Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Another thing to think about is the demographic breakdown. Some people are ok with it some people would rather have it be more in line with the rest of the area.
What do you mean by "the rest of the area"? The area (census tract) that includes Donna Lee Gardens is about 1/2 white, 1/4 Hispanic and 1/5 Asian. There's not much of an AA population in that area. If you head further north or east, you are in either the City of Falls Church or other parts of West Falls Church (Fairfax County) with fewer older garden apartment complexes or minorities. If you head further west or south, the neighborhoods are more heavily Hispanic, with no ethnic group in the majority.
Hispanics tend to be younger and have more kids, so the school enrollments in these areas skew more Hispanic than the general population. There's a tendency around here to assume that Hispanic students are low-income kids who don't speak English. What you see if you look at FCPS data, however, is that the percentage of ESOL students is declining at many schools even as the percentage of Hispanic students increases, which suggests that assimilation is taking place rapidly. If you go to Timber Lane ES or Falls Church HS, you'll find many students classified as Hispanic for demographic purposes who speak flawless (or at least American) English.