Alexandria schools - why so bad?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC, EOTP, and we need to move soon for schools. I've started casually looking into areas we might be interested in and I can't believe Alexandria schools are so low ranking! The houses in Del Ray are $1 mil+ but TC Williams is a 3 on GS! Is that right? Is it a safe school? I'm just trying to figure out what the deal is because I would love to live there but not if the schools are a problem. Thanks for any insight.

Alexandria has a lot of govt businesses, so for DINKs, it's the best place to live. However, all of them either move or send their kids to private schools because Alexandria also houses a lot of apartments that have a lot of ESOL kids. Which drives the scores down dramatically. And there is a lot of "hidden" poverty here.

I know a lot of parents who move to Springfield or Burke for better schools and are a lot happier. The sports out there is better too (see Lake Braddock) which lends to where the parents are spending their money. Trees are nice too.

My assumption is that you have young children, and as someone who works and has two young kids: yards are amazing. Outside space is amazing. I know it is awful to drive your kid out to the middle of nowhere (which it feels like if you live in DC) but it's worth it. Just shoving your kids outside with friends and watching them run around is awesome. The quiet is unnerving at first, but it's amazing too. We ride bikes in Burke and Burke Lake Park is a treasure.

You just need to figure out what it more important: restaurants or trees?

OMG, Springfield and Burke have terrible schools. Lake Braddock HS has more students than TC, less diversity, fewer low-income families, but it sends fewer students to the most competitive admissions colleges. If you are a standard UMC DC professional, your child will get as good an education at TC as any other non-magnet school in the DMV. Your DC's SATs and AP course selection and scores will be as good at TC as anywhere else. It also means they will have black, Latinx, and Middle Eastern friends who come from very different economic backgrounds. For us, that's a plus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC, EOTP, and we need to move soon for schools. I've started casually looking into areas we might be interested in and I can't believe Alexandria schools are so low ranking! The houses in Del Ray are $1 mil+ but TC Williams is a 3 on GS! Is that right? Is it a safe school? I'm just trying to figure out what the deal is because I would love to live there but not if the schools are a problem. Thanks for any insight.

Alexandria has a lot of govt businesses, so for DINKs, it's the best place to live. However, all of them either move or send their kids to private schools because Alexandria also houses a lot of apartments that have a lot of ESOL kids. Which drives the scores down dramatically. And there is a lot of "hidden" poverty here.

I know a lot of parents who move to Springfield or Burke for better schools and are a lot happier. The sports out there is better too (see Lake Braddock) which lends to where the parents are spending their money. Trees are nice too.

My assumption is that you have young children, and as someone who works and has two young kids: yards are amazing. Outside space is amazing. I know it is awful to drive your kid out to the middle of nowhere (which it feels like if you live in DC) but it's worth it. Just shoving your kids outside with friends and watching them run around is awesome. The quiet is unnerving at first, but it's amazing too. We ride bikes in Burke and Burke Lake Park is a treasure.

You just need to figure out what it more important: restaurants or trees?

OMG, Springfield and Burke have terrible schools. Lake Braddock HS has more students than TC, less diversity, fewer low-income families, but it sends fewer students to the most competitive admissions colleges. If you are a standard UMC DC professional, your child will get as good an education at TC as any other non-magnet school in the DMV. Your DC's SATs and AP course selection and scores will be as good at TC as anywhere else. It also means they will have black, Latinx, and Middle Eastern friends who come from very different economic backgrounds. For us, that's a plus.

Nice try, but no. Lake Braddock is an excellent school; TC Williams will never come close to matching its standards, even if a few kids go to Yale rather than Jail (or NVCC-Alexandria).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And prepare yourself to commute 2 hours each way to get from Burke to DC. But enjoy those trees!

I drive Clifton to 17th and K on TWT. Takes 40-45 there and 35-40 back.

I call BS. I work at 18th and K and it often takes me 20-25 minutes just to get out of the city into VA. My under 7 mile commute to not-that-far-out Arlington takes 35 minutes on average. No way do you do a trip to Clifton in anywhere near that time.

