Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've been in Taylor for 13 years over multiple kids. We've been very satisfied. And, Taylor is a little more diverse ethnically and economically than Jamestown, according to my observations and the APS stats. But, I'm not going to tell you Taylor is a really diverse place.

We moved to the Taylor zone last year, so this has been our first year at the school, but everyone I've met is pretty down-to-earth. My kid is enjoying it. The building is old, but the grounds are big-- they have 3 playgrounds (I have no idea the situation at other schools).

As for diversity, at the last PTA mtg, the principal gave us stats on that, and I believe the school is ~65% white.

If anyone wants to see the race breakdown for all the schools, it’s here:

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Civil-Rights-Table-1-2021-11-08.pdf

You were spot on for Taylor!

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for all the info!. Jamestown sounds like Big Little Lies. Maybe we will avoid that one.

Jamestown is a little like Big Little Lies, but still a great school. The principal is wonderful and there is low teacher turnover. There are a handful of DC transplants at Jamestown, many from capital hill. My kids have all enjoyed their experience there.

The Prom voting things was stupid, but those that chose to participate enjoyed it. Most people didn't participate. There was no pageant, and it wasn't just husbands voting for wives. I don't know anyone going to Europe for spring break. Most families do travel for spring break, but mostly in America. The bus comment sounds like some uniformed parent made a comment. The PTA never heard of this and certainly never suggested it. WGCC is certainly part of the vibe of the school, but only a small portion of families are actually members. There traditionally was an annual auction and party at WGCC but that hasn't happened since Feb 2020. About 20% of the families went to private school during Covid and many were the most well-off families, but for sure most families at Jamestown are well-off.

If you are staying in public school for middle and high school, you should consider that in your elem decision. All of Jamestown is zoned for WMS then YHS. Some of the other schools mentioned split to different middle schools and/or to different high schools.

Anonymous wrote:Our friends moved to a $1m house zoned for Jamestown and the first thing they told us when they moved was that they were the poorest people in the neighborhood. They seem to be happy but definitely are caught up in the sorority / fraternity culture. Needless to say it was enough to dissuade us from following them to the neighborhood- we picked another part of Arlington.

Do you mind sharing what part of Arlington (either the zip code or elementary school?). Def understand if that’s too personal!

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Anonymous wrote:Previous Taylor parent. One thing I’ll note is that Jamestown and some other NA schools get thrown around on here for self important parents etc. I don’t know if that’s true or not. But Taylor never gets mentioned in that way. In fact Taylor almost never gets mentioned at all. I found it a pretty down to earth community.

+1. Jamestown = having your PTA fundraiser at Washington Golf. One year pre-Covid there was even a Miss America-style event where the dads threw in increasing amounts of cash to support their wives in the pageant. Wish I were kidding. It was awful.

Stop. This cannot possibly be true.

It sounds insane but nope, it happened. I’m not sure how they thought it would look but it was mortifying.

It was weird, but it was one time and it went with the theme - Prom. There was a fundraiser prom king and queen. Never been done again. Stop hating on Jamestown. It really is a nice school. Love the Principal.

DP. Everyone I know there personally is perfectly nice, but also a bit out of touch.

+1

Our friends moved to a $1m house zoned for Jamestown and the first thing they told us when they moved was that they were the poorest people in the neighborhood. They seem to be happy but definitely are caught up in the sorority / fraternity culture. Needless to say it was enough to dissuade us from following them to the neighborhood- we picked another part of Arlington.

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Anonymous wrote:We looked at all these areas as well and have lived in Arlington for a very long time. I would say that from a wealth perspective Jamestown is one notch above the others. Remember Jamestown is the one where the parents did not want any boundary changes so were willing to pay out of their pocket for more buses specifically for Jamestown. This is not a joke, it was in the written public comments on the boundary process several years ago. Our top choice was Nottingham due to walkability, involvement of families in activities and things like that. From an education perspective they all seem about the same

NP. I don’t want to derail the thread but is this the culture at Jamestown or is it a small group of people? If this is a bigger issue than a small group of parents, we would like to avoid this school.

