This thread is nuts.

I have kids at Yorktown. No "everyone" in N Arlington does not belong to a country club. Yes, over the years many people get to know each other and the kids do too. Because of activities that are across schools and because of split feeder schools. It's a nice thing!

Yorktown has very strong arts programs. WL's choir program is basically dead right now but apparently their longtime choir teacher is about to retire so it will likely rebuild. I mention OP since you say your child is creative, interested in arts. Not sure if you specified what area of arts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at a map. Parts of McLean are closer to dc than parts of Arlington. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I'm sure OP can easily figure out commute times. Both Mclean and N Arlington are convenient to Upper NW DC. Just note that Chain Bridge and Canal Rd are often backed up.

Families in N Arlington and McLean often know eachother through sports, swimming pool memberships, Washington Golf or Army Navy Country Clubs. All the high schools are in the same athletic league which incudes academic competitions like debate. They are all in the same performing arts division as well.

A large percentage of APS go to these $100k membership fee country clubs??

Are you not familiar with North Arlington or McLean?

I have kids at Wms and YHS.
There definitely is a WGCC contingent but they basically use it for golf and the gym. They don’t only hang out with each other. The ones that I know that belong there and also go to public grew up in Arlington and went to the public schools here. The rest have jumped ship for private.

Anonymous wrote:In Arlington your best option is Dorothy Hamm, in the zone that goes to Washington-Liberty for HS (which has the HS IB program). Hamm doesn't have much theatre, but there are local programs like Encore.

Kenmore has a wonderful theater program but probably not as many motivated peers. Some areas that go to Kenmore also feed into W&L generally north of Rt 50

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marshall HS is in FCPS and inside the beltway with IB. People seem to like it. Falls church City schools are very insular and could work if your kid is totally mainstream and at grade level. If your kid is different in any way - socially or academically- FCC is not a good fit.

I have three kids in FCCPS and agree with this. I wish we could afford to move.

OP here. Would love to hear more about these opinions. Our kid is very grade level but she’s very artistic and creative with no interest in sports. Not sure if that would make FCC a good fit or not.

Thanks to all of you we went to see Washington-Liberty and Dorothy Mann and surrounding neighborhoods, plus Falls Church City. Arlington seems great. FCC does feel a lot more suburban to us, which I’m trying to be open to.

FCCPS is very sports-centric. If your kid isn’t into sports, they will be in the minority. It’s a very small, cliquey district. I think a lot of this sports focus is driven by the small size of the school—with exceptions for the best teams, every kid can be on a sports team every season (and not just XC or track). The teams actually need more kids because it’s hard to field large enough teams with such a small student body. The admin also keeps introducing more sports and seriously hyping others (football and cheerleading have exploded in popularity over the past couple of years), so there’s an even greater need for more kids to play more sports.

I’m not anti-sports at all, and my kids do a variety of sports and non-sport activities, but I think anyone moving to FCCPS should be aware that it is a very sports-focused place with arts, music, etc taking a noticeable backseat in terms of participation and (especially) funding.

There are one or two posters on this forum that have gripes with the new Falls Church middle-high school campus. It's also a small-town school system with less transience than Arlington where there are more military kids due to Fort Myer, not to mention the foreign service families.

Falls Church does feel suburban but Metro is close by, and there are new trendy restaurants opening up.

We are not a Falls Chruch family, so that's the limit of my knowledge.

For W-L, there are some IB electives that are open to non-IB students, like the popular IB Film class. So an AP-focused student is not only limited to just AP classes.

Note that for students that choose not to walk to school, APS subsidizes Metro and ART bus fare for students, just like DCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marshall HS is in FCPS and inside the beltway with IB. People seem to like it. Falls church City schools are very insular and could work if your kid is totally mainstream and at grade level. If your kid is different in any way - socially or academically- FCC is not a good fit.

I have three kids in FCCPS and agree with this. I wish we could afford to move.

OP here. Would love to hear more about these opinions. Our kid is very grade level but she’s very artistic and creative with no interest in sports. Not sure if that would make FCC a good fit or not.

