Jamestown ES

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny how some things never change. Jamestown has always had a reputation for being full of rich white kids.

The neighborhood hasn't changed; why would the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why there is so much anger here towards Jamestown. OP there are a lot of secretly jealous people in Arlington so you better get used to it. There are many nice people as well. We are zoned for Tuckahoe (but my kids go to ATS) and my friend’s kids are zoned for Jamestown. They are not ultra rich and she owns one of the smaller homes right next to the school. They seem to love the community atmosphere of the school. It is smaller than many of the schools in Arlington and all the families seem to know each other and watch out of each others kids. It is very idyllic in that sense. As a foreigner it reminded me of the suburban America I see in movies and tv shows Quality wise it has the same reputation as all the schools in that corner of North Arlington (Tuckahoe, Nottingham etc). I will say that if you are not white your kid may feel left out. But as for it being the whitest school in Arlington, while that is technically true, all the nearby schools are pretty white as well You will find more private schools in the Jamestown neighborhood as opposed to other neighborhoods. But enough kids go to public that Jamestown still feels like a neighborhood school with neighborhood kids.

You wrote “If you’re not white your kid may feel left out.” You are agreeing with the primary criticism that several posters have made about Jamestown. Sure there are jealous people everywhere but to imply that people making these statements are “jealous” is dismissive of a pretty serious issue. I can tell you that there are people who can afford any neighborhood in Arlington who would have a problem with this kind of exclusion. But even if some people make the statement out of jealousy, I don’t see how it changes the substance of the complaint. This kind of exclusion in a public school system - especially one as diverse of Arlington- is a problem.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It’s the whitest, wealthiest ES in Arlington. There are PTA events at the country club. If you are a family of color, your kids may not meet any classmates who look like them.

Your tone suggests that these are negatives.

They are negatives.

Maybe to you. Most reasonable people would consider those features, not a bug. It is a very good school, in part because of those reasons.

This poster has to be a troll.

Why would I be a troll? My children went through Jamestown. I am genuinely offended at your disparagement of it for such trivial reasons. You truly should be ashamed of yourself.

Nobody disparaged you. Not everyone will find their people there because it’s highly segregated. It can have many good qualities but that’s a big issue for a lot of people. Adults can have these kinds of conversations without everyone taking offense. The people leaving for private school are even going to more diverse schools than Jamestown. That’s pretty exceptional.

I find it curious that people only complain about segregation when a school is majority white.

This is pretty much the most common complaint about some of the South Arlington schools: That they are segregated (not majority white). You are wrong.

No, those schools tend to be described as "diverse."

The irony is Yorktown, which is the pyramid into which Jamestown feeds, most closely matches the demographics of Arlington County as a whole.

Jamestown is a fantastic school. It's one thing to say if you are a person of color you might not find people who look like you -- that's fair. But outright disparaging it because of its demographics is pretty disgusting. PP did the latter.

Um. No. WL's demographics most closely match the demographics of APS students as a whole.

PP said demographics of Arlington as a whole (including non school age people) and you said demographics of APS as a whole (so just students). You're actually both right about your chosen metrics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why there is so much anger here towards Jamestown. OP there are a lot of secretly jealous people in Arlington so you better get used to it. There are many nice people as well. We are zoned for Tuckahoe (but my kids go to ATS) and my friend’s kids are zoned for Jamestown. They are not ultra rich and she owns one of the smaller homes right next to the school. They seem to love the community atmosphere of the school. It is smaller than many of the schools in Arlington and all the families seem to know each other and watch out of each others kids. It is very idyllic in that sense. As a foreigner it reminded me of the suburban America I see in movies and tv shows Quality wise it has the same reputation as all the schools in that corner of North Arlington (Tuckahoe, Nottingham etc). I will say that if you are not white your kid may feel left out. But as for it being the whitest school in Arlington, while that is technically true, all the nearby schools are pretty white as well You will find more private schools in the Jamestown neighborhood as opposed to other neighborhoods. But enough kids go to public that Jamestown still feels like a neighborhood school with neighborhood kids.

