South Arlington schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^^ Also, forgot to add that the new Food Star development will be within the Barcroft neighborhood. I do think it will be a game changer. Already seeing that with SFH's being torn down and replaced with new builds. Schools will lag real estate, though, that's pretty much always the case.

I don't think that development will help the school demographics. I predict dinks and retirees.
It will boost property values nearby. Everyone's walk score improves, and it will hopefully spur more upscale development nearby. The part of the pike is on a precipice. It will either go the way of penrose, or the west end of the pike. Hopefully the new development will seal the deal as a second penrose.

Well, the demographics of Henry and TJ Middle have certainly changed since the Penrose development signaled to enough higher SES families that this was an acceptable place to live. I would imagine the same will happen around Food Star.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that you even have to ask this question is the best evidence that there is a problem. Do you ever see a thread saying are the North Arlington schools good? Of course not, bc they are good. By dark contrast, the SA schools are an unmitigated disaster.

Seriously?
Well no shit Sherlock. Affluent white people are cramming themselves like sardines on the north side and then boohooing that their precious snowflakes have to (gasp) sit in a trailer, after they paid a million dollars for their home. Aren't they entitled to the best?
Maybe so.
It's a no brainer that Jamestown is a "good" school.
You have to do some digging to find out what kind of experience your child will have in south Arlington. There will also be boundary changes on the immediate horizons.
More and more middle class families are giving it a go. More and more young parents aren't afraid of brown children.
No one is discribing those schools as a "disaster".
Except for you I guess.
Please, tell your first hand experience in south Arlington schools and paint us the picture of a " disaster".
We won't hold our breath waiting.

Idiot- your reading comprehension suggests your children will fit in perfectly in South Arlington Schools. Have you read the prior posts? Are you aware of any public school (or any educational enterprise) that thrives with more than a de-minimus percentage of poor minorities? The question presented in the original is equivalent to the question " does anyone know if southeast DC is a safe neighborhood." I went to the NA public schools. And I had friends at Kenmpre and Wakefield- all of whom have done nothing with their lives. My mother taught at Kenmpre until she was grew tired of the same group ruin the education for everyone else year after year after year after year. Wanna guess what that group was? Listen poor boy- if you want your kids to be every bit as unsuccessful as you are, then you buy your big SA house and send them to the SA public schools. If you want them to accomplish more than their parents-- which is a very modest goal by the looks of things - then you buy a little cape in NA and send your kids there.

Ha! Someone feels threatened. Enjoy your tiny cape. Good luck with resale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that you even have to ask this question is the best evidence that there is a problem. Do you ever see a thread saying are the North Arlington schools good? Of course not, bc they are good. By dark contrast, the SA schools are an unmitigated disaster.

Seriously?
Well no shit Sherlock. Affluent white people are cramming themselves like sardines on the north side and then boohooing that their precious snowflakes have to (gasp) sit in a trailer, after they paid a million dollars for their home. Aren't they entitled to the best?
Maybe so.
It's a no brainer that Jamestown is a "good" school.
You have to do some digging to find out what kind of experience your child will have in south Arlington. There will also be boundary changes on the immediate horizons.
More and more middle class families are giving it a go. More and more young parents aren't afraid of brown children.
No one is discribing those schools as a "disaster".
Except for you I guess.
Please, tell your first hand experience in south Arlington schools and paint us the picture of a " disaster".
We won't hold our breath waiting.

Idiot- your reading comprehension suggests your children will fit in perfectly in South Arlington Schools. Have you read the prior posts? Are you aware of any public school (or any educational enterprise) that thrives with more than a de-minimus percentage of poor minorities? The question presented in the original is equivalent to the question " does anyone know if southeast DC is a safe neighborhood." I went to the NA public schools. And I had friends at Kenmpre and Wakefield- all of whom have done nothing with their lives. My mother taught at Kenmpre until she was grew tired of the same group ruin the education for everyone else year after year after year after year. Wanna guess what that group was? Listen poor boy- if you want your kids to be every bit as unsuccessful as you are, then you buy your big SA house and send them to the SA public schools. If you want them to accomplish more than their parents-- which is a very modest goal by the looks of things - then you buy a little cape in NA and send your kids there.

Not PP but I live in south Arlington and send my kids to south Arlington schools. DH and I both went to top three schools for undergrad and grad school. We were both SES before age 40. If that's your definition of "unsuccessful," then I think my kids will be just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that you even have to ask this question is the best evidence that there is a problem. Do you ever see a thread saying are the North Arlington schools good? Of course not, bc they are good. By dark contrast, the SA schools are an unmitigated disaster.