It was a comment by one person. Never anything advocated by the school community. This wouldn’t even be legal. Buses are allocated by APS and private citizens can’t charter a bus.

There has been all kinds of nonsense over the years with zoning. Tuckahoe and Nottingham got really insane a few years ago. Just don’t pay attention to it.

Thanks! I know people say a lot of crazy things during any public process. I was curious if it was a larger group since the comment involved parents personally paying for buses. Between that and the parent pageant comment it was starting to sound a little strange

Count me as an additional person who heard the advocacy suggesting they will pay for the additional buses themselves. It may not have been a position take by the PTA; but that doesn't mean the suggestion wasn't made. Regardless, the point is that Jamestown is at the top tier of wealth as a whole community v. other school communities in Arlington.

We have friends with kids there and they flat out told us teachers informally do not plan for major assignments Or tests the last couple days before spring break because most families are going on extended European vacations. They live in a 1.5 million home and feel like they’re at the bottom of the socioeconomic pyramid there.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Previous Taylor parent. One thing I’ll note is that Jamestown and some other NA schools get thrown around on here for self important parents etc. I don’t know if that’s true or not. But Taylor never gets mentioned in that way. In fact Taylor almost never gets mentioned at all. I found it a pretty down to earth community.

+1. Jamestown = having your PTA fundraiser at Washington Golf. One year pre-Covid there was even a Miss America-style event where the dads threw in increasing amounts of cash to support their wives in the pageant. Wish I were kidding. It was awful.

Stop. This cannot possibly be true.

It sounds insane but nope, it happened. I’m not sure how they thought it would look but it was mortifying.

It was weird, but it was one time and it went with the theme - Prom. There was a fundraiser prom king and queen. Never been done again. Stop hating on Jamestown. It really is a nice school. Love the Principal.

DP. Everyone I know there personally is perfectly nice, but also a bit out of touch.

I'd agree with this. I've found individuals very nice and reasonable but a bit oblivious to how things are elsewhere, though genuinely interested and wanting to help out when they understand what others' need and how they can help.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We looked at all these areas as well and have lived in Arlington for a very long time. I would say that from a wealth perspective Jamestown is one notch above the others. Remember Jamestown is the one where the parents did not want any boundary changes so were willing to pay out of their pocket for more buses specifically for Jamestown. This is not a joke, it was in the written public comments on the boundary process several years ago. Our top choice was Nottingham due to walkability, involvement of families in activities and things like that. From an education perspective they all seem about the same

NP. I don’t want to derail the thread but is this the culture at Jamestown or is it a small group of people? If this is a bigger issue than a small group of parents, we would like to avoid this school.

It was a comment by one person. Never anything advocated by the school community. This wouldn’t even be legal. Buses are allocated by APS and private citizens can’t charter a bus.

There has been all kinds of nonsense over the years with zoning. Tuckahoe and Nottingham got really insane a few years ago. Just don’t pay attention to it.

Thanks! I know people say a lot of crazy things during any public process. I was curious if it was a larger group since the comment involved parents personally paying for buses. Between that and the parent pageant comment it was starting to sound a little strange

Count me as an additional person who heard the advocacy suggesting they will pay for the additional buses themselves. It may not have been a position take by the PTA; but that doesn't mean the suggestion wasn't made. Regardless, the point is that Jamestown is at the top tier of wealth as a whole community v. other school communities in Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:We've been in Taylor for 13 years over multiple kids. We've been very satisfied. And, Taylor is a little more diverse ethnically and economically than Jamestown, according to my observations and the APS stats. But, I'm not going to tell you Taylor is a really diverse place.

We moved to the Taylor zone last year, so this has been our first year at the school, but everyone I've met is pretty down-to-earth. My kid is enjoying it. The building is old, but the grounds are big-- they have 3 playgrounds (I have no idea the situation at other schools).