I don't care what you call. If you want to play tough guy on the intenet about commutes, go find another asshole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC, EOTP, and we need to move soon for schools. I've started casually looking into areas we might be interested in and I can't believe Alexandria schools are so low ranking! The houses in Del Ray are $1 mil+ but TC Williams is a 3 on GS! Is that right? Is it a safe school? I'm just trying to figure out what the deal is because I would love to live there but not if the schools are a problem. Thanks for any insight.

Alexandria has a lot of govt businesses, so for DINKs, it's the best place to live. However, all of them either move or send their kids to private schools because Alexandria also houses a lot of apartments that have a lot of ESOL kids. Which drives the scores down dramatically. And there is a lot of "hidden" poverty here.

I know a lot of parents who move to Springfield or Burke for better schools and are a lot happier. The sports out there is better too (see Lake Braddock) which lends to where the parents are spending their money. Trees are nice too.

My assumption is that you have young children, and as someone who works and has two young kids: yards are amazing. Outside space is amazing. I know it is awful to drive your kid out to the middle of nowhere (which it feels like if you live in DC) but it's worth it. Just shoving your kids outside with friends and watching them run around is awesome. The quiet is unnerving at first, but it's amazing too. We ride bikes in Burke and Burke Lake Park is a treasure.

You just need to figure out what it more important: restaurants or trees?

OMG, Springfield and Burke have terrible schools. Lake Braddock HS has more students than TC, less diversity, fewer low-income families, but it sends fewer students to the most competitive admissions colleges. If you are a standard UMC DC professional, your child will get as good an education at TC as any other non-magnet school in the DMV. Your DC's SATs and AP course selection and scores will be as good at TC as anywhere else. It also means they will have black, Latinx, and Middle Eastern friends who come from very different economic backgrounds. For us, that's a plus.

This is a joke right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC, EOTP, and we need to move soon for schools. I've started casually looking into areas we might be interested in and I can't believe Alexandria schools are so low ranking! The houses in Del Ray are $1 mil+ but TC Williams is a 3 on GS! Is that right? Is it a safe school? I'm just trying to figure out what the deal is because I would love to live there but not if the schools are a problem. Thanks for any insight.

Alexandria has a lot of govt businesses, so for DINKs, it's the best place to live. However, all of them either move or send their kids to private schools because Alexandria also houses a lot of apartments that have a lot of ESOL kids. Which drives the scores down dramatically. And there is a lot of "hidden" poverty here.

I know a lot of parents who move to Springfield or Burke for better schools and are a lot happier. The sports out there is better too (see Lake Braddock) which lends to where the parents are spending their money. Trees are nice too.

My assumption is that you have young children, and as someone who works and has two young kids: yards are amazing. Outside space is amazing. I know it is awful to drive your kid out to the middle of nowhere (which it feels like if you live in DC) but it's worth it. Just shoving your kids outside with friends and watching them run around is awesome. The quiet is unnerving at first, but it's amazing too. We ride bikes in Burke and Burke Lake Park is a treasure.

You just need to figure out what it more important: restaurants or trees?

OMG, Springfield and Burke have terrible schools. Lake Braddock HS has more students than TC, less diversity, fewer low-income families, but it sends fewer students to the most competitive admissions colleges. If you are a standard UMC DC professional, your child will get as good an education at TC as any other non-magnet school in the DMV. Your DC's SATs and AP course selection and scores will be as good at TC as anywhere else. It also means they will have black, Latinx, and Middle Eastern friends who come from very different economic backgrounds. For us, that's a plus.

This is a joke right?

NP here. I don't see it as a joke. UMC kids at TC do great (and even win prestigious awards). Not sure I'd leave Alexandria to go to Springfield or Burke. If the high schools there are an upgrade for UMC kids---which I'm not convinced they are---then the upgrade is certainly not significant enough to be worth the hassle of moving to a boring neighborhood with a worse commute to DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC, EOTP, and we need to move soon for schools. I've started casually looking into areas we might be interested in and I can't believe Alexandria schools are so low ranking! The houses in Del Ray are $1 mil+ but TC Williams is a 3 on GS! Is that right? Is it a safe school? I'm just trying to figure out what the deal is because I would love to live there but not if the schools are a problem. Thanks for any insight.

