APS (Jamestown/ATS) to Private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went from Jamestown/Williamsburg to a Big 3 private for high school. Wasn't behind at all - in fact, was probably ahead in math and Spanish.

How much writing did your child actually do in APS? This is where my sense is that APS falls behind Big3. I mean, I believe that APS teachers are on par with the best private school teachers around here; the compensation makes it so. But APS teacher still have bigger classes and, particularly in MS, exponentially greater # of students. So, if a teacher in APS assigns a five page paper in MS, they will have (best case scenario) five pagers per 20 students per five periods equals 1,000 pages to review. They cannot possibly give real editing feedback or teach children the iterative process of writing/editing/revising. A private school teacher has the luxury of maybe 1/3 (or much less) number of pages. They can give detailed feedback. Not all do of course. Many are terrible. And you could win the lottery of teachers in APS so there is no right answer. On the other hand, you are giving up a ton in my view when you pull for private and almost always it’s the wrong call and based more on parents neediness than child’s actual development.

For our average student, they had zero assigned novels in middle school, just excerpts handed out or “pick your own reading — hello graphic novels”. We switched to private in 7th, and we have about 4 assigned novels with reports due end of each quarter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went from Jamestown/Williamsburg to a Big 3 private for high school. Wasn't behind at all - in fact, was probably ahead in math and Spanish.

How much writing did your child actually do in APS? This is where my sense is that APS falls behind Big3. I mean, I believe that APS teachers are on par with the best private school teachers around here; the compensation makes it so. But APS teacher still have bigger classes and, particularly in MS, exponentially greater # of students. So, if a teacher in APS assigns a five page paper in MS, they will have (best case scenario) five pagers per 20 students per five periods equals 1,000 pages to review. They cannot possibly give real editing feedback or teach children the iterative process of writing/editing/revising. A private school teacher has the luxury of maybe 1/3 (or much less) number of pages. They can give detailed feedback. Not all do of course. Many are terrible. And you could win the lottery of teachers in APS so there is no right answer. On the other hand, you are giving up a ton in my view when you pull for private and almost always it’s the wrong call and based more on parents neediness than child’s actual development.

For our average student, they had zero assigned novels in middle school, just excerpts handed out or “pick your own reading — hello graphic novels”. We switched to private in 7th, and we have about 4 assigned novels with reports due end of each quarter

Definitely not the experience my DD had. She had assigned novels and reports due. She went to Swanson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went from Jamestown/Williamsburg to a Big 3 private for high school. Wasn't behind at all - in fact, was probably ahead in math and Spanish.

How much writing did your child actually do in APS? This is where my sense is that APS falls behind Big3. I mean, I believe that APS teachers are on par with the best private school teachers around here; the compensation makes it so. But APS teacher still have bigger classes and, particularly in MS, exponentially greater # of students. So, if a teacher in APS assigns a five page paper in MS, they will have (best case scenario) five pagers per 20 students per five periods equals 1,000 pages to review. They cannot possibly give real editing feedback or teach children the iterative process of writing/editing/revising. A private school teacher has the luxury of maybe 1/3 (or much less) number of pages. They can give detailed feedback. Not all do of course. Many are terrible. And you could win the lottery of teachers in APS so there is no right answer. On the other hand, you are giving up a ton in my view when you pull for private and almost always it’s the wrong call and based more on parents neediness than child’s actual development.

For our average student, they had zero assigned novels in middle school, just excerpts handed out or “pick your own reading — hello graphic novels”. We switched to private in 7th, and we have about 4 assigned novels with reports due end of each quarter

Definitely not the experience my DD had. She had assigned novels and reports due. She went to Swanson.

My son too at another N Arlington MS. But what about the writing? That is where I see a significant disparity and I’m not sure how APS solves it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went from Jamestown/Williamsburg to a Big 3 private for high school. Wasn't behind at all - in fact, was probably ahead in math and Spanish.

How much writing did your child actually do in APS? This is where my sense is that APS falls behind Big3. I mean, I believe that APS teachers are on par with the best private school teachers around here; the compensation makes it so. But APS teacher still have bigger classes and, particularly in MS, exponentially greater # of students. So, if a teacher in APS assigns a five page paper in MS, they will have (best case scenario) five pagers per 20 students per five periods equals 1,000 pages to review. They cannot possibly give real editing feedback or teach children the iterative process of writing/editing/revising. A private school teacher has the luxury of maybe 1/3 (or much less) number of pages. They can give detailed feedback. Not all do of course. Many are terrible. And you could win the lottery of teachers in APS so there is no right answer. On the other hand, you are giving up a ton in my view when you pull for private and almost always it’s the wrong call and based more on parents neediness than child’s actual development.

