Ballston?

[Anonymous]

How are schools in Ballston, more specifically zip 22201?
Anyone knows?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

My zip is 22201 but it's not Ballston. My pyramid is Longbranch, Jefferson, Washington-Lee. Longbranch is supposed to be pretty good, Jefferson absolutely terrible, god-awful, and Washington-Lee pretty good. By pretty good, I mean it's not the highest-ranked school in the county, but it is definitely above acceptable...I have no qualms sending my child to Longbranch or Washington-Lee. I have no idea what we'll do about middle school though.

[Anonymous]

We are very close to Ballston - 22203 - and I think the school pyramids here are better than 22201.

The elementary schools are Barrett and Ashlawn (Arlington Traditional School is also in 22203 but is a county-wide school with a lottery).

The middle school is Kenmore and high school is Washington-Lee. Like the PP, I am the least thrilled about our Kenmore although I do think it's better than Jefferson (sorry PP!)

Washington-Lee is a very good high school - at least as good as Yorktown (if not better) but never scores as high on test scores because it's larger and more diverse. I am thrilled to be in the W-L district and actually know parents with kids who will go to Yorktown who wish they could send their kids to W-L for the IB program and/or the diversity and lower pressure environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are very close to Ballston - 22203 - and I think the school pyramids here are better than 22201.

The elementary schools are Barrett and Ashlawn (Arlington Traditional School is also in 22203 but is a county-wide school with a lottery).

The middle school is Kenmore and high school is Washington-Lee. Like the PP, I am the least thrilled about our Kenmore although I do think it's better than Jefferson (sorry PP!)

Washington-Lee is a very good high school - at least as good as Yorktown (if not better) but never scores as high on test scores because it's larger and more diverse. I am thrilled to be in the W-L district and actually know parents with kids who will go to Yorktown who wish they could send their kids to W-L for the IB program and/or the diversity and lower pressure environment.[/quote

Agree with this. I would by no means say that W-L is just "pretty good". It also has a fabulous new building - I went in once to take a class in one of the teacher's lounges and was blown away by the view. I can only assume the classrooms are just as good and I am sure the facilities are up to date with the latest technology.

2 of my nieces went through Barrett and their parents were very happy with it. Their older daughter is now at Kenmore and they are happy with that, too. Yes, it is more diverse than some of the N. Arlington middle schools, but it is still a good place. Newish building there as well.

[Anonymous]

Used to live in Ballston/22201 and the elementary is definitely Ashlawn. My kids are still small so they never attended but I would have no issue sending them there. You could also try the lottery for Arlington Traditional and Key but not sure about Science Focus or one of the Montessori elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Washington-Lee is a very good high school - at least as good as Yorktown (if not better) but never scores as high on test scores because it's larger and more diverse. I am thrilled to be in the W-L district and actually know parents with kids who will go to Yorktown who wish they could send their kids to W-L for the IB program and/or the diversity and lower pressure environment.

I was surprised by how many more freshmen than seniors W-L has. Not sure if that means that part of Arlington is attracting younger families whose kids are just hitting high school age or whether it means W-L has a lot of dropouts.

In any event, a school's test scores don't depend on the size of the school. Langley and McLean are bigger than both Yorktown and W-L and have higher test scores.

I'm sure there are some families in Yorktown who, in retrospect, would prefer W-L, but Yorktown really doesn't have that much of a pressure-cooker reputation. I think some families in W-L district have a chip on their shoulder because it doesn't have as good a reputation as Yorktown, but the poster is right that it mostly is a reflection of the greater diversity. Both are good schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I was surprised by how many more freshmen than seniors W-L has. Not sure if that means that part of Arlington is attracting younger families whose kids are just hitting high school age or whether it means W-L has a lot of dropouts.

In any event, a school's test scores don't depend on the size of the school. Langley and McLean are bigger than both Yorktown and W-L and have higher test scores.
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I think both are potentially true - W-L probably does have a higher dropout rate than Yorktown does (although I don't think either is particularly high) and I think the numbers are probably what you are describing, perhaps the start of an uptick in population because of people moving to the area/school district and also kids just turning high school age.

You're right, test scores don't depend on the size of the school, but where there are more kids (and more diversity of population) I think they would nd to be lower. Yes, Langley and McLean are bigger than both Yorktown and W-L but definitely not as diverse as W-L and probably also not as diverse as Yorktown.

[Anonymous]

W-L is MUCH better than "pretty good." What is the criteria PP is using to say Yorktown is a better school?? By better do you mean less racial/ethnic and socio-economic diversity? FWIW, Yorktown does not have IB program, W-L does. Many people opt into W-L so their kids can do the IB program.

In Newsweek's 2009 list of America's Top Public High Schools W-L ranks 68, Yorktown 100. http://www.newsweek.com/id/201160

The only way you can really know what school your kids will go to is to look on the Arlington County break-out by neighborhood/street b/c it is not done by zipcode. And keep in mind that buying a house in a certain neighborhood with "good schools" does not guarantee Arlington County won't change your boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Washington-Lee is a very good high school - at least as good as Yorktown (if not better) but never scores as high on test scores because it's larger and more diverse. I am thrilled to be in the W-L district and actually know parents with kids who will go to Yorktown who wish they could send their kids to W-L for the IB program and/or the diversity and lower pressure environment.

I was surprised by how many more freshmen than seniors W-L has. Not sure if that means that part of Arlington is attracting younger families whose kids are just hitting high school age or whether it means W-L has a lot of dropouts.

In any event, a school's test scores don't depend on the size of the school. Langley and McLean are bigger than both Yorktown and W-L and have higher test scores.

I'm sure there are some families in Yorktown who, in retrospect, would prefer W-L, but Yorktown really doesn't have that much of a pressure-cooker reputation. I think some families in W-L district have a chip on their shoulder because it doesn't have as good a reputation as Yorktown, but the poster is right that it mostly is a reflection of the greater diversity. Both are good schools.

Don't know the exact answer for this, but I really think there is a huge increase in the kid age population in that area. In my neighborhood school (Glebe), they had to add a 3rd kindergarten class this year because they got 20 more kindergarten students than they were expecting. The same thing happened at Taylor Elem. except they had to add 2 new kindergarten classes. Of course that is kindergarten not high school, but both of those schools feed into W-L. I think Arlington is going to have a huge issue with overcrowded schools very soon. There are just so many families either moving into the close-in N. Arlington neighborhoods and not many people moving out.

[Anonymous]

I think the reason you are seeing more kids in elem and early high school is not so much that people are moving in to Arlington, but that very few are leaving. many people bought their 'starter homes' and now can't sell them due to the soft market, so people are staying put. I think people who thought they'd move up to a bigger home once their kids got older are just staying - either adding an addition or living in a smaller space.

I live in 22205, am close to Ballston (less than a mile) but our street feeds into McKinley for elem school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
In Newsweek's 2009 list of America's Top Public High Schools W-L ranks 68, Yorktown 100. http://www.newsweek.com/id/201160

Newsweek rankings are based on Jay Matthews' Challenge Index that measures how many students take AP or IB exams, but not how they do on the exams. It's a very crude methodology that rewards districts that subsidize and encourage test-taking rather than performance.