APS favors Yorktown by crafting the school boundaries to include primarily affluent North Arlington neighborhoods.

APS favors W-L by allowing the school to offer both IB and AP courses, thereby attracting pupil placements from both Yorktown and Wakefield, while limiting out-placements.

APS harms Wakefield by crafting the school boundaries to include primarily poor South Arlington neighborhoods and giving higher-achieving students an option to pupil-place to W-L.

That approach is not tenable in the long run. APS will be forced to redraw the boundaries and/or limit pupil placements into W– L. This will benefit Wakefield and improve the school's perceived standing compared to the other two schools, unless there is a spike in the number of the low-income students in South Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Check college admission rates. W-L's student body gets into more elite universities and at higher rates.

This was true in one anomalous year.

What about admission by race/sex/SES?

The latest SAT results show that white kids at W-L have, on average, higher SATs than white kids at Yorktown. But that doesn't mean all W-L kids are doing better in the college sweepstakes than all Yorktown kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Check college admission rates. W-L's student body gets into more elite universities and at higher rates.

This was true in one anomalous year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You've got time for HS- I wouldn't worry about that now. It's not a popular sentiment on these boards but there isn't much difference between W-L and Wakefield. That's probably offensive to Lyon Village homeowners, but it's the truth. Also, the lines will be redrawn in the coming years. Homes currently zoned W-L will be moved to Wakefield. Find out before you buy. Yorktown is mostly wealthy and white. You'll pay a premium for that. Many people don't see that as a plus as that is not the world we live in. YMMV.

I don't understand the dig at Yorktown here. It's at least 35% minority, isn't it? So why try to portray it as lily white when it's not. I see a lot of W-L and Wakefield parents try to claim Yorktown isn't "the world we live in," and then boast about how their kids are heading off to schools that are less diverse than Yorktown.

Buy where you can afford and do your due diligence on the schools, but recognize that the misinformation comes from both directions around here.

35% not white is very white. It wasn't meant as a dig, but read upthread- " type in Yorktown" ... There is a very strong/loud/ and elistest contingent on these boards boosting Yorktown or bust. You can't be ignorant to that.
It's the highest rated school and there is no disputing that. I just looked at the scores. It looks impressive.
Children there are going to be around wealthy kids almost exclusively. Not everyone sees that as a positive.
My bigger point is that many on here want to pretend that it's W-L vs Yorktown. W-L is much more comparable to Wakefield.
Also, my post was mainly about a break down of the elementaries south of 50. The MONA's of this forum will easily dominate the conversation about their schools/ PTA's/principals. It's harder to get unbiased info about what is happening elsewhere. We're getting louder down here. We've been forced to get louder. The squeaky wheel gets the grease in this county.

Check college admission rates. W-L's student body gets into more elite universities and at higher rates.

Don't forget middle schools in your search.

I'd drive around and decide the type of neighborhood you desire first. You are going to be there a long time. Then see what the schools are like and narrow from there.

Anonymous wrote: Yorktown is mostly wealthy and white. You'll pay a premium for that. Many people don't see that as a plus as that is not the world we live in. YMMV.

Please don't post something so patently false and offensive and hide behind "YMMV."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You've got time for HS- I wouldn't worry about that now. It's not a popular sentiment on these boards but there isn't much difference between W-L and Wakefield. That's probably offensive to Lyon Village homeowners, but it's the truth. Also, the lines will be redrawn in the coming years. Homes currently zoned W-L will be moved to Wakefield. Find out before you buy. Yorktown is mostly wealthy and white. You'll pay a premium for that. Many people don't see that as a plus as that is not the world we live in. YMMV.

I don't understand the dig at Yorktown here. It's at least 35% minority, isn't it? So why try to portray it as lily white when it's not. I see a lot of W-L and Wakefield parents try to claim Yorktown isn't "the world we live in," and then boast about how their kids are heading off to schools that are less diverse than Yorktown.

Buy where you can afford and do your due diligence on the schools, but recognize that the misinformation comes from both directions around here.