As for diversity, at the last PTA mtg, the principal gave us stats on that, and I believe the school is ~65% white.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Previous Taylor parent. One thing I’ll note is that Jamestown and some other NA schools get thrown around on here for self important parents etc. I don’t know if that’s true or not. But Taylor never gets mentioned in that way. In fact Taylor almost never gets mentioned at all. I found it a pretty down to earth community.

+1. Jamestown = having your PTA fundraiser at Washington Golf. One year pre-Covid there was even a Miss America-style event where the dads threw in increasing amounts of cash to support their wives in the pageant. Wish I were kidding. It was awful.

Stop. This cannot possibly be true.

It sounds insane but nope, it happened. I’m not sure how they thought it would look but it was mortifying.

It was weird, but it was one time and it went with the theme - Prom. There was a fundraiser prom king and queen. Never been done again. Stop hating on Jamestown. It really is a nice school. Love the Principal.

DP. Everyone I know there personally is perfectly nice, but also a bit out of touch.

You are probably just as out of touch.

Thanks for all the info!. Jamestown sounds like Big Little Lies. Maybe we will avoid that one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We looked at all these areas as well and have lived in Arlington for a very long time. I would say that from a wealth perspective Jamestown is one notch above the others. Remember Jamestown is the one where the parents did not want any boundary changes so were willing to pay out of their pocket for more buses specifically for Jamestown. This is not a joke, it was in the written public comments on the boundary process several years ago. Our top choice was Nottingham due to walkability, involvement of families in activities and things like that. From an education perspective they all seem about the same

NP. I don’t want to derail the thread but is this the culture at Jamestown or is it a small group of people? If this is a bigger issue than a small group of parents, we would like to avoid this school.

It was a comment by one person. Never anything advocated by the school community. This wouldn’t even be legal. Buses are allocated by APS and private citizens can’t charter a bus.

There has been all kinds of nonsense over the years with zoning. Tuckahoe and Nottingham got really insane a few years ago. Just don’t pay attention to it.

Thanks! I know people say a lot of crazy things during any public process. I was curious if it was a larger group since the comment involved parents personally paying for buses. Between that and the parent pageant comment it was starting to sound a little strange

I hate to say it, but it IS a strange place. Sure there are normal and lovely families but there is a powerful current of new money running through Jamestown that separates it culturally from the other North Arlington schools. We ended up at a private during covid and I find the parents friendlier and the shared values higher, despite the fact that Jamestown is ostensibly a public school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We looked at all these areas as well and have lived in Arlington for a very long time. I would say that from a wealth perspective Jamestown is one notch above the others. Remember Jamestown is the one where the parents did not want any boundary changes so were willing to pay out of their pocket for more buses specifically for Jamestown. This is not a joke, it was in the written public comments on the boundary process several years ago. Our top choice was Nottingham due to walkability, involvement of families in activities and things like that. From an education perspective they all seem about the same

NP. I don’t want to derail the thread but is this the culture at Jamestown or is it a small group of people? If this is a bigger issue than a small group of parents, we would like to avoid this school.

It was a comment by one person. Never anything advocated by the school community. This wouldn’t even be legal. Buses are allocated by APS and private citizens can’t charter a bus.

There has been all kinds of nonsense over the years with zoning. Tuckahoe and Nottingham got really insane a few years ago. Just don’t pay attention to it.

Thanks! I know people say a lot of crazy things during any public process. I was curious if it was a larger group since the comment involved parents personally paying for buses. Between that and the parent pageant comment it was starting to sound a little strange

Schools in a mediocre-plus school system in the great white north. What else is there to say?

Anonymous wrote:Im curious if the demographics at these high SES has changed during the pandemic. It seemed like every other person left for private school.

No, everyone was already rich. Some of the lower incone ones left. At our school one of my child’s friends (who was a minority) moved apartments and went to a different school. Another friend had been living with a grandparent who died and the estate sold the house. So, they moved to a much cheaper area. I’d say 90% of the school is UMC. Most of the poc are Asian or mixed race IME.