WWYD? If you own or are thinking of buying in an area with iffy schools

[Anonymous]

How does one compare iffy schools? For example, Wakefield HS in Arlington is a 4 on GreatSchools, compared to Stuart High School in Fairfax County, which is also a 4, or Mount Vernon High School, with another 4. All three of these are lower than Falls Church HS with a 5 on GreatSchools and Annandale High School with a 7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does one compare iffy schools? For example, Wakefield HS in Arlington is a 4 on GreatSchools, compared to Stuart High School in Fairfax County, which is also a 4, or Mount Vernon High School, with another 4. All three of these are lower than Falls Church HS with a 5 on GreatSchools and Annandale High School with a 7.

problem the first - people who think the numbers on great schools are the end-all-be-all

[Anonymous]

I think visiting the school visit should be your most important yardstick. Talk to the principal, find out their approach (and resources) for differentiation, what extras do they offer, what are the facilities like, is there an active PTA and what types of things do they do. Look at the kids' artwork and projects - do they seem in line with what an X-grader should do? That sort of thing. Make up your own mind, don't just go after a bunch of comments on an anonymous board like greatschools.

[Anonymous]

If you think you will end up having to do private school (even the less expensive Catholic schools), you should price out private high school -- not just elementary. Catholic elems are generally very affordable (but you need to keep in mind that you will need to pay more than the listed tuition b/c you MUST contribute to the parish WEEKLY (and the new thing is having that taken weekly as a direct deduction)) but Catholic HSs are way more expensive (think twice as much, if not more).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does one compare iffy schools? For example, Wakefield HS in Arlington is a 4 on GreatSchools, compared to Stuart High School in Fairfax County, which is also a 4, or Mount Vernon High School, with another 4. All three of these are lower than Falls Church HS with a 5 on GreatSchools and Annandale High School with a 7.

problem the first - people who think the numbers on great schools are the end-all-be-all

It's about 80% important

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does one compare iffy schools? For example, Wakefield HS in Arlington is a 4 on GreatSchools, compared to Stuart High School in Fairfax County, which is also a 4, or Mount Vernon High School, with another 4. All three of these are lower than Falls Church HS with a 5 on GreatSchools and Annandale High School with a 7.

problem the first - people who think the numbers on great schools are the end-all-be-all

You sound Alexandrian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you think you will end up having to do private school (even the less expensive Catholic schools), you should price out private high school -- not just elementary. Catholic elems are generally very affordable (but you need to keep in mind that you will need to pay more than the listed tuition b/c you MUST contribute to the parish WEEKLY (and the new thing is having that taken weekly as a direct deduction)) but Catholic HSs are way more expensive (think twice as much, if not more).

We have children in Catholic schools here in the Diocese of Arlington. Admittedly, we don't get to Mass as often as we should, so we don't make a weekly contribution to the Parish. Granted, we do pay for supplies, volunteer our time, and attend an auction that is horribly expensive (to us, at least), but I don't think it's absolutely correct to say that a weekly direct deposit to the parish is required.

To OP, based on your pyramid, I'd try it out -- definitely for elementary school. Then you can decide how your DC is doing for MS and HS and make a more informed decision then. We pulled the trigger fast to go to Catholic and, frankly, I think both of my DCs would have been fine at our local elementary. I could've saved a lot of money to prepare for the Catholic HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does one compare iffy schools? For example, Wakefield HS in Arlington is a 4 on GreatSchools, compared to Stuart High School in Fairfax County, which is also a 4, or Mount Vernon High School, with another 4. All three of these are lower than Falls Church HS with a 5 on GreatSchools and Annandale High School with a 7.

problem the first - people who think the numbers on great schools are the end-all-be-all

You sound Alexandrian.

Not the PP, but you sound like someone who tries to protect all of Mommies Little Monsters from the big, bad, suburban upper-middle class life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's iffy, and there's "utterly failing" (as in 80% FARMS, 1 or 2 on Greatschools, multiple principals in the past few years, etc.)

If your immediate neighborhood is good to great (good mix of people and few if any sociopaths/users), and the schools is "iffy" (as in 30% FARMS, 3 or 4 on Greatschools, fairly stable staff, but some of your friends/neighbors are sort of whispering about the area) ... then why not give the public school a chance?

