DH doesn't care that we are in a crappy school district

[Anonymous]

I am not going to say which one it is, but it's one of the low preforming NOVA public school pyramid. I want to move to a better one before DS is 5 years old. DH says ALL fairfax county public schools are good and he thinks they are fine. he has done NO research and he went to Bethesda- Chevy Chase pyramid, so I am not sure he knows what a low performing school is like at all.

Anyway, do I just give up and deal with sending my kids to the lowest performing school in FX County? DH always says "Oh it's fine!! you are over-reacting!!"

[Anonymous]

The schools may all have the same books, but teacher quality and the peer group is different at every school. Don't give up!

[Anonymous]

Maybe tour the school with DH, and also try to talk to some parents with kids in the school? Either he will start to share your concerns, or you might end up feeling better about the school. Either way, you'll both be making a decision based on more information than you currently have.

[Anonymous]

I would be more concerned with being zoned for one of the lowest performing elementary schools than having your child attend Mount Vernon HS, which is the lowest performing high school in FCPS. If your child has a good foundation in elementary school, he or she will likely also succeed in middle and high school. Every middle and high school in Fairfax County has a decent-sized cohort of kids who are academically motivated.

[Anonymous]

I'd also be concerned if the level of involvement of the PTA is low.

[Anonymous]

I'd be concerned if you were stuck in a feeder elementary school to Annandale or Mount Vernon.

[Anonymous]

OP--I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you're probably white and probably don't qualify for free/reduced lunch and that your child is a native English speaker. If so, I would invite you to find out what the pass rates are for the white, native English speaking, not living in poverty students. I will again go out on a limb and guess that those pass rates for tests like the SOLs are in the 90's.

I'm also going to guess that the school you're zoned to attend is a Title 1 school. That means that about 40% or more of the kids attending qualify for free/reduced lunch. Believe it or not, these are the schools where you want to go. Why? Because these schools are given lots of extra money to spend on staffing and resources. If you want an elementary school with a math specialist, someone who is an expert in math and works closely with teachers to see that they are instructing with best methods and materials, the only place that can afford them is a Title 1 school. If your kid happens to struggle in reading, there will likely be several highly trained teachers who will work one-on-one with your child. Again, only Title 1 schools have the funding for these teachers. The teachers at these schools are some of the brightest and most creative you'll meet. They can't rely on easy worksheets that your kid and my kids will do without too much questioning or push back.

Your kid can get a great elementary education in your neighborhood school. Go out on a limb and visit. Ask the principal to walk you around. Listen to how the teachers talk to the kids. Focus on the work the kids are doing, not that they may look different from your kid or live a home that is different from yours. You might be surprised.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP--I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you're probably white and probably don't qualify for free/reduced lunch and that your child is a native English speaker. If so, I would invite you to find out what the pass rates are for the white, native English speaking, not living in poverty students. I will again go out on a limb and guess that those pass rates for tests like the SOLs are in the 90's.

I'm also going to guess that the school you're zoned to attend is a Title 1 school. That means that about 40% or more of the kids attending qualify for free/reduced lunch. Believe it or not, these are the schools where you want to go. Why? Because these schools are given lots of extra money to spend on staffing and resources. If you want an elementary school with a math specialist, someone who is an expert in math and works closely with teachers to see that they are instructing with best methods and materials, the only place that can afford them is a Title 1 school. If your kid happens to struggle in reading, there will likely be several highly trained teachers who will work one-on-one with your child. Again, only Title 1 schools have the funding for these teachers. The teachers at these schools are some of the brightest and most creative you'll meet. They can't rely on easy worksheets that your kid and my kids will do without too much questioning or push back.

Your kid can get a great elementary education in your neighborhood school. Go out on a limb and visit. Ask the principal to walk you around. Listen to how the teachers talk to the kids. Focus on the work the kids are doing, not that they may look different from your kid or live a home that is different from yours. You might be surprised.

PP, you are correct, I am white and native english speaker. DH is hispanic but fluent in English and has lived in USA for 20 years. The elementary school definitely has more than 40% qualifying for free lunches.

