Is there any VA school distric that is NOT a dumpster fire?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved and send our child to a conservative private school where good manners, textbooks, etc are used/taught. It’s very inexpensive (17k) and it’s a relief to have some sanity. They will not be closing for one of the 1500 variants that will inevitably emerge after delta, either. The dc area went a little too cray for us.

Oh you don’t think? I’m a teacher and my TA is panicking because her kids’ catholic private told parents Thursday it was closing for 2 weeks. And yes this is local.

I spoke with two people this weekend who told me their private elementary schools are moving to virtual instruction for the next few weeks. I know one of the schools is in the West Springfield area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved and send our child to a conservative private school where good manners, textbooks, etc are used/taught. It’s very inexpensive (17k) and it’s a relief to have some sanity. They will not be closing for one of the 1500 variants that will inevitably emerge after delta, either. The dc area went a little too cray for us.

Oh you don’t think? I’m a teacher and my TA is panicking because her kids’ catholic private told parents Thursday it was closing for 2 weeks. And yes this is local.

I spoke with two people this weekend who told me their private elementary schools are moving to virtual instruction for the next few weeks. I know one of the schools is in the West Springfield area.

Right. The DC area is full of anxious loony people. I moved OUT of the DC area. Where I live, covid virtue signaling isn’t a thing (and people don’t have dumb virtue signaling yard signs either). Zero chance of school closing here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved and send our child to a conservative private school where good manners, textbooks, etc are used/taught. It’s very inexpensive (17k) and it’s a relief to have some sanity. They will not be closing for one of the 1500 variants that will inevitably emerge after delta, either. The dc area went a little too cray for us.

Oh you don’t think? I’m a teacher and my TA is panicking because her kids’ catholic private told parents Thursday it was closing for 2 weeks. And yes this is local.

I spoke with two people this weekend who told me their private elementary schools are moving to virtual instruction for the next few weeks. I know one of the schools is in the West Springfield area.

Right. The DC area is full of anxious loony people. I moved OUT of the DC area. Where I live, covid virtue signaling isn’t a thing (and people don’t have dumb virtue signaling yard signs either). Zero chance of school closing here!

Yet still you come back frequently to post to this board. Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

The suburbs of NYC are some of the best, highest rated schools in the country. They’re very wealthy. Your perspective of what is normal and possible for public school is off. APS is not a bad district. Not even close. You have the expectation it is capable of giving you suburban NYC public education though. It isn’t. It’s a very good district. I’m telling you, bad districts are the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi. No funding. Awful infrastructure. Barely licensed teachers because the pay is horrendous, not livable. Curriculum that is old and garbage. Subpar facilities. You truly do not know a bad school district if you send your kids anywhere in northern Virginia. If is ludicrous to claim otherwise.

This. Try South Carolina where the county is dominated by retirees who don't care about schools and will vote against any tax. You end up with over crowded and severely underfunded schools. Academic expectations are non-existent and the results match the expectations.

But shouldn’t this area be more like the NYC suburbs than the south? I’m not arguing that we are on par with the south. We are not, thank god. But why are we so far from NYC suburbs? APS spends over 20k per student which is comparable $$.

I am from Long Island. The difference is smaller districts by town and taxes. My district on LI had 6 ES, 1 middle, and 1 high school. Home prices are similar to here but taxes are way higher. My parents were paying 22K by the time they sold our house. All of that money goes to those 8 schools only. Also, LI is very segregated. My district had almost no ESL students and SPED students get actual support. While APS is similar in size to a very large NY suburb, the taxes are a lot lower. Just looked at a 1.3 million dollar home and taxes were only 10,000 in Arlington. I looked at a house in my home town with a similar price and taxes were 20K.

Well this is part of it. A lot of people who live in Arlington really stretch to live there. Because they feel pinched and house poor they believe they’re paying incredibly high taxes and deserve some private - tier public school. They aren’t paying high taxes compared to truly high tax areas like Mass, NY, NJ, CT, but they feel especially cheated because they overextended on their house and don’t think they have anything to show for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved and send our child to a conservative private school where good manners, textbooks, etc are used/taught. It’s very inexpensive (17k) and it’s a relief to have some sanity. They will not be closing for one of the 1500 variants that will inevitably emerge after delta, either. The dc area went a little too cray for us.

Oh you don’t think? I’m a teacher and my TA is panicking because her kids’ catholic private told parents Thursday it was closing for 2 weeks. And yes this is local.

I spoke with two people this weekend who told me their private elementary schools are moving to virtual instruction for the next few weeks. I know one of the schools is in the West Springfield area.

Right. The DC area is full of anxious loony people. I moved OUT of the DC area. Where I live, covid virtue signaling isn’t a thing (and people don’t have dumb virtue signaling yard signs either). Zero chance of school closing here!

