Yorktown versus Washington-lee?

[Anonymous]

boy, this degenerated fast.

We ended up buying about 1/2 mile away from Yorktown. I would have preferred Washington-lee - I worried about my kid (white, not rich) being surrounded by only white and rich kids at Yorktown. the world isn't like that. But we couldn't find a house we liked feeding into W-L; proximity to Metro meant that prices were higher around there and our price range was low for Arlington.

I think your kid(s) will get a good education at either school, and probably at Wakefield too. We also looked at schools in Falls Church City and Fairfax. I think Yorktown and W-L rank with the top third or so of Fairfax schools and with George Mason HS; Wakefield scores are closer to the lower Fairfax schools, but that's demographics and not a reflection on the teaching. For me, I had to rule out a lot of the Fairfax schools because the commute to DC from those homes would have sucked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:boy, this degenerated fast.

We ended up buying about 1/2 mile away from Yorktown. I would have preferred Washington-lee - I worried about my kid (white, not rich) being surrounded by only white and rich kids at Yorktown. the world isn't like that. But we couldn't find a house we liked feeding into W-L; proximity to Metro meant that prices were higher around there and our price range was low for Arlington.

I think your kid(s) will get a good education at either school, and probably at Wakefield too. We also looked at schools in Falls Church City and Fairfax. I think Yorktown and W-L rank with the top third or so of Fairfax schools and with George Mason HS; Wakefield scores are closer to the lower Fairfax schools, but that's demographics and not a reflection on the teaching. For me, I had to rule out a lot of the Fairfax schools because the commute to DC from those homes would have sucked.

Yorktown is about 40% minority and 15% FARMS. Why on earth would you think it's all rich and white? It just sounds so phony PC to suggest this. It's not exactly Aryan Nation there.

From what I've read, W-L would be average or slightly below average in Fairfax and Wakefield would be at the very bottom. Yorktown was really the only Arlington school we were prepared to consider, and the only one comparable to the better Fairfax schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I've read, W-L would be average or slightly below average in Fairfax and Wakefield would be at the very bottom. Yorktown was really the only Arlington school we were prepared to consider, and the only one comparable to the better Fairfax schools.

Says the Fairfax poster

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've read, W-L would be average or slightly below average in Fairfax and Wakefield would be at the very bottom. Yorktown was really the only Arlington school we were prepared to consider, and the only one comparable to the better Fairfax schools.

Says the Fairfax poster

Huh? Nottingham, Williamsburg, Yorktown. Best in APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yorktown is about 40% minority and 15% FARMS. Why on earth would you think it's all rich and white? It just sounds so phony PC to suggest this. It's not exactly Aryan Nation there.

From what I've read, W-L would be average or slightly below average in Fairfax and Wakefield would be at the very bottom. Yorktown was really the only Arlington school we were prepared to consider, and the only one comparable to the better Fairfax schools.

Whatever the reason, W-L has an excellent reputation in Arlington and the neighborhoods in its zone are wildly popular. The housing prices attest to this. For people that swear by the Greatschools numbers, W-L was never an option, and Yorktown became acceptable this year. For high schools with 9s or 10s, there are plenty to choose from in Fairfax County.

In terms of test scores that correlate with a low income population (of about 30%), there is nothing surprising: W-L is virtually identical to Fairfax County's South Lakes in that regard. There are more uber-wealthy neighborhoods in the W-L district, but both schools have a good mix of students and are the most diverse in their school divisions. W-L, for most of the people on this forum is a fine choice. South Lakes could use some love, but Reston isn't exactly well represented on this forum.

[Anonymous]

23:11 here - my concern was less with Yorktown and more with the elementary school, which is 1% FARMS and at least 84% white. (Asians make up the largest minority group, by a landslide.) Our neighborhood is very, very, very caucasian. So yes, I am a little concerned that my daughter will grow up with an unrealistic view of the world. Her preschool is diverse, and we do a lot of our extracurriculars in South Arlington, but still.

the thing to note with Wakefield - and TC Williams - and the lower ranked Fairfax schools - is that once you control for the demographics within the schools, the college-prep white kids tend to achieve everywhere. Kids tend to hang with other kids who are like them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the thing to note with Wakefield - and TC Williams - and the lower ranked Fairfax schools - is that once you control for the demographics within the schools, the college-prep white kids tend to achieve everywhere. Kids tend to hang with other kids who are like them.

