Arlington and Alexandria school districts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Consider Falls Church City. Very walkable, tons of wine bars/craft beer joints, smaller school district.

Tons of wine bars?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of Arlington fans on dcum but I wanted to chime in to say don’t rule out Alexandria. I’m from California (Bay Area) and have lived in several parts of the DC area and the only place I could really get into is Alexandria - and somewhat coincidentally (or not) I keep meeting other folks from CA who say the same!

A lot of the DC area is suburban sprawl, and not in a good way. Alexandria has significantly more charm and personality than other places around here (certainly than Arlington, which was famously called “soulless”), and the people in Alexandria are both more down to earth and friendlier (it’s the southern influence I think) in a way that reminds me of CA.

There are many good public elementary schools in Alexandria. The public high school is huge and has some troubled kids but also sends its share of kids to Ivies every year, so it’s not all bad.

Anyway something to consider!

I've lived in both and would say the opposite. I am not from California though, I am from the mountain West.

[Anonymous]

Alexandria has some significant infrastructure issues.

Check out the front page of the Washington Post from Saturday and watch people canoe down our main streets. Then go onto Facebook and Nextdoor and type in "flooding" and see what you get. Go to Google and type in "Del Ray flooding" and look at the images. After you're done that, go back to all the sites and type in "Take Back Seminary Road" and look at what the residents of Alexandria say.

With any luck we are about to make a change for the better if our current corrupt and idiotic mayor and his cronies are voted out of office today. If that happens, then come and be happy. It will take a while to reverse all the bad decisions made by the aforesaid but it can be done. If they manage to reelect themselves, then find yourself a much better place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of Arlington fans on dcum but I wanted to chime in to say don’t rule out Alexandria. I’m from California (Bay Area) and have lived in several parts of the DC area and the only place I could really get into is Alexandria - and somewhat coincidentally (or not) I keep meeting other folks from CA who say the same!

A lot of the DC area is suburban sprawl, and not in a good way. Alexandria has significantly more charm and personality than other places around here (certainly than Arlington, which was famously called “soulless”), and the people in Alexandria are both more down to earth and friendlier (it’s the southern influence I think) in a way that reminds me of CA.

There are many good public elementary schools in Alexandria. The public high school is huge and has some troubled kids but also sends its share of kids to Ivies every year, so it’s not all bad.

Anyway something to consider!

Alexandria has parts that are ugly as ugly gets and soulless. Just depends.

NP. I live in south Arlington and I go to Alexandria frequently. Del Ray is sooo cute, and obviously most of Old Town is stunning. But of course then there are strip malls areas too. If we want to use up the damn Chilis gift cards my parents give me for Xmas, we go to Alexandria. (But DH and I do almost all our dates in Alexandria because I think dining options are better there than around us in Arlington)

I believe that there are places in Alexandria that are zoned for a school district other than ACPS?

[Anonymous]

The east end grade schools in Alexandria are stellar (with the exception of JH, which you can opt out of.)

GW middle school is great if your kid is UMC and not dumb.

TCHS- now ACHS is an excellent school for UMC kids of average intelligence. If that describes your kid his chances of admission to great colleges are much better than from the privates.

It's laughable to compare the charm of Alexandria to Arlington and the real estate prices reflect that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria has some significant infrastructure issues.

Check out the front page of the Washington Post from Saturday and watch people canoe down our main streets. Then go onto Facebook and Nextdoor and type in "flooding" and see what you get. Go to Google and type in "Del Ray flooding" and look at the images. After you're done that, go back to all the sites and type in "Take Back Seminary Road" and look at what the residents of Alexandria say.

With any luck we are about to make a change for the better if our current corrupt and idiotic mayor and his cronies are voted out of office today. If that happens, then come and be happy. It will take a while to reverse all the bad decisions made by the aforesaid but it can be done. If they manage to reelect themselves, then find yourself a much better place.

Mold problems in the schools too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi! I'll be moving to the DC area with our kindergartner next summer for work. DH and I will both work near the Metro Center stop. We're looking at FFX, MoCo, and Arlington/Alexandria as possibilities for buying a house. We have a budget of about 1.3 million for a 4-5 bedroom + yard. We are both pretty set on sending DD to public school. She's neurotypical (at least so far) and appears like an advanced but not gifted kid (though who really knows at this age).

