Anonymous wrote:Folks who have kids at Campbell or Drew especially, can you tell me whether your experience has been better than mine? We are a month into K at Claremont, and we like the school/program, but the other children are breathtaking in their aggressiveness.

For context, I have an outgoing, well socialized kid who did great at a private Montessori school, and these encounters are completely alien. I don't know if it's that Montessori really does deliver on the empathy/community front, or whether private schools simply can kick out the mean kids, or whether it's all about size (it certainly seems like kids are thrown to the wolves in a big public school classroom in a way they weren't in our old school, which went up through upper el btw and those kids were all great). Or is it just Claremont? Is something wrong here? Do I just teach my kid to forget all her nice behavior and put up her dukes with the other kids? Or should I have chosen one of the other schools (thus my question about Campbell/Drew)?

Here is the kind of sad statement I have had to hear barely a month into school, "I guess I just have to get used to being tripped and pinched and punched". This has not been isolated to one child or one classroom context (it happens in line, at recess, in the cafeteria, during specials, on the bus, etc). To be fair, when I complained about one child's inappropriate behavior, it was dealt with, and it does sound like the teachers will do something when a kid tells on another kid for hitting...but I am told that the other children actively watch for the teacher's attention to be diverted elsewhere before grabbing her arm and digging their nails into it (this is at least two different children on multiple occasions) or punching her in the chest or pulling her hair. In other words, I feel like I could seek a solution if it were one context or one child. But what is there to discuss with the teacher or even the principal if the problem is pervasive? I don't even know what I should be asking for.

So I just want to know...is this normal? I don't remember kindergarten being quite so mean when I was a kid, but maybe things have changed. Is it worth switching to one of the other schools next year or is this just what I should expect at APS? Thanks in advance.

Anonymous wrote:My twins are in Primary Montessori at Drew. They both have great teachers but the classes are on the large size for a teacher and an assistant. My son is not having any problems in his class but my daughter is being relentlessly teased by two boys who are older. The teacher has been in contact with me about this since my daughter has been crying getting on the bus every morning. Her teacher and I are working on empowering my daughter to stand up to these two boys. The teacher also told me that these boys are mean and she is also working that side of the problem. From what I have seen so far at Drew, I am impressed with the administration and teachers and how they help the kids to tackle these problems 1st on their own and then to intervene before it gets out of hand. My daughter's teacher is very responsive to email and returns all phone calls at the end of the school day.

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to a school with barely a 1 percent FARMs rate, and we have seen our share of behavioral problems. The school tells me there is not much they can do when 20% of the kids are diagnosed with some type of learning, attention, or behavior issues (money buys a lot of testing and treatment when the little snowflakes are acting up). I have sympathy, for example, to an autistic child who losses his mind when class lines are not straight, but do I have to accept my kid getting tackled a once a week?

Anonymous wrote:My twins are in Primary Montessori at Drew. They both have great teachers but the classes are on the large size for a teacher and an assistant. My son is not having any problems in his class but my daughter is being relentlessly teased by two boys who are older. The teacher has been in contact with me about this since my daughter has been crying getting on the bus every morning. Her teacher and I are working on empowering my daughter to stand up to these two boys. The teacher also told me that these boys are mean and she is also working that side of the problem. From what I have seen so far at Drew, I am impressed with the administration and teachers and how they help the kids to tackle these problems 1st on their own and then to intervene before it gets out of hand. My daughter's teacher is very responsive to email and returns all phone calls at the end of the school day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not sure how many ways people can say this. South Arlington schools are Arlington schools. Going to a "lower quality" Arlington school is like going to the lowest-ranked Ivy, compared to public schools in most of the rest of the country. I'm not worried about the quality of my kids education and if I can help other kids at the school by being active and engaged, so much the better.

Peer education and learning is an immense part of learning. The studies bear it out. Sorry to burst your delusional bubble a 50% FARMS school does not have any relevant apology to an Ivy. This phenomenon of upper middle class kids attending high FARMS school is a new phenomenon in the region borne of gentrification and I think many of these parents are due for rude awakening down the line with respect to both their children's education and social development.

I'm not saying diversity is bad, but 50% poor is not diverse, it is a lopsided, deleterious learning environment for everyone. A don't play the race card, my melanin shade runs brown.

