South arlington elementary schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I could have written the original post - we're about to put in an application for a rental in Douglas Park this week, and I'm very uncertain about the school situation. I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old, both of whom have been in Montessori programs since pre-k 3, and I don't want them to get lost in the shuffle of schools that have to focus on populations that aren't getting any support from their home environments. We're looking at Drew Model's program, at Randolph, and at Hoffman-Boston, but I'm not sure any of those will work. Any further feedback from parents who have been there would be helpful!

My kids go to Campbell. They are in grades 2 and 3 and perform above grade level across the board. They are most definitely being challenged, paid attention to and cared for. The amount of differentiation that takes place is astounding.

Also, just because a child is poor or his/her parents don't speak the language please don't assume that they aren't receiving support at home. This is simply not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I could have written the original post - we're about to put in an application for a rental in Douglas Park this week, and I'm very uncertain about the school situation. I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old, both of whom have been in Montessori programs since pre-k 3, and I don't want them to get lost in the shuffle of schools that have to focus on populations that aren't getting any support from their home environments. We're looking at Drew Model's program, at Randolph, and at Hoffman-Boston, but I'm not sure any of those will work. Any further feedback from parents who have been there would be helpful!

Doesn't Drew have a Montessori program that should be a good fit for your kids?

[Anonymous]

I appreciate the further feedback - we are applying for Drew's Montessori program, but I know that's an iffy situation, since we're so late to the application game. My husband loves the TH we're looking at, and I'm so torn about the school system, and am honestly trying to find a way to look at it in a positive light. Any Randolph or H-B parents have first-hand information?

[Anonymous]

My son is finishing at Jefferson, which I think might be your zoned school for middle school. We were quite happy.

The things we didn't like about the school were related to the fact that our boy is a teenager and really obnoxious. Nothing school can do about that.

[Anonymous]

Thank you! We're military so won't make it to the middle school in the area. DH went to visit Hoffman and Drew, and was really impressed by principal and staff, and managed to sway me by a very scientific breakdown of test scores. Thank you for everyone's input!

[Anonymous]

Just out of curiosity, why didn't you visit Randolph?

[Anonymous]

What about Oakridge? Are people happy with that school and Gunston Middle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about Oakridge? Are people happy with that school and Gunston Middle?

People are very happy with Oakridge and it is one of the best-performing schools in South Arlington in terms of SOL scores if that is important to you. Check previous threads on this forum! That said, Oakridge is overcrowded, which tells you how popular it is, so APS will implement some kind of 'enrollment intervention' starting fall 2015, whatever that means. I suspect the school boundary/admissions policy will change for those who live on the edges of the boundary. I don't know how else they can get the student numbers reduced.

[Anonymous]

Thanks again for further feedback! I'll be checking out Randolph as well once I get up there in a couple of weeks.

[Anonymous]

i'd be interested in what people think of Randolph as well. We still have a couple of years before this becomes something to worry about but I'm curious about the options.

[Anonymous]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I think Randolph is the alternative for Barcroft district if people don't want the year round schedule. We knew several families from soccer, both white and Hispanic, with kids at Randolph and they were all very happy. One of the families was foreign service and two of the others had parents who were elementary teachers.

[Anonymous]

My kid just finished at TJ, your middle school most likely.

I never heard a parent say about any child... "well, he must have gone to Randolph, that's why"