Alexandria has a lot of govt businesses, so for DINKs, it's the best place to live. However, all of them either move or send their kids to private schools because Alexandria also houses a lot of apartments that have a lot of ESOL kids. Which drives the scores down dramatically. And there is a lot of "hidden" poverty here.

I know a lot of parents who move to Springfield or Burke for better schools and are a lot happier. The sports out there is better too (see Lake Braddock) which lends to where the parents are spending their money. Trees are nice too.

My assumption is that you have young children, and as someone who works and has two young kids: yards are amazing. Outside space is amazing. I know it is awful to drive your kid out to the middle of nowhere (which it feels like if you live in DC) but it's worth it. Just shoving your kids outside with friends and watching them run around is awesome. The quiet is unnerving at first, but it's amazing too. We ride bikes in Burke and Burke Lake Park is a treasure.

You just need to figure out what it more important: restaurants or trees?

OMG, Springfield and Burke have terrible schools. Lake Braddock HS has more students than TC, less diversity, fewer low-income families, but it sends fewer students to the most competitive admissions colleges. If you are a standard UMC DC professional, your child will get as good an education at TC as any other non-magnet school in the DMV. Your DC's SATs and AP course selection and scores will be as good at TC as anywhere else. It also means they will have black, Latinx, and Middle Eastern friends who come from very different economic backgrounds. For us, that's a plus.

This is a joke right?

NP here. I don't see it as a joke. UMC kids at TC do great (and even win prestigious awards). Not sure I'd leave Alexandria to go to Springfield or Burke. If the high schools there are an upgrade for UMC kids---which I'm not convinced they are---then the upgrade is certainly not significant enough to be worth the hassle of moving to a boring neighborhood with a worse commute to DC.

These neighborhoods are no more or less boring than most of Alexandria. However, they are safer and the schools are better. TC was labeled a persistent low-achieving school by the VDOE several years ago and it has not significantly improved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC, EOTP, and we need to move soon for schools. I've started casually looking into areas we might be interested in and I can't believe Alexandria schools are so low ranking! The houses in Del Ray are $1 mil+ but TC Williams is a 3 on GS! Is that right? Is it a safe school? I'm just trying to figure out what the deal is because I would love to live there but not if the schools are a problem. Thanks for any insight.

Alexandria has a lot of govt businesses, so for DINKs, it's the best place to live. However, all of them either move or send their kids to private schools because Alexandria also houses a lot of apartments that have a lot of ESOL kids. Which drives the scores down dramatically. And there is a lot of "hidden" poverty here.

I know a lot of parents who move to Springfield or Burke for better schools and are a lot happier. The sports out there is better too (see Lake Braddock) which lends to where the parents are spending their money. Trees are nice too.

My assumption is that you have young children, and as someone who works and has two young kids: yards are amazing. Outside space is amazing. I know it is awful to drive your kid out to the middle of nowhere (which it feels like if you live in DC) but it's worth it. Just shoving your kids outside with friends and watching them run around is awesome. The quiet is unnerving at first, but it's amazing too. We ride bikes in Burke and Burke Lake Park is a treasure.

You just need to figure out what it more important: restaurants or trees?

OMG, Springfield and Burke have terrible schools. Lake Braddock HS has more students than TC, less diversity, fewer low-income families, but it sends fewer students to the most competitive admissions colleges. If you are a standard UMC DC professional, your child will get as good an education at TC as any other non-magnet school in the DMV. Your DC's SATs and AP course selection and scores will be as good at TC as anywhere else. It also means they will have black, Latinx, and Middle Eastern friends who come from very different economic backgrounds. For us, that's a plus.

This is a joke right?

NP here. I don't see it as a joke. UMC kids at TC do great (and even win prestigious awards). Not sure I'd leave Alexandria to go to Springfield or Burke. If the high schools there are an upgrade for UMC kids---which I'm not convinced they are---then the upgrade is certainly not significant enough to be worth the hassle of moving to a boring neighborhood with a worse commute to DC.

These neighborhoods are no more or less boring than most of Alexandria. However, they are safer and the schools are better. TC was labeled a persistent low-achieving school by the VDOE several years ago and it has not significantly improved.

