a little.

You are despicable.

Forgive me. I meant to include Nottingham and Tuckahoe as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While, it scratches a certain itch to imagine a much needed dose of reality shipped over to Jamestown, I'm in agreement that busing will not solve the problems the county is creating.
We need actual community planning. It boggles the mind that we can know what we do about functional, diverse neighborhoods, and then do almost exactly the opposite.

This is really an offensive statement. You should be ashamed of yourself. Seriously.

Nope. Not even a little.

You are despicable.

Forgive me. I meant to include Nottingham and Tuckahoe as well.

And Discovery

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While, it scratches a certain itch to imagine a much needed dose of reality shipped over to Jamestown, I'm in agreement that busing will not solve the problems the county is creating.
We need actual community planning. It boggles the mind that we can know what we do about functional, diverse neighborhoods, and then do almost exactly the opposite.

This is really an offensive statement. You should be ashamed of yourself. Seriously.

Nope. Not even a little.

You are despicable.

Forgive me. I meant to include Nottingham and Tuckahoe as well.

And Discovery

Silly me! Of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of affordable condo options in N . Arl that feed into the good schools. It's a choice - do you get a bigger place and go to a crappy school and be the rich or a smaller place and a great school and be one of the poors?

There is always choices. No one on here is truly stuck in S Arl.

Wow, what an over simplified, uninformed, and unwelcome opinion. You really captured the ignorance of someone who isn't familiar with our neighborhoods, with just a dash of self satisfied, elitism.

Sorry but I am extremely familiar with the situation and yes, this is what it boils down to. Those buying SFH in S Arl don't want to live in a condo in N Arl and be branded a "poor". It's perception. If it was dedication to education, there would be plenty of families in the condos.

Smug yet completely erroneous commentary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It continues to puzzle me: why has such a dichotomy developed between n and s arlington over the past few years?

It's not just the last few years, there has long been a N/S split. This article gets into some of the history http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/May-June-2015/Are-There-Two-Arlingtons/

S Arlington is basically aesthetically unappealing and, for some reason, Shirlington is filled with vacant storefronts. Still, I'd take it over Lincolnia or whatever that weird stuck in the late 70s area near Alexandria is called.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While, it scratches a certain itch to imagine a much needed dose of reality shipped over to Jamestown, I'm in agreement that busing will not solve the problems the county is creating.
We need actual community planning. It boggles the mind that we can know what we do about functional, diverse neighborhoods, and then do almost exactly the opposite.

This is really an offensive statement. You should be ashamed of yourself. Seriously.

Nope. Not even a little.

You are despicable.

Forgive me. I meant to include Nottingham and Tuckahoe as well.

Wait! You forgot about Taylor!

And Discovery

Silly me! Of course.

[Anonymous]

No one here is discounting the quality of the teachers, the community feeling, or how hard Barcroft tries to succeed. in the end though, the kids don't do nearly as well as their peers in north schools. And that is true among demographic groups. That tells you your kid is not getting as good an education as they would somewhere else. We all hate those darn tests, but the comparisons are undeniable. Anecdotes about happy parents doesn't change thst. Comparing Performance measures says it all.