For our average student, they had zero assigned novels in middle school, just excerpts handed out or “pick your own reading — hello graphic novels”. We switched to private in 7th, and we have about 4 assigned novels with reports due end of each quarter

Definitely not the experience my DD had. She had assigned novels and reports due. She went to Swanson.

What grade? We didn’t have any at Hamm for 6th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my kid’s very best friend went to a Big 3 after another North Arlington elementary school and Williamsburg. They met up again at UVA and rekindled the friendship that they still have to this day. The parents assume the switch would get the kid into an Ivy. It didn’t. Ironically, it very well may have had the kid stayed at Yorktown, where they likely would have been a superstar.

Oh well, it’s not my money.

You have told this story before on DCUM. And I’ve taken the time to explain to you that your analysis is wrong. And yet you keep posting it.

Compare please the acceptance
data from the last five years at YHS and W&L (available from Arlington magazine) with posted acceptance data from Big3, using USNWR Top College (as an arbitrary ranking). Giving EVERY benefit of the doubt to APS, eg, the kid who got into Yale wasn’t also the one who got into Georgetown, Big3 do significantly better by a very wide margin. And the idea that Big3 are filled with legacy/athlete and APS is not is a complete fallacy; there are just as many in my view.

The idea that the kid would’ve been a superstar at YHS is nonsense. There are way bright kids at YHS. And my review is that private school helps you—not hurts you in the very top admissions game. (See private schools representation at the top colleges). Of course, if you are sending your kid to private for this (perhaps) advantage, you are a moron on a number of levels.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, everyone! OP here and your replies are definitely helpful.

My reasons for considering private have very little to do with college matriculation. I’m motivated and impressed more by the smaller class sizes and sense of community that many of the local privates offer. Most importantly, like many of you have stated, the private schools seems to place much more emphasis on writing, spelling, and grammar.

I work in consulting and am in my 40’s, and am increasingly frustrated by how poor the writing is amongst the 20-something’s. This just seems to get worse year after year with each recruiting class. There are a few exceptions and stand outs with stellar communication ability - and time and again I always come to find out they all went to private school.

Gen Z writing ability rant aside, I just hope I’m in a financial spot (fingers crossed) to make this happen after 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, everyone! OP here and your replies are definitely helpful.

My reasons for considering private have very little to do with college matriculation. I’m motivated and impressed more by the smaller class sizes and sense of community that many of the local privates offer. Most importantly, like many of you have stated, the private schools seems to place much more emphasis on writing, spelling, and grammar.

I work in consulting and am in my 40’s, and am increasingly frustrated by how poor the writing is amongst the 20-something’s. This just seems to get worse year after year with each recruiting class. There are a few exceptions and stand outs with stellar communication ability - and time and again I always come to find out they all went to private school.

Gen Z writing ability rant aside, I just hope I’m in a financial spot (fingers crossed) to make this happen after 5th grade.

OP I share your frustration. You should join the English Language Arts Parent Advisory Committee. Their focus this year is in improving the writing curriculum at APS which unfortunately is quite weak.

[Anonymous]

Please tell me about the “sense of community” you are referring to at private.

I am the one who believes writing is better at private.

I firmly believe you are losing out on community when you move. Read the private school dcum. I have kids in APS and Big 3. There is no substitute for a neighborhood school, and particularly one like Jamestown. Your kid will know their neighborhood; the neighborhood will know your kid. You will know the families. Your kid will go to school with little Jimmy and then show up on his soccer team on Saturday. You will stand on the sidelines with the parents and it will turn out they live behind you. You will have a drink together and turns out everyone went to Georgetown and you knew little Jimmy’s dads sister. Little Jimmys moms neighbor has a child in the next grade and you all get together and you know everything about the next grades teachers. Little Jimmy can run over to his new friends house at the drop of a hat. The kids can have some freedom without structured play dates with weird mom interactions. Everyone loves the school and community.

Private school is really, really different. People live far apart. You aren’t standing together on the sidelines as frequently. It’s a lot harder to get little Jimmy together with little Johnny. You see people in carpool which just isn’t the same as walking with parents to/from school while the kids play.

I just think you need to be realistic. Yes, you are right about writing but really wrong about community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please tell me about the “sense of community” you are referring to at private.

I am the one who believes writing is better at private.

I firmly believe you are losing out on community when you move. Read the private school dcum. I have kids in APS and Big 3. There is no substitute for a neighborhood school, and particularly one like Jamestown. Your kid will know their neighborhood; the neighborhood will know your kid. You will know the families. Your kid will go to school with little Jimmy and then show up on his soccer team on Saturday. You will stand on the sidelines with the parents and it will turn out they live behind you. You will have a drink together and turns out everyone went to Georgetown and you knew little Jimmy’s dads sister. Little Jimmys moms neighbor has a child in the next grade and you all get together and you know everything about the next grades teachers. Little Jimmy can run over to his new friends house at the drop of a hat. The kids can have some freedom without structured play dates with weird mom interactions. Everyone loves the school and community.

