Anonymous wrote:22207-The only place to live in Arlington.

This will be news to the majority of Arlington. Let me gues- YOU live in 22207?

22207-The only place to live in Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you determined to be in Arlington? Could you handle Falls Church City or Fairfax County?

OP, here. Arlington or bust. This is the compromise between me and DH... Though I'm considering just jumping off a cliff and saying to hell with all of it! Tired of schools drama. What the hell happened? None of this was going on back when I was in school... Guess I'm dating myself.

This is our generation. We are making ourselves crazy trying to find the "right" house near the "right" school so our kids can go to the "right" college. Blame it on magazines ranking everything and the overload of the Internet with information so we can compare everything. The paradox of choice is making us all crazy. When we were kids, who knew anything. Our parents didn't have to spend so much time analyzing every choice. It is the same when I try to pick a hotel for vacation. I spend so much time on trip advisor to make sure I book the "right" hotel (and hopefully bed bug free). Don't feel bad for feeling like the process is making you nuts. All this choice and comparison makes us all nuts.

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you determined to be in Arlington? Could you handle Falls Church City or Fairfax County?

OP, here. Arlington or bust. This is the compromise between me and DH... Though I'm considering just jumping off a cliff and saying to hell with all of it! Tired of schools drama. What the hell happened? None of this was going on back when I was in school... Guess I'm dating myself.

You might try Fairfax. A little easier to find housing in the good schools.

go to greatschools.net, any schools with a an 8 or higher is good. 9 or 10 even better.

Anonymous wrote:Look at Falls Church City. The schools are excellent and there is zero chance you will get redistricted out of them. We know parents in Arlington whose kids are going to one elementary for K but are getting sent to a different elementary for 1st grade because of the redistricting. That said, the parent wasn't bothered by it at all. Most of the N. Arl parents I know are comfortable with the schools, no matter where their kids end up over the years.

This.
The schools are great, the community is friendly and walkable, and zero chance of being redistricted.

When I went to school in another state a lot of the classrooms were in trailers. It was normal and I promise I turned out fine. I didn't even realize this was a thing people cared about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Deep breathe. People in Arlington like to bitch and complain about schools... But that's what people do. Nearly all the schools are great in a manner and you are going to be fine.

+1000

HA!! This couldnt' be further from the truth. I will find myself bitching at times and it is for the most mundane things in the world. I catch myself and almost have to laugh.

In honesty--I am blown away by the teachers at my kids school. When I go into Costco to get a summer workbook (and I am not a workbook, kumon, supplemental type of parent). I find I have to by the Scholastic/Kumon books at least 2 grades above because my kids first grade class is doing stuff that the rest of the country does in 3rd grade, etc...

Everyone likes to think they are above grade-level. It's like guys preferring XXL t-shirts.

Anonymous wrote:Deep breathe. People in Arlington like to bitch and complain about schools... But that's what people do. Nearly all the schools are great in a manner and you are going to be fine.

+1000

HA!! This couldnt' be further from the truth. I will find myself bitching at times and it is for the most mundane things in the world. I catch myself and almost have to laugh.

In honesty--I am blown away by the teachers at my kids school. When I go into Costco to get a summer workbook (and I am not a workbook, kumon, supplemental type of parent). I find I have to by the Scholastic/Kumon books at least 2 grades above because my kids first grade class is doing stuff that the rest of the country does in 3rd grade, etc...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where might the dividing line be to redistrict people to Wakefield?

It's anyone's guess. The transparent boundary process that was successful for the elementary schools would likely be used again. So, county citizens will help draw them up with help from the consultants.

Wakefield follow up - do you know if the new school will have a larger capacity, thus pulling in a larger boundary?

All three new high schools supposedly have larger capacities than the schools they replaced, so the new Wakefield should also be bigger. I think it's a foregone conclusion that the Wakefield boundary will become much larger because the new school will have a lot of empty seats. But then again nothing could happen and W-L and Yorktown would become surrounded by trailers.

When Yorktown and W-L were renovated, APS didn't anticipate the growth in enrollment, so the replacement buildings were actually built for fewer students than the older faciltiies. Wakefield is being rebuilt last to accommodate roughly 1900 students. That's larger than Wakefield's enrollment has been any time recently, and W-L is projected to be seriously over-capacity, so it's inevitable that there will be boundary changes.

Anonymous wrote:Many of us who live near Rt 50 in N Arlington have already mentally prepared to be redistricted to Wakefield and even though someone on DCUM called me a liar for saying I was okay with this, I am and have spoken to several friends and neighbors recently who are also prepared for this to happen and also not at all dreading it.

But if you are looking for an elementary school without trailers? Good luck!

Explain the problem with trailers? Most trailers are nicer than the normal classrooms.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where might the dividing line be to redistrict people to Wakefield?

It's anyone's guess. The transparent boundary process that was successful for the elementary schools would likely be used again. So, county citizens will help draw them up with help from the consultants.

Wakefield follow up - do you know if the new school will have a larger capacity, thus pulling in a larger boundary?

All three new high schools supposedly have larger capacities than the schools they replaced, so the new Wakefield should also be bigger. I think it's a foregone conclusion that the Wakefield boundary will become much larger because the new school will have a lot of empty seats. But then again nothing could happen and W-L and Yorktown would become surrounded by trailers.

Look at Falls Church City. The schools are excellent and there is zero chance you will get redistricted out of them. We know parents in Arlington whose kids are going to one elementary for K but are getting sent to a different elementary for 1st grade because of the redistricting. That said, the parent wasn't bothered by it at all. Most of the N. Arl parents I know are comfortable with the schools, no matter where their kids end up over the years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where might the dividing line be to redistrict people to Wakefield?

It's anyone's guess. The transparent boundary process that was successful for the elementary schools would likely be used again. So, county citizens will help draw them up with help from the consultants.

Wakefield follow up - do you know if the new school will have a larger capacity, thus pulling in a larger boundary?