Yet still you come back frequently to post to this board. Interesting.

This board is morbidly fascinating. People from all over the place read/post.

[Anonymous]

No syllabi
No five-paragraph essay writing
No book reports
No textbooks
No weekly vocabulary tests on spelling and usage
No cursive handwriting taught
No ability groupings for maths
No barrage of cobbled-together worksheets from TPT

No discipline
No consequences for cheating
No consequences for unacceptable behavior




We left all that behind in the DMV publics. No, no closures here.

[Anonymous]

I would happily pay more if the district would do the things I want with the extra money. I think a lot of people have no faith that would be the case.

[Anonymous]

I just posted above.

Yep - flip this list 180 degrees and I would happily pay tons more in property taxes.

“No syllabi
No five-paragraph essay writing
No book reports
No textbooks
No weekly vocabulary tests on spelling and usage
No cursive handwriting taught
No ability groupings for maths
No barrage of cobbled-together worksheets from TPT

No discipline
No consequences for cheating
No consequences for unacceptable behavior“

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just posted above.

Yep - flip this list 180 degrees and I would happily pay tons more in property taxes.

“No syllabi
No five-paragraph essay writing
No book reports
No textbooks
No weekly vocabulary tests on spelling and usage
No cursive handwriting taught
No ability groupings for maths
No barrage of cobbled-together worksheets from TPT

No discipline
No consequences for cheating

This list doesn’t even make sense. Presumably it lists things you’re upset your public didn’t have (syllabi? textbooks? cursive) but also things you’re mad they DID have (barrage of TPT worksheets?). Which is it, these things are good or bad? Maybe your new private can teach syntax and clear writing.
No consequences for unacceptable behavior“

[Anonymous]

I'm paying $28k per year for my three elementary school aged kids so they don't have to attend the public schools which close all the time when they feel like it. It's a lot of money but it's worth it when the dopamine hits after I post here (in the public school forum) with the word "anonymous" as my name.

Also my kids are thriving

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm paying $28k per year for my three elementary school aged kids so they don't have to attend the public schools which close all the time when they feel like it. It's a lot of money but it's worth it when the dopamine hits after I post here (in the public school forum) with the word "anonymous" as my name.

Also my kids are thriving

Only $28K for 3 kids? Must not be that great a school, but go on and enjoy those dopamine hits. That’s what it’s all about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm paying $28k per year for my three elementary school aged kids so they don't have to attend the public schools which close all the time when they feel like it. It's a lot of money but it's worth it when the dopamine hits after I post here (in the public school forum) with the word "anonymous" as my name.

Also my kids are thriving

Only $28K for 3 kids? Must not be that great a school, but go on and enjoy those dopamine hits. That’s what it’s all about.

I meant 28k per kid! They are thriving!

Ahhh, there goes the dopamine again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We left FCPS, which is definitely a flaming dumpster, for private ES/MS, but our private ends soon and we probably can't afford private high school. We're planning to move, and decided to be smarter this time and not live in Fairfax. But based on this forum, it seems like every NoVa school district is horrible. Is there one anywhere that isn't? Falls Church, Oakton, Loudoun? Is there a decent public school district anywhere in NoVa?

Some of things we hated about FCPS included absurd amounts of homework, even in ES, a huge bureaucracy with no accountability for administrators (and a lot of BAD admins), a focus on testing, overcrowded classrooms, no personal attention at any age, and a "we don't care" attitude in general. Does that characterize all public schools?

McLean
Langley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm paying $28k per year for my three elementary school aged kids so they don't have to attend the public schools which close all the time when they feel like it. It's a lot of money but it's worth it when the dopamine hits after I post here (in the public school forum) with the word "anonymous" as my name.

Also my kids are thriving

Only $28K for 3 kids? Must not be that great a school, but go on and enjoy those dopamine hits. That’s what it’s all about.

I meant 28k per kid! They are thriving!

Ahhh, there goes the dopamine again!

That’s great, I’m really happy for them. Maybe it’s time for you to stop boasting about about it in a public school forum? It’s kind of obnoxious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm paying $28k per year for my three elementary school aged kids so they don't have to attend the public schools which close all the time when they feel like it. It's a lot of money but it's worth it when the dopamine hits after I post here (in the public school forum) with the word "anonymous" as my name.

Also my kids are thriving

Only $28K for 3 kids? Must not be that great a school, but go on and enjoy those dopamine hits. That’s what it’s all about.

I meant 28k per kid! They are thriving!

Ahhh, there goes the dopamine again!

That’s great, I’m really happy for them. Maybe it’s time for you to stop boasting about about it in a public school forum? It’s kind of obnoxious.

And weird.