[Anonymous]

18:50 has some rally great advice. We are in a Title I school as well and I agree with everything the PP said about the extra resources. We visited several schools, including some privates and were most impressed with our local Title I elementary. Talking to the principal helped and after seeing all the resources (band, new playground, great computer lab, smartboards in every classroom, IAs in K, reading and math specialists, lower student-to-teacher ratios and an awesome and very active PTA) we decided it would be a great fit, and our smart kid with involved parents is thriving - as I suspect would be the case just about anywhere. Test scores are just one small piece of a very large puzzle. Good luck, OP!

[Anonymous]

Great advice - we go to Title 1 schools too and have had great experiences. One kid is in Spanish immersion and 2 are in AAP. I would say, my kids have benefited from the extra resources.

[Anonymous]

OP I agree with the PPs who are encouraging you to look at the pass rates for your demographic and to think of it as a plus to be at a Title 1 school b/c of the small class sizes. The test scores and ratings at greatschool.net reflect the passrates of the entire school population.... they ARE NOT a rating of the school. The school could be doing a fine job of teaching children, but some kids just don't have the support to use what they are being taught. That greatschools rating is a rating on the population much more than it is a rating on the teaching. So, if you have a lot of minority kids and poor kids in your school, the rating is a reflection of that. Schools like Langley HS have like 2% Free/Reduced meals kids.... gee how do they get such good scores at Langley???? It's not rocket science.... they have a student population of well-off kids coming from high-achieving families. Just because other high schools in the county have lower scores, it doesn't mean kids can't get a good education there. My favorite example is South Lakes. People like to bash it left and right, but really, if you look at the SAT scores for white kids, they are on par with Oakton's SAT scores. But, South Lakes' scores as a whole (and therefore its rank and reputation) are lower b/c there is a lot more racial/economic/achievement diversity at South Lakes compared to Oakton and Langley.

Don't listen to all the blather on DCUM about there only being 5 acceptable high schools in Fairfax county and, instead, listen to your husband. If safety becomes an issue, then I would consider a different school. But at grade school level, I think you'll be fine in any school (unless the test scores for white kids are low -- which then indicates that the school is not reaching kids who speak English and aren't poor).

[Anonymous]

My biggest concern at our school is the peer group, and this isn't even a Title I school. The disrespectful and inappropriate language and behavior is unreal, starting as early as KG. I know that rich kids behave badly as well, but the additional challenges that the low-income kids and their families are dealing with definitely spills into the classroom. There are some problems even a wonderful staff cannot solve.

[Anonymous]

If I were you OP, I'd give it a try for a year or two. If you think it is really bad (behavior-wise), then fine, you move or consider private. But, the cost of moving is significant and right now there is still a possibility that your current school will work out. So, it seems like it would be a bad financial decision to move before you've even given the no-cost solution a try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My biggest concern at our school is the peer group, and this isn't even a Title I school. The disrespectful and inappropriate language and behavior is unreal, starting as early as KG. I know that rich kids behave badly as well, but the additional challenges that the low-income kids and their families are dealing with definitely spills into the classroom. There are some problems even a wonderful staff cannot solve.

This would be my concern as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My biggest concern at our school is the peer group, and this isn't even a Title I school. The disrespectful and inappropriate language and behavior is unreal, starting as early as KG. I know that rich kids behave badly as well, but the additional challenges that the low-income kids and their families are dealing with definitely spills into the classroom. There are some problems even a wonderful staff cannot solve.

This would be my concern as well.

Mine, too. Our school is not a Title 1 school and is in a fairly nice area. However, the boundaries are such that a large lower-income apartment complex feeds into it. It is fairly obvious to me, which those kids are. An example: I went to a performance day at the school where the students in music class can "show off" their talents in singing, instrument, etc. Some of the kids were played classical violin or piano pieces. Others did cute pop songs as a group. A group of the lower-income kids performed a song with questionable lyrics that the music teacher had to cut them off because of the offensive words. It was not any type of music I would ever let my 3rd-grader listen to!

While I do agree that the suport at a lower-income school is good, you really need to stay on top of things as far as behavior/class vibe/language, etc. (not that there aren't problems at higher-income schools, just these are things I've noticed among lower-income kids as a whole).