You can't possibly have ever been in Old Town, or Rosemont, or Del Ray, or Beverley Hills to make this statement. Or you're just delusional.

I'm well aware of the issues that TC has. Those issues have not stopped UMC kids from performing well and getting accepted to HYPs. Happens every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC, EOTP, and we need to move soon for schools. I've started casually looking into areas we might be interested in and I can't believe Alexandria schools are so low ranking! The houses in Del Ray are $1 mil+ but TC Williams is a 3 on GS! Is that right? Is it a safe school? I'm just trying to figure out what the deal is because I would love to live there but not if the schools are a problem. Thanks for any insight.

Alexandria has a lot of govt businesses, so for DINKs, it's the best place to live. However, all of them either move or send their kids to private schools because Alexandria also houses a lot of apartments that have a lot of ESOL kids. Which drives the scores down dramatically. And there is a lot of "hidden" poverty here.

I know a lot of parents who move to Springfield or Burke for better schools and are a lot happier. The sports out there is better too (see Lake Braddock) which lends to where the parents are spending their money. Trees are nice too.

My assumption is that you have young children, and as someone who works and has two young kids: yards are amazing. Outside space is amazing. I know it is awful to drive your kid out to the middle of nowhere (which it feels like if you live in DC) but it's worth it. Just shoving your kids outside with friends and watching them run around is awesome. The quiet is unnerving at first, but it's amazing too. We ride bikes in Burke and Burke Lake Park is a treasure.

You just need to figure out what it more important: restaurants or trees?

OMG, Springfield and Burke have terrible schools. Lake Braddock HS has more students than TC, less diversity, fewer low-income families, but it sends fewer students to the most competitive admissions colleges. If you are a standard UMC DC professional, your child will get as good an education at TC as any other non-magnet school in the DMV. Your DC's SATs and AP course selection and scores will be as good at TC as anywhere else. It also means they will have black, Latinx, and Middle Eastern friends who come from very different economic backgrounds. For us, that's a plus.

This is a joke right?

NP here. I don't see it as a joke. UMC kids at TC do great (and even win prestigious awards). Not sure I'd leave Alexandria to go to Springfield or Burke. If the high schools there are an upgrade for UMC kids---which I'm not convinced they are---then the upgrade is certainly not significant enough to be worth the hassle of moving to a boring neighborhood with a worse commute to DC.

These neighborhoods are no more or less boring than most of Alexandria. However, they are safer and the schools are better. TC was labeled a persistent low-achieving school by the VDOE several years ago and it has not significantly improved.

You can't possibly have ever been in Old Town, or Rosemont, or Del Ray, or Beverley Hills to make this statement. Or you're just delusional.

I'm well aware of the issues that TC has. Those issues have not stopped UMC kids from performing well and getting accepted to HYPs. Happens every year.

Old Town is the only distinctive neighborhood in Alexandria. The rest is nothing special.

And, with over 1150 freshmen every year at TC (Minnie Howard), it is no surprise that a few get into Ivies. The academic outcomes for most are unimpressive.

You must have had one too many scoops of the Chunky Delusional at the Dairy Godmother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC, EOTP, and we need to move soon for schools. I've started casually looking into areas we might be interested in and I can't believe Alexandria schools are so low ranking! The houses in Del Ray are $1 mil+ but TC Williams is a 3 on GS! Is that right? Is it a safe school? I'm just trying to figure out what the deal is because I would love to live there but not if the schools are a problem. Thanks for any insight.

Alexandria has a lot of govt businesses, so for DINKs, it's the best place to live. However, all of them either move or send their kids to private schools because Alexandria also houses a lot of apartments that have a lot of ESOL kids. Which drives the scores down dramatically. And there is a lot of "hidden" poverty here.

I know a lot of parents who move to Springfield or Burke for better schools and are a lot happier. The sports out there is better too (see Lake Braddock) which lends to where the parents are spending their money. Trees are nice too.

My assumption is that you have young children, and as someone who works and has two young kids: yards are amazing. Outside space is amazing. I know it is awful to drive your kid out to the middle of nowhere (which it feels like if you live in DC) but it's worth it. Just shoving your kids outside with friends and watching them run around is awesome. The quiet is unnerving at first, but it's amazing too. We ride bikes in Burke and Burke Lake Park is a treasure.