You wrote “If you’re not white your kid may feel left out.” You are agreeing with the primary criticism that several posters have made about Jamestown. Sure there are jealous people everywhere but to imply that people making these statements are “jealous” is dismissive of a pretty serious issue. I can tell you that there are people who can afford any neighborhood in Arlington who would have a problem with this kind of exclusion. But even if some people make the statement out of jealousy, I don’t see how it changes the substance of the complaint. This kind of exclusion in a public school system - especially one as diverse of Arlington- is a problem.

Um, so what do you think should be done?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It’s the whitest, wealthiest ES in Arlington. There are PTA events at the country club. If you are a family of color, your kids may not meet any classmates who look like them.

Your tone suggests that these are negatives.

They are negatives.

Maybe to you. Most reasonable people would consider those features, not a bug. It is a very good school, in part because of those reasons.

This poster has to be a troll.

Why would I be a troll? My children went through Jamestown. I am genuinely offended at your disparagement of it for such trivial reasons. You truly should be ashamed of yourself.

Nobody disparaged you. Not everyone will find their people there because it’s highly segregated. It can have many good qualities but that’s a big issue for a lot of people. Adults can have these kinds of conversations without everyone taking offense. The people leaving for private school are even going to more diverse schools than Jamestown. That’s pretty exceptional.

I find it curious that people only complain about segregation when a school is majority white.

This is pretty much the most common complaint about some of the South Arlington schools: That they are segregated (not majority white). You are wrong.

No, those schools tend to be described as "diverse."

The irony is Yorktown, which is the pyramid into which Jamestown feeds, most closely matches the demographics of Arlington County as a whole.

Jamestown is a fantastic school. It's one thing to say if you are a person of color you might not find people who look like you -- that's fair. But outright disparaging it because of its demographics is pretty disgusting. PP did the latter.

Um. No. WL's demographics most closely match the demographics of APS students as a whole.

PP said demographics of Arlington as a whole (including non school age people) and you said demographics of APS as a whole (so just students). You're actually both right about your chosen metrics.

Interesting. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why there is so much anger here towards Jamestown. OP there are a lot of secretly jealous people in Arlington so you better get used to it. There are many nice people as well. We are zoned for Tuckahoe (but my kids go to ATS) and my friend’s kids are zoned for Jamestown. They are not ultra rich and she owns one of the smaller homes right next to the school. They seem to love the community atmosphere of the school. It is smaller than many of the schools in Arlington and all the families seem to know each other and watch out of each others kids. It is very idyllic in that sense. As a foreigner it reminded me of the suburban America I see in movies and tv shows Quality wise it has the same reputation as all the schools in that corner of North Arlington (Tuckahoe, Nottingham etc). I will say that if you are not white your kid may feel left out. But as for it being the whitest school in Arlington, while that is technically true, all the nearby schools are pretty white as well You will find more private schools in the Jamestown neighborhood as opposed to other neighborhoods. But enough kids go to public that Jamestown still feels like a neighborhood school with neighborhood kids.

You wrote “If you’re not white your kid may feel left out.” You are agreeing with the primary criticism that several posters have made about Jamestown. Sure there are jealous people everywhere but to imply that people making these statements are “jealous” is dismissive of a pretty serious issue. I can tell you that there are people who can afford any neighborhood in Arlington who would have a problem with this kind of exclusion. But even if some people make the statement out of jealousy, I don’t see how it changes the substance of the complaint. This kind of exclusion in a public school system - especially one as diverse of Arlington- is a problem.

Um, so what do you think should be done?

Meh. It’s not just the whiteness of Jamestown - it’s the exclusivity of it. It’s a turn off.

