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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, as an Alexandria/Old Town resident, I can tell you honestly the bottom line is that you don't move to Alexandria City for the public schools. Anyone who tells you otherwise is delusional.

You DO move to McLean, Vienna, Falls Church, and North Arlington for public schools. But not Alexandria City.  Or I would wager to say even the part of Alexandria that is in Fairfax County, south of GW Parkway and Old Town.  The area is beautiful and elementary schools are decent, but beyond that, middle schools and high schools are meh. That's not to say that students don't do well at those schools, but they are neither nationally ranked nor ranked well even in the state.

We stay in Alexandria, despite the public schools, because we love the area itself and the strong sense of community, walkability, ease of commute to CD, history, culture, diversity, and opportunities for things to do near the water. We have considered moving to McLean or Arlington, but just cannot bear to part with Alexandria, despite the schools. So we are giving it a go and seeing how our kids do. [/quote]

I think this poster nailed the issue. People love Alexandria itself and, for whatever reason, tolerate and make due with the public schools here because other things outweigh on the list of balancing/preferences.  It's true that some children will do very well in ACPS, and those parents will be supporters and loud about it. But it's very much a bifurcated system, by socioeconomic status and race. We live in Del Ray and are toying with the same balancing issue right now.  Our DS starts K in 2014 and we don't want to move for the reasons others have stated (love our neighborhood, local businesses, ability to walk to restaurants, parks, playgrounds, coffee, dog park, etc.). But we also don't want to send DS to a school that is ranked close to the bottom in the entire state, when we can get the top of the rankings just a few miles away. We looked into St. Stephens, Burgundy, Browne privates and K starts at around $26k at each, before aftercare (For working parents).  We have pretty much concluded that we will need to move, despite not wanting to. We really wish we could place our son in ACPS, but cannot in good conscience do so, after touring the school, and hearing about programs, etc. It is not the right fit for our family.  It is mind boggling how much wealth their is in Alexandria, and yet how poor-performing the schools are. We have several preschool classmates who feel the same, and are house hunting, in the process of moving, or even renting in Arlington/McLean for Kindergarten because they cannot justify ACPS.

So, no, you don't move here for schools, unfortunately. I wish that weren't the case, because it would be a near perfect place to live otherwise.[/quote]

Agreed. It's a great place to live, but it's hard to gamble on you children's education. Two things to add: (1) only 13% of Alexandria City households have kids, so a great majority of the residents have no stake in the schools; and (2) if schools were stellar, we probably couldn't afford to live here.[/quote]

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