Who sends their kid to Wakefield HS? Is it really that bad?

[Anonymous]

Nothing infuriates the striving tiger parents more, than UMC people who don’t validate their choices.

To the Wakefield grad posting here:
I’m sorry you felt “ less than” when you attended Wakefield, but by your own boasting, you’ve done very well in life. You've Even gone on to talk about your social circle. So, it doesn’t seem you were an extreme exception. That correlates with my neighbors. Seems like you are literally proof that it’s a great school.

As for why there is suddenly an uptick on threads asking about Wakefield.... hmmm... why could that be????

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1310-S-Randolph-St-22204/home/11264300?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link


https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1509-S-Stafford-St-22204/home/11264346?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1625-S-Nelson-St-22204/home/11263997?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/3413-17th-St-S-22204/home/11264003?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link


I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I picked Douglas Park, as it had been a historically affordable ,working Class neighborhood. In the last few years it crossed into mc/umc.


It can be hard to swallow when the “ghetto” you maligned as a kid, is the hot new spot, but that’s the nature of gentrification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You mean the schools that allowed you to success and rise to the umc? The schools that got you to Mclean and sending your kids to Sidwell? Those schools?

Those success examples are the exception rather than the rule at those schools. Probably 1 success for every 800 failures.

As Mike Tyson famously once said: EVERYONE HAS A PLAN UNTIL THEY GET PUNCHED IN THE MOUTH.

If you feel Wakefield is a good school and want to send your kids there, please go ahead. This is a free country and everyone has the right to be stupid

I'm not following your logic. If it's a matter of resources (tutors, lessons, whatever), would it not stand to reason that a child who has access to all of those things and still attends a school like Wakefiled would be equally successful? Isn't that what the OP is asking about? And would it not stand to reason that a family who is on the lower end of "UMC" could afford more of those "extras" if they lived within their means in a less expensive home and instead spent that money on enrichment for their children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You mean the schools that allowed you to success and rise to the umc? The schools that got you to Mclean and sending your kids to Sidwell? Those schools?

Those success examples are the exception rather than the rule at those schools. Probably 1 success for every 800 failures.

As Mike Tyson famously once said: EVERYONE HAS A PLAN UNTIL THEY GET PUNCHED IN THE MOUTH.

If you feel Wakefield is a good school and want to send your kids there, please go ahead. This is a free country and everyone has the right to be stupid

800 failures? Where on earth are you getting your stats?
You sound very bitter. You’ll feel so much lighter without the chip you are carrying around.

DP. I think the problem with schools like Wakefield isn't necessarily that an academically inclined student can't be successful academically, it's that they will be surrounded by many more kids who are not so inclined, and many more kids who lack parental supervision. The pp acknowledged that the recent immigrants also will do well academically, but you also have to consider the environment you want your kids in. My kids are at Title I schools. My oldest was recently threatened with physical violence for something DC didn't do and DC could ultimately prove that DC wasn't involved. Threats of physical harm are not uncommon at that school. That was not the case at my predominantly UMC high school. While DC is doing very well academically, I am considering whether we should move. There likely will be access to harder drugs at an affluent school, but I think I can teach my kids about those dangers more than I can protect them from kids who think you settle issue through physical altercations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know anyone in their right mind would want to send their kids to Wakefield. This is the school that almost lost its state accreditation back in 2011. You don't hear about this kind of things at Yorktown, Langley or Mclean. A big red flag there: http://wjla.com/news/education/wakefield-high-school-at-risk-of-losing-state-accreditation-67395

I don’t know anyone in their right mind that would want to send their kids to Yorktown.

https://www.arlnow.com/2017/10/17/police-teens-busted-for-drunken-powder-puff-football-game/

http://m.arlingtonconnection.com/news/2017/oct/24/yorktown-high-school-takes-steps-against-substance/?templates=mobile

And these stores aren’t from seven years ago...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You mean the schools that allowed you to success and rise to the umc? The schools that got you to Mclean and sending your kids to Sidwell? Those schools?

Those success examples are the exception rather than the rule at those schools. Probably 1 success for every 800 failures.

As Mike Tyson famously once said: EVERYONE HAS A PLAN UNTIL THEY GET PUNCHED IN THE MOUTH.

