HB Woodlawn Lottery Results Released

[Anonymous]

The HBW lottery results were released for middle school this afternoon. For those with kids who have been there recently for middle school, could you list some likes/dislikes and the “type” of kid who might thrive there in middle school? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I only have one at HB and it seems good but I don’t have a kid at a different middle school so I can’t compare.

[Anonymous]

I have one there now. I would say the school seems very small - like the physical building and grounds. I think I would be claustrophobic spending 7 years there in that one small concrete building, but kid seems to like it so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have one there now. I would say the school seems very small - like the physical building and grounds. I think I would be claustrophobic spending 7 years there in that one small concrete building, but kid seems to like it so far.

This was my kid’s experience. She left for high school.

[Anonymous]

I dislike the lack of parking and the dropoff/pickup zone. I'm not a huge fan of the building with all those stairs, even though it's a very nice new building. The school doesn't really teach organizational skills so a student who lacks those may struggle. The school allows kids to have their phones with them during the school day and I don't love that at all.

I LOVE the climate of the school- small, friendly, accepting. Teachers are mostly very good to good with some not-so-good too. But overall most are very invested in students. Kids don't get lost at HB because it's small. And the teachers are more flexible with letting kids choose what type of assignments to do and seem to try to focus on project-based learning. Homework isn't excessive, seems less compared to some other APS schools.

I think self motivated kids do well at HB as well as kids who are organized. Culture is accepting and there are kids of all stripes in different social groups but not really cliques if that makes sense. If your kid requires a lot of structure, this isn't the place for them. For the right student, they can just thrive at HB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have one there now. I would say the school seems very small - like the physical building and grounds. I think I would be claustrophobic spending 7 years there in that one small concrete building, but kid seems to like it so far.

This was my kid’s experience. She left for high school.

My kid never considered leaving. She loves the school. While HB is small, kids seem more likely to branch out to make friends in other grades, and also new kids come into the school in 9th grade, which brings some welcome new blood.

Yes, a few kids do leave to get a broader social experience. While you can play sports at your comprehensive high school, if you want to go to school with your friends on your team, you aren't going to get that at HB.

Also, the comprehensive high schools do offer a lot more class options so it's worth pulling up the program of studies from HB and comparing it to the program of studies at the comprehensive high schools as you make your decision. HB does not have intensified classes. Also my kid's AP class at HB mixes the AP kids in with kids taking the regular class all in the same classroom with the same teacher. We did not know that going in so this was a surprise to us, and it's not the type of AP experience I had in high school, which was a separate class.

We love HB and these tradeoffs are more than worth it to us. Just good to have full info going in.

[Anonymous]

A kid who's a little quirky would do well at HB.

The school does a great job making school fun. Not every day of course as there are classes, tests, homework, etc. But there are fun traditions interspersed throughout the year.

The admins are very, very good. Supportive of students and staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A kid who's a little quirky would do well at HB.

The school does a great job making school fun. Not every day of course as there are classes, tests, homework, etc. But there are fun traditions interspersed throughout the year.

The admins are very, very good. Supportive of students and staff.

This is such a weird post. There isn’t one type of “quirky.”

[Anonymous]

I noticed my middle schooler seems to have a lot of free time during the day. I don't know if that is typical in other APS middle schools. Your kid needs to be able to self manage - being unsupervised in the building during free times, going off campus and getting back to class on time, seeking out help from teachers during the designated blocks, working in stages on several long-term projects, etc. Agree with pp who said it would not be a great fit for kids who need a lot of structure. Also agree on phones - mine seems to be able to use their phone all day. Perhaps it's part of making students responsible and accountable for their own behavior?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have one there now. I would say the school seems very small - like the physical building and grounds. I think I would be claustrophobic spending 7 years there in that one small concrete building, but kid seems to like it so far.

This was my kid’s experience. She left for high school.

My kid never considered leaving. She loves the school. While HB is small, kids seem more likely to branch out to make friends in other grades, and also new kids come into the school in 9th grade, which brings some welcome new blood.