Thanks to all of you we went to see Washington-Liberty and Dorothy Mann and surrounding neighborhoods, plus Falls Church City. Arlington seems great. FCC does feel a lot more suburban to us, which I’m trying to be open to.

I can name a handful of Yorktown, W-L, and McLean families that are members of the two Arlington country clubs.

To be helpful to OP, country club culture does not define the public school experience here. Nor does pool membership. But many families/students know other families/students from nearby schools. Everyone tends to get along.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at a map. Parts of McLean are closer to dc than parts of Arlington. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I'm sure OP can easily figure out commute times. Both Mclean and N Arlington are convenient to Upper NW DC. Just note that Chain Bridge and Canal Rd are often backed up.

Families in N Arlington and McLean often know eachother through sports, swimming pool memberships, Washington Golf or Army Navy Country Clubs. All the high schools are in the same athletic league which incudes academic competitions like debate. They are all in the same performing arts division as well.

A large percentage of APS go to these $100k membership fee country clubs??

I live in N. Arlington, and only 1 family I know that belongs to this CC still sends their kids to public school. The rest send to private. My kids went to Swanson/W-L and it has been a great experience. I highly recommend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at a map. Parts of McLean are closer to dc than parts of Arlington. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I'm sure OP can easily figure out commute times. Both Mclean and N Arlington are convenient to Upper NW DC. Just note that Chain Bridge and Canal Rd are often backed up.

Families in N Arlington and McLean often know eachother through sports, swimming pool memberships, Washington Golf or Army Navy Country Clubs. All the high schools are in the same athletic league which incudes academic competitions like debate. They are all in the same performing arts division as well.

A large percentage of APS go to these $100k membership fee country clubs??

Are you not familiar with North Arlington or McLean?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at a map. Parts of McLean are closer to dc than parts of Arlington. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I'm sure OP can easily figure out commute times. Both Mclean and N Arlington are convenient to Upper NW DC. Just note that Chain Bridge and Canal Rd are often backed up.

Families in N Arlington and McLean often know eachother through sports, swimming pool memberships, Washington Golf or Army Navy Country Clubs. All the high schools are in the same athletic league which incudes academic competitions like debate. They are all in the same performing arts division as well.

A large percentage of APS go to these $100k membership fee country clubs??

Anonymous wrote:Marshall HS is in FCPS and inside the beltway with IB. People seem to like it. Falls church City schools are very insular and could work if your kid is totally mainstream and at grade level. If your kid is different in any way - socially or academically- FCC is not a good fit.

I have three kids in FCCPS and agree with this. I wish we could afford to move.

Forgot to mention, if you decide to visit Dorothy Hamm Middle School today, there's a nice outdoor memorial and exhibit to the students who integrated the school in 1959, back when it was a junior high school. A narrative of acceptance and respect imbues the school culture today, as inspired by the school's role in civil rights history when it ended Virginia's policy of Massive Resistance to integration.

Anonymous wrote:OMG who cares if FCC is part of Arlington County or now - the school districts are separate which is all that matters for OP's question.

I would just warn that W&L's IB program is A LOT of work. When we considered it, pretty much everyone used the word "miserable" to describe it. On the other hand, the kids are very well prepared for college.

Good point re IB. It's a lot of work, and the students are competetive, but the IB Program remains very popular. To clarify for OP, in-bounds W-L students have the option to pursue an AP course of study. Transfers into W-L are required to pursue the IB Diploma.

OMG who cares if FCC is part of Arlington County or now - the school districts are separate which is all that matters for OP's question.

I would just warn that W&L's IB program is A LOT of work. When we considered it, pretty much everyone used the word "miserable" to describe it. On the other hand, the kids are very well prepared for college.

Anonymous wrote:Look at a map. Parts of McLean are closer to dc than parts of Arlington. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I'm sure OP can easily figure out commute times. Both Mclean and N Arlington are convenient to Upper NW DC. Just note that Chain Bridge and Canal Rd are often backed up.

Families in N Arlington and McLean often know eachother through sports, swimming pool memberships, Washington Golf or Army Navy Country Clubs. All the high schools are in the same athletic league which incudes academic competitions like debate. They are all in the same performing arts division as well.