When we first moved to Arlington we rented in the Tuckahoe district and eventually bought our first home there. We thought it was a great school and still do. But eventually we had to get a bigger house, wanted to stay in North Arlington, and money wasn’t much of an issue (Biglaw), so we looked beyond the Tuckahoe boundary. But we couldn’t bring ourselves to consider Jamestown. The other North Arlington schools are essentially just as white but don’t have the whole snob thing going on. We ended up choosing one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why there is so much anger here towards Jamestown. OP there are a lot of secretly jealous people in Arlington so you better get used to it. There are many nice people as well. We are zoned for Tuckahoe (but my kids go to ATS) and my friend’s kids are zoned for Jamestown. They are not ultra rich and she owns one of the smaller homes right next to the school. They seem to love the community atmosphere of the school. It is smaller than many of the schools in Arlington and all the families seem to know each other and watch out of each others kids. It is very idyllic in that sense. As a foreigner it reminded me of the suburban America I see in movies and tv shows Quality wise it has the same reputation as all the schools in that corner of North Arlington (Tuckahoe, Nottingham etc). I will say that if you are not white your kid may feel left out. But as for it being the whitest school in Arlington, while that is technically true, all the nearby schools are pretty white as well You will find more private schools in the Jamestown neighborhood as opposed to other neighborhoods. But enough kids go to public that Jamestown still feels like a neighborhood school with neighborhood kids.

You wrote “If you’re not white your kid may feel left out.” You are agreeing with the primary criticism that several posters have made about Jamestown. Sure there are jealous people everywhere but to imply that people making these statements are “jealous” is dismissive of a pretty serious issue. I can tell you that there are people who can afford any neighborhood in Arlington who would have a problem with this kind of exclusion. But even if some people make the statement out of jealousy, I don’t see how it changes the substance of the complaint. This kind of exclusion in a public school system - especially one as diverse of Arlington- is a problem.

Um, so what do you think should be done?

This forum has threads on this issue- feel free to search. This particular post above was in response to someone calling people who mention the disparity “jealous.” I just found it odd that the poster would agree it’s not welcoming to everyone but call people who pointed that out “jealous.” It doesn’t make sense.

[Anonymous]

There are threads in this forum dedicated to diversifying Jamestown? Fascinating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are threads in this forum dedicated to diversifying Jamestown? Fascinating.

There are threads that include diversifying all the schools up there as a group. The strategies don’t vary from school to school, as far as I recall. If you search you can find it. Part of the Missing Middle debate was about diversifying the neighborhoods and schools. That kind of stuff is definitely discussed in Arlington and on this forum.

[Anonymous]

So you think MM is going to diversify Jamestown??? I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you think MM is going to diversify Jamestown??? I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

I do not. The poster was surprised people have discussed it. I mentioned the most recent discussion that I am surprised the poster is unaware of. It’s possible developing Langston could have an impact but that’s decades away. But again, this thread was about the current situation at Jamestown and some people just pointed out that it’s the least diverse school in Arlington. I don’t see why there is so much anger at that statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jamestown has a FARMS rate of 4.57% (county average 30.13%) and is 79% white (county average 44.1%). So yeah, those are the stats. Do what you want with them.

Arlington county is 70% white, per the census. Not sure where you get 44.1% but you are wrong

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jamestown has a FARMS rate of 4.57% (county average 30.13%) and is 79% white (county average 44.1%). So yeah, those are the stats. Do what you want with them.

Arlington county is 70% white, per the census. Not sure where you get 44.1% but you are wrong

It’s because some people are using the APS stats. This is a discussion about the public schools so some people are using the demographics of the student population. A PP pointed this out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jamestown has a FARMS rate of 4.57% (county average 30.13%) and is 79% white (county average 44.1%). So yeah, those are the stats. Do what you want with them.

Arlington county is 70% white, per the census. Not sure where you get 44.1% but you are wrong

It’s because some people are using the APS stats. This is a discussion about the public schools so some people are using the demographics of the student population. A PP pointed this out.

They shouldn’t though — it’s misleading. The county figures are a much better comparison and desirable benchmark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jamestown has a FARMS rate of 4.57% (county average 30.13%) and is 79% white (county average 44.1%). So yeah, those are the stats. Do what you want with them.

Arlington county is 70% white, per the census. Not sure where you get 44.1% but you are wrong

Yes, student statistics. The student population is less white and more poor than the overall population.

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Civil-Rights-Table-1-2021-11-08.pdf

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/FREE-REDUCED-OCTOBER-31-2022-V3.pdf