Tell me about Kenmore - APS
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Anonymous
| We currently live in Fairfax but want to move closer in, and we found a great home in Arlington, zoned for Kenmore. We have two children in middle school, both of whom are in advanced academic programs and still miraculously like learning. I've heard mixed reviews about Kenmore. What is the experience for kids in its gifted program? |
Anonymous
| After the first year we sent our son to private. The teachers were nice but they spent so much time on the very large ESL population that my son barely received any attention and did not learn much that year. |
Anonymous
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2 time Kenmore mom here- it’s a good school with solid teachers. Beautiful building and great stem labs and arts/music facilities. One of my kiddos was in intensified math, science and English. The rigor was good and she was challenged.
Don’t listen to naysayers. There is nothing wrong with Kenmore. |
Anonymous
The standardized test scores are much lower than at other APS schools. |
Anonymous
| Stay in Fairfax. The schools are better there. |
Anonymous
| Lots of fights and bullying and behavior issues. Don’t let people say this is typical for all APS middle schools, it’s not. |
Anonymous
Yes, the averages are because there are more EL students and disadvantaged students than at other APS schools. But if you look at subgroups, you can discern whether or not a student with your family’s profile is being served (the scores for non-EL and non-disadvantaged kids are the same as at other APS middle schools). OP, it’s a good school with the best facilities in APS. Like all APS middle schools, they offer intensified academic courses. The principal is great, and I don’t know many families with actual experience at the school, especially if they have high achieving students, who are not happy with the school. |
Anonymous
It is. Do we need to dig up the ARLNow articles about other MS again? |
Anonymous
I don’t recall this at Swanson: https://www.arlnow.com/2022/05/18/developing-kenmore-middle-school-dismissal-delayed-due-to-possible-security-threat/ |
Anonymous
I am not happy with my APS experience generally, but honestly it’s good enough that I wouldn’t want to live in Fairfax. They have problems there too. My kids go to gunston, which isn’t exactly known for being a great school. The ESL population there is high too (though not as high as kenmore). But my kids are enjoying it much more than I thought they would (they just have the typical middle school gripes about getting up early and some teachers being too strict). I love our house, I love our neighborhood, and I love our commute. I have substituted at gunston and was pretty appalled at what I saw in terms of student behavior, but I was in ESL and more remedial classes and this was before the new principal came. I don’t know how helpful this is for OP but OP for what it’s worth, I think that the only guarantee you have of your kids getting an excellent education right now is private school and you’re not alone if that isn’t workable. In your shoes I’d go for Kenmore. |
Anonymous
No, Swanson had this instead: https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/virginia/arlington-parents-raise-concerns-amid-reported-violent-threats-at-swanson-middle-school/amp/ |
Anonymous
I generally agree with this. Regarding private school, unless you manage to get in to one of the top privates, I don’t know if you’ll necessarily get a better education than you will at Kenmore or other APS schools. And the real downside is that most of the privates are quite far from Arlington. The big downside of Kenmore will be the social aspect. Half of your classmates don’t speak English as a first language, and like it or not, it is quite segregated. |
Anonymous
Overall, but I doubt op’s kids would be lumped in with ESL kids. |
Anonymous
Not at Williamsburg. |
Anonymous
+1 Or Hamm for the most part. Unless you count the kid that was attacked by the Kenmore students. |