Anonymous
05/11/2026 22:41
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Good maybe our taxes won't go up as much if we have fewer kids in school.
Anonymous
05/11/2026 22:26
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Private school applications are up. Many families are staying in Arlington but modifying their plans for education.
This. When you can afford $3m for a house, private school is NBD.
How many $3m homes are in Arlington?
Not PP, but go look on Redfin if you’re curious.
But also, there are several families in my neighborhood that have chosen private school, despite not living in 3 million dollar homes.
They’ve chosen to drive older cars, take fewer vacations, etc in order to give their children better educational opportunities.
I did look (on Zillow). My point was that $3M and $3M+ houses are a relatively small portion of Arlington housing, so I don't think private school applications are up just because some Arlington families have $$$, or even because more Arlington families have $$$.
Plenty of people who could pay for private choose not to. As you point out, plenty of people in < $3M houses pay for private. I understand the temptation to generalize that people pay for private when they have a lot of money, but I think the decisions are more nuanced than that.
I'm skeptical of the assertion that private applications are up. I doubt private schools publish that info. I could be wrong. If anyone has a link to this data, that would be interesting.
https://www.arlnow.com/2020/10/08/aps-loses-students-over-distance-learning-new-enrollment-figures-show/
https://www.arlnow.com/2023/08/30/enrollment-uptick-continues-for-arlingtons-private-schools-post-covid-while-aps-makes-a-comeback/
https://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/private-school-enrollment-covid/
https://www.coopercenter.org/research/statchat-school-enrollment-trends-in-post-pandemic-virginia
Anonymous
05/11/2026 21:21
Subject: APS enrollment
I think people are not having as many children, nationwide, in general.
Anonymous
05/11/2026 20:12
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Multiple factors at play
You can look it up online, but APS enrollment has declined since COVID and they are predicting flat to negative growth in the next ten years. Agree that multiple factors are at play, but the district’s decisions during COVID did not help for student retention. We know many families that were all public, all the way until then.
yes the APEs and good riddance
We’re very liberal, always vote for Dems, and left APS during Covid.
a lot of APE's left
Thank god.
Too bad they still infest APS committees.
All I know about APE is that their existence is extremely polarizing on this board, as in people are strongly for APE or strongly against APE. Given that limited awareness of APE, I will say that I find it baffling that so many people get so riled up about parents....caring about public education and...advocating for its improvement. Disagreements about how to improve education are one thing, but some people seem to think your views are only relevant if you have a child in public schools. If a parent has their kids in private but still advocate for improvements in public schools, that sounds to me like someone who values public education enough to try to improve it, and would move their kids to public schools if they thought the public schools were better. Isn't that a level of engagement a good thing?
-signed a parent who is NOT part of APE (in case that wasn't clear)
I think the divisiveness and bitterness goes back to a couple highly controversial APE stances like the return to classrooms during covid, and the push to reduce the amount of time spent using ipads and macbooks in the schools. Both issues were/have been very polarizing in Arlington.
Everyone was crazy on both sides with COVID. We were a keep schools closed family (we had vulnerable family members and imagined most families probably had something similar). Now we see there was space for opening sooner safely.
But less screens? Who is advocating against that?!?
Anonymous
05/11/2026 19:40
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Multiple factors at play
You can look it up online, but APS enrollment has declined since COVID and they are predicting flat to negative growth in the next ten years. Agree that multiple factors are at play, but the district’s decisions during COVID did not help for student retention. We know many families that were all public, all the way until then.
yes the APEs and good riddance
We’re very liberal, always vote for Dems, and left APS during Covid.
a lot of APE's left
Thank god.
Too bad they still infest APS committees.
All I know about APE is that their existence is extremely polarizing on this board, as in people are strongly for APE or strongly against APE. Given that limited awareness of APE, I will say that I find it baffling that so many people get so riled up about parents....caring about public education and...advocating for its improvement. Disagreements about how to improve education are one thing, but some people seem to think your views are only relevant if you have a child in public schools. If a parent has their kids in private but still advocate for improvements in public schools, that sounds to me like someone who values public education enough to try to improve it, and would move their kids to public schools if they thought the public schools were better. Isn't that a level of engagement a good thing?
-signed a parent who is NOT part of APE (in case that wasn't clear)
I think the divisiveness and bitterness goes back to a couple highly controversial APE stances like the return to classrooms during covid, and the push to reduce the amount of time spent using ipads and macbooks in the schools. Both issues were/have been very polarizing in Arlington.
Explanation is helpful.
Not APE, but I am definitely in favor of minimizing screens at school. We minimize them at home, but cannot control DCs’ screen time at school. We also want printed textbooks and printed worksheets, not electronic stuff.
Anonymous
05/11/2026 14:19
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Multiple factors at play
You can look it up online, but APS enrollment has declined since COVID and they are predicting flat to negative growth in the next ten years. Agree that multiple factors are at play, but the district’s decisions during COVID did not help for student retention. We know many families that were all public, all the way until then.
yes the APEs and good riddance
We’re very liberal, always vote for Dems, and left APS during Covid.
a lot of APE's left
Thank god.
Too bad they still infest APS committees.
All I know about APE is that their existence is extremely polarizing on this board, as in people are strongly for APE or strongly against APE. Given that limited awareness of APE, I will say that I find it baffling that so many people get so riled up about parents....caring about public education and...advocating for its improvement. Disagreements about how to improve education are one thing, but some people seem to think your views are only relevant if you have a child in public schools. If a parent has their kids in private but still advocate for improvements in public schools, that sounds to me like someone who values public education enough to try to improve it, and would move their kids to public schools if they thought the public schools were better. Isn't that a level of engagement a good thing?
