Please take a look at the final fiscal year budget for 2024 at the link below. The demographic makeup of Alexandria's schools are on page 157. This graph clearly shows the difference in the wealth of students at each school. The schools performing the best have the least amount of children on free or reduced lunch. LC by far has less than half of FARMS than ANY other school in the city at only 18 percent reduced lunch. The next chunk of schools have about 40 percent. The majority of schools have about 55 percent of FARMS students. So for the last time, it is not some special curriculum making the difference in test score! It is the financial makeup of the schools. If we want better schools in the city we need city council to get on board with it and quit it with the affordable housing.

https://www.acps.k12.va.us/departments/financial-services/budget

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:MacArthur a very good a school. The new building is beautiful and there are plenty of excellent, caring teachers. Of course some things could be better, like if the ever opened the playground for the kids to play on... but we are plenty satisfied.

The new building is beautiful and everyone raves about it.

I don't doubt that the teachers are caring. So why are the proficiency scores so terrible? Better than most of the other East Side schools (George Mason is just a disaster!) but still dismal.

I think quality of education is what should determine if a school is "very good" not how nice the building is or how caring the teachers are.

Why don't people care about actual education in Alexandria? Genuine question. I don't understand it.

Because the people who move to Alexandria want to meet other rich people at a wine bar or nice restaurant by the waterfront and pay tutors to get their kids into a good school. The people who care about education move to Arlington or Fairfax.

You mean move to wealthier school districts with less poverty and ESL? Also, you're an a s s hole.

The difference in ESL numbers aren't that different in the three districts. Between Arlington and Alexandria it's only 5%.

The economically disadvantaged numbers are very different.

Why should anyone be called names for moving to provide their kid with what is clearly a superior education? What is wrong with that?

Nice try at gaslighting. PP didnt say "we chose to move for X.and Y reasons." No, they shit on every person who lives in Alexandria by saying "Because the people who move to Alexandria want to meet other rich people at a wine bar or nice restaurant by the waterfront and pay tutors to get their kids into a good school." Only an ass hole says that.

Disagreeing with you is not gaslighting. It's disagreement. People have different experiences. And PP sums up my experience in Alexandria. Name calling doesn't make you right or change my lived experience.

Got it. It's OK for you to denigrate everyone in Alexandria, but getting called out for saying that is name calling. You don't get to say 'Alexandrians are rich snobs who don't care about their kids' and then claim that's not a blanket insult because it's your lived experience. Kindly go F ck yourself.

+1 Government employee here married to an academic. HHI of 210. Children went Maury- GW- TC. Both kids went on to excellent universities. It gets really tiresome listening to the bigots masquerading as progressive liberals.

+100 similar experience, but we even [gasp!] live in the West End and our kids HD to go to Hammond!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread turned into mean craziness. Here are some points.

1. My child does not need or have a tutor. The teachers are excellent AND caring.

2. If the city actually wanted equity/equal whatever they would bus the rich English speaking kids who go to Lyles Crouch to the other schools. That's the only difference in scores! Lyles crouch has huge class sizes in an old tiny classrooms. The difference on score test scores would also go up everywhere if Alexandria city council did not keep courting economically disadvantaged people.

The "rich English speaking kids" left and went private during the pandemic and haven't returned. It's not the demographics that is the difference, it's the curriculum at LC.

Disagree.

What exactly do you mean by curriculum? Please post a link. Thanks! Why do all Alexandria school posts come back to you posting this??

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread turned into mean craziness. Here are some points.

1. My child does not need or have a tutor. The teachers are excellent AND caring.

2. If the city actually wanted equity/equal whatever they would bus the rich English speaking kids who go to Lyles Crouch to the other schools. That's the only difference in scores! Lyles crouch has huge class sizes in an old tiny classrooms. The difference on score test scores would also go up everywhere if Alexandria city council did not keep courting economically disadvantaged people.

The "rich English speaking kids" left and went private during the pandemic and haven't returned. It's not the demographics that is the difference, it's the curriculum at LC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MacArthur a very good a school. The new building is beautiful and there are plenty of excellent, caring teachers. Of course some things could be better, like if the ever opened the playground for the kids to play on... but we are plenty satisfied.

The new building is beautiful and everyone raves about it.

I don't doubt that the teachers are caring. So why are the proficiency scores so terrible? Better than most of the other East Side schools (George Mason is just a disaster!) but still dismal.

I think quality of education is what should determine if a school is "very good" not how nice the building is or how caring the teachers are.

Why don't people care about actual education in Alexandria? Genuine question. I don't understand it.

Because the people who move to Alexandria want to meet other rich people at a wine bar or nice restaurant by the waterfront and pay tutors to get their kids into a good school. The people who care about education move to Arlington or Fairfax.

You mean move to wealthier school districts with less poverty and ESL? Also, you're an a s s hole.

The difference in ESL numbers aren't that different in the three districts. Between Arlington and Alexandria it's only 5%.

