You should have picked South Arlington for the people alone, sorry not sorry to North Arlington people on here.

But for seven months it’ll be fine, obviously. Just prepare yourself. And there are great things around here for kids to do!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids in Fairfax, but I know APS well. APS in my experience definitely is pushing ipads in younger grades (even in Pre-k). My 2nd grader in FCPS doesn’t use them at all, and my 5th grader uses tech for projects, but his teachers still have most assignments paper and pencil. I’ve been happy with the technology used in FCPS. APS does too much tech now. See how the West Springfield, Burke area fits with your commute. Lots of military here. Look into metro and VRE or metro bus for commute options.

Nice. PP didn't ask for opinions about the school system. They're asking for alternatives to extended day.

Oops- Sorry! I viewed this thread on the FCPS page, not knowing it was revitalized from 2019 and then the entire post thread switched to APS just after I replied.
Thanks for calling me out on that- didn’t realize.

Anonymous wrote:Kids in Fairfax, but I know APS well. APS in my experience definitely is pushing ipads in younger grades (even in Pre-k). My 2nd grader in FCPS doesn’t use them at all, and my 5th grader uses tech for projects, but his teachers still have most assignments paper and pencil. I’ve been happy with the technology used in FCPS. APS does too much tech now. See how the West Springfield, Burke area fits with your commute. Lots of military here. Look into metro and VRE or metro bus for commute options.

Nice. PP didn't ask for opinions about the school system. They're asking for alternatives to extended day.

Kids in Fairfax, but I know APS well. APS in my experience definitely is pushing ipads in younger grades (even in Pre-k). My 2nd grader in FCPS doesn’t use them at all, and my 5th grader uses tech for projects, but his teachers still have most assignments paper and pencil. I’ve been happy with the technology used in FCPS. APS does too much tech now. See how the West Springfield, Burke area fits with your commute. Lots of military here. Look into metro and VRE or metro bus for commute options.

Hi,
We are moving to Arlington VA (courthouse-clarendon area) and planning to enroll our daughter to the public elementary school next year. We know that the extended day program usually have limited space and is based on lottery? What are the other options if we don't get in? I saw an afterschool enrichment offered by some daycare but charges $1,700 while their full day program is only 2,200? It seems over priced for just a few hours every day, so trying to figure out other options if the extended day lottery didn't work out...

Thanks in advance!
Sophie

It sounds like you won't be here very long, so does it even matter how much the ipads are used? I would worry about that for a longer-term posting, but for a handful of months, I wouldn't let that be an issue. I'd worry more about just finding a nice place to live with a decent commute, and a school that won't leave your kids below grade level when you move on.

I also wouldn't apply for an option school because people are looking long-term when they do that. Someone else could use that spot for 6 years, vs. you using it for a couple of months. That seems pretty selfish to me. And yes, they have waitlists, but then that family has to decide whether to transfer their kid after they've just gotten settled in their neighborhood school. Just because you are legally entitled to do that because you're military doesn't mean you should.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I don't have to move to Arlington? Tell the military that. You would also know that if you read the previous threads and ALSO know that there have been some rude responses. I am assuming they are rude because they disagree with my parenting...which they have no right to be rude about. Don't come on here and tell me your "done" with my thread because I accuse rude people of being rude, which the very strong gratitude expressed to those who were helpful!

The military bars you from living in Fairfax or Alexandria?

You can live large in Arlington with the bha.

Not all schools let kids take home iPads. Campbell does not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get this post - I just checked Zillow and there are plenty of options for rent - even SFHs. For example, there is a SFH for rent on Washington Blvd in 22205 with 4 beds for less than your budget. Yeah, the home is dated, but oh well. You'll be right near Westover and with easy access to Ballston.

Maybe because it’s only 7-8 months? Harder to get a short term lease.

All leases have a military clause so that doesn’t matter. OP can sign a full lease.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I don't have to move to Arlington? Tell the military that. You would also know that if you read the previous threads and ALSO know that there have been some rude responses. I am assuming they are rude because they disagree with my parenting...which they have no right to be rude about. Don't come on here and tell me your "done" with my thread because I accuse rude people of being rude, which the very strong gratitude expressed to those who were helpful!

The military bars you from living in Fairfax or Alexandria?

+ 1

OP doesn't like the advice she's gotten so she lashes out at the posters.

Anonymous wrote:I don't get this post - I just checked Zillow and there are plenty of options for rent - even SFHs. For example, there is a SFH for rent on Washington Blvd in 22205 with 4 beds for less than your budget. Yeah, the home is dated, but oh well. You'll be right near Westover and with easy access to Ballston.

Maybe because it’s only 7-8 months? Harder to get a short term lease.

I don't get this post - I just checked Zillow and there are plenty of options for rent - even SFHs. For example, there is a SFH for rent on Washington Blvd in 22205 with 4 beds for less than your budget. Yeah, the home is dated, but oh well. You'll be right near Westover and with easy access to Ballston.

Anonymous wrote:they *pretend* to teach cursive in third grade but do not actually

(at least not at our APS elementary school)

OP, Abingdon is a fine school. It has a great principal but I think she is retiring. Fairlington is a great community. The pools are super fun in the summer. It's a great option for a military family coming to Arlington for a few years.

Many of us don't like the iPads but have kind of given up fighting the system on the whole thing. You can opt out but that makes you an annoying parent. But they don't get used a ton in the younger grades and APS is getting more sensible about it now vs. when it first started.

She already retired but the new guy is good. Fairlington is a great place for families but it sounds like this lady should go off the grid out in Winchester or something

Anonymous wrote:People are trying to be helpful and temper your expectations. Arlington is a very tech-focused school system. You not wanting your kids on iPads is not going to make them magically go away. In the older grades they do assessments and the SOL exams on computers. They teach cursive in third grade. Your other option is Catholic school - I don’t know how they are on technology, but you’d have to pay.

ASFS is more hard nosed than most of the other schools. But because of all the differentiated learning, the kids are still on computers, especially the later grades. But you will get a million pieces of paper coming home as well.

Will you be sending your children to aftercare? A former neighbor told me that Catholic school+aftercare was pretty much a wash compared to APS+aftercare -- for three children.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks to the 3 people who stated bah covering their mortgage. Mortgage is and always will be cheaper than renting, therefore I can find next to nothing in NOVA in that price range to rent....including apartments. I was lucky, as I stated earlier, to find a few 2 bedroom and much smaller 3 bedrooms in shirlington/fairlington that are in our price range, but I'm iffy on the school. I will contact the school when they are back in session to ask questions. Thanks everyone that took the time to write helpful responses!!

Have you talked with a realtor? We rent a 5bedroom, 3bath house on a nice cul de sac in one the most expensive districts for $3,600. Seems you should’ve able to find a 2-3 bedroom house for your price range. There just probably isn’t a lot available right now, but a realtor would know when their clients’ properties are coming available. There is also the Avalon on Glebe. It has 2-3 bedroom apartments for $2,000-2,800. I’d guess it is zoned for Glebe Elem which my friends like.

That said, APS has a lot of iPads use. If you don’t like that, don’t send your kid to APS. Yes, you can opt out, but I’ve never heard of anyone in our school doing that. Weekly tests and quizzes are on iPads, students make videos/movie trailers for quarter reviews, nightly math homework is iPad, leveled readers for slower readers... etc.