Reply to Moving, estimating commute times, low budget, baby on the way.

Forum Index » Real Estate

Reply to "Moving, estimating commute times, low budget, baby on the way. "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]greatschools.org uses test scores to rate schools.  [/quote]

Test scores don't tell the whole story, though.  What if the test scores are because the culture is a pressure cooker?

People might tell you that a school failed because it didn't "make AYP" - well, that also doesn't tell the whole story.  A school could miss that particular benchmark because a couple kids didn't show up to school on test day and they didn't hit 95% attendance.  You need to look behind and think about the numbers.

The two lottery schools we applied to for our daughter last year in FCPS didn't make AYP - one was an immmersion school and one was an arts magnet.  I think the pass rates for certain minority students weren't high enough for whatever reason.

There are schools in this area with high levels of poverty and mostly minority populations in the same general areas as schools with 5% or less kids on free and reduced meals and 80%+ white populations.  The schools here really are all over the map.  I honestly wouldn't discount all the schools you hear are "bad" because lots of people can't look beyond the population numbers.  My daughter's school is more than 50% non-white, and I like it that way.  Some days, though, I think the Title I school around the corner might have been even better because their K class sizes aren't 30 like ours are.  FCPS has got to find a way to address insane class sizes and fast - it makes no sense that a school right down the road from us that ISN'T a Title I school has K classes of 19 while our school is stuffing 30 kids per class into 3 K classrooms.

If you liked Fairlington, the great schools parents reviews of Abingdon are stellar.  It sounds like they are doing great work there, and the 4 score given doesn't sound like it reflects anything other than the higher than average minority and FARM numbers that are present there (lots of apartments and small condos in that area).  The partnership with the Kennedy Center would be a plus in my book, as well as the interesting curriculum choices.  It also sounds like there are other options available to Arlington residents if you decide your neighborhood school isn't right for you.[/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