Are Fairfax County Alexandria schools better than Alexandria City schools?

[Anonymous]

I know that Alexandria City schools don't have a good reputation.

How are Fairfax County Alexandria schools?

We love our short commutes to work. Would prefer to continue having short commutes. Will there be much of a difference if we move a mile down to the Fairfax county side?

[Anonymous]

Yes. Our daughter attends Mount Eagle, just a few blocks from the Huntington metro. We commute into DC, and it's pretty easy. Old Town is just 10 minutes away. The school was just renovated, has small classes and we love love love the teachers. It's one of the smaller schools in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely not! Search other threads in this forum for data. There are three or four elementary schools in ACPS that are top notch; middle school gets panned regularly, and TC has its fans and critics. I think almost the same can be said about the Alexandria side of Fairfax County---except for the part about three or four good elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

6:10 here--I misread the post. It's early. I answered as if you were asking if there were good FCPS schools that were close to Old Town. Ours is. Of course there are good schools in Alexandria City. The question is how much are you able to spend on a home and what's important, ie size of house, yard, walk-ability, etc. You could spend the same amount of in both places, have good schools, but live in very different homes.

[Anonymous]

Yes. There are a few schools to avoid but overall FCPS is functional while ACPS is in constant upheaval.

[Anonymous]

And what schools should be avoided PP? Please share and include your reasoning.

[Anonymous]

From what I have read here they are comparable. There are some good schools and some not so good school. We live in the FCPS portion of Alexandria and are pleased with our school, Fort Hunt. We were in Waynewood previously and didn't feel the school was for us although the test scores are in the high 90's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And what schools should be avoided PP? Please share and include your reasoning.

I wouldn't send my kids to Hybla Valley or Mount Vernon Woods. They are largely ESOL students, and over 75% low-income, and I'd worry that the needs of other kids would get overlooked.

I'm not a TC basher, but I'd still pick Hayfield or West Potomac over TC.

[Anonymous]

In a word, yes. If you can get into the Sandburg/ west Potomac pyramid, those schools are good. They have their issue but are very workable. Elementary schools tend to be good, particularly Waynewood, Stratford landing, and Fort Hunt.

[Anonymous]

I don't know about the schools, but the county rec options are great in Fairfax - tons more available classes than in the City of Alexandria. (and more than in Arlington, frankly.) We lived in Fairfax till last year, now live in Arlington, and my daughter's dad is in City of Alexandria, so we've used the resources of all three, and Fairfax outshines the others.

[Anonymous]

We're in the Alexandria section of FFX County. I can't speak to the ACPS but I think there are a lot of fear mongers in this forum. My kids go to school that is majority minority, with a lot of FARM kids and is a Title One school. We love it. I also have friends with kids at Hybla Valley and Mount Eagle. I don't know a single person who thinks their child suffered because the needs of the disadvantaged kids were so overwhelming. The Title 1 schools (and the Priority Schools) get extra resources, have smaller class sizes and are require to have a certain level of parental/communiy engagement. The PTA may not be able to raise as much money as the PTA in Silverbrook or McLean but the educational opportunities at our local schools are equal to theirs. I also appreciate that my kids are being exposed to people/kids from all walks of life and that my kid isn't embarrased to say "we don't have money for that" because he isn't the only one in his class that says that. Every school (elementary, middle, high) offers abundant educational opportunities in a safe environment. Test scores, the number of minorities and number of FARMS don't tell the whole story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're in the Alexandria section of FFX County. I can't speak to the ACPS but I think there are a lot of fear mongers in this forum. My kids go to school that is majority minority, with a lot of FARM kids and is a Title One school. We love it. I also have friends with kids at Hybla Valley and Mount Eagle. I don't know a single person who thinks their child suffered because the needs of the disadvantaged kids were so overwhelming. The Title 1 schools (and the Priority Schools) get extra resources, have smaller class sizes and are require to have a certain level of parental/communiy engagement. The PTA may not be able to raise as much money as the PTA in Silverbrook or McLean but the educational opportunities at our local schools are equal to theirs. I also appreciate that my kids are being exposed to people/kids from all walks of life and that my kid isn't embarrased to say "we don't have money for that" because he isn't the only one in his class that says that. Every school (elementary, middle, high) offers abundant educational opportunities in a safe environment. Test scores, the number of minorities and number of FARMS don't tell the whole story.

How do you mandate "a certain level of parental/community engagement"?

[Anonymous]

What the poster means is that the schools are given extra resources for community involvement and parent engagement events. For example, staff will hold a literacy night, and there is money to give child a book at the end of the evening and maybe provide pizza so families don't have to make dinner that night. At wealthier schools, these things either wouldn't be necessary to get parents out, or the PTA would be able to fund them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you mandate "a certain level of parental/community engagement"?

Here are the guidelines from the DOE for Title 1 schools to improve parental/community engagement http://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/parentinvguid.doc . Even though the document is 'non-regulatory', Title 1 schools are required to document their engagement efforts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're in the Alexandria section of FFX County. I can't speak to the ACPS but I think there are a lot of fear mongers in this forum. My kids go to school that is majority minority, with a lot of FARM kids and is a Title One school. We love it. I also have friends with kids at Hybla Valley and Mount Eagle. I don't know a single person who thinks their child suffered because the needs of the disadvantaged kids were so overwhelming. The Title 1 schools (and the Priority Schools) get extra resources, have smaller class sizes and are require to have a certain level of parental/communiy engagement. The PTA may not be able to raise as much money as the PTA in Silverbrook or McLean but the educational opportunities at our local schools are equal to theirs. I also appreciate that my kids are being exposed to people/kids from all walks of life and that my kid isn't embarrased to say "we don't have money for that" because he isn't the only one in his class that says that. Every school (elementary, middle, high) offers abundant educational opportunities in a safe environment. Test scores, the number of minorities and number of FARMS don't tell the whole story.

I don't think it's fear-mongering.

If you think all local schools are equal, than the OP's question becomes moot; it really shouldn't matter whether she goes with the City of Alexandria or the Alexandria part of Fairfax County. But few people - including Congress or the the Federal Government - actually believe that. The entire reason for designating some schools as Title I schools is that schools with higher percentages of low-income students face challenges that schools in more affluent areas don't face. That's why they get extra resources that are not made available to schools in other areas. You seem to assume that Title I functions perfectly and brings all the Title I schools up to par with schools in areas where, for example, parents voluntarily attend school events and don't need to be offered free pizza to do so. I'm less confident that Title I has yet accomplished all of its goals, since student achievement in many Title I schools continues to lag. I'd be happy sending my kids to quite a few Title I schools in the Alexandria area, just not those with percentages of ESOL and FRL students as high as those at Hybla Valley or Mount Vernon Woods. The fact that your friends may be satisfied with Hybla Valley may suggest that FCPS does a good job of providing a threshold level of educational services, but few people believe that such schools will provide the most challenging environment for their kids, given that so much of the school's attention will be devoted to raising the performance of low-achieving students to meet NCLB requirements. You may say that test scores don't tell the whole story, but school administrators are encouraged to fixate on them.