Arlington schools- a lot of the BS sounds familiar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:go to greatschools.net, any schools with a an 8 or higher is good. 9 or 10 even better.

There's been a lot of good information in this thread, but you can safely ignore anyone who suggests you consult greatschools.net. No one considers it a good source of information about school quality.

Greatschools.org, on the other hand, has useful information, although some of it is inconvenient to those who claim "all the schools in Arlington are great."

They're the same damn Web site, and it's a useless one. If has no value at all.

Signed, parent with schools rated 9.

Having some anonymous poster on DCUM declare something useless does not make it so.

The fact that your school is rated a 9 cuts both ways, dear. Funny you didn't end up with schools rated 3 or 4. Guess they are for other people?

I had kids in schools rated 4 previously. It was just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:go to greatschools.net, any schools with a an 8 or higher is good. 9 or 10 even better.

There's been a lot of good information in this thread, but you can safely ignore anyone who suggests you consult greatschools.net. No one considers it a good source of information about school quality.

Greatschools.org, on the other hand, has useful information, although some of it is inconvenient to those who claim "all the schools in Arlington are great."

They're the same damn Web site, and it's a useless one. If has no value at all.

Signed, parent with schools rated 9.

Having some anonymous poster on DCUM declare something useless does not make it so.

The fact that your school is rated a 9 cuts both ways, dear. Funny you didn't end up with schools rated 3 or 4. Guess they are for other people?

It is perfectly obvious I know more about this stuff than you do, dear. So you can just stop now while you're behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP 21:17, what's your neighborhood? It sounds nice.

My guess is it's Waverly Hills. 21:17 stated she'd be fine with her neighborhood being sent to Wakefield. But that makes no sense with both W-L and Yorktown within walking distance. I wouldn't be surprised if her neighborhood becomes rezoned to Yorktown.

I live in Waverly Hills and wouldn't consider Yorktown walking distance from us. W-L definitely. If I had to guess, I would say the PP lives in Waycroft-Woodlawn or the part of Tara that feeds into Glebe. Although that part, is going to McKinley in a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you determined to be in Arlington? Could you handle Falls Church City or Fairfax County?

OP, here. Arlington or bust. This is the compromise between me and DH... Though I'm considering just jumping off a cliff and saying to hell with all of it! Tired of schools drama. What the hell happened? None of this was going on back when I was in school... Guess I'm dating myself.

This is our generation. We are making ourselves crazy trying to find the "right" house near the "right" school so our kids can go to the "right" college. Blame it on magazines ranking everything and the overload of the Internet with information so we can compare everything. The paradox of choice is making us all crazy. When we were kids, who knew anything. Our parents didn't have to spend so much time analyzing every choice. It is the same when I try to pick a hotel for vacation. I spend so much time on trip advisor to make sure I book the "right" hotel (and hopefully bed bug free). Don't feel bad for feeling like the process is making you nuts. All this choice and comparison makes us all nuts.

I totally agree with this, right down to the Trip Advisor part. The Internet is great for many things, but it also makes us a bit crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP 21:17, what's your neighborhood? It sounds nice.

My guess is it's Waverly Hills. 21:17 stated she'd be fine with her neighborhood being sent to Wakefield. But that makes no sense with both W-L and Yorktown within walking distance. I wouldn't be surprised if her neighborhood becomes rezoned to Yorktown.

I live in Waverly Hills and wouldn't consider Yorktown walking distance from us. W-L definitely. If I had to guess, I would say the PP lives in Waycroft-Woodlawn or the part of Tara that feeds into Glebe. Although that part, is going to McKinley in a few years.

That makes more sense; WH is a long walk to Yorktown... Based on the results of the N Arlington Elementary boundary process , I think some W-L neighborhoods will go to Yorktown, some Yorktown neighborhoods will go to W-L, and a lot of W-L neighborhoods will go to Wakefield. Both W-L and Yorktown will be way over capacity soon. However I think the walking distance to schools will play a part in order to reduce busing as much as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:go to greatschools.net, any schools with a an 8 or higher is good. 9 or 10 even better.

There's been a lot of good information in this thread, but you can safely ignore anyone who suggests you consult greatschools.net. No one considers it a good source of information about school quality.

Greatschools.org, on the other hand, has useful information, although some of it is inconvenient to those who claim "all the schools in Arlington are great."

They're the same damn Web site, and it's a useless one. If has no value at all.

Signed, parent with schools rated 9.

Having some anonymous poster on DCUM declare something useless does not make it so.

The fact that your school is rated a 9 cuts both ways, dear. Funny you didn't end up with schools rated 3 or 4. Guess they are for other people?

It is perfectly obvious I know more about this stuff than you do, dear. So you can just stop now while you're behind.

The only thing that's glaringly obvious is that you have an inflated view of your own intelligence.

[Anonymous]

21:17 here, we live in Cherrydale, close to Ballston. We live a few blocks from W-L, 2.5 miles to Yorktown, and a little under 4 miles from Wakefield. TBH, I'd be surprised if we got rezoned for high school; my point really was that I'd be perfectly fine sending my kids to Wakefield. We know kids who go there and some people who teach there and I feel confident that teens can do well there. Again, YMMV.

We are much more likely to be rezoned for middle school. We are equidistant from Swanson (our current middle school) and Jefferson.

We were on the chopping block for elementary rezoning, but in the end our planning unit stayed in Glebe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:go to greatschools.net, any schools with a an 8 or higher is good. 9 or 10 even better.

