Which APS middle and high school for an anxious child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. This was a mixed bag of responses! I should have said which neighborhood school, since this is really a question about where to look for housing. We can decide whether to apply for HB Woodlawn or not later. (Although I definitely appreciate that advice.) So of the neighborhood schools, which one(s) are best or good for her?

The lottery of HBW is a ridiculous long shot, so set that aside. I would actually aim for Williamsburg and Yorktown. They are not academic focused, because by and large it’s wealthy families who already have a path for their child and it doesn’t depend on grades. They are intense about sports though. But if your kid stays away from lacrosse and such it’s pretty chill.

Wow. Somebody is super petty and jealous.

What? No jealousy here, we go to Yorktown. The more academic students do IB at WL so it’s a natural pressure valve on academic competition. I mean there have been whole threads about how success in career often doesn’t correlate to grades or academic pedigree, why would it be surprising to embrace that if you are a family of means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn may be small, sure, but it’s pretty intense academically and really isn’t a place for kids with special needs. I think she’d be better off in one of the neighborhood schools, probably Wakefield.

Haha no, it follows the same curriculum as the rest of APS, with similar academic pathways. Just in a not overcrowded school in a gorgeous building

Two of my kids went to HB. I believe I know more about the school than you do.

So a random lottery school somehow ends up academic more advanced without any admission criteria? You are full of BS. It’s not a magnet, it’s lottery ticket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. This was a mixed bag of responses! I should have said which neighborhood school, since this is really a question about where to look for housing. We can decide whether to apply for HB Woodlawn or not later. (Although I definitely appreciate that advice.) So of the neighborhood schools, which one(s) are best or good for her?

The lottery of HBW is a ridiculous long shot, so set that aside. I would actually aim for Williamsburg and Yorktown. They are not academic focused, because by and large it’s wealthy families who already have a path for their child and it doesn’t depend on grades. They are intense about sports though. But if your kid stays away from lacrosse and such it’s pretty chill.

WMS / YHS parent here with an ADHD kid who struggles with anxiety. Those schools are decidedly NOT chill. They do NOT want to help your kid. Their MO is to push as many SN kids as possible into private schools.

[Anonymous]

This is tough:

- I would absolutely avoid Williamsburg -my son has ADHD and he was treated like his condition was a choice
- We requested a transfer to Dorthy Hamn which was so much better
- We recently moved to the Swanson district - my daughter is in 7th grade and also has ADHD and things have been great
- our son is at W/L now and while they try to accommodate him the school is just so big and he is constantly lost in the system

Wakefiled has an AP program that your child can get into if you don't want to move to South Arlington.

[Anonymous]

I have heard good things about Kenmore, so I wouldn’t move just to avoid it. Talk to the school if you have concerns. If you are moving for other reasons, I have also heard things about Thomas Jefferson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn may be small, sure, but it’s pretty intense academically and really isn’t a place for kids with special needs. I think she’d be better off in one of the neighborhood schools, probably Wakefield.

Haha no, it follows the same curriculum as the rest of APS, with similar academic pathways. Just in a not overcrowded school in a gorgeous building

I never understood why people profess knowledge of a school that their kids didn’t go to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. This was a mixed bag of responses! I should have said which neighborhood school, since this is really a question about where to look for housing. We can decide whether to apply for HB Woodlawn or not later. (Although I definitely appreciate that advice.) So of the neighborhood schools, which one(s) are best or good for her?

The lottery of HBW is a ridiculous long shot, so set that aside. I would actually aim for Williamsburg and Yorktown. They are not academic focused, because by and large it’s wealthy families who already have a path for their child and it doesn’t depend on grades. They are intense about sports though. But if your kid stays away from lacrosse and such it’s pretty chill.

Wow. Somebody is super petty and jealous.

What? No jealousy here, we go to Yorktown. The more academic students do IB at WL so it’s a natural pressure valve on academic competition. I mean there have been whole threads about how success in career often doesn’t correlate to grades or academic pedigree, why would it be surprising to embrace that if you are a family of means.

If you can afford to live in a school district as expensive as Yorktown and hate it so much, why on earth are you still there? Why not move to a district more to your liking? So odd.