-signed a parent who is NOT part of APE (in case that wasn't clear)
I think the divisiveness and bitterness goes back to a couple highly controversial APE stances like the return to classrooms during covid, and the push to reduce the amount of time spent using ipads and macbooks in the schools. Both issues were/have been very polarizing in Arlington.
Anonymous
05/11/2026 13:15
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Multiple factors at play
You can look it up online, but APS enrollment has declined since COVID and they are predicting flat to negative growth in the next ten years. Agree that multiple factors are at play, but the district’s decisions during COVID did not help for student retention. We know many families that were all public, all the way until then.
yes the APEs and good riddance
We’re very liberal, always vote for Dems, and left APS during Covid.
a lot of APE's left
Thank god.
Too bad they still infest APS committees.
All I know about APE is that their existence is extremely polarizing on this board, as in people are strongly for APE or strongly against APE. Given that limited awareness of APE, I will say that I find it baffling that so many people get so riled up about parents....caring about public education and...advocating for its improvement. Disagreements about how to improve education are one thing, but some people seem to think your views are only relevant if you have a child in public schools. If a parent has their kids in private but still advocate for improvements in public schools, that sounds to me like someone who values public education enough to try to improve it, and would move their kids to public schools if they thought the public schools were better. Isn't that a level of engagement a good thing?
-signed a parent who is NOT part of APE (in case that wasn't clear)
Anonymous
05/11/2026 13:15
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Multiple factors at play
You can look it up online, but APS enrollment has declined since COVID and they are predicting flat to negative growth in the next ten years. Agree that multiple factors are at play, but the district’s decisions during COVID did not help for student retention. We know many families that were all public, all the way until then.
yes the APEs and good riddance
We’re very liberal, always vote for Dems, and left APS during Covid.
a lot of APE's left
Thank god.
Too bad they still infest APS committees.
What is an APE?
It's a parent group that formed a few years ago. If you follow APS threads, you'll find PP popping in regularly to talk about their nefarious motives and underhanded dealings. As far as I can tell, none of these conspiracy theories actually exist.
Anonymous
05/11/2026 13:07
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Private school applications are up. Many families are staying in Arlington but modifying their plans for education.
This. When you can afford $3m for a house, private school is NBD.
How many $3m homes are in Arlington?
Not PP, but go look on Redfin if you’re curious.
But also, there are several families in my neighborhood that have chosen private school, despite not living in 3 million dollar homes.
They’ve chosen to drive older cars, take fewer vacations, etc in order to give their children better educational opportunities.
I did look (on Zillow). My point was that $3M and $3M+ houses are a relatively small portion of Arlington housing, so I don't think private school applications are up just because some Arlington families have $$$, or even because more Arlington families have $$$.
Plenty of people who could pay for private choose not to. As you point out, plenty of people in < $3M houses pay for private. I understand the temptation to generalize that people pay for private when they have a lot of money, but I think the decisions are more nuanced than that.
I'm skeptical of the assertion that private applications are up. I doubt private schools publish that info. I could be wrong. If anyone has a link to this data, that would be interesting.
Anonymous
05/11/2026 07:17
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Multiple factors at play
You can look it up online, but APS enrollment has declined since COVID and they are predicting flat to negative growth in the next ten years. Agree that multiple factors are at play, but the district’s decisions during COVID did not help for student retention. We know many families that were all public, all the way until then.
yes the APEs and good riddance
We’re very liberal, always vote for Dems, and left APS during Covid.
a lot of APE's left
Thank god.
Too bad they still infest APS committees.
You don't have to use the public schools to be on school committees. They can do as they please.
Anonymous
05/11/2026 06:55
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Multiple factors at play
You can look it up online, but APS enrollment has declined since COVID and they are predicting flat to negative growth in the next ten years. Agree that multiple factors are at play, but the district’s decisions during COVID did not help for student retention. We know many families that were all public, all the way until then.
yes the APEs and good riddance
We’re very liberal, always vote for Dems, and left APS during Covid.
a lot of APE's left
Thank god.
Too bad they still infest APS committees.
What is an APE?
Anonymous
05/11/2026 06:49
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Multiple factors at play
You can look it up online, but APS enrollment has declined since COVID and they are predicting flat to negative growth in the next ten years. Agree that multiple factors are at play, but the district’s decisions during COVID did not help for student retention. We know many families that were all public, all the way until then.
yes the APEs and good riddance
We’re very liberal, always vote for Dems, and left APS during Covid.
a lot of APE's left
Thank god.
Too bad they still infest APS committees.
Anonymous
05/11/2026 05:58
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Private school applications are up. Many families are staying in Arlington but modifying their plans for education.
This. When you can afford $3m for a house, private school is NBD.
How many $3m homes are in Arlington?
Not PP, but go look on Redfin if you’re curious.
But also, there are several families in my neighborhood that have chosen private school, despite not living in 3 million dollar homes.
They’ve chosen to drive older cars, take fewer vacations, etc in order to give their children better educational opportunities.
Anonymous
05/10/2026 22:37
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Private school applications are up. Many families are staying in Arlington but modifying their plans for education.
This. When you can afford $3m for a house, private school is NBD.
How many $3m homes are in Arlington?
Anonymous
05/10/2026 21:04
Subject: APS enrollment
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:APS enrollment has declined due to the fact it blows.
APS enrollment has declined due to the fact that young families cannot afford to live here.
Private school applications are up. Many families are staying in Arlington but modifying their plans for education.
This. When you can afford $3m for a house, private school is NBD.