If you feel Wakefield is a good school and want to send your kids there, please go ahead. This is a free country and everyone has the right to be stupid

I'm not following your logic. If it's a matter of resources (tutors, lessons, whatever), would it not stand to reason that a child who has access to all of those things and still attends a school like Wakefiled would be equally successful? Isn't that what the OP is asking about? And would it not stand to reason that a family who is on the lower end of "UMC" could afford more of those "extras" if they lived within their means in a less expensive home and instead spent that money on enrichment for their children?

Exactly this. PPs have pointed to their successful children who are getting tutoring a couple times a week, SAT prep classes, private coaching etc. despite attending "top" schools. Seems to me if you are an actual middle class family (as opposed to the $400-$600K "MC" families the PP reference), you are much better off buying the home you can afford in an average school district and investing the money you saved on your house in those extras. Since, apparently, your child will need them anyway to be competitive at a top school. How exceptional is that school really if the parents still feel they need to do so much out of school support?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing infuriates the striving tiger parents more, than UMC people who don’t validate their choices.

To the Wakefield grad posting here:
I’m sorry you felt “ less than” when you attended Wakefield, but by your own boasting, you’ve done very well in life. You've Even gone on to talk about your social circle. So, it doesn’t seem you were an extreme exception. That correlates with my neighbors. Seems like you are literally proof that it’s a great school.

As for why there is suddenly an uptick on threads asking about Wakefield.... hmmm... why could that be????

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1310-S-Randolph-St-22204/home/11264300?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link


https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1509-S-Stafford-St-22204/home/11264346?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1625-S-Nelson-St-22204/home/11263997?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/3413-17th-St-S-22204/home/11264003?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link


I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I picked Douglas Park, as it had been a historically affordable ,working Class neighborhood. In the last few years it crossed into mc/umc.


It can be hard to swallow when the “ghetto” you maligned as a kid, is the hot new spot, but that’s the nature of gentrification.

You could post some expensive listings on Capitol Hill, but that doesn’t mean the buyers will send their kids to Eastern. But the families in the low-income housing will keep populating Wakefield (the Hispanic enrollment is up 40% over the past five years, and they aren’t gentrifiers).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You mean the schools that allowed you to success and rise to the umc? The schools that got you to Mclean and sending your kids to Sidwell? Those schools?

Those success examples are the exception rather than the rule at those schools. Probably 1 success for every 800 failures.

As Mike Tyson famously once said: EVERYONE HAS A PLAN UNTIL THEY GET PUNCHED IN THE MOUTH.

If you feel Wakefield is a good school and want to send your kids there, please go ahead. This is a free country and everyone has the right to be stupid

I'm not following your logic. If it's a matter of resources (tutors, lessons, whatever), would it not stand to reason that a child who has access to all of those things and still attends a school like Wakefiled would be equally successful? Isn't that what the OP is asking about? And would it not stand to reason that a family who is on the lower end of "UMC" could afford more of those "extras" if they lived within their means in a less expensive home and instead spent that money on enrichment for their children?

Exactly this. PPs have pointed to their successful children who are getting tutoring a couple times a week, SAT prep classes, private coaching etc. despite attending "top" schools. Seems to me if you are an actual middle class family (as opposed to the $400-$600K "MC" families the PP reference), you are much better off buying the home you can afford in an average school district and investing the money you saved on your house in those extras. Since, apparently, your child will need them anyway to be competitive at a top school. How exceptional is that school really if the parents still feel they need to do so much out of school support?

The additional support and activities boost things like SAT scores and resumes. The kids still benefit from attending daily classes with academically challenging peers.

And W-L is an average school pyramid. Wakefield is a below average one (226 out of 290 in the state per PP).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry you felt “ less than” when you attended Wakefield, but by your own boasting, you’ve done very well in life. You've Even gone on to talk about your social circle. So, it doesn’t seem you were an extreme exception. That correlates with my neighbors. Seems like you are literally proof that it’s a great school.

All of my friends from Stuart, Falls church and Wakefield HS are Vietnamese, Fresh of the boat as refugees and we did pretty well for ourselves. The Vietnamese of recently immigrants at Wakefield, most of them, will do fine as well. Failure is not an option for us. When they graduate from Wakefield, they know what a hellhole that school is so they will not be sending their kids to Wakefield. They will instead send their kids to better schools.