Not at Mount Vernon, Edison and Annandale

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:23:11 here - my concern was less with Yorktown and more with the elementary school, which is 1% FARMS and at least 84% white. (Asians make up the largest minority group, by a landslide.) Our neighborhood is very, very, very caucasian. So yes, I am a little concerned that my daughter will grow up with an unrealistic view of the world. Her preschool is diverse, and we do a lot of our extracurriculars in South Arlington, but still.

the thing to note with Wakefield - and TC Williams - and the lower ranked Fairfax schools - is that once you control for the demographics within the schools, the college-prep white kids tend to achieve everywhere. Kids tend to hang with other kids who are like them.

So...you want your daughter to grow up with a realistic view of the world, which entails controlling for demographics and assuming that she'll end up hanging out with other white college prep kids "like them"? Talk about paying lip service to diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:boy, this degenerated fast.

We ended up buying about 1/2 mile away from Yorktown. I would have preferred Washington-lee - I worried about my kid (white, not rich) being surrounded by only white and rich kids at Yorktown. the world isn't like that. But we couldn't find a house we liked feeding into W-L; proximity to Metro meant that prices were higher around there and our price range was low for Arlington.

I think your kid(s) will get a good education at either school, and probably at Wakefield too. We also looked at schools in Falls Church City and Fairfax. I think Yorktown and W-L rank with the top third or so of Fairfax schools and with George Mason HS; Wakefield scores are closer to the lower Fairfax schools, but that's demographics and not a reflection on the teaching. For me, I had to rule out a lot of the Fairfax schools because the commute to DC from those homes would have sucked.

If you could afford to buy 1/2 mile from Yorktown, your kids are very likely in the same socio-economic demographic as most of the other kids at Yorktown, so I find your argument to be disingenuous, paranoid, and misinformed. The real "rich" kids in the Yorktown pyramid go private.

Signed, parent in the Jamestown-Williamsburg-Yorktown pyramid who also thinks we're not "rich" on a relative basis but know that, in fact, most people think the same thing we do. Most of our kids' many friends seem to be similar financial background, and only a couple come from truly loaded families. I think you're far more likely to encounter socio-economic disparity at W-L, along with the problems that can sometimes entail. I think homogeneity from a socio-economic standpoint is probably more desirable than a school where there are "haves" and "have nots"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:23:11 here - my concern was less with Yorktown and more with the elementary school, which is 1% FARMS and at least 84% white. (Asians make up the largest minority group, by a landslide.) Our neighborhood is very, very, very caucasian. So yes, I am a little concerned that my daughter will grow up with an unrealistic view of the world. Her preschool is diverse, and we do a lot of our extracurriculars in South Arlington, but still.

the thing to note with Wakefield - and TC Williams - and the lower ranked Fairfax schools - is that once you control for the demographics within the schools, the college-prep white kids tend to achieve everywhere. Kids tend to hang with other kids who are like them.

Ah, tokenism? It's ok to go to school with brown children because the white kids still score well on tests?

Test scores don't say anything about a school culture. And our children should always be given opportunities to achieve BECAUSE of school environment, not DESPITE it.

[Anonymous]

You Yorktown assholes praising your white school are the same ones moaning how unfair it us for a portion of rich LV to get automatic entry to ASF elementary. God- you are one fucked group of people.

[Anonymous]

Lol yorktown is a 7 or 8 , mason is a 9, its more like fairfax high

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lol yorktown is a 7 or 8 , mason is a 9, its more like fairfax high

The fuck are you prattling on about? Are you one of those Great Schools followers? Joke's on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've read, W-L would be average or slightly below average in Fairfax and Wakefield would be at the very bottom. Yorktown was really the only Arlington school we were prepared to consider, and the only one comparable to the better Fairfax schools.

Says the Fairfax poster

Huh? Nottingham, Williamsburg, Yorktown. Best in APS.

Um, no. Would never choose Williamsburg over Swanson. Maybe 15 years ago...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've read, W-L would be average or slightly below average in Fairfax and Wakefield would be at the very bottom. Yorktown was really the only Arlington school we were prepared to consider, and the only one comparable to the better Fairfax schools.

Says the Fairfax poster

Huh? Nottingham, Williamsburg, Yorktown. Best in APS.

Um, no. Would never choose Williamsburg over Swanson. Maybe 15 years ago...

That would put you squarely in the minority, then, pp. Williamsburg is widely regarded as the most desirable MS in Arlington.