Anonymous wrote:Aww I cry for Maury with your "pretty sad" 5. You know a few blocks away with the same tax rates they are zoned for Jefferson Houston (which improved under these new GS calculations). I'm sure if you wanted to transfer your kid there instead ACPS would be happy to allow it.

Section 8 housing residents pay property taxes? News to me!

OP here- yes I know it could be worse (Jeff Houston) but considering the insanely high prices we ALL have to pay to live in Alexandria city, the rankings all around are embarrassing. We should be forcing all of our schools to do better. Sad that where I grew up, which is half the cost of living here, schools are twice as good.

Good to know about the GS rankings though.

Aww I cry for Maury with your "pretty sad" 5. You know a few blocks away with the same tax rates they are zoned for Jefferson Houston (which improved under these new GS calculations). I'm sure if you wanted to transfer your kid there instead ACPS would be happy to allow it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much all schools everywhere went down under the new formula Great Schools is using. Not an ACPS-specific issue.

ACPS is at the very bottom as it is. Beg to differ with you. We need to do better.

ACPS parent.

You're entitled to think that ACPS needs to do better, but that has no bearing on the fact that many schools in every jurisdiction took a hit in Great Schools' new ratings.

Indeed many schools did. But for a City as affluent as ACPS, our ACPS rankings in SAT, SOL, GS are abysmal. Don't you have a problem with that?

Many of us here in Alexandria City do!

The problem is not with the schools - it's with GS rankings and all that they represent. Racially segregated housing, poverty, and so on.

Please. Do you think we Alexandria City residents are so stupid/non-caring to think our ACPS' chronically low ratings on all merits (SOL, SAT, DVOE and GS) are acceptable? They are not. The Great School rating is actually correct on our low performance/social ratings in our schools, just like the Virginia Department of Education is correct that our Virginia state ranking is very bottom tier.

The incorrect people are our Alexandria City Council like Tim Lovain who say we should be "happy" at ACPS growth when we can't even manage current student academic education improvement, and our ACPS School Board who denies and defies discussion of our perpetual low Northern Virginia standing. This isn't about feeling good; it's about fixing what is broken so Alexandria City can be proud, just like Arlington and Fairfax County are proud of their schools.

As an Alexandria resident, one of many disgusted with our ongoing poor academics, I certainly won't blame this on Great Schools. It's us and our low expectations and standards.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much all schools everywhere went down under the new formula Great Schools is using. Not an ACPS-specific issue.

ACPS is at the very bottom as it is. Beg to differ with you. We need to do better.

ACPS parent.

You're entitled to think that ACPS needs to do better, but that has no bearing on the fact that many schools in every jurisdiction took a hit in Great Schools' new ratings.

Indeed many schools did. But for a City as affluent as ACPS, our ACPS rankings in SAT, SOL, GS are abysmal. Don't you have a problem with that?

Many of us here in Alexandria City do!

The problem is not with the schools - it's with GS rankings and all that they represent. Racially segregated housing, poverty, and so on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much all schools everywhere went down under the new formula Great Schools is using. Not an ACPS-specific issue.

ACPS is at the very bottom as it is. Beg to differ with you. We need to do better.

ACPS parent.

You're entitled to think that ACPS needs to do better, but that has no bearing on the fact that many schools in every jurisdiction took a hit in Great Schools' new ratings.

Indeed many schools did. But for a City as affluent as ACPS, our ACPS rankings in SAT, SOL, GS are abysmal. Don't you have a problem with that?

Many of us here in Alexandria City do!

You're missing the point. Whether or not I have a problem with ACPS is a separate matter. All I've said is that the drop in GS ratings is not an ACPS-specific issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much all schools everywhere went down under the new formula Great Schools is using. Not an ACPS-specific issue.

ACPS is at the very bottom as it is. Beg to differ with you. We need to do better.

ACPS parent.

You're entitled to think that ACPS needs to do better, but that has no bearing on the fact that many schools in every jurisdiction took a hit in Great Schools' new ratings.

Indeed many schools did. But for a City as affluent as ACPS, our ACPS rankings in SAT, SOL, GS are abysmal. Don't you have a problem with that?

Many of us here in Alexandria City do!

Go see all the other school threads. Great Schools is really just ranking schools on race now. Schools with only one race (whether it's 100% Hispanic, black or white) score the best.

Ms. Jackson left.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much all schools everywhere went down under the new formula Great Schools is using. Not an ACPS-specific issue.

ACPS is at the very bottom as it is. Beg to differ with you. We need to do better.

ACPS parent.

You're entitled to think that ACPS needs to do better, but that has no bearing on the fact that many schools in every jurisdiction took a hit in Great Schools' new ratings.

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much all schools everywhere went down under the new formula Great Schools is using. Not an ACPS-specific issue.

ACPS is at the very bottom as it is. Beg to differ with you. We need to do better.

ACPS parent.

Pretty much all schools everywhere went down under the new formula Great Schools is using. Not an ACPS-specific issue.

Great Schools' scores pretty much dropped all through out Alexandria City.

ACPS and our Alexandria City Council say not to worry about it, so why should we?

I noticed that Maury (Alexandria) fell a point in Great Schools, to a pretty sad 5/10. I know you should take those rankings with a grain of salt, but any recent parents care to share their experience? About to send a kindergartner there and curious.