Are your kids social misfits at Yorktown? Are they not achieving as well as you’d hoped. Do you have less money than most other Yorktown families?

What makes you so bitter about your kids’ high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn may be small, sure, but it’s pretty intense academically and really isn’t a place for kids with special needs. I think she’d be better off in one of the neighborhood schools, probably Wakefield.

Haha no, it follows the same curriculum as the rest of APS, with similar academic pathways. Just in a not overcrowded school in a gorgeous building

Two of my kids went to HB. I believe I know more about the school than you do.

So a random lottery school somehow ends up academic more advanced without any admission criteria? You are full of BS. It’s not a magnet, it’s lottery ticket.

Are you for real?

Yes, the academic profile of the average HB student is higher than the average at any of the neighborhood high schools, not because it’s a magnet school with admissions criteria, but because it tends to attract higher achievers as lottery applicants. It’s not like every 5th grader in the county applies to HB; the large majority don’t, and I suspect some families have never even heard of it.

It’s not that complicated, idiot.

[Anonymous]

As an adult who has probably had anxiety since middle school but was only recently diagnosed and medicated, I would seriously look into medication. It had honestly changed my life. I honestly wonder how my life might have been different if I had been treated 30 years ago.

[Anonymous]

*has ^

The medication has changed my life. Best of luck to your daughter ❤️

[Anonymous]

This is OP. Let’s try to stay on topic, folks! We’re not even talking about HB Woodlawn here. This is just about schools that a house can be zoned for!

In case anyone has other input - we’re not moving to avoid Kenmore at all. We’re moving because we want a new house. But we do want to make sure we choose a house that’s zoned for the best fit for our child, if there is a school that’s a better fit than others. I think the only middle school no one has recommended is Gunston. Is that because it’s so overcrowded?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. This was a mixed bag of responses! I should have said which neighborhood school, since this is really a question about where to look for housing. We can decide whether to apply for HB Woodlawn or not later. (Although I definitely appreciate that advice.) So of the neighborhood schools, which one(s) are best or good for her?

The lottery of HBW is a ridiculous long shot, so set that aside. I would actually aim for Williamsburg and Yorktown. They are not academic focused, because by and large it’s wealthy families who already have a path for their child and it doesn’t depend on grades. They are intense about sports though. But if your kid stays away from lacrosse and such it’s pretty chill.

WMS / YHS parent here with an ADHD kid who struggles with anxiety. Those schools are decidedly NOT chill. They do NOT want to help your kid. Their MO is to push as many SN kids as possible into private schools.

It seems to be working quite well too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn may be small, sure, but it’s pretty intense academically and really isn’t a place for kids with special needs. I think she’d be better off in one of the neighborhood schools, probably Wakefield.

Haha no, it follows the same curriculum as the rest of APS, with similar academic pathways. Just in a not overcrowded school in a gorgeous building

I never understood why people profess knowledge of a school that their kids didn’t go to.

Because that is what the school says and many other posters have professed. Also it makes no sense: it’s not a magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Let’s try to stay on topic, folks! We’re not even talking about HB Woodlawn here. This is just about schools that a house can be zoned for!

In case anyone has other input - we’re not moving to avoid Kenmore at all. We’re moving because we want a new house. But we do want to make sure we choose a house that’s zoned for the best fit for our child, if there is a school that’s a better fit than others. I think the only middle school no one has recommended is Gunston. Is that because it’s so overcrowded?

FCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Let’s try to stay on topic, folks! We’re not even talking about HB Woodlawn here. This is just about schools that a house can be zoned for!

In case anyone has other input - we’re not moving to avoid Kenmore at all. We’re moving because we want a new house. But we do want to make sure we choose a house that’s zoned for the best fit for our child, if there is a school that’s a better fit than others. I think the only middle school no one has recommended is Gunston. Is that because it’s so overcrowded?

FCC.

This is OP. Is that Falls Church City? Thank you for the suggestion, but we can’t afford Falls Church City. I think it’s best for my daughter if we stay in Arlington because I think it would be hard for an anxious child to start over socially. But if we change districts it would have to be to Fairfax. So still wondering about Arlington middle schools. It seems like the middle schools might be the weak point in the link.