The economically disadvantaged numbers are very different.

Why should anyone be called names for moving to provide their kid with what is clearly a superior education? What is wrong with that?

Nice try at gaslighting. PP didnt say "we chose to move for X.and Y reasons." No, they shit on every person who lives in Alexandria by saying "Because the people who move to Alexandria want to meet other rich people at a wine bar or nice restaurant by the waterfront and pay tutors to get their kids into a good school." Only an ass hole says that.

Disagreeing with you is not gaslighting. It's disagreement. People have different experiences. And PP sums up my experience in Alexandria. Name calling doesn't make you right or change my lived experience.

Got it. It's OK for you to denigrate everyone in Alexandria, but getting called out for saying that is name calling. You don't get to say 'Alexandrians are rich snobs who don't care about their kids' and then claim that's not a blanket insult because it's your lived experience. Kindly go F ck yourself.

+1 Government employee here married to an academic. HHI of 210. Children went Maury- GW- TC. Both kids went on to excellent universities. It gets really tiresome listening to the bigots masquerading as progressive liberals.

How long ago did your kids graduate from ACPS? How do you feel about them going to "excellent universities" on the backs of the kids ACPS failed?

Also, around here people talk about UVA like it's Harvard. But I'm sure they went to perfectly fine schools.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread turned into mean craziness. Here are some points.

1. My child does not need or have a tutor. The teachers are excellent AND caring.

2. If the city actually wanted equity/equal whatever they would bus the rich English speaking kids who go to Lyles Crouch to the other schools. That's the only difference in scores! Lyles crouch has huge class sizes in an old tiny classrooms. The difference on score test scores would also go up everywhere if Alexandria city council did not keep courting economically disadvantaged people.

Oh. You're one of those people who think certain people are obligated work for others. That's cute.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MacArthur a very good a school. The new building is beautiful and there are plenty of excellent, caring teachers. Of course some things could be better, like if the ever opened the playground for the kids to play on... but we are plenty satisfied.

The new building is beautiful and everyone raves about it.

I don't doubt that the teachers are caring. So why are the proficiency scores so terrible? Better than most of the other East Side schools (George Mason is just a disaster!) but still dismal.

I think quality of education is what should determine if a school is "very good" not how nice the building is or how caring the teachers are.

Why don't people care about actual education in Alexandria? Genuine question. I don't understand it.

Because the people who move to Alexandria want to meet other rich people at a wine bar or nice restaurant by the waterfront and pay tutors to get their kids into a good school. The people who care about education move to Arlington or Fairfax.

You mean move to wealthier school districts with less poverty and ESL? Also, you're an a s s hole.

The difference in ESL numbers aren't that different in the three districts. Between Arlington and Alexandria it's only 5%.

The economically disadvantaged numbers are very different.

Why should anyone be called names for moving to provide their kid with what is clearly a superior education? What is wrong with that?

Nice try at gaslighting. PP didnt say "we chose to move for X.and Y reasons." No, they shit on every person who lives in Alexandria by saying "Because the people who move to Alexandria want to meet other rich people at a wine bar or nice restaurant by the waterfront and pay tutors to get their kids into a good school." Only an ass hole says that.

Disagreeing with you is not gaslighting. It's disagreement. People have different experiences. And PP sums up my experience in Alexandria. Name calling doesn't make you right or change my lived experience.

Got it. It's OK for you to denigrate everyone in Alexandria, but getting called out for saying that is name calling. You don't get to say 'Alexandrians are rich snobs who don't care about their kids' and then claim that's not a blanket insult because it's your lived experience. Kindly go F ck yourself.

+1 Government employee here married to an academic. HHI of 210. Children went Maury- GW- TC. Both kids went on to excellent universities. It gets really tiresome listening to the bigots masquerading as progressive liberals.

Pk-8th is terrible. I hear about little kids being bullied in the halls by older children. They should not be mixing 10 years of grades in one building! APS also has this weird thing against building lunchrooms/ cafeterias big enough to accommodate children eating lunch at a reasonable hour.

Making George Mason larger though is a very good idea, the city is currently building thousands and thousands of affordable housing and trying to make the city as dense as possible. Those kids will have to go to school somewhere!

Anonymous wrote:Jefferson Houston is actually a pk -8th school which is crazy! Innocent five year olds are on same school bus as rowdy 8th graders! There are plenty of wealthy people in the school zone though. Old Town homes aren't cheap!

School Board is considering making George Mason a Pk-8 school too. It makes a lot of sense there since they'll have a giant new building and they are still losing a significant number of kids each year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread turned into mean craziness. Here are some points.

1. My child does not need or have a tutor. The teachers are excellent AND caring.

2. If the city actually wanted equity/equal whatever they would bus the rich English speaking kids who go to Lyles Crouch to the other schools. That's the only difference in scores! Lyles crouch has huge class sizes in an old tiny classrooms. The difference on score test scores would also go up everywhere if Alexandria city council did not keep courting economically disadvantaged people.