Maybe OP can put off the renovations until their kid is in 2nd/3rd grade?

Yeah becuse FARM students means automatic poor school! Ugh, people like you make me sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's iffy, and there's "utterly failing" (as in 80% FARMS, 1 or 2 on Greatschools, multiple principals in the past few years, etc.)

If your immediate neighborhood is good to great (good mix of people and few if any sociopaths/users), and the schools is "iffy" (as in 30% FARMS, 3 or 4 on Greatschools, fairly stable staff, but some of your friends/neighbors are sort of whispering about the area) ... then why not give the public school a chance?

Maybe OP can put off the renovations until their kid is in 2nd/3rd grade?

Yeah becuse FARM students means automatic poor school! Ugh, people like you make me sick.

so you don't think a majority FARMs school causes poor academics? Most of the people who are so up in arms about how great schools and FARMs doesn't matter and the importance of diversity are probably people living in DC that can't afford private school and are trying to make themselves feel better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's iffy, and there's "utterly failing" (as in 80% FARMS, 1 or 2 on Greatschools, multiple principals in the past few years, etc.)

If your immediate neighborhood is good to great (good mix of people and few if any sociopaths/users), and the schools is "iffy" (as in 30% FARMS, 3 or 4 on Greatschools, fairly stable staff, but some of your friends/neighbors are sort of whispering about the area) ... then why not give the public school a chance?

Maybe OP can put off the renovations until their kid is in 2nd/3rd grade?

Yeah becuse FARM students means automatic poor school! Ugh, people like you make me sick.

so you don't think a majority FARMs school causes poor academics? Most of the people who are so up in arms about how great schools and FARMs doesn't matter and the importance of diversity are probably people living in DC that can't afford private school and are trying to make themselves feel better.

I don't think poor schools and FARMS go hand in hand, no. Yes there are poor schools in DC that have high FARMS, but I don't think that's always the root cause of the poor academics. Yes, I do live in DC, we have a $295k HHI, live in Upper NW and can afford private (or to live in MoCo). We attend a highly regarded charter that I absolutely love with about a 60% FARM population and a 9/10 on great schools with 5 stars. Maybe you should try not to assume when you're judging others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

so you don't think a majority FARMs school causes poor academics? Most of the people who are so up in arms about how great schools and FARMs doesn't matter and the importance of diversity are probably people living in DC that can't afford private school and are trying to make themselves feel better.

Viers Mill Elementary, near me. A 9 on Great Schools, and 70% FARMS. It's hard for some people to believe these kids can succeed, but they can.

Despite what this previous poster might be spending on her child's education, others out there are thriving for free. Now who's trying to make themselves feel better?

[Anonymous]

FWIW, the churches in MoCo tally up contributions, and the better Catholic schools push you to do the direct contributions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think poor schools and FARMS go hand in hand, no. Yes there are poor schools in DC that have high FARMS, but I don't think that's always the root cause of the poor academics. Yes, I do live in DC, we have a $295k HHI, live in Upper NW and can afford private (or to live in MoCo). We attend a highly regarded charter that I absolutely love with about a 60% FARM population and a 9/10 on great schools with 5 stars. Maybe you should try not to assume when you're judging others.

A charter, by definition, has a self-selecting population. So a kid acts up in the charter ... what happens? I bet the kid is out and sent back to his general-enrollment school, or a charter that explicitly appeals to "at risk" students.

This is also not an option available to OP, who can either attend "local school," "AAP cluster after whatever grade (provided they make it)," or "private school."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think poor schools and FARMS go hand in hand, no. Yes there are poor schools in DC that have high FARMS, but I don't think that's always the root cause of the poor academics. Yes, I do live in DC, we have a $295k HHI, live in Upper NW and can afford private (or to live in MoCo). We attend a highly regarded charter that I absolutely love with about a 60% FARM population and a 9/10 on great schools with 5 stars. Maybe you should try not to assume when you're judging others.

A charter, by definition, has a self-selecting population. So a kid acts up in the charter ... what happens? I bet the kid is out and sent back to his general-enrollment school, or a charter that explicitly appeals to "at risk" students.

This is also not an option available to OP, who can either attend "local school," "AAP cluster after whatever grade (provided they make it)," or "private school."

The response was to someone that implied FARMS equals poor quality school.