Moving to APS School from Small Town Based System for High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are moving to Arlington from a small northeast school which enjoyed small schools and small class sizes, and I know my DD performs well with encouragement and clear expectations; she has not yet developed a self-starter mentality where she would seek out her own work -- she would just do the assigned work well, and then spend her free time reading or watching TV. She is not an athlete, so she has a lot of downtime, and I want an environment where the school will really engage her and give her sufficient homework and challenge to keep her engaged rather than busy work she whips through and then left to her own devices.

Our realtor has an 8th grader too, and told us that they read 3 novels in their english class this year and wrote summaries on them, which seemed a little light to me at her DD's middle school (Ham? I think she goes to?). She said there is only differentiation in middle school math and language, and no seperate computer science requirement nor differentiated English or History classes, and that classes in middle school can get up to 30 kids with 800 kids in the school (our current school has about 22 per class, and the school it self is 300 students because of the town based enrollment).

High school seems kind of giant sized, like 3000 at the Washington High School? Our realtor said they had IB and would have good differnetiation and plenty of engagement and challenge for our DD, but it would not be much individual engagement because of large class size and the size of the school? How do they build executive function within students, and is there plenty of engagement and enrichment available for a capable student who may tend to need a nudge? Or do they really expect the students to take the iniativie and build their own objectives starting freshman year and executive function is up to the parents? Would Yorktown be any different?

Is this what she told you about the middle school or high school?

Middle school. How many novels do 8th graders read in a year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in New England and went to a small, well-regarded public high school and was nervous about sending my kids to a giant high school like W-L. But both my kids had great experiences there and both have been successful in college, so apparently their executive function skills did not suffer neglect.

There may be less personal attention, but the idea that a small high school would be better at differentiating is completely ass-backward. At a big high school, there are far more class offerings, generally a wider range of levels available in math and language, and there are dozens and dozens of clubs, so it can be easier for a kid to find their people. My brother's kids went through a small highly rated public in

Not differentiation, per se, but that the teacher is aware of what you needs are because they have smaller classes (almost 10 less students per class ,so that's like 50 less students she's responsible for).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in New England and went to a small, well-regarded public high school and was nervous about sending my kids to a giant high school like W-L. But both my kids had great experiences there and both have been successful in college, so apparently their executive function skills did not suffer neglect.

There may be less personal attention, but the idea that a small high school would be better at differentiating is completely ass-backward. At a big high school, there are far more class offerings, generally a wider range of levels available in math and language, and there are dozens and dozens of clubs, so it can be easier for a kid to find their people. My brother's kids went through a small highly rated public in

Not differentiation, per se, but that the teacher is aware of what you needs are because they have smaller classes (almost 10 less students per class ,so that's like 50 less students she's responsible for).

My kids at W-L had very few classes with 30 kids in them. Some classes were smaller than any class I had at my high school with an enrollment of 600.

There are definitely benefits to small high schools. But it's not all good. And large high schools are better in some respects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you want a smaller school and town experience you should look at Falls Church City.

Agree with this..you may be more comfortable with Falls Church City of you can afford it. I am happy with Arlington schools but unless your kid is going to be on a sports team or super active in an extracurricular, I think it may be hard to make friends at such a huge school (not to mention potential academic issues for a kid such as yours).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in New England and went to a small, well-regarded public high school and was nervous about sending my kids to a giant high school like W-L. But both my kids had great experiences there and both have been successful in college, so apparently their executive function skills did not suffer neglect.

There may be less personal attention, but the idea that a small high school would be better at differentiating is completely ass-backward. At a big high school, there are far more class offerings, generally a wider range of levels available in math and language, and there are dozens and dozens of clubs, so it can be easier for a kid to find their people. My brother's kids went through a small highly rated public in

Not differentiation, per se, but that the teacher is aware of what you needs are because they have smaller classes (almost 10 less students per class ,so that's like 50 less students she's responsible for).

My kids at W-L had very few classes with 30 kids in them. Some classes were smaller than any class I had at my high school with an enrollment of 600.

There are definitely benefits to small high schools. But it's not all good. And large high schools are better in some respects.

Agree. My kids at W-L never had classes with 30 kids in them. Class sizes varied from 12-24 at most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High schools in this area are pretty much sink or swim. If your daughter needs executive functioning help, you’ll need to hire an EF coach.