There's been a lot of good information in this thread, but you can safely ignore anyone who suggests you consult greatschools.net. No one considers it a good source of information about school quality.

Greatschools.org, on the other hand, has useful information, although some of it is inconvenient to those who claim "all the schools in Arlington are great."

They're the same damn Web site, and it's a useless one. If has no value at all.

Signed, parent with schools rated 9.

Having some anonymous poster on DCUM declare something useless does not make it so.

The fact that your school is rated a 9 cuts both ways, dear. Funny you didn't end up with schools rated 3 or 4. Guess they are for other people?

It is perfectly obvious I know more about this stuff than you do, dear. So you can just stop now while you're behind.

The only thing that's glaringly obvious is that you have an inflated view of your own intelligence.

Naw. I'm definitely smarter than you. I don't rely on bullshit Web sites to form my thinking, so there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:go to greatschools.net, any schools with a an 8 or higher is good. 9 or 10 even better.

There's been a lot of good information in this thread, but you can safely ignore anyone who suggests you consult greatschools.net. No one considers it a good source of information about school quality.

Greatschools.org, on the other hand, has useful information, although some of it is inconvenient to those who claim "all the schools in Arlington are great."

They're the same damn Web site, and it's a useless one. If has no value at all.

Signed, parent with schools rated 9.

Having some anonymous poster on DCUM declare something useless does not make it so.

The fact that your school is rated a 9 cuts both ways, dear. Funny you didn't end up with schools rated 3 or 4. Guess they are for other people?

It is perfectly obvious I know more about this stuff than you do, dear. So you can just stop now while you're behind.

The only thing that's glaringly obvious is that you have an inflated view of your own intelligence.

Naw. I'm definitely smarter than you. I don't rely on bullshit Web sites to form my thinking, so there's that.

Ignoring information that casts doubt on what one wants to believe is adaptive behavior, not intelligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:21:17 here, we live in Cherrydale, close to Ballston. We live a few blocks from W-L, 2.5 miles to Yorktown, and a little under 4 miles from Wakefield. TBH, I'd be surprised if we got rezoned for high school; my point really was that I'd be perfectly fine sending my kids to Wakefield. We know kids who go there and some people who teach there and I feel confident that teens can do well there. Again, YMMV.

We are much more likely to be rezoned for middle school. We are equidistant from Swanson (our current middle school) and Jefferson.

We were on the chopping block for elementary rezoning, but in the end our planning unit stayed in Glebe.

Jefferson is projected to be close to capacity very soon. And it is taking a lot of transfers for IB. Kenmore is also growing. I think a new middle school is more likely than Cherrydale going to Jefferson or Kenmore. Some of the Taylor families want HB Woodlawn to revert back to a neighborhood middle school.

[Anonymous]

HB should be moved to south Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Regarding what various PPs have said about overcrowding...

Pros of trailers, IMO:
Yes, trailers can be nice. A/C and heat, actually controlled in the room instead of a central office in the county. (Classroom air temp is NOT controlled by the school; instead, it comes from far away in the county! And APS HVAC systems are, for the most part, crap.) Away from the hustle and bustle, as a PP pointed out.

Cons of trailers:
Away from the hustle and bustle, yes, but the kids have to walk through the rain or other weather to get to the main building for lunch, hurricane shelter, music, etc. etc.

They tend to be really close to the playground. That means noise, and can even mean balls bouncing off the walls, etc.

Cons of school overcrowding in general:
This is not nearly as obvious as the presence of trailers. An overcrowded school means not enough bathrooms, drinking fountains, lunch slot, etc. for everyone. The halls begin to have the feel of a middle school (loud and crowded) and feel a bit less like a neighborhood elementary. Schoolwide assemblies cease -- it becomes necessary to have two different ones.

I don't think any of those things are deal breakers if you love a school. But if all other factors are equal, then I think this deserves some consideration.

Yours truly,
APS teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:go to greatschools.net, any schools with a an 8 or higher is good. 9 or 10 even better.

There's been a lot of good information in this thread, but you can safely ignore anyone who suggests you consult greatschools.net. No one considers it a good source of information about school quality.

Greatschools.org, on the other hand, has useful information, although some of it is inconvenient to those who claim "all the schools in Arlington are great."

They're the same damn Web site, and it's a useless one. If has no value at all.

Signed, parent with schools rated 9.

Having some anonymous poster on DCUM declare something useless does not make it so.

The fact that your school is rated a 9 cuts both ways, dear. Funny you didn't end up with schools rated 3 or 4. Guess they are for other people?

It is perfectly obvious I know more about this stuff than you do, dear. So you can just stop now while you're behind.

The only thing that's glaringly obvious is that you have an inflated view of your own intelligence.

Naw. I'm definitely smarter than you. I don't rely on bullshit Web sites to form my thinking, so there's that.

Ignoring information that casts doubt on what one wants to believe is adaptive behavior, not intelligence.

You guys/gals are both hilarious and pathetic at the same time. Just put your tablets down, pour a glass of wine then go to bed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HB should be moved to south Arlington.

That would be great -- but where in South Arlington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is more of a continuum. Generally speaking the further north you go the higher SES you'll encounter, along with better test scores.

...and the more people will complain.

compared to navigating DCPS, it is really easy here in Arlington (and the stakes are lower because most likely your neighborhood school is fine). My son plays ball on a DC team, and talking to the other parents makes me glad we chose the burbs.