There's a difference between a 50% FARMS school in a place like Ward 8 in DC, where the 50% who are not FARMS are likely to not be a lot wealthier or better educated than the FARMS kids--not to mention being part of a dysfunctional school system--and a 50% FARMS school in a county like Arlington, which is one of the wealthiest and most-educated places in the country, with a high-performing school system. I'm not saying kids in a 50% FARMS school will always be fine. I'm saying upper middle class kids in a 50% FARMS school in Arlington VA will be fine--and that is the point so many people keep debating. I don't disagree that putting a kid in a shitty school is not a bad idea. But I really, really, don't think there are any shitty schools in Arlington, and I'm tired of reading posts that say "I don't understand why someone with the means to live elsewhere would do this horrible thing to their kids." Because I'm doing it, and I can see with my own eyes that it is not horrible. I've had kids in S. Arlington schools for six years, so I do know what I'm talking about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not sure how many ways people can say this. South Arlington schools are Arlington schools. Going to a "lower quality" Arlington school is like going to the lowest-ranked Ivy, compared to public schools in most of the rest of the country. I'm not worried about the quality of my kids education and if I can help other kids at the school by being active and engaged, so much the better.

Peer education and learning is an immense part of learning. The studies bear it out. Sorry to burst your delusional bubble a 50% FARMS school does not have any relevant apology to an Ivy. This phenomenon of upper middle class kids attending high FARMS school is a new phenomenon in the region borne of gentrification and I think many of these parents are due for rude awakening down the line with respect to both their children's education and social development.

I'm not saying diversity is bad, but 50% poor is not diverse, it is a lopsided, deleterious learning environment for everyone. A don't play the race card, my melanin shade runs brown.

There's a difference between a 50% FARMS school in a place like Ward 8 in DC, where the 50% who are not FARMS are likely to not be a lot wealthier or better educated than the FARMS kids--not to mention being part of a dysfunctional school system--and a 50% FARMS school in a county like Arlington, which is one of the wealthiest and most-educated places in the country, with a high-performing school system. I'm not saying kids in a 50% FARMS school will always be fine. I'm saying upper middle class kids in a 50% FARMS school in Arlington VA will be fine--and that is the point so many people keep debating. I don't disagree that putting a kid in a shitty school is not a bad idea. But I really, really, don't think there are any shitty schools in Arlington, and I'm tired of reading posts that say "I don't understand why someone with the means to live elsewhere would do this horrible thing to their kids." Because I'm doing it, and I can see with my own eyes that it is not horrible. I've had kids in S. Arlington schools for six years, so I do know what I'm talking about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not sure how many ways people can say this. South Arlington schools are Arlington schools. Going to a "lower quality" Arlington school is like going to the lowest-ranked Ivy, compared to public schools in most of the rest of the country. I'm not worried about the quality of my kids education and if I can help other kids at the school by being active and engaged, so much the better.

Peer education and learning is an immense part of learning. The studies bear it out. Sorry to burst your delusional bubble a 50% FARMS school does not have any relevant apology to an Ivy. This phenomenon of upper middle class kids attending high FARMS school is a new phenomenon in the region borne of gentrification and I think many of these parents are due for rude awakening down the line with respect to both their children's education and social development.

I'm not saying diversity is bad, but 50% poor is not diverse, it is a lopsided, deleterious learning environment for everyone. A don't play the race card, my melanin shade runs brown.

Anonymous wrote:I think the APS board's recent statement that it's putting further redistricting on hold tells you the N. Arlington parents who call the shots have sent a strong message they'd rather send their kids to overcrowded schools than schools with poor kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yep. Poor kids should be segregated in schools with other poor kids, where they can hit and pinch each other and never learn anything. Good thing privileged people have no moral obligation to children other than their own and can feel good about removing their kids from these situations. Why try to create a better situation for all by creating a reasonable balance of diversity across all schools, if it might create the tiniest negative impact on your highly-privileged kid?

Spoken by someone who either sends her kid to private school or a public school in a "good"neighborhood.

No, I was being sarcastic. I am white and upper middle class and send my kids to their neighborhood school in South Arlington, which is 22% white and 55% FARMS.

I understand not segregating on purpose, but don't understand sending your kid to a lower quality school if you could better quality one. 55% FARMS kids whatever color they usually = low school readiness overall.

Not sure how many ways people can say this. South Arlington schools are Arlington schools. Going to a "lower quality" Arlington school is like going to the lowest-ranked Ivy, compared to public schools in most of the rest of the country. I'm not worried about the quality of my kids education and if I can help other kids at the school by being active and engaged, so much the better.