With some exceptions--Oakridge, Henry--S. Arlington schools are academically inferior to N. Arlington schools. S. Arl parents & APS will tell you that all Arlington elementaries are excellent. They are heavily invested in believing that, or at least saying it. But the dirty secret is that some are far more excellent than others. I lived it. Moved my kids from S. Arl to N. Arl elementary. Tried to stick it out in my S. Arl school because I loved my house. But my kids' education prevailed. I didn't realize HOW different the academic experience would be. It's like a tale of two cities. Don't regret the move for a second. There is less socioeconomic diversity & that's a shame. But not worth my kids' educational experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do people have against racial/cultural/SES diversity?

Obviously something. Wish I knew what it was. Fear, I guess.

It's not having something against diversity, it's being concerned about the consequences that come with it. I'm a minority and my kids attend a school with much racial, cultural and SES diversity. I like that, but I don't like the fact that the academic standards at the school are lower than those schools with less SES diversity--I know this because my kids have attended another school with fewer lower SES kids. As a PP mentioned, I don't think the standards are lower on paper, but when kids come in knowing so little, the starting point for the class is where the critical mass is. I've debated moving my kids to a school with less SES diversity because they are not challenged. I've instead decided to supplement at home in order to keep the racial and cultural diversity. Once they get to high school, that might change and I might decide to move because I'll have to start making sure they are on par with the kids from other schools that they'll be in classes with in college. You can call that having a problem with diversity, but I call it making sure my kids are getting the foundation they need. I'm not racist and I don't care if my kids are friends with kids from a different SES as mine, their friends just need to be well behaved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do people have against racial/cultural/SES diversity?

Obviously something. Wish I knew what it was. Fear, I guess.

Pretty much. My kids attend a title 1 school, have done really well there and we have been very happy with the teachers. They challenge teh kids who need more challenging while working with kids who need more help. Half our neighborhood does private because many "want a catholic education" code for "school with more white kids with higher SES backgrounds."

Not necessarily. We did private and it was code for "the kids behavior problems are over the top"

Pretending that there are not serious problems in schools with "diversity" is just stupid.

There are lots of problems. A good portion of the school admin, teachers and work is really dedicated to social services. When you have to spend 50-75% of time on those issues, it doesn't leave much time for education. So schools in N. Arl, the teachers and admins are not worrying about little Larla not having enough to eat and then have to spend time finding something for Larla to eat, contacting her parents, helping them get set up with food stamps, etc and so forth. Then there is little Larlo who doesn't have enough schools supplies, and Larlalette didn't have shoes and keep going 50times over and the whole school day has been used up and nothing has been taught.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do people have against racial/cultural/SES diversity?

Obviously something. Wish I knew what it was. Fear, I guess.

Pretty much. My kids attend a title 1 school, have done really well there and we have been very happy with the teachers. They challenge teh kids who need more challenging while working with kids who need more help. Half our neighborhood does private because many "want a catholic education" code for "school with more white kids with higher SES backgrounds."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue with several south arlington schools is the high number of poor kids and kids learning English. These kids need extra attention from the school. The teachers focus more time on getting them to learn, less time on other students. Less expected of all students. I have seen it now in 3 elementary schools.

Please elaborate. This is a hot topic, with the removal of Randolph's principal.
I'm especially concerned about low expectations across the board. Everyone says the curriculum is the same across all of Arlington...

My kids have gone to two south Arlington schools. I don't think it's "less expected" in the "soft bigotry of low expectations" sense. It's more like "kids come in less prepared, and we're realistic about how far we can get them in a year." What a kindergarten class does at Hoffman Boston is very different from what a kindergarten class does at Taylor because of the skills the kids come in with--reading instruction is teaching them to decode and not teaching them to read with fluency because they have learned to decode (and are comfortable with English) at home or in preschool. It's not that the kids in different schools make less progress in a year, its that the average starting points are different.

I think some of the schools, though, do a better job of differentiating and meeting the needs of the kids who come into K already reading, while also attending to the needs of the kids who do not. So, I wouldn't say that uniformly there is less expected of all students in South Arlington elementary schools. That said, I think the schools that are differentiating with good results are the ones where there are more students at various levels.

Anonymous wrote:What do people have against racial/cultural/SES diversity?

Obviously something. Wish I knew what it was. Fear, I guess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue with several south arlington schools is the high number of poor kids and kids learning English. These kids need extra attention from the school. The teachers focus more time on getting them to learn, less time on other students. Less expected of all students. I have seen it now in 3 elementary schools.

Please elaborate. This is a hot topic, with the removal of Randolph's principal.
I'm especially concerned about low expectations across the board. Everyone says the curriculum is the same across all of Arlington...

My kids have gone to two south Arlington schools. I don't think it's "less expected" in the "soft bigotry of low expectations" sense. It's more like "kids come in less prepared, and we're realistic about how far we can get them in a year." What a kindergarten class does at Hoffman Boston is very different from what a kindergarten class does at Taylor because of the skills the kids come in with--reading instruction is teaching them to decode and not teaching them to read with fluency because they have learned to decode (and are comfortable with English) at home or in preschool. It's not that the kids in different schools make less progress in a year, its that the average starting points are different.

Anonymous wrote:The issue with several south arlington schools is the high number of poor kids and kids learning English. These kids need extra attention from the school. The teachers focus more time on getting them to learn, less time on other students. Less expected of all students. I have seen it now in 3 elementary schools.

Please elaborate. This is a hot topic, with the removal of Randolph's principal.
I'm especially concerned about low expectations across the board. Everyone says the curriculum is the same across all of Arlington...

The issue with several south arlington schools is the high number of poor kids and kids learning English. These kids need extra attention from the school. The teachers focus more time on getting them to learn, less time on other students. Less expected of all students. I have seen it now in 3 elementary schools.

Anonymous wrote:What do people have against racial/cultural/SES diversity?

Do you mean me? The PP?

I have nothing against diversity. I value many things - calm nurturing environment, helpful families, kind teachers, test scores high enough that the school doesn't get caught up in worrying too much about the bottom (because my kid isn't there)....

I really don't see your point.

Anonymous wrote:What do people have against racial/cultural/SES diversity?

The OP didn't ask about diversity, just about the quality of the schools.

Most people don't have anything against diversity itself. What people have a problem with is the association of low SES with lower academic achievement / test scores. Some of this perception is purely psychological or anecdotal, but some of this perception is based on statistics and other data. In many cases, this is unfair. However, some people are uncomfortable taking risks with their children's education.

What do people have against racial/cultural/SES diversity?

[quote=Anonymous]South Arlington public schools get a bad rap. Is this deserved? Does the reputation apply to all the elementary/middle/high schools, or are there some good ones? [/quote]

Rich people from north of lee highway don't like them.

Elementary school:
Some are great, some less so. Same up north, but the test scores are better.

My kid went to a S. Arlington middle school and I was very happy. I live in NA. We were zoned for it and we have nothing negative to say about the experience.

HS:
I wish my kid were at Wakefield instead of the NA High School he attends. Too late to change. People seem to be happy with Wakefield and many people choose it.

I just posted on your other thread in Real Estate. You'll get a lot more action here, most likely.

South Arlington public schools get a bad rap. Is this deserved? Does the reputation apply to all the elementary/middle/high schools, or are there some good ones?