I used to go Peikins Gourmet Near Culmore of Seven corners. I don't recognize that place anymore. Completely lawless. Most of the kids in that neighborhood go to Stuart HS.

There is higher chance of MS 13 gang at Wakefield than at Yorktown or Mclean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry you felt “ less than” when you attended Wakefield, but by your own boasting, you’ve done very well in life. You've Even gone on to talk about your social circle. So, it doesn’t seem you were an extreme exception. That correlates with my neighbors. Seems like you are literally proof that it’s a great school.

All of my friends from Stuart, Falls church and Wakefield HS are Vietnamese, Fresh of the boat as refugees and we did pretty well for ourselves. The Vietnamese of recently immigrants at Wakefield, most of them, will do fine as well. Failure is not an option for us. When they graduate from Wakefield, they know what a hellhole that school is so they will not be sending their kids to Wakefield. They will instead send their kids to better schools.

I used to go Peikins Gourmet Near Culmore of Seven corners. I don't recognize that place anymore. Completely lawless. Most of the kids in that neighborhood go to Stuart HS.

There is higher chance of MS 13 gang at Wakefield than at Yorktown or Mclean.

If you are concerned about your child getting involved with MS 13, you need to do some soul searching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing infuriates the striving tiger parents more, than UMC people who don’t validate their choices.

To the Wakefield grad posting here:
I’m sorry you felt “ less than” when you attended Wakefield, but by your own boasting, you’ve done very well in life. You've Even gone on to talk about your social circle. So, it doesn’t seem you were an extreme exception. That correlates with my neighbors. Seems like you are literally proof that it’s a great school.

As for why there is suddenly an uptick on threads asking about Wakefield.... hmmm... why could that be????

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1310-S-Randolph-St-22204/home/11264300?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link


https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1509-S-Stafford-St-22204/home/11264346?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1625-S-Nelson-St-22204/home/11263997?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/3413-17th-St-S-22204/home/11264003?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link


I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I picked Douglas Park, as it had been a historically affordable ,working Class neighborhood. In the last few years it crossed into mc/umc.


It can be hard to swallow when the “ghetto” you maligned as a kid, is the hot new spot, but that’s the nature of gentrification.

You could post some expensive listings on Capitol Hill, but that doesn’t mean the buyers will send their kids to Eastern. But the families in the low-income housing will keep populating Wakefield (the Hispanic enrollment is up 40% over the past five years, and they aren’t gentrifiers).

True.
The upper middle class buying in South Arlington are willing to consider Wakefield and not a school like Eastern. That must mean something...

[Anonymous]

Doesn't really matter. Besides TJ, they're all mediocre at best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yorktown:
college readiness: 69.2; AP test: 80%, AP passed: 82%. Student population: Asian 10%; black 11%; Hispanic 34%; white 40%

Although, ironically Yorktown is the most diverse school in the system. It matches Arlington County racial demographics almost exactly. SES is a different story. And, of course, Hispanics are disproportionately represented in the SCHOOL population, and most of them go to Wakefield.

does Yorktown really have Hispanic 34% and white 40%??? which MSs did those Hispanic kids go to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yorktown:
college readiness: 69.2; AP test: 80%, AP passed: 82%. Student population: Asian 10%; black 11%; Hispanic 34%; white 40%

Although, ironically Yorktown is the most diverse school in the system. It matches Arlington County racial demographics almost exactly. SES is a different story. And, of course, Hispanics are disproportionately represented in the SCHOOL population, and most of them go to Wakefield.

does Yorktown really have Hispanic 34% and white 40%??? which MSs did those Hispanic kids go to?

No it’s 66% white and 15% Hispanic. But don’t worry they’ll get down to single digits on the Latinos soon enough.

[Anonymous]

Why in the world would anyone live in McLean?

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-school-district-every-us-state-2018-1/#virginia-arlington-county-public-schools-45

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why in the world would anyone live in McLean?

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-school-district-every-us-state-2018-1/#virginia-arlington-county-public-schools-45

Here’s the House our resident “Wakefield-grad-turned-Mclean-striver” will be buying this spring!

https://www.redfin.com/VA/McLean/1610-Great-Falls-St-22101/home/22175451?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios_share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link

That’ll show ‘em!

Honestly though he might be succeeding in casting doubts on Wakefield. I’m hoping for a little more for my children than class envy and thinly veiled racism.