It did. Sadly, I've experienced that kind of thing face to face with ACPS parents too.

1 - I think that's great for your child and I hope it continues!

2 - Could the city send some of the Lyles Crouch ELL students to other schools too? Because the LC ELL students are out performing the GP at other schools. In reading the L-C ELL kids scored 75% in reading and 67% in Math. At George Mason, the ELL kids scored 17% in reading and 28% in math. The GM GP kids scored 66% in reading and 71% in math.

Something very good is happening at Lyles Crouch. ACPS should be eager to replicate it. I wonder why they refuse.

The ELL kids at L-C are doing better than the GP kids at MacArthur, Barrett, Brooks and MVCS too.

Jefferson Houston is actually a pk -8th school which is crazy! Innocent five year olds are on same school bus as rowdy 8th graders! There are plenty of wealthy people in the school zone though. Old Town homes aren't cheap!

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread turned into mean craziness. Here are some points.

1. My child does not need or have a tutor. The teachers are excellent AND caring.

2. If the city actually wanted equity/equal whatever they would bus the rich English speaking kids who go to Lyles Crouch to the other schools. That's the only difference in scores! Lyles crouch has huge class sizes in an old tiny classrooms. The difference on score test scores would also go up everywhere if Alexandria city council did not keep courting economically disadvantaged people.

Alexandria built a high end townhome development and zoned it to Jefferson Houston so rich kids would go to the worst performing elementary in the city. The parents were quick to send their kids to private school or figured out how to get a transfer. There is no appetite for bussing to say the least.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread turned into mean craziness. Here are some points.

1. My child does not need or have a tutor. The teachers are excellent AND caring.

2. If the city actually wanted equity/equal whatever they would bus the rich English speaking kids who go to Lyles Crouch to the other schools. That's the only difference in scores! Lyles crouch has huge class sizes in an old tiny classrooms. The difference on score test scores would also go up everywhere if Alexandria city council did not keep courting economically disadvantaged people.

It did. Sadly, I've experienced that kind of thing face to face with ACPS parents too.

1 - I think that's great for your child and I hope it continues!

2 - Could the city send some of the Lyles Crouch ELL students to other schools too? Because the LC ELL students are out performing the GP at other schools. In reading the L-C ELL kids scored 75% in reading and 67% in Math. At George Mason, the ELL kids scored 17% in reading and 28% in math. The GM GP kids scored 66% in reading and 71% in math.

Something very good is happening at Lyles Crouch. ACPS should be eager to replicate it. I wonder why they refuse.

Wow, this thread turned into mean craziness. Here are some points.

1. My child does not need or have a tutor. The teachers are excellent AND caring.

2. If the city actually wanted equity/equal whatever they would bus the rich English speaking kids who go to Lyles Crouch to the other schools. That's the only difference in scores! Lyles crouch has huge class sizes in an old tiny classrooms. The difference on score test scores would also go up everywhere if Alexandria city council did not keep courting economically disadvantaged people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MacArthur a very good a school. The new building is beautiful and there are plenty of excellent, caring teachers. Of course some things could be better, like if the ever opened the playground for the kids to play on... but we are plenty satisfied.

The new building is beautiful and everyone raves about it.

I don't doubt that the teachers are caring. So why are the proficiency scores so terrible? Better than most of the other East Side schools (George Mason is just a disaster!) but still dismal.

I think quality of education is what should determine if a school is "very good" not how nice the building is or how caring the teachers are.

Why don't people care about actual education in Alexandria? Genuine question. I don't understand it.

Because the people who move to Alexandria want to meet other rich people at a wine bar or nice restaurant by the waterfront and pay tutors to get their kids into a good school. The people who care about education move to Arlington or Fairfax.

You mean move to wealthier school districts with less poverty and ESL? Also, you're an a s s hole.

The difference in ESL numbers aren't that different in the three districts. Between Arlington and Alexandria it's only 5%.

The economically disadvantaged numbers are very different.

Why should anyone be called names for moving to provide their kid with what is clearly a superior education? What is wrong with that?

Nice try at gaslighting. PP didnt say "we chose to move for X.and Y reasons." No, they shit on every person who lives in Alexandria by saying "Because the people who move to Alexandria want to meet other rich people at a wine bar or nice restaurant by the waterfront and pay tutors to get their kids into a good school." Only an ass hole says that.

Disagreeing with you is not gaslighting. It's disagreement. People have different experiences. And PP sums up my experience in Alexandria. Name calling doesn't make you right or change my lived experience.

Got it. It's OK for you to denigrate everyone in Alexandria, but getting called out for saying that is name calling. You don't get to say 'Alexandrians are rich snobs who don't care about their kids' and then claim that's not a blanket insult because it's your lived experience. Kindly go F ck yourself.