Seriously?
Well no shit Sherlock. Affluent white people are cramming themselves like sardines on the north side and then boohooing that their precious snowflakes have to (gasp) sit in a trailer, after they paid a million dollars for their home. Aren't they entitled to the best?
Maybe so.
It's a no brainer that Jamestown is a "good" school.
You have to do some digging to find out what kind of experience your child will have in south Arlington. There will also be boundary changes on the immediate horizons.
More and more middle class families are giving it a go. More and more young parents aren't afraid of brown children.
No one is discribing those schools as a "disaster".
Except for you I guess.
Please, tell your first hand experience in south Arlington schools and paint us the picture of a " disaster".
We won't hold our breath waiting.

Idiot- your reading comprehension suggests your children will fit in perfectly in South Arlington Schools. Have you read the prior posts? Are you aware of any public school (or any educational enterprise) that thrives with more than a de-minimus percentage of poor minorities? The question presented in the original is equivalent to the question " does anyone know if southeast DC is a safe neighborhood." I went to the NA public schools. And I had friends at Kenmpre and Wakefield- all of whom have done nothing with their lives. My mother taught at Kenmpre until she was grew tired of the same group ruin the education for everyone else year after year after year after year. Wanna guess what that group was? Listen poor boy- if you want your kids to be every bit as unsuccessful as you are, then you buy your big SA house and send them to the SA public schools. If you want them to accomplish more than their parents-- which is a very modest goal by the looks of things - then you buy a little cape in NA and send your kids there.

Ha! Someone feels threatened. Enjoy your tiny cape. Good luck with resale.

Kenmpre?? Where that at?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that you even have to ask this question is the best evidence that there is a problem. Do you ever see a thread saying are the North Arlington schools good? Of course not, bc they are good. By dark contrast, the SA schools are an unmitigated disaster.

Seriously?
Well no shit Sherlock. Affluent white people are cramming themselves like sardines on the north side and then boohooing that their precious snowflakes have to (gasp) sit in a trailer, after they paid a million dollars for their home. Aren't they entitled to the best?
Maybe so.
It's a no brainer that Jamestown is a "good" school.
You have to do some digging to find out what kind of experience your child will have in south Arlington. There will also be boundary changes on the immediate horizons.
More and more middle class families are giving it a go. More and more young parents aren't afraid of brown children.
No one is discribing those schools as a "disaster".
Except for you I guess.
Please, tell your first hand experience in south Arlington schools and paint us the picture of a " disaster".
We won't hold our breath waiting.

Idiot- your reading comprehension suggests your children will fit in perfectly in South Arlington Schools. Have you read the prior posts? Are you aware of any public school (or any educational enterprise) that thrives with more than a de-minimus percentage of poor minorities? The question presented in the original is equivalent to the question " does anyone know if southeast DC is a safe neighborhood." I went to the NA public schools. And I had friends at Kenmpre and Wakefield- all of whom have done nothing with their lives. My mother taught at Kenmpre until she was grew tired of the same group ruin the education for everyone else year after year after year after year. Wanna guess what that group was? Listen poor boy- if you want your kids to be every bit as unsuccessful as you are, then you buy your big SA house and send them to the SA public schools. If you want them to accomplish more than their parents-- which is a very modest goal by the looks of things - then you buy a little cape in NA and send your kids there.

Ha! Someone feels threatened. Enjoy your tiny cape. Good luck with resale.

Kenmpre?? Where that at?

Wow no kidding.
If that poster is a product of north Arlington's schools, I'll very confidently stick with south Arlington. I would hope they are an outlier, but yikes...
There ya go OP! That's the difference between north and south Arlington schools. Who do you want your children surrounded by?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^^ Also, forgot to add that the new Food Star development will be within the Barcroft neighborhood. I do think it will be a game changer. Already seeing that with SFH's being torn down and replaced with new builds. Schools will lag real estate, though, that's pretty much always the case.

I don't think that development will help the school demographics. I predict dinks and retirees.
It will boost property values nearby. Everyone's walk score improves, and it will hopefully spur more upscale development nearby. The part of the pike is on a precipice. It will either go the way of penrose, or the west end of the pike. Hopefully the new development will seal the deal as a second penrose.

Well, the demographics of Henry and TJ Middle have certainly changed since the Penrose development signaled to enough higher SES families that this was an acceptable place to live. I would imagine the same will happen around Food Star.

