Reply to Weaker Elementary Schools in N Arlington

Forum Index » Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)

Reply to "Weaker Elementary Schools in N Arlington"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've been a PP in the Barrett conversation...bought into some of the high-end new development in Buckingham. Am opting for private; seems nearly impossible to even consider public, unless I accepted Barrett...which for a variety of the reasons discuss doesn't meet our standards (we are very picky on education and for all the boosting of local middle/upper-middle income parents, Barrett doesn't sell for us)...we would have absolutely taken some of the other APS schools, but it seems almost impossible to have any school choice given overcrowding/demand. Luckily we went in knowing we could afford private so we don't mind so much....

I'm thinking some of the folks buying into Arlington Forest would be stretching their budget already and getting into the only reasonable N Arlington option available to them, so privates would often not be an option.... and given the APS situation at present, they may not realistically be able to consider any other APS options. I thought, however, once upon a time parents automatically had an option to opt out of a Title I school....is this true or just a rumor?[/quote]

Actually, both last year and this year Barrett families had the option to transfer their children because Barrett had not made "adequate yearly progress" for a couple of years in a row. Two years ago, the transfer options were (I think) Ashlawn and Campbell. This year, I think they were Ashlawn and Patrick Henry. I only know of one family who took the opportunity to transfer two years ago. I feel like most parents who have decided they don't like Barrett as an option for their kids try very hard to get ATS or Key, and many of them do. Campbell was also an option at one time (not sure if it is any more) so it's faulty to say that Barrett families are "stuck" with Barrett.

Yes, Barrett is a Title I school. Yes, more than half the kids get free/reduced lunch. Yes, a lot of the kids come from non-English-speaking households and don't speak English as a first language. Someone keeps trying to get me, or some other parent, to say that this causes major "problems" for my child's education but to date, it simply hasn't. The children get grouped within their classrooms and are working on their level. My child, and others, have been offered the chance to do extra work in math since they have shown interest and aptitude. The parents I know are very involved, and school events seem well-attended. There is a very positive atmosphere and teachers and administrators work together well. Teachers and parents and students seem happy.

My only negative experience in 3 years at the school is that one time my child took an umbrella to school and it got lost and I suspect it was probably stolen. I think it got left in the cafeteria, didn't have our name on it, and some other child probably liked it and took it home - it never turned up in the lost and found. I figured it probably would never have been taken in a school with higher-income kids, because they all probably would've had their own, much nicer, umbrellas. But that's all I can come up with, and is hardly a negative impact on education, and still probably could've happened in any environment.

I think people simply get scared away by the idea of their "white" and/or "upper middle class" kids (because there are a lot of ethnic minority kids who are [u]definitely [/u]part of the upper middle class and/or Arlington Forest neighborhood contingent) going to school with majority "minority" and "lower class" kids. These same people look at the test scores and think Barrett is a "weak" school. The fact is, if you look at the test scores, the "white" and "upper middle class" kids do JUST as well on their testing as "white" and "upper middle class" kids at all the other North Arlington schools.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics