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Okay, I'm currently living in Maryland and really love my community here in Prince George's County (Upper Marlboro area), but I just had a baby in July and after researching the schools, my husband & I have decided to move to Fairfax County. We are looking at the Burke/West Springfield area, especially the areas that feed into Irving MS and West Springfield HS (the elementary schools that feed into that pyramid all seem okay). My concern however, is that there doesn't seem to be many African-American families in NOVA the way it is in Maryland, and we are trying to get a feel for the "vibe" in that area.
Can somebody please let me know are there any Black Hair Salans or would I have to travel to Alexandria to get my hair done? Are the schools well-integrated or will my child face hostility? What are the best schools in NOVA with at least a 15-20% AA student body, but good scores and high ranking? Also, I notice on FCPS website that black SAT scores are about 200 pts lower than white/asian scores, and AP/IB participation is lower too. How come?! Do the teachers disuade black pupils from taking the tough courses, or try to track black students into the remedial path? I personally attended schools in Virginia Beach (father was military) and I remember how the schools would automatically assign all black children to remedial classes (my schools were about 3% black), and then you'd stay there if your parents didn't fight to get you out. Luckily, I had an English teacher (the only black teacher at that school) that finally rescued me, and by Middle School I was in honors classes (usually the only black) where I went on to become a straight-A student and go on to college. Are there many Black Teachers in FCPS?
I went to a high school in Prince William during the early 90's and I would say about 30-40% of the school was black. I was in classes with a bunch of other races and never saw anybody including me have a problem. I imagine is has changed to mostly hispanic these days, I don't know. I wish I could answer you question more in-depth.
You're not going to find a predominantly black upper-middle class community in Fairfax County as you would in PG County, because the affluent black population is much smaller and scattered across the county. The majority of students in the "best" high schools are white and Asian, with smaller numbers of Hispanics and blacks. (Mount Vernon, which has a 32% black student body, has some of the lowest test scores in the county). You research demographics and test scores on the FCPS website, and on the greatschools site, but I think you'll find that a higher black population comes with lower test scores.
I can't help you with the black hair salon question, but Alexandria is not really very far from the Springfield area.
You are in the most affluent black suburb in the nation. You love it there.....WHY MOVE?
If PG County Schools are undesirable....work to change them. CHANGE, it's what we all just voted for!
But if you do move....be advised that FCPS redraws school boundaries regularly. Supposedly a huge re-districting is under consideration for the near future. The school your child would attend now may not be the one he/she would attend 5 years from now.
Mount Vernon, which has a 32% black student body, has some of the lowest test scores in the county.
But doesn't Mount Vernon pull from that military base (Fort Belvoir)? Having myself grown up on a military base, I know that most of those parents are absentee (because of long tours of duties, i.e. the current wars in Iraq/Afghanistan) and that most enlisted military also have only a high school diploma and have married (and had their children) at a young age. This is precisely why schools near military bases typically don't perform too well.
Btw, I went to look at the school profile on FCPS website, and it's not lost on me that both principals at Fort Belvoir ES and Mount Vernon HS are African-American! Hmmm...now how come FCPS are assigning the AA principals to the failing schools?! I don't see any AA principals at Cherry Run ES or Lake Braddock. You see, this is the type of racial polarization that I am hoping to avoid, especially if I am to pay $400,000 for a 1970s split-level just to live in a good school district (when I could have a beautiful new McMansion for that same price in PG County)!
You are in the most affluent black suburb in the nation. You love it there.....WHY MOVE?
If PG County Schools are undesirable....work to change them. CHANGE, it's what we all just voted for!
But if you do move....be advised that FCPS redraws school boundaries regularly. Supposedly a huge re-districting is under consideration for the near future. The school your child would attend now may not be the one he/she would attend 5 years from now.
You know, this thing about the re-districting is my great fear! I'm very concerned that by the time my 5mos old baby becomes school-aged, the boundary lines may be completely redrawn. If it were up to me, I would rent a few more years and wait, or buy a townhome in PG County to start off, but the problem of course is that NOW is the time to buy! And due to BRAC we may get priced out of Fairfax County if we wait because supposedly 22,000 workers are being realigned to Fort Belvoir starting in 2010. I just can't take that risk, starter-homes may be going for $600,000 or $800,000 if we wait 3-4yrs!!
I wish I could stay in PG County, and believe me, we are definitely weighing that option, but property taxes are crazy-high here ($500-600/mo) and insurance rates are high due to property crimes (car theft, burglary, etc.), plus a "Virginia-education" is just in a whole different league from what Maryland has to offer. We are planning a large famility with 3-4 kids and can't afford private school, and I am extremely nervous about entrusting my children to the PG County schools. I wish I could CHANGE the system, but that's some heavy lifting to do.
....BTW, I went to look at the school profile on FCPS website, and it's not lost on me that both principals at Fort Belvoir ES and Mount Vernon HS are African-American! Hmmm...now how come FCPS are assigning the AA principals to the failing schools?! I don't see any AA principals at Cherry Run ES or Lake Braddock. You see, this is the type of racial polarization that I am hoping to avoid, especially if I am to pay $400,000 for a 1970s split-level just to live in a good school district (when I could have a beautiful new McMansion for that same price in PG County)!
