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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My youngest is in elementary and oldest now in MS but pvt.  I would say that public elementary for us wasn’t bad.  It wasn’t OMG amazing and I do not drink the KoolAid that most In my community to on public schools here.  I would say that [b]George Mason[/b] and Barrett are relatively strong.  What makes the, really nice is the strong PTA and community.  The families here are warm, educated and kids are well adjusted and just really good kids.  A close knit community.  Academically it’s not academically strong but I’m not that parent that wants my kid to go to Catholic school and know 8th grade vocabulary words in 5th grade.  My expectations are for love of learning, engaging and caring teachers and a really healthy social experience.  These boxes are checked.

Where things are wrong is more the public curriculum of all the SOL and MAP testing, the work is just really not that hard and the TAG program is not productive in who gets n.  The idea of academic equity is ridiculous.  Getting everyone to the same level should not be goal rather promoting excellence among all.  So philosophically ACOS has a problem there.

But I have told you about the pros and cons we experienced.  In terms of MS, I have friends whose kids do great there.  You really have to be a well adjuster, very mature and responsible kid who is going to be in honors classes to make it there.  If so, it will likely be fine.  I would never put my kids there but if they were like perfect kids maybe I would reconsider but I would still be uneasy about it.  That’s me.  I have pretty high standards when it comes to conceptual learning ~ that is ~ I want more than just transactional pass a test learning.  Esp after grade school,  personally I think it’s too overwhelming socially with 599 kids per grade on each floor.

We are going to however try to get ours back in public for HS.

A lot depends on your kids.  ACPS is not a strong public system in total, but Alex is a really great place to be.  We would never want to live in Arl or Falls Church or Fairfax.  We are city folk.  But I would say that by MS you’d be hard pressed to keep kids in public.  I did A lOT of research into the various public elementary school systems around NOVA and if you are strictly concerned about academics, run away from Alex public schools.  But if it’s more than just that you seek, elementary I think is good enough.

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Thank you for this very balanced, kind and honest post & while I agree with much of it,  I have to disagree with you about George Mason.

It's not a good school. Math instruction is particularly weak. Good teachers were run off by the previous principal.

Some current teachers are so obsessed with equity that they refuse to help students because that's "not equitable". When they asked a question, my child was told by their math teacher, "too bad. you must not have been paying attention. you'll have to figure it out."

The "grading" is wildly inconsistent since there isn't a standard (this may be more of a ACPS problem). No homework (that's inequitable too). Never saw a test or any classroom work after kinder. Our fourth grade homeroom teacher lied to me for months on an issue and the administration wouldn't provide any resolution. In fact, they didn't seem concerned at all or see an issue.

Friends with kids in other ACPS ES assure me that it isn't like that at their schools.

It's pretty telling that GM had the most departures over the last two years of any ES in ACPS.

I know test scores aren't the end all and be all but check out the proficiency numbers on the VA DOE website over the years, including pre-pandemic. The results are pretty awful.

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I'm PP and yes the math is not strong I agree and also on the work front it's a joke.  My kid will collaborate on her own with friends in writing stories together which I think is amazing.  They enjoy it and it's a shame in class they aren't getting that opportunity to learn via homework assignments and other projects which is why we are leaving for pvt next year,  on the whole I do still stand by my comments on the pros of Mason.

I would add that she has a stellar teacher - one out of the two abs that has made a really big impact on how happy I've been this year there.  I think there are still good ones and I will tell you I hated beyond words the previous principal who is at least out now.  I'm not sure the new one who was promoted into the role is all that as I know her from experience with my other kid but at least it's someone new at the helm.  For years the principal at Barrett was amazing until they left last year I think.  They have a very very strong program, worth exploring for sure.

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