Anonymous
Post 09/03/2012 23:38     Subject: Re:Northern Virginia Magazine: August issue lists best elementary schools in NOVA
Anonymous wrote:No, our school was on the list, but I know several just as good schools that weren't.


And yet you happened to end up in one of the featured schools? Perhaps that wasn't a total coincidence.
Anonymous
Post 09/03/2012 22:23     Subject: Re:Northern Virginia Magazine: August issue lists best elementary schools in NOVA
Mosby Woods does pull from nice areas. 50% of the students are from vienna and the rest come from fairfax for the base school. My point was really in reply to 6:32 about how the worst schools tend to have heavy immigrant populations. This is true, the parents either are uneducated or too busy working multiple jobs to get ahead. However, Mosby Woods is not a title 1 school, not enough poor kids at the base school, but still quite a few according to the stats. We do have an aap center, but unlike other schools, we have more general ed classes in each grade then we do app. Unlike other center schools on the list, like louise archer, we are majority base school kids. For the record, mosby woods is our base school and the kids are in aap. Kuddos to the kids at mosby woods!
Anonymous
Post 09/03/2012 16:04     Subject: Re:Northern Virginia Magazine: August issue lists best elementary schools in NOVA
No, our school was on the list, but I know several just as good schools that weren't.
Anonymous
Post 09/03/2012 14:54     Subject: Re:Northern Virginia Magazine: August issue lists best elementary schools in NOVA
Anonymous wrote:Mosby Woods might have some poorer families but it also draws from wealthy areas especially for AAP. I agree with 10:09. This list is a joke anyway.


It includes most of the local elementary schools in the area that are considered desirable. Sour grapes?
Anonymous
Post 09/03/2012 12:11     Subject: Re:Northern Virginia Magazine: August issue lists best elementary schools in NOVA
Mosby Woods might have some poorer families but it also draws from wealthy areas especially for AAP. I agree with 10:09. This list is a joke anyway.
Anonymous
Post 09/03/2012 12:01     Subject: Re:Northern Virginia Magazine: August issue lists best elementary schools in NOVA
Anonymous wrote:I guess it depends on your take of NCLB. It was, IMHO, the only good thing Bush 2 did. For the record, our school, Mosby Woods, has 2 aap in 5th and 3 gen Ed. In fact, we have more gen. Ed than aap in every grade. So it is a good indicator for our school. I think SOLs are a great way to measure student success. I also think parents need to take on a more active role in their child's learning and not rely 100% on the schools to educate. The Washington Post had an interesting article on children's learning and successes in the Outlook page yesterday. "What matters more to my kids' future: Their school or my time?". I made the snide comment "too bad" as too many folks think if their school is "wealthier" their kids are better off. Our school's scores and this article show this isn't always so. Peace.


Congratulations for your school.

For the most part, the schools on this list were indeed schools that are in wealthier communities. Every Arlington school on the list was in North Arlington, every school in McLean was on the list, and so on. There are clearly exceptions like Mosby Woods, but this list will encourage, not discourage, parents to seek out schools in more affluent areas. They know that parents in those communities are more likely to be involved with their kids' education and less likely simply to rely on the schools to do all the work.
Anonymous
Post 09/03/2012 10:09     Subject: Northern Virginia Magazine: August issue lists best elementary schools in NOVA
I read that magazine's ranking on preschool/daycare. It was a total joke. So I don't have much interest in their elementary school ranking.