Anonymous wrote:Also -- do Arabs identify as white or Asian in these surveys?

In my experience, appx. 1/3 identify as white, appx. 1/3 as black and appx. 1/3 as Asian. It's a very diverse group in itself!

Move to South Arlington and try to get into Campbell Elementary. It's a county-wide school, but gives preference to families living in S. Arlington.

My children started there this year and it has been an amazing experience for them. We transferred from one of the 30K per year private schools mentioned all the time on these boards and I can honestly say that moving them to their new school was one of the best decisions we've ever made. (I am a teacher with a master's in education, so you can feel confident that we made an informed decision last spring when it came time to re-sign our enrollment contracts at our private school).

The school is incredibly diverse. I don't have the exact numbers because I am having trouble pulling up the school's "report card" on their website. My children have friends from Egypt, Vietnam, Poland, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, and various Latin American countries in their classes.

The school is Title I which means they receive additional federal funding for reading and math specialists. The class sizes also remain small. My son has 18 in his class and my daughter has 19. There are K/1 mixed classes and you loop with your teacher from 2nd-3rd and 4th-5th. There are also no report cards. Instead, the school uses a work sampling system.

They have PE 2X per week, art 2X per week, Spanish 2x per week, music 2X per week, and library 1x per week. They have 2 recesses per day compared to 1 recess which is standard in most APS schools. The children also eat lunch in their classrooms which I think is great for younger children as the atmosphere is much quieter and more child-friendly than a large cafeteria.

Campbell's exemplary project is Expeditionary Learning. Here is info. from the school's website:

Expeditionary Learning (EL) schools are characterized by:

Active instructional practices that build academic skills and student motivation

Learning is active. Students are scientists, urban planners, historians, and activists investigating real community problems and collaborating with peers to develop creative, actionable solutions.

Learning is public. Through formal structures of presentation, exhibition, critique, and data analysis, students and teachers build a shared vision of pathways to achievement.

Learning is meaningful. Students apply their skills and knowledge to real world issues and problems and make positive change in their communities. They see the relevance of their learning and are motivated by understanding that learning has purpose.

Learning is challenging. Students at all levels are pushed and supported to do more than they think they can. Excellence is expected in the quality of their work and their thinking.

Learning is collaborative. School leaders, teachers, students, and families share rigorous expectations for quality work, achievement, and behavior.

Rigorous projects that meet state standards and are connected to real-world needs

School cultures of kindness, respect, responsibility, and joy in learning

Shared leadership for school improvement

School-wide commitment to improved teaching and leadership practice

I'll finish my post by saying that there is still a stigma attached to S. Arlington schools. We recently put our S. Arlington home on the market and went under contract right away, but our realtor said there was a ton of interest from more folks but they didn't want to be in S. Arlington because of the schools. My reply to that is that it is their loss. They can go to their overcrowded N. Arlington schools with 24 children in a class.

Our experience at Campbell has been nothing less than amazing. My children could not be happier. They are learning so much, they have made good friends, and they feel loved and cared for by their teachers and the rest of the administration and staff at Campbell. The teachers are also top-notch.

There are a lot of Arlingtonians that "talk a good talk" about being open minded and accepting of racial and social/economic diversity. However, when it comes down to "walking the walk" they balk at their children going to diverse schools with large minority populations. Nothing infuriates me more. They cite test scores as being the reason but anyone who knows anything about education knows that test scores mean nothing. They are just plain afraid of the diversity. It's really sad as the children and the families we've met have all been warm, friendly, caring, bright people. They are also incredibly hard-working.

My parents were immigrants (from a European country) and they also faced a lot of discrimination in school and in the work force. They rose above it and became quite successful because they believed in themselves, worked hard, and treated others with respect.

I'll get off my soap box now, but I had to get that off my chest, especially because of my parent's experience and because it was so "in my face" with selling our house.

Oh, if you're wondering, our new home is in S. Arlington, as well.

Also -- do Arabs identify as white or Asian in these surveys?

"Diverse" in DC and "diverse" in Montgomery/Fairfax mean two different things. For the diversity you're apparently seeking, you need to be in Montgomery or Fairfax, not DC (or North Arlington).

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the helpful suggestions! My auto correct make South Americans into Aspire Americans. SOrry. We thought it was strange that people from Brent said there were lots of Asian/ Arab diversity, and pointed out to the 2 or 3 other families there in the whole school. That to me, does not seem diverse. But maybe I was painted to wrong picture? I'm sure Brent is fantastic for some.

Did you actually go to the school or to a school event and come away thinking it is not racially or ethnicly diverse? Perhaps it is my white person's perspective, but it seems incedibly diverse to me. Perhaps it is the numerous latina nannies and the visitng Japanese and Chinese teachers that add to the feel of diversity. Also there don't seem to be any cliques based or race or ethnicity among the students. There are many inter-racial/ international couples so I imagine that results more diversity in "reality" than is reflected in the offical DCPS numbers.

Also, I think part of the problem is that if you had asked me to name Arabian families at Brent I would not have been able to think of any at first because the Arabian families that do attend Brent don't look similar, dress differently from each other, don't worship the same way, and talk differently from each other, so it is tough to see at first their commonality. OTOH, I can think of several South American families, but the common language they speak makes it easier to quickly "bunch" them.

As someone who attended a school that, like most public schools in America, had very little racial or ethnic diversity, it is absolutely bizarre to me to hear someone describe Brent as not diverse especially when people have worked so hard to make it as purposefully diverse as it is. It's like, what else can the school and the community do to be diverse, dang it?

OP here. Thanks for the helpful suggestions! My auto correct make South Americans into Aspire Americans. SOrry. We thought it was strange that people from Brent said there were lots of Asian/ Arab diversity, and pointed out to the 2 or 3 other families there in the whole school. That to me, does not seem diverse. But maybe I was painted to wrong picture? I'm sure Brent is fantastic for some.

If you want diversity, I agree with the PP's that suggested areas of Falls Church. If OP is looking for "people who look like me" then target the area around Baileys Crossroads, the homes and apartment complexes by Skyline have a very large Arabic population.