35% not white is very white. It wasn't meant as a dig, but read upthread- " type in Yorktown" ... There is a very strong/loud/ and elistest contingent on these boards boosting Yorktown or bust. You can't be ignorant to that.
It's the highest rated school and there is no disputing that. I just looked at the scores. It looks impressive.
Children there are going to be around wealthy kids almost exclusively. Not everyone sees that as a positive.
My bigger point is that many on here want to pretend that it's W-L vs Yorktown. W-L is much more comparable to Wakefield.
Also, my post was mainly about a break down of the elementaries south of 50. The MONA's of this forum will easily dominate the conversation about their schools/ PTA's/principals. It's harder to get unbiased info about what is happening elsewhere. We're getting louder down here. We've been forced to get louder. The squeaky wheel gets the grease in this county.

Anonymous wrote:
You've got time for HS- I wouldn't worry about that now. It's not a popular sentiment on these boards but there isn't much difference between W-L and Wakefield. That's probably offensive to Lyon Village homeowners, but it's the truth. Also, the lines will be redrawn in the coming years. Homes currently zoned W-L will be moved to Wakefield. Find out before you buy. Yorktown is mostly wealthy and white. You'll pay a premium for that. Many people don't see that as a plus as that is not the world we live in. YMMV.

I don't understand the dig at Yorktown here. It's at least 35% minority, isn't it? So why try to portray it as lily white when it's not. I see a lot of W-L and Wakefield parents try to claim Yorktown isn't "the world we live in," and then boast about how their kids are heading off to schools that are less diverse than Yorktown.

Buy where you can afford and do your due diligence on the schools, but recognize that the misinformation comes from both directions around here.

Anonymous wrote:Plus, there's a strong movement to end the choice schools.

A quarter of kids in Arlington go to a choice school. That's a very significant constituency.

Plus, there's a strong movement to end the choice schools.

Oakridge and Patrick Henry are the best elementaries in S. Arl.
Hoffman Boston is also pretty good and has a stem program I believe.

Many of the SFH middle/upper income parents in south Arlington aren't willing to send their kids to the neighborhood schools. In my area the kids all bus to choice schools.

Op- you are coming in at a bad time. The new elementary s. Arlington elementary is 5 years away. There is overcrowding all over the county, but in the high poverty schools it's not going to be good for your kid. Many parents are finding there aren't choice options down here now, because there isn't space. Claremont immersion is basically becoming a local school. I don't know about Drew Montessori. Anyone have experience getting placed there this year? Certainly Montessori isn't for every child anyway.
Campbell might have space, but it's not much of an upgrade from Bancroft, Randolph, Carlin springs, or Abingdon.

These are tough discussions that the county has tried to back burner. The choice options ( escape hatch) kept this at bay for many years. It's all coming to a head now.

Also know that we aren't talking about failing schools. All of these schools that are lower rated are accredited and making the cut as far as the state is concerned I believe. It's not like we are in the same boat as Alexandria or DC. Our worst schools still trump those.


You've got time for HS- I wouldn't worry about that now. It's not a popular sentiment on these boards but there isn't much difference between W-L and Wakefield. That's probably offensive to Lyon Village homeowners, but it's the truth. Also, the lines will be redrawn in the coming years. Homes currently zoned W-L will be moved to Wakefield. Find out before you buy. Yorktown is mostly wealthy and white. You'll pay a premium for that. Many people don't see that as a plus as that is not the world we live in. YMMV.

Your best bet is to type in Yorktown high school in redfin.

Washington and lee is in the north but rated lower and not comparable to the top tier of high schools. Wakefield is the only south Arlington high school.

odd zip codes are North Arlington, even zip codes are South Arlington

* dividing

The diving line between north and south is route 50.

Oak Ridge is in S Arlington.

Hi, we are looking for a home in Arlington. Our 4 yr old will start kindergarten next year. I've read a lot of posts about the disparities in schools between both Arlington areas. I've noticed that the older homes are in N Arlington and newer in South A. What streets/areas are considered N Arlington? Is Oakridge in S Arlington? Thanks!