Anonymous wrote:20% is the threshold, anything higher and the schools will be horrible.

I would not want more than 20% of my children's friends to be so poor that they qualify for FARM.
Having to interact with these children on a daily basis will significantly impact my child's education

I definitely only want my child to see other children from the same SES - or above.

I know the really high income people probably do not want my child in the same class as their child's. We only make $350K a year and we drive older cars. We don't vacation to Europe, the Caribbean or go skiing at Alta. I know my children drag down the conversations to more common things like going on a vacation to see grandparents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who is poor and whose kid qualifies for free lunch, this offends me. She is on the honor roll, volunteers, is on a sports team, has good friends, and will be going to college. I understand people use statistics, especially for a purchase as large as a house, but I really hope people are not assuming all kids getting free or reduced lunches are slutty gangbangers who will corrupt their special snowflakes.

Well, you can be offended all you want and I'm sure your DD is lovely... its not a discussion that is being held on an individual basis.
Lower performing schools have higher rates of FARMS. That is what OP wants to discuss not the individual achievement of one kid that gets free lunch.

That being said, OP, I am familiar with the area, look at the Potomac Falls district. You may also get more info from the VA public school threads.

OP here. This is what I keep hearing. It's really hard finding a nice house in the Potomac Falls district. The houses are 20 years old and many have had little to no renovation in that time, and we are not handy. I can understand why people buy in Rivercrest or Lowes Island. You walk inside and you are "wowed." BUT I think it's extremely unlikely we'll move again before high school, so it's a huge factor in our decision.

Schools are also a big resale factor.
I would probably err on the side of caution and go with the better schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who is poor and whose kid qualifies for free lunch, this offends me. She is on the honor roll, volunteers, is on a sports team, has good friends, and will be going to college. I understand people use statistics, especially for a purchase as large as a house, but I really hope people are not assuming all kids getting free or reduced lunches are slutty gangbangers who will corrupt their special snowflakes.

Well, you can be offended all you want and I'm sure your DD is lovely... its not a discussion that is being held on an individual basis.
Lower performing schools have higher rates of FARMS. That is what OP wants to discuss not the individual achievement of one kid that gets free lunch.

That being said, OP, I am familiar with the area, look at the Potomac Falls district. You may also get more info from the VA public school threads.

OP here. This is what I keep hearing. It's really hard finding a nice house in the Potomac Falls district. The houses are 20 years old and many have had little to no renovation in that time, and we are not handy. I can understand why people buy in Rivercrest or Lowes Island. You walk inside and you are "wowed." BUT I think it's extremely unlikely we'll move again before high school, so it's a huge factor in our decision.

Anonymous wrote:As someone who is poor and whose kid qualifies for free lunch, this offends me. She is on the honor roll, volunteers, is on a sports team, has good friends, and will be going to college. I understand people use statistics, especially for a purchase as large as a house, but I really hope people are not assuming all kids getting free or reduced lunches are slutty gangbangers who will corrupt their special snowflakes.

Well, you can be offended all you want and I'm sure your DD is lovely... its not a discussion that is being held on an individual basis.
Lower performing schools have higher rates of FARMS. That is what OP wants to discuss not the individual achievement of one kid that gets free lunch.

That being said, OP, I am familiar with the area, look at the Potomac Falls district. You may also get more info from the VA public school threads.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20% is the threshold, anything higher and the schools will be horrible.

BS!

denial

Anonymous wrote:20% is the threshold, anything higher and the schools will be horrible.

BS!

20% is the threshold, anything higher and the schools will be horrible.

Anonymous wrote:As someone who is poor and whose kid qualifies for free lunch, this offends me. She is on the honor roll, volunteers, is on a sports team, has good friends, and will be going to college. I understand people use statistics, especially for a purchase as large as a house, but I really hope people are not assuming all kids getting free or reduced lunches are slutty gangbangers who will corrupt their special snowflakes.

OP here. I did not grow up with much money, although I was not on the school meal plan. And I was all the things you describe of your daughter, so I know this is true. I think where i get spooked is that people tell me the middle school has gang issues, specifically MS-13. This worries me. BUT I worked in higher education admissions for years, and I know how difficult it can be to make a judgement about something (a person or a school) based on a bunch of numbers on a piece of paper. I truly apologize for any offense.

As someone who is poor and whose kid qualifies for free lunch, this offends me. She is on the honor roll, volunteers, is on a sports team, has good friends, and will be going to college. I understand people use statistics, especially for a purchase as large as a house, but I really hope people are not assuming all kids getting free or reduced lunches are slutty gangbangers who will corrupt their special snowflakes.

Anonymous wrote:It would be more helpful if we knew the high schools. There's much more to a school than its % of FRM kids.

OP here. I wasn't trying to be evasive - the schools are in Loudoun County and I just figured most people on here wouldn't be familiar with the specific schools. That being said, the choice is between Seneca Ridge MS/Dominion HS (higher FRM numbers) and River Bend MS/Potomac Falls HS (lower FRM numbers.) The general area is "Cascades" in case anyone has heard of it. Ironically the two nicest neighborhoods (IMO based on home quality, size, market value, etc. and also our preferred neighborhoods) are in the Dominion district, but this district also has more low income housing. Whereas the other district is more balanced - fewer expensive homes and fewer low income homes. People who live in the Dominion district tend to be really defensive that it is "really good" - but this is probably because they are always getting asked about it in a suspicious way.

I don't want to be a school snob, but I also don't want to choose a nicer house over my kids educational experience.

22% is not high at all. there are so many more important factors.

It reallllllly depends on what the other numbers look like as far as scores and demographics. IMO, a 22% FARMS school could still be a choice school. really depends.

22% is not really that high, nor should it be THE deciding factor. If SAT scores are roughly the same, that indicates that kids that are interested in going to college are going to get basically the same education at either the 12% or 22%. (Again, check the school to get a sense of what kind of honors, AP, IB courses they offer.)
I think you go with the neighborhood/house you like. You've said parents where happy with their schools, so there's no reason to believe you wouldn't be happy as well.

It would be more helpful if we knew the high schools. There's much more to a school than its % of FRM kids.

We are looking for a SFH in a couple of neighborhoods near our current townhouse. One of the pyramids has roughly 12% FRM kids, and the other pyramid has about 22%. I don't know the ESL numbers. The SAT scores out of the two high schools are roughly the same, as are the SOL numbers (we are in VA.) The high school with the lower FRM number is sometimes viewed as "better" in our area (but I suspect this is just people being racist) although many parents with kids in the other pyramid say they are very happy with their schools.

Bottom line, we are having a really hard time finding a house we like in the "better" high school and we're starting to think we are being too picky about the other HS. There are lots of nice neighborhoods that feed into it.

IDK. What would you do?