I agree. In addition, you should be prepared for the highly competitive nature of this area. There are schools in the northeast that don't rank kids and foster a cooperative rather than a competitive atmosphere among students. NoVa is basically the opposite. I've heard middle schoolers trash talking each other about their future SAT scores.

Maybe the peer pressure to do better than the next person will give your daughter the nudge to succeed.

APS high schools don't rank. All students with a weighted 4.0 and above are ranked number 1 and are considered valedictorians.

They do rank everyone who has below a 4.0.

No, they don’t. (At least at Yorktown.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you want a smaller school and town experience you should look at Falls Church City.

Agree with this..you may be more comfortable with Falls Church City of you can afford it. I am happy with Arlington schools but unless your kid is going to be on a sports team or super active in an extracurricular, I think it may be hard to make friends at such a huge school (not to mention potential academic issues for a kid such as yours).

I think you have it backwards. It’s easier to make friends at a larger school in a larger system. Think I’d of many kids in FCC have been together since K. In APS there’s more blending at middle and high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You were in a small school district where parents income completely and absolutely determined the income level of the students your child was surrounded with. APS is not that. It is actual public school with a mix of incomes and diversity.

You are going to be unhappy based upon the language you already used in your post.

Go private here if you can afford it.

I agree with this. I’m only familiar with some CT publics, but they are much, much better than any of the APS schools. We have much better colleges though, and kids seem to do fine. You could always do public and then get a tutor for more writing help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High schools in this area are pretty much sink or swim. If your daughter needs executive functioning help, you’ll need to hire an EF coach.

I agree. In addition, you should be prepared for the highly competitive nature of this area. There are schools in the northeast that don't rank kids and foster a cooperative rather than a competitive atmosphere among students. NoVa is basically the opposite. I've heard middle schoolers trash talking each other about their future SAT scores.

Maybe the peer pressure to do better than the next person will give your daughter the nudge to succeed.

APS high schools don't rank. All students with a weighted 4.0 and above are ranked number 1 and are considered valedictorians.

They do rank everyone who has below a 4.0.

No, they don’t. (At least at Yorktown.)

W-L definitely does. I've been helping DS's friend with college apps (he's 1st gen). He has a 3.7ish GPA and a specific number for class rank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you want a smaller school and town experience you should look at Falls Church City.

Agree with this..you may be more comfortable with Falls Church City of you can afford it. I am happy with Arlington schools but unless your kid is going to be on a sports team or super active in an extracurricular, I think it may be hard to make friends at such a huge school (not to mention potential academic issues for a kid such as yours).

I think you have it backwards. It’s easier to make friends at a larger school in a larger system. Think I’d of many kids in FCC have been together since K. In APS there’s more blending at middle and high school.

NP in FCC and I agree that it may be better suited for OP’s kid. FCC attracts a ton of state dept families and there is definitely a transient nature to that. Lots of kids coming and going every year and throughout the year. The kids are used to it and welcoming as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you want a smaller school and town experience you should look at Falls Church City.

Agree with this..you may be more comfortable with Falls Church City of you can afford it. I am happy with Arlington schools but unless your kid is going to be on a sports team or super active in an extracurricular, I think it may be hard to make friends at such a huge school (not to mention potential academic issues for a kid such as yours).

I think you have it backwards. It’s easier to make friends at a larger school in a larger system. Think I’d of many kids in FCC have been together since K. In APS there’s more blending at middle and high school.

Not necessarily. A big school with larger crowds of kids can be very intimidating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you want a smaller school and town experience you should look at Falls Church City.

Agree with this..you may be more comfortable with Falls Church City of you can afford it. I am happy with Arlington schools but unless your kid is going to be on a sports team or super active in an extracurricular, I think it may be hard to make friends at such a huge school (not to mention potential academic issues for a kid such as yours).

I think you have it backwards. It’s easier to make friends at a larger school in a larger system. Think I’d of many kids in FCC have been together since K. In APS there’s more blending at middle and high school.

NP in FCC and I agree that it may be better suited for OP’s kid. FCC attracts a ton of state dept families and there is definitely a transient nature to that. Lots of kids coming and going every year and throughout the year. The kids are used to it and welcoming as a result.

Another NP who lives in FCC. New kids are a big deal here BECAUSE everyone has been together since K, and the kids are eager for new blood to shake things up! As PP above noted, the kids here are used to state dept families coming in and out of the system and are really welcoming.