Excellent point that I had not considered. Interesting side note, the older homeowners in my nearby neighborhood are not happy about this development. They don't "get it"/ see a need for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP who mentioned that the real difference starts in 2nd grade is spot on. And, to the people who doubt that if one waits too long to leave an under performing SA school, kids will be behind in a high performing school - don't opine unless you have seen it. I know 8 families from my kid's school that left for NA or falls church over the last 5 years. Each kid was behind, lacked the requisite study skills and was no longer the star of,the class in the New school. Yes, same curriculum, but the kids are expected to master the material at different times. The depth of instruction is much different in NA schools because the kids are prepared to learn it. Kids do homework and have additional help at home so more advanced instruction in class. This is generally not the case in SA schools. And the schools I am talking about are not Henry and Oakridge.

Some parts of SA will continue to gentrify, others will not. West of George Mason and the area just to its east is a lost cause.

The area just east of George Mason is a super smart buy. That foodstar is going to be torn down and penrose style development is going in. All market rate. If you haven't bought in Arlington yet, I'd be looking in the parts of alcova heights, Douglas park and possibly Barcroft that are walking distance to it. The schools are fine, and will only getter. The lack of choice is the best thing that could happen to those schools. It wouldn't take much for the perception of those schools to change.

Isn't that zoned for Randolph? I don't think anyone believes that school is just fine, particularly given recent events.

What recent events?
They are getting rid of an underperforming principal? All the more reason to investigate the area. All the boundaries will be redrawn in the next couple of years. I know everyone at Henry is nervous. The SAWG has specifically said SES diversity is a priority. CARD is also now in play. They will be looking to break up some of the most concentrated populations. Also state legislature is changing how esol is tested on SOL's, that's gonna boost south Arlington scores across the board. Now that Randolph's principal has gotten shit canned, you'll see more gaming of the testing and numbers.

Prediction:
Henry moves ( has some ah island zoned to it) slips to a 7/8 - eveyone still very pleased with quality of education.
Randph - current will change, slowly creeps to 5/6, mc families don't leave for ffx and stick with the school.
Hoffman Boston - hangs tight and stem focus keeps it treading on an upward projectory.
Drew- becomes a legitimately failing school after Montessori is pulled.
Abingdon- getting renovated, mc families quietly deciding to stay, slowly gentrifies to 6/7 school.
Barcroft- wildcard. It's been totally fucked by AH. I look at that map and I just can't see how they fix their demographics without the entire south end of the county being bused hither and yon. They do have a strong middle class of home owners, who had up until recently bought into that school. Seriously the county super fucked those guys. Not cool.
They should have a meeting with Randolph parents and all of them just take over Randolph. Barcroft is year round, so they can have kids pupil placed over there.
I predict this will be reality in 6 years.

I think this is spot-on. I have a ton of friends zoned for Barcroft and literally none of them are sending their children to Barcroft. Every single family is doing private or choice school. And this includes people of a few different ethnicities. They are just high-achieving families who looked at Barcroft and realized what a cluster it is.

And yeah, I feel like families in that neighborhood got fucked with their pants on by AH for sure.

[Anonymous]

What about a single magnet ESL-only ES? Get some really amazing teachers, make it an extra long day (to help poorer parents who would need to be at work longer, AND to help students get additional instruction), double down on English and also study habits, and really give the low SES students a fighting chance. Transform them, and all the MS and HS benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about a single magnet ESL-only ES? Get some really amazing teachers, make it an extra long day (to help poorer parents who would need to be at work longer, AND to help students get additional instruction), double down on English and also study habits, and really give the low SES students a fighting chance. Transform them, and all the MS and HS benefit.

I think your heart is in the right place, but I think that's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Either way, those kids are likely best served by immersion, not segregation.
I think carlin springs has basically done this anyway. They had those kids in 6 days a week, before and after school... They got test scores up, but it was a huge undertaking. It also never stops.
That area desperately needs some gentrification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about a single magnet ESL-only ES? Get some really amazing teachers, make it an extra long day (to help poorer parents who would need to be at work longer, AND to help students get additional instruction), double down on English and also study habits, and really give the low SES students a fighting chance. Transform them, and all the MS and HS benefit.

I think your heart is in the right place, but I think that's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Either way, those kids are likely best served by immersion, not segregation.
I think carlin springs has basically done this anyway. They had those kids in 6 days a week, before and after school... They got test scores up, but it was a huge undertaking. It also never stops.
That area desperately needs some gentrification.

We already have that- Carlin Springs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^^ Also, forgot to add that the new Food Star development will be within the Barcroft neighborhood. I do think it will be a game changer. Already seeing that with SFH's being torn down and replaced with new builds. Schools will lag real estate, though, that's pretty much always the case.