You just need to figure out what it more important: restaurants or trees?

OMG, Springfield and Burke have terrible schools. Lake Braddock HS has more students than TC, less diversity, fewer low-income families, but it sends fewer students to the most competitive admissions colleges. If you are a standard UMC DC professional, your child will get as good an education at TC as any other non-magnet school in the DMV. Your DC's SATs and AP course selection and scores will be as good at TC as anywhere else. It also means they will have black, Latinx, and Middle Eastern friends who come from very different economic backgrounds. For us, that's a plus.

This is a joke right?

NP here. I don't see it as a joke. UMC kids at TC do great (and even win prestigious awards). Not sure I'd leave Alexandria to go to Springfield or Burke. If the high schools there are an upgrade for UMC kids---which I'm not convinced they are---then the upgrade is certainly not significant enough to be worth the hassle of moving to a boring neighborhood with a worse commute to DC.

These neighborhoods are no more or less boring than most of Alexandria. However, they are safer and the schools are better. TC was labeled a persistent low-achieving school by the VDOE several years ago and it has not significantly improved.

You can't possibly have ever been in Old Town, or Rosemont, or Del Ray, or Beverley Hills to make this statement. Or you're just delusional.

I'm well aware of the issues that TC has. Those issues have not stopped UMC kids from performing well and getting accepted to HYPs. Happens every year.

Old Town is the only distinctive neighborhood in Alexandria. The rest is nothing special.

And, with over 1150 freshmen every year at TC (Minnie Howard), it is no surprise that a few get into Ivies. The academic outcomes for most are unimpressive.

You must have had one too many scoops of the Chunky Delusional at the Dairy Godmother.

If you think Burke and Springfield are more charming than Del Ray, then there's no helping you. I'll take my walk to Dairy Godmother, while you drive to Baskin Robbins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And prepare yourself to commute 2 hours each way to get from Burke to DC. But enjoy those trees!

I drive Clifton to 17th and K on TWT. Takes 40-45 there and 35-40 back.

I call BS. I work at 18th and K and it often takes me 20-25 minutes just to get out of the city into VA. My under 7 mile commute to not-that-far-out Arlington takes 35 minutes on average. No way do you do a trip to Clifton in anywhere near that time.

I don't care what you call. If you want to play tough guy on the intenet about commutes, go find another asshole.

This is Clifton to 17th & K RIGHT NOW from Google maps: 49 minutes, 52 minutes or 1hr 10 minutes. If you're making it in 40-45 minutes you must be leaving your house by 0530.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:. Lake Braddock HS has more students than TC,

The HS portion of Lake Braddock has far fewer students than TC. LB as a whole has just slightly more than TC, but that's with the MS grades added as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Old Town is the only distinctive neighborhood in Alexandria. The rest is nothing special.

And, with over 1150 freshmen every year at TC (Minnie Howard), it is no surprise that a few get into Ivies. The academic outcomes for most are unimpressive.

You must have had one too many scoops of the Chunky Delusional at the Dairy Godmother.

If you think Burke and Springfield are more charming than Del Ray, then there's no helping you. I'll take my walk to Dairy Godmother, while you drive to Baskin Robbins.

NP, but please tell me about the art festivals, music festivals, children's festivals, parades, monthly events, First Thursdays, neighborhood lantern walks, block parties, etc. in Burke and Springfield?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:. Lake Braddock HS has more students than TC,

The HS portion of Lake Braddock has far fewer students than TC. LB as a whole has just slightly more than TC, but that's with the MS grades added as well.

This is true. Minnie Howard campus had over 1160 freshmen this year, compared to about 700 at LBSS. The difference in the number of seniors is smaller, of course, due to all the dropouts at TC.

[Anonymous]

How did this delusional debate about TC being even comparable to LBSS get started?
Apples and oranges.
TC is mostly acceptable for what it is. You get a somewhat better commute and some festivals. You also get a hugely underperforming school, that your UMC will be fine at.
LB is a more suburban area with a much better regraded school.
The end.

[Anonymous]

Those who can move, or go private, do.