Reply to Lower rated schools in Falls Church and Arlington

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Stay away from the poorly rated schools in Falls Church (Fairfax County).  We bought our house before kids and aren't afraid of "diversity" so stayed.  It hasn't been a great experience.  A majority of the kids are behind academically, and as you get into middle school, there are physical fights etc.  Many of our neighbors with kids have moved.  We're planning on moving next spring.  My opinion is based on experience, not great schools rating.  There are a lot of issues faced by ESOL/low SES kids, and unfortunately it impacts other kids in the school when the ESOL/low SES kids are the majority.  Also, buying for elementary and then moving is hard on kids, so I'd avoid doing that.  Good luck with making your decision.[/quote]

If you think higher SES schools don't have fights or bullying, you are in for a rude awakening. [/quote]

I don't think that, but the physical fighting is more prevalent in lower SES schools.  Bullying is all over and drugs are more prevalent in higher SES schools.  Low academics and physical altercations are deal breakers for me.  I think I'm more able to influence my kids on making good choices about saying no to drugs.  I'm sure there are people who have good experiences in lower SES schools, but the combination of the low SES and high ESOL places a burden on the schools and teachers.  I'm only telling the OP my opinion based on my experience.  I think there are many posters who have no experience with lower SES/high ESOL schools who always chime in to say the PC "all schools are good if your child isn't poor."  If the schools and peers don't matter, I'm not sure why people care if their kids go to Harvard vs. community college.  I'm not a bigot, I'm fine with my kids having friends of different races and SES, I have just found that having a school with over 60 percent FARMS and high percentage of ESOL impacts the quality of the academics at the school.  [/quote]

[b]Great post. [/b]We had a similar experience (in Annandale).[/quote]

I do believe there is some value in GS, but only when it comes to the extreme ends of the rating scale. I think the 1-2s and 9-10s are legitimate as a measure for assessing quality.  Its the middle batch (3-8) that IMO, really aren't all that different from each other in terms of the quality of education.  Will your DC really be negatively impacted if he/she goes to a 3 rated school vs 6 rated school. Also, what happens when your 8 school drops to a 5 (happened to a number of my friends)? Time to move? Rubbish. My advice: speak to parents and visit the schools in the neighborhoods you are interested in settling in. We are so glad we did this. We saved thousands of dollars we did not have trying to squeeze into a Falls Church, N. Arlington, or McLean.

You want to talk about peer groups? My DS, who is at West Point now, recently graduated from a 3 rated HS (it actually increased to 3 while she was there). She also got accepted into one Ivy, and a number of very good schools. She was one of about 20 white kids who graduated from her school this year, which is mostly made up of Latinos and AAs. Most of the kids in her school struggled academically. She mostly gravitated towards higher performing students as part of her "circle". The thing is, people generally hang out with people similar to themselves. Even low rated schools have very bright kids. Most of her friends were low income AAs (not sure why not latinos) who, in some cases, outperformed her academically. Her "peers" went to respectable schools like UVA, W&M and Duke. They were anomalies in her school, no doubt, but her peer group was good enough.

Class disruptions?
There were occasional behavior incidents in class, and she even had one girl try to "bully" her on Snapchat. But it was nothing worth pulling her out over. And nothing we have not heard from our friends in wealthy areas. The teachers were excellent, the extras were good, and she excelled. If anything, it helped build character. She's extremely sensitive to racial issues (e.g. Freddie Gray case/police brutality), and even went to D.C. to protest last summer.

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