Question about Alexandria City HS
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Anonymous
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I am not a fan of GWMS. We have friends whose kids are there are doing great but we also know a bunch who left under terrible circumstances. Our kids did not attempt MS but DS will be going into 9th next yr. Both kids did public until about 4/5th. Private until current (6/8th). We are considering sending them to HS (we are in Alex) for HS due to $$ considerations.
DS has dyslexia and ADHD and has a private tutor. Current MS is amazing in supporting his learning disabilities. I am not as sure about the HS and wanted to find out the experiences of those who are at Alex HS. DH thinks he could handle public HS given LS accommodations and the private tutor. Want to know: 1. Is it any "better" at least by reputation than GWMS, because that place is a hard no for us. HS seems to be actually better, is this true? Esp with the 9th grade campus shift/makeover - how is this impacting incoming kids to HS - has it helped make life easier for 9th grade transition or not really? 2. We are looking for LD support offered by the school. Does it exist? GWMS basically told me that if our kid is not at a C or below, he isn't eligible for assistance. They actually doubted his documented dyslexia/ADHD because he was doing well! I'm like - isn't that the point - to help him do well? They said he only gets help if clearly needs it. Getting a B means he doesn't. Realizing he is probably stronger going into 9th, wondering what the experience for IED/LD kids is there? 3. GWMS is known for being a chaotic minefield to navigate. Our friends' with kids there are "perfect" kids who can let things pass even if they are stressed out by the environment. Our kids are not built that way, they are sensitive kids. That being said, they do well with diversity and wouldn't be good in a small population. We're not afraid of a large class, but we want to ensure the teachers actually provide enough help if they need/ask. |
Anonymous
| I can't speak specifically to the 504/IEP accommodations, but a number of people in Alexandria do their local elementary, then go private for middle school, then return for high school. My kids enjoyed ACHS, and got well prepared for college (UVA and W&M). |
Anonymous
| If your kid is going to be in the top echelon of classes, it's a completely different experience. |
Anonymous
| ^ I would not send my children there unless I knew all of my children would be in that cohort. |
Anonymous
Then it sucks you have a broken kid. The normal ones do better than the private school kids. |
Anonymous
| I don’t understand how GWMS is a hard no for you, but ACHS is not a hard no. I don’t think there are huge material differences between the environment of each school. I mean, there was literally a HS kid (kids?) murdered after school at nearby bradlee shopping center. |
Anonymous
OP here. I don't think that sending my kids to private means my kids are broken kids. I think one has LD and the other benefits from the curriculum of this particular private school. I also am insulted that you think public kids would do better than private school kids when you have no context of what the private school is like. I think your kid probably would have done a ton better at our private school. It is a wonderful place. I am doing research because I don't think that a school makes a kid better or not. I think there's a right environment that sets up a kid for academic and social success and as a parent, I want to offer that opportunity to my kids. To the last PP of the thread - a hard no to GWMS having known a number of families there but we have less knowledge of kids HS aged and thus I just don't know how HS v MS. I am aware of the violence that happens around Bradlee living in Alex but I don't think that my kids are going to be hanging out with either the top echelon as the PP put it nor the bottom as it were. It's a big place and I'm pretty sure they would fit around the middle areas. Because we have neighborhood friends in public and we came up through public, I think my kids would be able to fit in. But I am just trying to find out how "rough" it is compared to GWMS and what it's like culturally. |
Anonymous
| ACHS can be very rough for students with learning disabilities. IEPs and 504s aren’t followed, the special ed department there is understaffed and inexperienced and it isn’t an area of interest for the new executive principal. In addition, you need to educate yourself about the “new” High School Project. Do you want your kids to be randomly dropped into a specific track by 10th grade? There’s a meeting about it sometime this week. |
Anonymous
| I don’t think ACHS has a better reputation than GWMS for special education at all, and if your kids aren’t tracked into honors classes, they aren’t going to be in the cohort of kids who do “fine”. Instead of sticking it out or committing to long term private for two kids with IEPs, we moved. |
Anonymous
| I never heard anything about ACHS being better for special education. Only advice I heard was to give ACHS a try only if your children are very intelligent, self-motivated, and have no special needs |
Anonymous
| ACHS is totally undergowing a total makeover with a brand new 9-12 campus at Minnie Howard and academies in thier ridiculous connected campus. Join a school board meeting if you want any say. |
Anonymous
What a sad, sorry state of affairs. |
Anonymous
Apparently it's better for 45% to feel safe without police on campus than for 76% to feel safe when police were there. |
Anonymous
| Have the SROs been removed again? |