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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
What makes a school good or bad?
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Anonymous
| This is an honest question and I am not looking for snarky responses. My children will be entering kindergarten next year and we will be moving to DC next summer. We will probably only be there three years max. Most likely two. Since these are my first children entering school, I don't know what I should be looking for. I know I can look at test scores, but does that paint the whole picture? For example, my husband really likes Cameron Station and would love to live there. However, the reviews for the elementary school (Tucker) are not good. Does that mean my kids would be screwed for kindergarten and first grade if they went there? I guess I am just feeling a bit overwhelmed with the move to DC... trying to figure out where to live and the added stress of school choice. Any tips on how to do this via the phone or just a month or two before school starts? |
Anonymous
There are a lot of factors that make a school good or bad. But at the end of the day they boil down to people. Good schools have creative, energized, and innovative teachers and responsive, proactive administrators. They expect excellence, encourage children to broaden horizons and try new things, and give them the tools not only to succeed, but also to fail in the process of trying to succeed. Bad schools have by-the-book teachers who have to spend more time on discipline than stimulation, administrators that make excuses for problems and dress up false achievements, and a culture of apology and excuses rather than a culture of excellence. Good schools achieve by doing. Bad schools only say they are achieving. As for Tucker, well, it's not for everyone. For one thing, it's a year-round school, so the calendar is different than traditional. Some like it, some do not. Like many NoVA schools it is overcrowded. If you zone for Tucker and prefer a traditional school you can choose to bus to Barrett, which is a better school generally speaking. The bigger issue is that Alexandria City Public Schools are just terrible. There's an institutional culture of failure and a penchant for action imperative policymaking rather than a holistic, long-term view for success. The middle schools and high schools are disasters (some like the high school, but it only works for some and operates on an apartheid-like structure). Granted, you say you'll be here for three years so middles and hs won't affect you (although it might affect your housing prices). Allow me to relay a story: At my dd's ACPS school, the librarian scolded her in first grade for taking a book from a shelf that wasn't intended for first graders. DD had read all the books on the first grade shelf or was otherwise uninterested in the ones left. She was told she couldn't have a book from another shelf. We had to call the teacher and tell the teacher dd could have any book she wanted. Next day she goes to school library, and it was same thing. She was told she couldn't have a book. So we called the principal. Only THEN was she allowed to check out another book. And this was at one of the few ACPS elementary schools generally perceived as the most excellent. She was ending 2nd grade when she toured her new school in Arlington. She still remembers this incident so when she came to the library she asked the assistant principal: "Can I check out a book from anywhere in the library or do I have to choose from a specific shelf?" The principal giving the tour stops, gets down on her level and puts her hand on dd's shoulder. "DD," she said, "we are a community of readers here. You can have any book you want." That, right there, is the difference between a good school and a bad school. Cameron Station is popular for sure, but undeservedly so. I know people who are getting out as fast as they can. Many are fed up with the ethanol transfer station and Virginia Paving, and others fear the traffic nightmare that's right around the corner with the opening of the new defense building at Seminary Road. If I were you I'd rethink Cameron Station for those reasons alone, let alone Tucker. |
Anonymous
| Where in DC are you working? |
Anonymous
Thank you very much for that lengthy response. That example is eye-opening. I can't believe something like that would happen in school. So, people are leaving Cameron Station? Just more food for thought in my clouded head! 
PP --My husband will be working in the district, so we need to be close to a Metro stop. |
Anonymous
No Metro in Cameron Station (although there may be a shuttle to Van Dorn). Metro in Alexandria is near King Street, Braddock Road, or Van Dorn. My recommendation is look for housing near the King Street station, west of the Masonic Temple, which puts you in the MacArthur district. The neighborhoods are Glenmore, Ivy Circle, George Washington Park, Clover-College Park. Or, look to the Bethesda, MD area. Not sure the new metro stations along the way to Dulles will be completed by the time you want to be there. |
Anonymous
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My child is not school aged yet, so I don't have personal experience yet, but I would recommend you look at school ratings on greatschools.org. Have you considered Fairfax County? There are many good schools here, just depends on your housing budget.
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Anonymous
| OP here. Yes, I am looking into other options. Our budget is somewhat limited until I find a job. So until that happens, we are looking at about $3300 a month. From what I am reading, Falls Church, McLean and N. Arlington seem to have pretty good schools. However, finding a place to rent in those areas for that amount may be difficult. (sigh) |
Anonymous
| You can get a house or a townhouse in the Falls Church part of Fairfax County for $3300 per month. It's also walkable or very close to metro (depending on where exactly you live). |
Anonymous
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My ex lives in Cameron Station and really likes it. We lived with him for about 6 weeks this summer while we were between houses (sold a place in Fairfax, bought a place in Arlington) and loved it too. We can't speak to the schools, though - our daughter's only 3 and will go to school based on my address. (she lives with me most of the time.) It is a very family-friendly neighborhood, and people actually say hi to each other, and will strike up conversations with you at the pool.
There's a shuttle to Van Dorn at Cameron Station. Eisenhower Ave station is also not far, if his work location is convenient to yellow line. (like mine, Gallery Place.) The traffic in the surrounding area can be kind of a pain, though, and will get much worse after MARC Center opens. (I took Seminary to George Mason to get to Arlington and the roads really can't handle the existing traffic, let alone another 6K cars or whatever.) |
Anonymous
are you for real? do your home work. it's not difficult AT ALL, unless you want a mansion. |
Anonymous
Any one of these comments would have made me chuckle. Three of them in a single post just made me want to hurl. I'm so glad you moved out of Alexandria. You sound very, very impressed with yourself. |
Anonymous
I'm so glad I moved out of Alexandria too. Enjoy your substandard school system. |
Anonymous
My dear, it can only improve with one less parent who engages in assaults on the English language such as "penchant for action imperative policymaking." |
Anonymous
Honey, I'm sorry you need concepts dumbed down, but you're embarrassing yourself. |
Anonymous
Which two ACPS schools do you two represent? The horrible librarian is from which school? And the person who hates the person who hates the horrible librarian has a DC in which school? My child is zoned for MacArthur in a few years, and I'm already worried about this. Even though it's supposed to be one of the better schools (right?) in ACPS. There's a limited number of ACPS moms on this board, so when they post I read with great interest. Thank you. |