What school districts in Arlington/Alexandria should we be looking at to make our real estate search more focused? We're from California, so sorting through this information at the outset from far away is tough. We plan to be here through high school.

Thanks!

Move here and rent first. Get a feel for the area and then make a decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of Arlington fans on dcum but I wanted to chime in to say don’t rule out Alexandria. I’m from California (Bay Area) and have lived in several parts of the DC area and the only place I could really get into is Alexandria - and somewhat coincidentally (or not) I keep meeting other folks from CA who say the same!

A lot of the DC area is suburban sprawl, and not in a good way. Alexandria has significantly more charm and personality than other places around here (certainly than Arlington, which was famously called “soulless”), and the people in Alexandria are both more down to earth and friendlier (it’s the southern influence I think) in a way that reminds me of CA.

There are many good public elementary schools in Alexandria. The public high school is huge and has some troubled kids but also sends its share of kids to Ivies every year, so it’s not all bad.

Anyway something to consider!

+1
I've lived in both Alexandria and Arlington and I agree with this PP. Alexandria has much more character and charm and sense of a "whole" community v. Arlington which is a bunch of individual communities often "competing" with each other and definitely a misguided disparaging attitude toward south Arlington from the north. As an example of PP's "soulless" comment, Arlington recently struggled to find a new logo for the County and that process highlighted how there is nothing uniquely Arlington. Ruling out any federal buildings, there's nothing distinctly Arlington or anything someone thinks of when they think of Arlington. Alexandria, on the other hand, has Old Town and history.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of Arlington fans on dcum but I wanted to chime in to say don’t rule out Alexandria. I’m from California (Bay Area) and have lived in several parts of the DC area and the only place I could really get into is Alexandria - and somewhat coincidentally (or not) I keep meeting other folks from CA who say the same!

A lot of the DC area is suburban sprawl, and not in a good way. Alexandria has significantly more charm and personality than other places around here (certainly than Arlington, which was famously called “soulless”), and the people in Alexandria are both more down to earth and friendlier (it’s the southern influence I think) in a way that reminds me of CA.

There are many good public elementary schools in Alexandria. The public high school is huge and has some troubled kids but also sends its share of kids to Ivies every year, so it’s not all bad.

Anyway something to consider!

Alexandria has parts that are ugly as ugly gets and soulless. Just depends.

Not as much as Arlington, and much of Alexandria's "ugly" has been/is being redeveloped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of Arlington fans on dcum but I wanted to chime in to say don’t rule out Alexandria. I’m from California (Bay Area) and have lived in several parts of the DC area and the only place I could really get into is Alexandria - and somewhat coincidentally (or not) I keep meeting other folks from CA who say the same!

A lot of the DC area is suburban sprawl, and not in a good way. Alexandria has significantly more charm and personality than other places around here (certainly than Arlington, which was famously called “soulless”), and the people in Alexandria are both more down to earth and friendlier (it’s the southern influence I think) in a way that reminds me of CA.

There are many good public elementary schools in Alexandria. The public high school is huge and has some troubled kids but also sends its share of kids to Ivies every year, so it’s not all bad.

Anyway something to consider!

+1
I've lived in both Alexandria and Arlington and I agree with this PP. Alexandria has much more character and charm and sense of a "whole" community v. Arlington which is a bunch of individual communities often "competing" with each other and definitely a misguided disparaging attitude toward south Arlington from the north. As an example of PP's "soulless" comment, Arlington recently struggled to find a new logo for the County and that process highlighted how there is nothing uniquely Arlington. Ruling out any federal buildings, there's nothing distinctly Arlington or anything someone thinks of when they think of Arlington. Alexandria, on the other hand, has Old Town and history.

Lol that redesign process was hilarious. The only thing interesting/unique about arlington is a history of slavery, so then you realize that’s nothing to brag about and the next best thing is a bridge that is over the Potomac, not even in Arlington.

I love living here (south Arlington fwiw) but when I want to see something charming I go to Alexandria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of Arlington fans on dcum but I wanted to chime in to say don’t rule out Alexandria. I’m from California (Bay Area) and have lived in several parts of the DC area and the only place I could really get into is Alexandria - and somewhat coincidentally (or not) I keep meeting other folks from CA who say the same!