Check Terra Centre Elementary in Burke....AA principal. The school serves Burke Centre which is a pretty nice neighborhood.
The former (retired recently) principal of Fairview Elementary was AA....Fairview serves VERY affluent Fairfax Station....the kids show you pictures of their horses!
I know this stuff because after I retired from the Federal Govt. in 2002, I started driving a FCPS school bus and as such hang around the schools a lot. There's other AA principals and assistant principals around Burke/Clifton/Chantilly where I drive....I'll tell you as they come to mind.
While some people think of Prince George's County as an extension of Southeast DC, it's often forgotten/unknown how affluent a good portion the area actually is. I believe it was Ebony Magazine that named PG County as having the most concentration of African-American wealth in the country; granted, most of that wealth tends to be outside the Beltway.
It sounds like your family will be active in your children's education so you should not have issues working with the school faculty to maximize their opportunities. Like in many metros, those black students who don't do so well are raised in homes where the parents aren't involved and/or they have succumbed to peer pressure in "dumbing down" their efforts. A ladyfriend who is a teacher in FCPS says that while some schools may have less black teachers than others, the county as a whole has a fair representation. The hiring decision usually lies with the school principals.
Like others have said, middle-to-upper-class blacks are here in NOVA but there is no comparable concentration like where you are. On the other hand, I would anticipate little to no problems with your potential neighbors.
In the much-maligned Springfield Mall, there is a lady named Rikara that works in the JC Penney hair salon there (per the same ladyfriend). If you're willing to travel up Route 1 to the Alexandria section of the county (not the city,) you will find a few more stand-alone salons. There is one in the Mt. Vernon Square Shopping Center.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skapov
Okay, I'm currently living in Maryland and really love my community here in Prince George's County (Upper Marlboro area), but I just had a baby in July and after researching the schools, my husband & I have decided to move to Fairfax County. We are looking at the Burke/West Springfield area, especially the areas that feed into Irving MS and West Springfield HS (the elementary schools that feed into that pyramid all seem okay). My concern however, is that there doesn't seem to be many African-American families in NOVA the way it is in Maryland, and we are trying to get a feel for the "vibe" in that area.
Can somebody please let me know are there any Black Hair Salans or would I have to travel to Alexandria to get my hair done? Are the schools well-integrated or will my child face hostility? What are the best schools in NOVA with at least a 15-20% AA student body, but good scores and high ranking? Also, I notice on FCPS website that black SAT scores are about 200 pts lower than white/asian scores, and AP/IB participation is lower too. How come?! Do the teachers disuade black pupils from taking the tough courses, or try to track black students into the remedial path? I personally attended schools in Virginia Beach (father was military) and I remember how the schools would automatically assign all black children to remedial classes (my schools were about 3% black), and then you'd stay there if your parents didn't fight to get you out. Luckily, I had an English teacher (the only black teacher at that school) that finally rescued me, and by Middle School I was in honors classes (usually the only black) where I went on to become a straight-A student and go on to college. Are there many Black Teachers in FCPS?
FCPS works very hard to hire Black teachers and promote them to Principals and administrators. A few years back, the whitest high school in the county, Madison, had a Black Principal. So, no, they don't assign Black teachers or Principals to the crummy high schools.
Here's the deal, rich areas have better schools because rich people are usually pretty smart and so are their children. Those areas have more whites and Asians than Blacks, although there are certainly Blacks in those areas. Blacks are 11% of Fairfax county, and very well integrated throughout the county.
I agree that you cannot change the schools in PG county. They're hopeless. Only vouchers will change the schools, just like DC.
I also agree that there will be a massive, county wide, redistricting within the next two years, before the school board has to run again in 2011. Your best bet is to move as close to the high school as possible to lessen your chances of redistricting. One school you might want to consider is Louise Archer in Vienna. It was the original Black elementary school for the county. It has a wonderful history. Louise Archer was a black educator who did so much for Black kids in that end of the county. Directly behind Louise Archer is Madison high school. While it still has less than 5% Black kids, those kids are just like every other kid in Vienna and very much a part of the school and the community. My white son dated a Black girl there for three years and no one thought anything about it other than she was fabulous and my son was lucky to have her. We loved her then and still love her. Sorry for the digression. The area around Louise Archer is the old part of the town of Vienna and very charming. Plus, if you are living in the town of Vienna it is VERY unlikely you would be redistricted out of Madison high school since it is the town high school. Louise Archer also has a GT center and the county GT office is very anxious to place Black children in GT centers. So I would look into Vienna, particularly around Louise Archer. There is a also a good catholic k-8 school just down the street.
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I'm very concerned that by the time my 5mos old baby becomes school-aged, the boundary lines may be completely redrawn. If it were up to me, I would rent a few more years and wait, or buy a townhome in PG County to start off, but the problem of course is that NOW is the time to buy! And due to BRAC we may get priced out of Fairfax County if we wait because supposedly 22,000 workers are being realigned to Fort Belvoir starting in 2010. I just can't take that risk, starter-homes may be going for $600,000 or $800,000 if we wait 3-4yrs!!