I don't think that development will help the school demographics. I predict dinks and retirees.
It will boost property values nearby. Everyone's walk score improves, and it will hopefully spur more upscale development nearby. The part of the pike is on a precipice. It will either go the way of penrose, or the west end of the pike. Hopefully the new development will seal the deal as a second penrose.

Well, the demographics of Henry and TJ Middle have certainly changed since the Penrose development signaled to enough higher SES families that this was an acceptable place to live. I would imagine the same will happen around Food Star.

Not really. Ever since my kids started at Henry years ago (when it had a GS score of 6), it always had FARMS numbers hovering around 40%. Some years higher and some lower. It's definitely trending lower now, but not by much. Next year they lose their Title 1 funding, though.

If you look at the Race/Ethnicity data, the percentage of whites enrolled has been pretty steady, around 30-40%. The percentage of Hispanics has also been pretty steady - 30-40%.

It's still an incredibly diverse school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^^ Also, forgot to add that the new Food Star development will be within the Barcroft neighborhood. I do think it will be a game changer. Already seeing that with SFH's being torn down and replaced with new builds. Schools will lag real estate, though, that's pretty much always the case.

I don't think that development will help the school demographics. I predict dinks and retirees.
It will boost property values nearby. Everyone's walk score improves, and it will hopefully spur more upscale development nearby. The part of the pike is on a precipice. It will either go the way of penrose, or the west end of the pike. Hopefully the new development will seal the deal as a second penrose.

Well, the demographics of Henry and TJ Middle have certainly changed since the Penrose development signaled to enough higher SES families that this was an acceptable place to live. I would imagine the same will happen around Food Star.

Not really. Ever since my kids started at Henry years ago (when it had a GS score of 6), it always had FARMS numbers hovering around 40%. Some years higher and some lower. It's definitely trending lower now, but not by much. Next year they lose their Title 1 funding, though.

If you look at the Race/Ethnicity data, the percentage of whites enrolled has been pretty steady, around 30-40%. The percentage of Hispanics has also been pretty steady - 30-40%.

It's still an incredibly diverse school.

While it doesn't track exactly with the Penrose development, there has been a dramatic increase in percentage of white students at Henry since 2002, from 19.5% to 38.5% in 2015. That's a significant change and for lack of more information about SES (because the APS website is under construction and I can't access the FARM numbers right now), I would bet that there has been a significant increase in percentage of higher SES, and decrease in percentage of lower SES students in that same time, regardless of race. I don't remember but I think Penrose opened in like 2010, but can anyone tell me how long the development had been planned or talked about prior to ground breaking? I know it was under construction for at least 2 years, which would put us back to 2008. I think it takes at least 2 years for site plans to be submitted and approved, putting us back to at least 2006. Anyone know if the plans were widely known prior to 2006? Looks like the white student demographic increased a point in 2003, steady in 2004, and up 3 points in 2005. And then up every year since. I'm not sure that's coincidence. If you build it ("it" being a coffee shop, yoga studio, wine bar) they will come. Let's check back on the area around Food Star in 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about a single magnet ESL-only ES? Get some really amazing teachers, make it an extra long day (to help poorer parents who would need to be at work longer, AND to help students get additional instruction), double down on English and also study habits, and really give the low SES students a fighting chance. Transform them, and all the MS and HS benefit.

I think your heart is in the right place, but I think that's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Either way, those kids are likely best served by immersion, not segregation.
I think carlin springs has basically done this anyway. They had those kids in 6 days a week, before and after school... They got test scores up, but it was a huge undertaking. It also never stops.
That area desperately needs some gentrification.

We already have that- Carlin Springs.

Do you mean Campbell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in Henry and there are so many white and Asian babies . 6 years ago when we moved in there were none to be seen. Now at least 30 between 0 and 3 in or near Arlington Village alone!

You, um, actually counted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about a single magnet ESL-only ES? Get some really amazing teachers, make it an extra long day (to help poorer parents who would need to be at work longer, AND to help students get additional instruction), double down on English and also study habits, and really give the low SES students a fighting chance. Transform them, and all the MS and HS benefit.

I think your heart is in the right place, but I think that's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Either way, those kids are likely best served by immersion, not segregation.
I think carlin springs has basically done this anyway. They had those kids in 6 days a week, before and after school... They got test scores up, but it was a huge undertaking. It also never stops.
That area desperately needs some gentrification.

We already have that- Carlin Springs.

Do you mean Campbell?

No, the demographics of Campbell are more similar to Henry, except higher percentage of FARMs.

Carlin Springs is the neighborhood school that is most segregated, both racial/ethnic and income. Their test scores have been going up, but as PP noted, they are working their tails off for that improvement