NoVa public schools? alexandria or arlington?
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Anonymous
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You should also be aware that ACPS is very close to adopting a "modified open enrollment" program to deal with overcrowding at some elementary schools. So even if you live in a "good" school district, your child may end up being bussed to another nearby school instead of attending your neighborhood school. The ACPS website as some good information on this proposal.
We live in Alexandria and are seriously considering moving to Arlington if this policy is implemented and also because one of our children has special needs and I don't think ACPS comes even close to doing a good job where special needs are involved. |
Anonymous
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As a lifelong resident of Alexandria and graduate of the Alexandria public school system (Patrick Henry Elementary, Hammond Middle School and TC Williams High School), I wanted to share my perspective for what it's worth. Take it for what it is --based on thoughts of someone who has attended the schools and has observed their progress and setbacks throughout the years. I do not know anything about the Arlington school system.
It is true that Alexandria schools have faced a lot of criticisms and problems mentioned by PPs. Some of them are true and some are overblown. With respect to elementary schools, there are some really high performing schools, and the 3 that receive a lot of press coverage, awards and accolades are Lyles-Crouch, George Mason and Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur is in a very large district and getting crowded but to its credit has managed to stay very competitive (b/c of the great principal and active PTA). Lyles-Crouch is a Core Knowledge school and has the benefit of having very small student teacher ratio (they have to maintain this in order to be a Core Knowledge school). L-C is a real success story as 5-7 years ago, no one would have sent their kids there. Now, due to the efforts of an active PTA and a wonderful principal, it is one of the most sought-after school in Alexandria. They have a great character education program (award-winning) and have implemented a uniform policy. George Mason is a small school (physically) so tends to be small, but the class sizes are increasing there as well. It has a committed and active PTA and generally well-respected. One thing about MacArthur --it may not have made one of the targets for No Child Left Behind for math. B/c of the way NCLB is designed, pretty sure that all Alexandria (as well as Arlington and Fairfax) schools will soon not make their targets (Adequate Yearly Progress), b/c eventually the standard is 100%, which is really impossible to obtain in an urban school system like Alexandria, where there is a lot of poor and/or recently immigrated kids. There are other schools that are very good but not receive a lot of attention: Charles Barrett, James K Polk, Tucker and Maury. Polk is very diverse with a very active PTA (recently fought for and got a new gym for the school). The parents are less intense than at MacArthur, Mason or L-C. I went to Polk way back when for a year. It was a good school then and it remains a good one now --often overlooked by parents in Alexandria. Maury used to have problems attracting parents, due to low test scores, but it has recently turned and is now very popular with parents. Recently, parents feel comfortable enough to send their kids there and are actively buying property so that they are in the Maury district. I don't know too much about Tucker, being the newest school (located in the Cameron Station development), but it has a modified school calendar (school almost year round) and does well on NCLB testing. It has gotten good reviews from parents. It, like Polk, is in the west end of Alexandria, so there is more diversity. Charles Barrett is the district adjacent to GM --it is a small school and also very good from what I hear. I have a friend who sent her children there and thought it was a "hidden gem." These are diverse elementary schools doing quite well. Another school that has turned is Mount Vernon, which has the Spanish language immersion program and the modified calendar (school almost year round). I have heard anecdotally from a friend who sends her children there that she loves the teachers and thinks they are getting an excellent education. Also, they have an active PTA, also a good sign. As you can see, there are several very good elementary schools in Alexandria. There are a few that are struggling --and they drag down the reputation of the entire school system. As for Jefferson Houston (not to be confused by Charles Houston, which is the name of the recreation center near Jefferson Houston), it is the weakest school, unfortunately by design. This district contains the most of Alexandria's public housing, has the highest number of special needs kids and has a high number of children on free and reduced lunch program (the highest in the school system). There have been great efforts to turn this school around --by implementing the IB program and to convert this to a K-8 program, but it's not there yet. There is also discussion of upgrading the facilities there, so in the next several years, this school will probably turn. But as the PPs have commented, it's not there today. I have a soft spot for TCW, because I loved it when I graduated from there. I had friends who were from multiple nationalities (my best friends were Arabic and Chinese) and I had friends from the super wealthy to the not-so-wealthy. Most of the people from my classes went on to Ivies, Stanford, MIT/Cornell, great state schools (CA, MI, UVA & WM). It's a school that most Alexandrians know as an excellent school. Great sports program. Excellent music program. Great choices for classes. It has a wide variety of high level and AP classes, languages, science classes, etc. B/c there is only one high school, all of the resources are devoted to just this school. It also has an awesome college resource department --counseling as well as scholarships. TCW has a scholarship program --both need-based and merit-- provided to TCW senior who apply and qualify to encourage them to go on to college. (www.alexscholarshipfund.org). In addition, there is a huge vocational education curriculum. One of the Hell's Kitchen chef winner