A lot of the DC area is suburban sprawl, and not in a good way. Alexandria has significantly more charm and personality than other places around here (certainly than Arlington, which was famously called “soulless”), and the people in Alexandria are both more down to earth and friendlier (it’s the southern influence I think) in a way that reminds me of CA.

There are many good public elementary schools in Alexandria. The public high school is huge and has some troubled kids but also sends its share of kids to Ivies every year, so it’s not all bad.

Anyway something to consider!

Alexandria has parts that are ugly as ugly gets and soulless. Just depends.

NP. I live in south Arlington and I go to Alexandria frequently. Del Ray is sooo cute, and obviously most of Old Town is stunning. But of course then there are strip malls areas too. If we want to use up the damn Chilis gift cards my parents give me for Xmas, we go to Alexandria. (But DH and I do almost all our dates in Alexandria because I think dining options are better there than around us in Arlington)

I believe that there are places in Alexandria that are zoned for a school district other than ACPS?

This is a good point, OP. There is Alexandria City with its own school district; but part of Alexandria is in Fairfax County. I don't know the CA system; but here Arlington County is its own entity, no cities within it. Similarly, Alexandria is its own city not within a County; but then there are localities like Springfield, Annandale, and part of Alexandria that are inside Fairfax County and the FFX Co school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The east end grade schools in Alexandria are stellar (with the exception of JH, which you can opt out of.)

GW middle school is great if your kid is UMC and not dumb.

TCHS- now ACHS is an excellent school for UMC kids of average intelligence. If that describes your kid his chances of admission to great colleges are much better than from the privates.

It's laughable to compare the charm of Alexandria to Arlington and the real estate prices reflect that.

There has not been an automatic opt out for J-H for a number of years. J-H appears to still have problems (especially for upper elementary) but it seems the new principal there is a stronger leader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The east end grade schools in Alexandria are stellar (with the exception of JH, which you can opt out of.)

GW middle school is great if your kid is UMC and not dumb.

TCHS- now ACHS is an excellent school for UMC kids of average intelligence. If that describes your kid his chances of admission to great colleges are much better than from the privates.

It's laughable to compare the charm of Alexandria to Arlington and the real estate prices reflect that.

There has not been an automatic opt out for J-H for a number of years. J-H appears to still have problems (especially for upper elementary) but it seems the new principal there is a stronger leader.

False. I know several families zoned for JH over the last three years that were granted admission to other grade schools of their choice. These were admin transfers, not IEP or programmatic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The east end grade schools in Alexandria are stellar (with the exception of JH, which you can opt out of.)

GW middle school is great if your kid is UMC and not dumb.

TCHS- now ACHS is an excellent school for UMC kids of average intelligence. If that describes your kid his chances of admission to great colleges are much better than from the privates.

It's laughable to compare the charm of Alexandria to Arlington and the real estate prices reflect that.

There has not been an automatic opt out for J-H for a number of years. J-H appears to still have problems (especially for upper elementary) but it seems the new principal there is a stronger leader.

False. I know several families zoned for JH over the last three years that were granted admission to other grade schools of their choice. These were admin transfers, not IEP or programmatic.

Yes - admin. transfers which means that ACPS had to approve them (and thus there was some policy / circumstance reason for them). They were not automatic (like I believe with respect to the Mount Vernon dual language or the Tucker year round school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The east end grade schools in Alexandria are stellar (with the exception of JH, which you can opt out of.)

GW middle school is great if your kid is UMC and not dumb.

TCHS- now ACHS is an excellent school for UMC kids of average intelligence. If that describes your kid his chances of admission to great colleges are much better than from the privates.

It's laughable to compare the charm of Alexandria to Arlington and the real estate prices reflect that.

There has not been an automatic opt out for J-H for a number of years. J-H appears to still have problems (especially for upper elementary) but it seems the new principal there is a stronger leader.

False. I know several families zoned for JH over the last three years that were granted admission to other grade schools of their choice. These were admin transfers, not IEP or programmatic.

Yes - admin. transfers which means that ACPS had to approve them (and thus there was some policy / circumstance reason for them). They were not automatic (like I believe with respect to the Mount Vernon dual language or the Tucker year round school).

https://www.acps.k12.va.us/Page/3057 - JH has no opt out for elementary