What is the reputation of Alexandria public schools?

[Anonymous]

PP here to add -- it almost goes without saying that Alexandria seems to be the last jurisdiction in America that still believes concentrated public housing is good for the people who live in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here to add -- it almost goes without saying that Alexandria seems to be the last jurisdiction in America that still believes concentrated public housing is good for the people who live in it.

You seem to be out of the loop. What do you think has been going on in Alexandria over the last several years? Destruction of concentrated public housing! Entire blocks of it are gone, with more set to be razed. Alexandria is moving to a dispersed model of public housing assistance.

[Anonymous]

And where did you get your information about "importing" people (!) from PG county to fill up Alexandria's public housing units? Never heard that before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here to add -- it almost goes without saying that Alexandria seems to be the last jurisdiction in America that still believes concentrated public housing is good for the people who live in it.

You seem to be out of the loop. What do you think has been going on in Alexandria over the last several years? Destruction of concentrated public housing! Entire blocks of it are gone, with more set to be razed. Alexandria is moving to a dispersed model of public housing assistance.

Meh, they knocked down one or two blocks and they seem to have a plan to knock down a few more but they need to knock it all down and allow a developer to come in and either put up housing or commerical real esate. It disgusts me that the City allows blocks and blocks of that crappy public housing to exist in the middle of such valuable land. And I agree with the PP - public housing doesn't serve the interests of those who live in it either. Worse, I think the plan to keep those students at JH is a good one because it gives me hope that the middle school could become decent by the time my child is old enough to go there. For me, it's not the kids who are the problem - especially at the elmentary level - but their uninvolved, uninterested parents who don't encourage or care about their kids enough to see them get a quality education.

[Anonymous]

NIMBY much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And where did you get your information about "importing" people (!) from PG county to fill up Alexandria's public housing units? Never heard that before.

I've never heard that either and it sounds like an unfounded BS rumor. At one point I tried to get some legal immigrants crowded in tiny Arlandria on the waitlists for some public housing units and those things are years long. Those public housing units will be filled with immigrants before they import folks from PG. I know lots of poor people may live semi transient lives, live floating from an aunt in one area and a sister in another. I can see a person a years long waitlist that had recently stayed with a relative in PG county get off the list and make certain others upset, but stuff like that would be isolated things.

[Anonymous]

This thread is so depressing mainly because it is so true. We are seriuosly considering moving to either Arlington or Montgomery county in order to buy a house and avoid having to use private school.

[Anonymous]

Hey North Old Town newbies, those folks were there first. So I wouldn't get so high and mighty about their existence. Plus, the city has been moving more of the public housing out of OT, to Arlandria, the West End, and even right off Duke Street behind the Giant there, where there has always been a complex. And as far as consolidating political power, given that Alexandria doesn't elect council members by wards, I don't really get what you mean. It is a Democratic city, and will likely remain one.

[Anonymous]

Since you are moving to the DC area, not specifically the Virginia side of the Potomac, you really ought to look at the public schools available in Montgomery County, MD. As a whole, the public school system there is much better, certainly than Alexandria Public Schools. McLean, VA schools are highly regarded and, for high school, Faifax County boasts a highly reputable magnet school, Thomas Jefferson (Science/Technology). Some jurisdictions outside Fairfax County allow their students to go to TJ, but Alexandria City does not. If you live in Alexandria city (Old Town, 22314, is in Alexandria City), you cannot even apply to determine whether you'd get in. Old Town is a lovely place to live, but people don't generally move there for the (public) schools, but rather despite them.

[Anonymous]

Seems to me that somewhere along this thread, someone misinterpreted "PG" to mean Prince George's County, when the original poster using it seems to have meant "Parker Gray," which indicates a section of Old Town (northwest Old Town). I don't believe anyone was suggesting that Alexandria is importing Prince George's County residents to live in Alexandria City public housing.

[Anonymous]

We just bought in Alexandria and I agree with the choice of elementary schools approach. We avoided buying into the Jefferson Houston district. I don't hold high hopes for a turnaround anytime soon for that district. Although there are actions that could be done to improve the school, such as using the Core Knowledge program which turned Lyles Crouch around, it seems the School Superintendent likes to spend a bunch of money on bringing in experts and advisors which spit the same generic advice out about individual learning plans. The Core Knowledge program is the opposite of this approach and the one program that shows results. I wanted an area near Old Town or Del Ray. We looked in the Lyles Crouch, Mt Vernon and Maury districts. We will reevaluate when middle school time is here.

[Anonymous]

The City of Alexandria has a serious problem with JH that will be solved by it failing AYP for two more consecutive years. This will force the district to take radical steps prescribed by No Child Left Behind. Even after the school restructuring occurs, if the City does not change the population of the school it will continue to fail. The nice part of the situation is that the City is required to allow you to opt out (which is what most of the affluent parents choose to do including a City Councilman). However, as the City disperses its public housing over the next 5 years this problem should be solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The City of Alexandria has a serious problem with JH that will be solved by it failing AYP for two more consecutive years. This will force the district to take radical steps prescribed by No Child Left Behind. Even after the school restructuring occurs, if the City does not change the population of the school it will continue to fail. The nice part of the situation is that the City is required to allow you to opt out (which is what most of the affluent parents choose to do including a City Councilman). However, as the City disperses its public housing over the next 5 years this problem should be solved.

Yeah, they let you opt out ... to other crappy schools. Lyles Crouch has capped enrollments as does MacArthur.

They are dispersing public housing out over the City - which means they parents and students will still be in the City schools and they will be concentrated somewhere and will all still show up at one of the two middle schools and the only high school.

[Anonymous]

Look, Alexandria has a certain percentage of poor people. Sorry if you can't handle that. To me, it teaches my kids a good lesson about life and an opportunity to met people who have different and more challenging life circumstances. And hopeful be grateful for what they have.

[Anonymous]

Look, Alexandria has a certain percentage of poor people. Sorry if you can't handle that. To me, it teaches my kids a good lesson about life and an opportunity to met people who have different and more challenging life circumstances. And hopeful be grateful for what they have.

Well, yes, part of the reason we would like to send DS to a public school is to meet and interact with all different types of children in terms of race, socioeconomic status etc. However, he is not going to get that from Jefferson-Houston, because it does not have racial or socioeconomic diversity.