Yes, a few kids do leave to get a broader social experience. While you can play sports at your comprehensive high school, if you want to go to school with your friends on your team, you aren't going to get that at HB.

Also, the comprehensive high schools do offer a lot more class options so it's worth pulling up the program of studies from HB and comparing it to the program of studies at the comprehensive high schools as you make your decision. HB does not have intensified classes. Also my kid's AP class at HB mixes the AP kids in with kids taking the regular class all in the same classroom with the same teacher. We did not know that going in so this was a surprise to us, and it's not the type of AP experience I had in high school, which was a separate class.

We love HB and these tradeoffs are more than worth it to us. Just good to have full info going in.

Most sports practices are right after school. How does that work with the HB schedule?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I dislike the lack of parking and the dropoff/pickup zone. I'm not a huge fan of the building with all those stairs, even though it's a very nice new building. The school doesn't really teach organizational skills so a student who lacks those may struggle. The school allows kids to have their phones with them during the school day and I don't love that at all.

I LOVE the climate of the school- small, friendly, accepting. Teachers are mostly very good to good with some not-so-good too. But overall most are very invested in students. Kids don't get lost at HB because it's small. And the teachers are more flexible with letting kids choose what type of assignments to do and seem to try to focus on project-based learning. Homework isn't excessive, seems less compared to some other APS schools.

I think self motivated kids do well at HB as well as kids who are organized. Culture is accepting and there are kids of all stripes in different social groups but not really cliques if that makes sense. If your kid requires a lot of structure, this isn't the place for them. For the right student, they can just thrive at HB.

They all have phones. Blame the parents that insisted on it.

[Anonymous]

Most sports practices are right after school. How does that work with the HB schedule?

In high school pretty much everyone has a free period because there are 8 class periods but most high schoolers take 7 classes. And many arrange this free period at the end of the day (middle schoolers don’t have the free block in their schedules). There used to be buses at 3:15 to each high school for sport participation but this year with the transportation issues they don’t have the buses and instead have worked out carpools, group taxis, etc to get athletes to their home schools for practices. It’s not a huge number of kids who do this by the way.

Not offered for middle schoolers to go to home schools for sports.

[Anonymous]

I dislike the lack of parking and the dropoff/pickup zone. I'm not a huge fan of the building with all those stairs, even though it's a very nice new building. The school doesn't really teach organizational skills so a student who lacks those may struggle. The school allows kids to have their phones with them during the school day and I don't love that at all.

I LOVE the climate of the school- small, friendly, accepting. Teachers are mostly very good to good with some not-so-good too. But overall most are very invested in students. Kids don't get lost at HB because it's small. And the teachers are more flexible with letting kids choose what type of assignments to do and seem to try to focus on project-based learning. Homework isn't excessive, seems less compared to some other APS schools.

I think self motivated kids do well at HB as well as kids who are organized. Culture is accepting and there are kids of all stripes in different social groups but not really cliques if that makes sense. If your kid requires a lot of structure, this isn't the place for them. For the right student, they can just thrive at HB.

The first thing you talk about is the parking and what the building looks like? Is this the most important thing about a school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Most sports practices are right after school. How does that work with the HB schedule?

FWIW, our experience has been the kids who end up leaving HB to go back to their neighborhood schools tend to be those who are really into HS sports and the whole HS sports culture (pep rallies, etc). It's definitely possible to play HS - but not MS - sports while at HB but it makes things a bit harder since they will always have to schedule their free block at the end of the day. If a class they are interested in is only available during that last block, they have to choose between taking that class or playing sports.

HB is a great program and my child loves it, but he is also not that into HS sports. He plays on some rec leagues and he's happy with that.

[Anonymous]

I’m curious about the parking. The school’s website mentions nearby parking garages / validation. Is this generally a solid solution to the lack of parking lot, or is any visit to the school a parking headache? This wouldn’t be a deal breaker or anything, but I’d like to know what I’m up against.