donna lee gardens

[Anonymous]

What's this part of 22046 like? does anyone know anything about the community? attracted by affordable homes and good schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's this part of 22046 like? does anyone know anything about the community? attracted by affordable homes and good schools

Schools are good except for timberlane which has a lot of the apartments which has a high farm rate. It's not too bad but is not the most desirable.

The main issue is that a lot of it backups up to and is near multiple apartment complexes the traffic is very heavy on woodley

There are 2 homes 1) looks like a good starter home or tear down, the other is a bit over priced IMO.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! Who lives in Donna lee gardens? Mostly families, older folks, professionals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks! Who lives in Donna lee gardens? Mostly families, older folks, professionals?

Also the proximity to the metro and new developments is a little far. Mosaic is sort of nearby which should help values and provide good retail and grocery options.

[Anonymous]

The neighborhood attracts younger professionals and government workers. It's more attractive visually than similarly priced areas like Pimmit Hills and Greenway Downs, and it feeds into Longfellow/McLean. But the elementary school, Timber Lane, has a lot of low-income kids (more than the Pimmit Hills elementaries) from garden apartments off Lee Highway. That scares away some people, so you can get a house there for less than you'd have to pay in the Haycock district or Falls Church City.

[Anonymous]

Another thing to think about is the demographic breakdown. Some people are ok with it some people would rather have it be more in line with the rest of the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another thing to think about is the demographic breakdown. Some people are ok with it some people would rather have it be more in line with the rest of the area.

What do you mean by "the rest of the area"? The area (census tract) that includes Donna Lee Gardens is about 1/2 white, 1/4 Hispanic and 1/5 Asian. There's not much of an AA population in that area. If you head further north or east, you are in either the City of Falls Church or other parts of West Falls Church (Fairfax County) with fewer older garden apartment complexes or minorities. If you head further west or south, the neighborhoods are more heavily Hispanic, with no ethnic group in the majority.

Hispanics tend to be younger and have more kids, so the school enrollments in these areas skew more Hispanic than the general population. There's a tendency around here to assume that Hispanic students are low-income kids who don't speak English. What you see if you look at FCPS data, however, is that the percentage of ESOL students is declining at many schools even as the percentage of Hispanic students increases, which suggests that assimilation is taking place rapidly. If you go to Timber Lane ES or Falls Church HS, you'll find many students classified as Hispanic for demographic purposes who speak flawless (or at least American) English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another thing to think about is the demographic breakdown. Some people are ok with it some people would rather have it be more in line with the rest of the area.

What do you mean by "the rest of the area"? The area (census tract) that includes Donna Lee Gardens is about 1/2 white, 1/4 Hispanic and 1/5 Asian. There's not much of an AA population in that area. If you head further north or east, you are in either the City of Falls Church or other parts of West Falls Church (Fairfax County) with fewer older garden apartment complexes or minorities. If you head further west or south, the neighborhoods are more heavily Hispanic, with no ethnic group in the majority.

Hispanics tend to be younger and have more kids, so the school enrollments in these areas skew more Hispanic than the general population. There's a tendency around here to assume that Hispanic students are low-income kids who don't speak English. What you see if you look at FCPS data, however, is that the percentage of ESOL students is declining at many schools even as the percentage of Hispanic students increases, which suggests that assimilation is taking place rapidly. If you go to Timber Lane ES or Falls Church HS, you'll find many students classified as Hispanic for demographic purposes who speak flawless (or at least American) English.

Why do the farm rates ane low test scores mimic the percentage of hispanic students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Why do the farm rates ane low test scores mimic the percentage of hispanic students?

Standardized test scores tend to correlate with income levels, for a host of reasons. In this area, Hispanics have comparatively low incomes. It does seem to me that it's a positive development that the percentage of ESOL students at many local schools with significant Hispanic enrollments is declining, as it seems to suggest those students are acquiring English language skills that will benefit them economically in the future.

In many other parts of Virginia, of course, you could find virtually all-white schools (or schools with few Hispanic students) with FRL/FARMS rates much higher than those at schools like Timber Lane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's this part of 22046 like? does anyone know anything about the community? attracted by affordable homes and good schools

Schools are good except for timberlane which has a lot of the apartments which has a high farm rate. It's not too bad but is not the most desirable.

The main issue is that a lot of it backups up to and is near multiple apartment complexes the traffic is very heavy on woodley

There are 2 homes 1) looks like a good starter home or tear down, the other is a bit over priced IMO.

Why is this a negative? Isn't it the quality of teaching that matters?