Hardy/Deal vs Arlington middle schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My spouse, who has taught in both APS and DCPS, could not get novels delivered from the DCPS warehouse for an AP Lit class. Put the order in at the beginning of the school year, still hadn't received the books at Thanksgiving. We ended up buying 20 paperbacks ourselves and spouse gave them to the kids. Standard operating procedure in DCPS.

Overall did the quality of teaching differ between the schools? And the expectations? DCPS isn't well run but we know good teachers exist. Are Arlington schools better because the teachers are better, they have higher expectations, or they have more resources (which improves their teaching)? Or is it simply demographics? If the focus is on having your child learn, how different are JR and MacArthur feeders compares to Arlington? So far this thread indicates that intensifies classes in middle push students to learn more.

All of the above, OP. We were in DCPS for 10 years for 2 kids. What we've found in Arlington is a system that's higher capacity than DCPS across the board. If you need to go up the chain for help in APS, the process is smoother, clear and more helpful than in DCPS. You aren't treated like a pesky UMC helicopter parents in APS as you sometimes are in DCPS. Management systems in APS are better established, meaning that school principals don't exercise outsized power and make a lot of discretionary decisions as in DCPS. In our experience, overall, the teaching has been better in APS with more rigor on offer. APS school demographics are v. different than DCPS demographics overall. Because the schools in APS are all OK or good, and charters barely exist, UMC parents don't mob certain schools the same way they do in DCPS. APS as a whole is far more Latino and far less AA than DCPS, with a good mix of immigrants in the mix. The N Arlington MS scene is comparable to the Upper NW DCPS scene. Kenmore and Gunston middle schools in APS probably aren't any better than Hardy or Deal, but Williamsburg, Thomas Jefferson, Dorothy Hamm and HB Woodlawn (lottery admissions, can't apply from DC) pretty clearly are. From what we've observed, parents don't move around within Arlington to access better schools much at all. The practice is more common in DCPS. Hope this info helps.

Just curious- how is it possible to be such a strong school when the grade sizes are 300+ students on average. I’m not 100% certain but I believe on average DCPS grade sized are more like 100 students. These APS class sizes seem massive. Would that not pose a challenge for educators/administrators? How do kids not get lost in the shuffle, particularly those who need additional support?

Just curriculum alone is reason to move. If you are in a good charter maybe it makes sense to stay. But dcps is embarrassingly bad. And the application schools are a joke.

If you’re moving solely because of public school curriculum, you need to reassess your entire life and perhaps seek mental health help. JFC.

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