graduated from TCW, as an example. I think TCW will never do well as a whole on hitting the AYP targets b/c it's a large school (roughly 800 or more per class) and great many of the students are ESL, special needs, etc. But those who go there will find the right program appropriate for them, because it has a lot of choices and great, caring teachers. Having said this, Alexandria, Arlington or private, nothing is more important than going to visit these schools to get a "feel" for the schools. All of the schools have open houses in the spring --the dates of the open houses should be listed on the Alexandria City Public School System website. If you can't make the open houses, make an appointment to talk to the principal and get a tour. At some point, all of the schools in Alex, Fairfax, Arlington are not going to make AYP b/c the standards only go higher every year under NCLB (i.e., no school will be able to achieve 100% on the AYP), budgets get reduced, schools get more crowded due to the recession. So, while important, don't base your decision solely on the "numbers." See what they are doing to get kids educated (e.g., any innovative programs?) and see how active and organized the PTA is. See what you think of the indoor and outdoor facilities. See whether they have experienced teachers or new ones and what the turnover rates are for the teachers and principals. Talk to the head of the PTAs. I think those are better indicators of a successful program. The school may have the best test scores, but if you don't like the culture/approach for your child, than it's a complete waste! Good luck! |
Anonymous
| HANDS DOWN, ANY school you go to in NORTH Arlington will be superb. i know, i added the NORTH part in there but in all honestly we know it to be true. I have had a child at Yorktown High, Swanson Middle and Tuckahoe Elementary. NO complaints for any of the three. VERY VERY VERY happy and I am hard to please. |
Anonymous
| special needs services in Arlington rock. my child is in the special needs preschool program at a public school here in Arlington and it is amazing. Amazing teachers, programs, services, etc. |
Anonymous
| Incredible post, 22:33PP. Very informative. I'm unlikely to end up in Alexandria because I'm a northern fairfax girl, not a southern fairfax girl, but who knows... |
Anonymous
| Thanks very much for the long, detailed post about Alexandria schools. My DC is at TC now (her first year) and loves it. Turned down GDS to go there. |
Anonymous
| This is all very helpful, can someone maybe shed some additional light on the Arlington County school district... from what I understand you have several choices no matter where you live as that for example any child may go to one of the spanish dual immersion schools, or to the traditional school... for elementary. As far as the High Schools, it appears there are really three: Yorktown, Wash-Lee, and Wakefield. Now what I'm confused about is the boundaries... Yorktown appears to be in Far North Arlington, but then also around Rosslyn? With the Wash-Lee boundaries completely encircling that area, why is this? ... and the boundary line between Wash-Lee and Yorktown bounces around all over the place, not following any road really? |
Anonymous
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00:40, I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you asking why the boundaries are the way they are? Or are you looking for confirmation that they are confusing?
If being in a particular school is important to you, you probably should live somewhere in the middle of that zone, because if they are tweaking zones to address crowding, the movement will come along the borders. Anyone can apply to ATS, but entry is based on what the website annoyingly refers to as a "double-blind, random lottery." There are a lot more entrants in the lottery than there are spaces. But if your kids gets in, APS will provide transportation. |
Anonymous
You do have some choices, but there are no guarantees that your child will get into any of the other schools, except for your neighborhood school. The exception to this is if you live in the Key (dual immersion) boundary, you can opt to send your child to Science Focus or maybe Taylor because the county cannot force you to send your child to an immersion school if you don't want it. We have a child who will be entering K this fall and when we went to the orientation for the county, they basically said that it is becoming next to impossible to send your child to a school other than your neighborhood one because of overcrowding. So you can apply to Key or Science Focus for example, but you might not get in. As for the boundaries, they are somewhat random. I am sure it has something to do with trying to even out the numbers...I also think sometimes they move boundaries to get more diversity into the schools. For example, if Yorktown was only upper N. Arlington it would be very un-diverse. By adding Rosslyn and some other neighborhoods that may have some more low income neighborhoods/properties, they increase the diversity of the school. |
Anonymous
It's often hard to explain boundaries. Maybe ACPS just was asked to do a favor for some big shots living at Ft. Myer who wanted their kids to attend Yorktown rather than W-L. |
Anonymous
try the website: http://www.arlington.k12.va.us/15401081104047187/site/default.asp or just call, they are SUPER helpful there. although N arlington has been super popular it's suffering from overcrowding so it'll be interesting to see how things pan out by the time we send our kids to K. |
Anonymous
This is what I was thinking, I don't think that was added for diversity... |
Anonymous
| I had a similar question to the original posting, and this discussion has been very helpful so thanks to all. One follow up: There's been a lot written here on North Arlington vs. Alexandria City, but could anyone offer views on South Arlington schools? From what I can tell, there are some great elementary schools -- Waynewood and Stratford Landing seem to be popular and even Belle View seems to be coming alnog -- but then it looks like things fall off a cliff at middle school before rebounding a little in high school (i.e., West Potomac seems to be okay). I'd love any thoughts anyone has on this. Thanks in advance. |
Anonymous
| 9:43, do you mean Alexandria in Fairfax? The schools you mention aren't in Arlington. |
Anonymous
| Yes, sorry. Alexandria in Fairfax. |