Anonymous wrote:If I were OP, I would be buying in the Yorktown catchment area, as far to the NW of the county as I could find a suitable gouse

Exactly.

If you can afford N Arlington, why not go to McLean instead? Schools are better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I were OP, I would be buying in the Yorktown catchment area, as far to the NW of the county as I could find a suitable gouse

OP be aware the long term plan is for WL to be 3000 students, while YHS will remain about 2100.

The plan agreed on was for W-L to be capped at 2,700. The new high school at the old career center will soon open. So W-L will not get larger than the planned max at all. Yorktown will probably get larger than 2000 students since (like W-L) it will need to help with all the student growth in South Arlington. Don’t forget the boundaries will all change within a few years.

Anonymous wrote:My kids have been in N Arl and S Arl elementaries. And they’ve been through APS middle school. I’d say you should look at Jamestown, Nottingham, Taylor, Discovery. If you need public transportation nearby look at Glebe (can be more expensive to buy because it’s near Ballston) Tuckahoe. Consider Ashlawn as well. If you need S Arl for some reason, I’d consider Long Branch.

I do love that one "South Arlington" school you deem acceptable is actually in NORTH Arlington.

You'll find that the schools have the same curriculum way over on the scary south side. There might be some incredibly lovely Hispanic families at your school that you'll have to interact with. They might live in APAH housing too. Your house will cost $200-700k less, and you will be surrounded by the actual middle class. Many of your neighbors are will also be people who work to enrich the community (like teachers!) and there will be fewer lobbyists and lawyers.

All of these things add up to wonderful communities of diverse families. I know people with kids at every single South Arlington elementary school and they are all happy. These are families that value education and want their kids to have the best educational outcomes. Don't believe the boogey man talk these are doomed schools because they serve a needier population. That it what people who pay half a million dollars more for the same house like to preach, but it is not the case on the ground.

Anonymous wrote:If I were OP, I would be buying in the Yorktown catchment area, as far to the NW of the county as I could find a suitable gouse

OP be aware the long term plan is for WL to be 3000 students, while YHS will remain about 2100.

Arlington Forest and Dominion Hills are also down-to-earth pools that just happen to be in N Arlington. so there are plenty of options.

Anonymous wrote:My kids have been in N Arl and S Arl elementaries. And they’ve been through APS middle school. I’d say you should look at Jamestown, Nottingham, Taylor, Discovery. If you need public transportation nearby look at Glebe (can be more expensive to buy because it’s near Ballston) Tuckahoe. Consider Ashlawn as well. If you need S Arl for some reason, I’d consider Long Branch.

I don’t think much of South Arlington at all goes to Long Branch. Even Fort Myer was redistricted away from Long Branch to Fleet.

My kids have been in N Arl and S Arl elementaries. And they’ve been through APS middle school. I’d say you should look at Jamestown, Nottingham, Taylor, Discovery. If you need public transportation nearby look at Glebe (can be more expensive to buy because it’s near Ballston) Tuckahoe. Consider Ashlawn as well. If you need S Arl for some reason, I’d consider Long Branch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did the move from DC to Arlington. We live in South Arlington - on purpose! We’ve found it to be a much better vibe for us vs the north Arlington neighborhoods we were looking at. We wanted more diversity and slightly less gunner attitudes. We go to a pool in north Arlington and every summer it justifies our decision.

We drove around every weekend for a few weeks and got out and walked the neighborhoods we liked. Go to the playgrounds and you’ll get a vibe of the communities.

Please tell me you’re not judging North Arlington on the knights of Columbus pool!

Why? Inquiring minds want to know! Is it much different from other N.Arl pools??

I'm laughing at Knights being the deal breaker as to north Arlington. I will admit to having over used their bar (pitchers of beer on a hot day...what is better than that), but even so there's limited shenanigans happening there. I feel like I've missed out on something juicy.

But, really OP, go walk around the neighborhoods, visit some playgrounds...you can always reach out to individual PTAs and ask to chat up a family, once you narrow your search.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did the move from DC to Arlington. We live in South Arlington - on purpose! We’ve found it to be a much better vibe for us vs the north Arlington neighborhoods we were looking at. We wanted more diversity and slightly less gunner attitudes. We go to a pool in north Arlington and every summer it justifies our decision.

We drove around every weekend for a few weeks and got out and walked the neighborhoods we liked. Go to the playgrounds and you’ll get a vibe of the communities.

Please tell me you’re not judging North Arlington on the knights of Columbus pool!

Why? Inquiring minds want to know! Is it much different from other N.Arl pools??

Fort Myer also has a nice pool and swim team with down to earth families. (Although it’s neither in N or S Arlington.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did the move from DC to Arlington. We live in South Arlington - on purpose! We’ve found it to be a much better vibe for us vs the north Arlington neighborhoods we were looking at. We wanted more diversity and slightly less gunner attitudes. We go to a pool in north Arlington and every summer it justifies our decision.

We drove around every weekend for a few weeks and got out and walked the neighborhoods we liked. Go to the playgrounds and you’ll get a vibe of the communities.

Please tell me you’re not judging North Arlington on the knights of Columbus pool!

Why? Inquiring minds want to know! Is it much different from other N.Arl pools??

Anonymous wrote:If I were OP, I would be buying in the Yorktown catchment area, as far to the NW of the county as I could find a suitable gouse

And I would look to some more central and some south Arlington neighborhoods.

OP this is way too brought a question. What kind of school(s) are you looking for as far as the environment/diversity/walkability/special programming/PTA level. APS has nearly 30 elementary schools. The curriculum is the same or similar, but there are many differences.

Anonymous wrote:We are planning to move to Arlington from DC and trying to pick which area to move to based on schools. Which elementary or middle schools should we consider being in zone for? I don’t want to ask which is “best” as I’m sure there are many good ones. I am trying to narrow down areas to look at.

to get back to your actual question, OP:

The SW of Arlington is going to be your poorest. Carlin Springs, Randolph ES, and Charles Drew are your highest FRL%. And they are high - Carlin Springs has been up to 80% and is predominantly Latino demographics. Randolph similar, but a bit more varied culturally.

Our kids attended Barcroft (up to 60% FRL, 48% ELL, pretty wide range of backgrounds). Barcroft, like many other schools, splits to two middle schools - if that's a big issue for you. Despite the statistics, Barcroft was overall a very good experience for our kids. Classwork pace is going to be slower in these high FRL/high ELL schools; but our kids were more than sufficiently prepared for MS. MS is generally a weakness in the chain overall.

The neighborhood of Barcroft itself and Alcova Heights across Glebe Rd are very nice - range of housing styles and types, range of backgrounds, active communities.

Fleet is in Arlington Heights, another strong community similar to the Barcroft and Alcova Heights neighborhoods, Penrose is a popular neighborhood as well. There are many lovely neighborhoods across Arlington. I am focusing on a few south Arlington because this thread is clearly dominated by north Arlington elitists who insist south Arlington is sub-par and inferior, especially the schools. Crystal City and Arlington Ridge are strong, overall wealthier areas in South Arlington.

Do yourself a favor, OP: visit some of the schools in the various areas and drive around the neighborhoods. Find a place you "feel" you would enjoy living in and don't worry about the individual schools so much. Others are right - it depends on what your priorities are, the type of people you are and want to surround yourselves with. DCUM is NOT the place to ask which schools you should seek.

If I were OP, I would be buying in the Yorktown catchment area, as far to the NW of the county as I could find a suitable gouse