Are the City of Alexandria public schools really that bad?
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Anonymous
| We live in the City right now and only hear bad things about the schools. Our kids are still too young for school, but we love the City and want to stay, but if the schools are bad then it is best to move to another area for the schools? Anyone left Alexandria for Arlington? Any regrets leaving Alexandria? |
Anonymous
| Depends. Some elementary schools are better than others, middle schools seem chaotic, and TC is always going to be controversial. Maybe a new superintendent will make a difference, but Alexandria doesn't have a good track record of hiring effective leaders. Our children are in early elementary grades and we will probably move to Arlington as soon as we find the right house. Many people we know have moved to Arlington or Fairfax. |
Anonymous
| OP, here. Thanks for the information. I am willing to give it a try, but my husband wants to jump ship now before our kids even start school so they can attend the same school from the beginning. Its tough because I love Alexandria, but don't think we can risk the issues with the schools. |
Anonymous
| We heard every horror story in the book about ACPS. We went straight to private; we didn't even bother looking at ACPS. After four years at two privates, we had it, and we decided to simply try ACPS. Our experiences to date (it's been five years) has been astounding, and essentially without material complaint, and we know literally dozens of parents in the same place as we are. In fact, I don't know a solid ten ACPS families who really can't stand the system. The first thing we learned about ACPS is that the academic program is more challenging than what most (not some -- most) of the private schools in this area offer. The second was that the impression that we had of urban chaos was simply false. The third is that the ACPS admins and central office are somehow low-performing. If anything, Alexandria's problem is its deeply underqualified, inexpert school board. The only caveat is that the ACPS elementaries are uneven. Most parents love Barrett, Mason, MacArthur, Maury, and Lyles-Crouch. Mount Vernon, Adams, Cora Kelly and Polk have very strong fan clubs. Jefferson Houston, Ramsey, and Henry are not well regarded. But internal transfers are available. We also learned that the vocal full-time critics of ACPS typically are disgruntled annoyances who have lost suits against the city or are affiliated with the city teachers union. You should make an appointment and tour the ACPS school where you would expect to enroll before you make any decisions. But the knee-jerk "ACPS rots" reaction isn't accurate. Good luck whatever you pick. |
Anonymous
I see you've met our resident ACPS booster, OP. Her happy talk is really inconsistent with reality. With the exception of the observation about the inept School Board, in general the Alexandria elementaries are better than they used to be. But middle schools is atrocious. And TC is just a bastion of problems, including a dropout rate of around 40% for Hispanics and a daycare center for the children of students, although it does offer a lot of classes, has some excellent faculty, and some upper middle class white kids do very well (and their parents cynically believe that this gives them a leg up on college admissions by virtue of "surviving" a poor school). SATs just came out and I think TC's was around 1,435 or something like that, nearly 300 points lower than the better Arlington and FFX high schools. This is what I do know: The anxiety about ACPS is palpable in the parent community in Alexandria. It's a nearly nightly conversation for kids entering elementaries or families trying to decide about middle school. This type of anxiety simply doesn't exist in other school systems. They're not perfect, but no one frets about whether to send their children to their assigned school in the first place. That should tell you a lot. The other thing is our pp booster notwithstanding, a lot of ACPS boosters have, in fact, never experienced anything else. So while they've rationalized their own situation, they don't know how much better things are elsewhere. More FLES in schools. More tech. Better teacher-administration relations. A college prep environment at the HS level rather than a "Yale or jail" atmosphere. More county-wide options (in ACPS there's only two mediocre middle schools and a single HS -- if it's a bad fit, you're kind of stuck). So, I wouldn't dismiss it until you check it out. But as you talk to ACPS families, you also should reach out to those who've left ACPS and find out what they discovered they were missing. |
Anonymous
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On the same front, a lot of the "move to Arlington" posters left in a panic before they experienced ACPS. So their story is one sided as well.
Look, some people are ok with it-some aren't. We're planning to stay-we'll re-evaluate as we go if necessary. Friends with kids at our zoned school (Maury) are happy with it. No school system is perfect-and anywhere that's somewhat urban is going to have extra challenges. But I also understand why some people leave, and we're not ruling it out ourself if it proves necessary. |
Anonymous
| I live in ACPS and will be sending my son to kinder next year. I suggest you meet with your principal, tour the school, etc and make an informed decision which I did. I was very impressed with my experience and trust we will have a great experience next year. |
Anonymous
What other options were you seriously considering? Was there actually a decision to be made? |
Anonymous
| The Arlington bashers of ACPS always spike after SAT scores come out and FCPS outperforms APS another year. Makes them feel better, I guess. |
Anonymous
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We know only a few Alexandria families from our son's preschool that chose to ACPS for K, very few, less than a handful - those families were zoned for Mason. Most of our friend's children are in private or parochial.
We're zoned for Waynewood, a FCPS, and because of the middle/high school, opted to send our son elsewhere. I'm one those parents who likes the idea of starting K and staying throughout. |
Anonymous
Um, 18 point differential. Eighteen points. I'm not losing sleep over it. |
Anonymous
Yes. We were considering private or moving. The largest kinder size at our elementary school we are slotted for has 17 kids. Previous year 15. Max 20. Friend in FCPS has 28 kids in his daughters class. Additionally, all students were reading by the end of the year and made grade level benchmarks. They have an active PTA and seemingly strong principal dedicated to the school. Seriously, tour, meet with the principal, go to a PTA mtg, etc rather rely on anonymous posts. |
Anonymous
Different picture when you compare the closer-in schools. Langley was 127 points higher than Yorktown, Marshall was 78 points higher than W-L, Stuart was 61 points higher than Wakefield. All bigger differences than the difference between Wakefield and TC, but it doesn't stop the Arlington "so thrilled I escaped ACPS" poster from bashing TC regularly. If you don't lose sleep, you should at least ask questions. |
Anonymous
| Another ACPS "booster" here, who also sent kids to private from K-8 and then TC. TC was a fantastic experience. DD is now getting As at an Ivy. TC prepared her well. |
Anonymous
This. As an ACPS parent, I hear this (ranging from decent VA state schools to Ivies and top SLACs) infinitely more than I hear complaints. Yes, I hear good things from sophisticated parents; typically, it's the wanna-be types who complain the most. |