Private school is really, really different. People live far apart. You aren’t standing together on the sidelines as frequently. It’s a lot harder to get little Jimmy together with little Johnny. You see people in carpool which just isn’t the same as walking with parents to/from school while the kids play.

I just think you need to be realistic. Yes, you are right about writing but really wrong about community.

NP
I would also encourage you to read the elementary age and tween forum focusing on the friendship issues. You’ll find that many of them come from parents who send their kids to private schools. While there can be great community there’s also fewer peers to connect with if you find yourself on the outs with someone.

[Anonymous]

Choose what’s best for family. Private school kids don’t have more friendship issues than kids in APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please tell me about the “sense of community” you are referring to at private.

I am the one who believes writing is better at private.

I firmly believe you are losing out on community when you move. Read the private school dcum. I have kids in APS and Big 3. There is no substitute for a neighborhood school, and particularly one like Jamestown. Your kid will know their neighborhood; the neighborhood will know your kid. You will know the families. Your kid will go to school with little Jimmy and then show up on his soccer team on Saturday. You will stand on the sidelines with the parents and it will turn out they live behind you. You will have a drink together and turns out everyone went to Georgetown and you knew little Jimmy’s dads sister. Little Jimmys moms neighbor has a child in the next grade and you all get together and you know everything about the next grades teachers. Little Jimmy can run over to his new friends house at the drop of a hat. The kids can have some freedom without structured play dates with weird mom interactions. Everyone loves the school and community.

Private school is really, really different. People live far apart. You aren’t standing together on the sidelines as frequently. It’s a lot harder to get little Jimmy together with little Johnny. You see people in carpool which just isn’t the same as walking with parents to/from school while the kids play.

I just think you need to be realistic. Yes, you are right about writing but really wrong about community.

Agree 100%, but once the kids start driving it’s not as much of an issue. At Jamestown, everyone went to uva, not Georgetown though.

[Anonymous]

Regarding sense of community, our kids went to a DC private from Arlington. Most of the kids lived in DC/MD and their parents regarded crossing the Potomac as entering the deep south. They complained they didn't know their way around. There's more of a sense of community in neighborhood elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please tell me about the “sense of community” you are referring to at private.

I am the one who believes writing is better at private.

I firmly believe you are losing out on community when you move. Read the private school dcum. I have kids in APS and Big 3. There is no substitute for a neighborhood school, and particularly one like Jamestown. Your kid will know their neighborhood; the neighborhood will know your kid. You will know the families. Your kid will go to school with little Jimmy and then show up on his soccer team on Saturday. You will stand on the sidelines with the parents and it will turn out they live behind you. You will have a drink together and turns out everyone went to Georgetown and you knew little Jimmy’s dads sister. Little Jimmys moms neighbor has a child in the next grade and you all get together and you know everything about the next grades teachers. Little Jimmy can run over to his new friends house at the drop of a hat. The kids can have some freedom without structured play dates with weird mom interactions. Everyone loves the school and community.

Private school is really, really different. People live far apart. You aren’t standing together on the sidelines as frequently. It’s a lot harder to get little Jimmy together with little Johnny. You see people in carpool which just isn’t the same as walking with parents to/from school while the kids play.

I just think you need to be realistic. Yes, you are right about writing but really wrong about community.

You may not even see other parents in the carpool line. Most of the time it will be the nanny doing pick up.

[Anonymous]

To the OP, if you make the switch, you may be back here regretting the reduced math and science opportunities at your new private in MS/HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went from Jamestown/Williamsburg to a Big 3 private for high school. Wasn't behind at all - in fact, was probably ahead in math and Spanish.

How much writing did your child actually do in APS? This is where my sense is that APS falls behind Big3. I mean, I believe that APS teachers are on par with the best private school teachers around here; the compensation makes it so. But APS teacher still have bigger classes and, particularly in MS, exponentially greater # of students. So, if a teacher in APS assigns a five page paper in MS, they will have (best case scenario) five pagers per 20 students per five periods equals 1,000 pages to review. They cannot possibly give real editing feedback or teach children the iterative process of writing/editing/revising. A private school teacher has the luxury of maybe 1/3 (or much less) number of pages. They can give detailed feedback. Not all do of course. Many are terrible. And you could win the lottery of teachers in APS so there is no right answer. On the other hand, you are giving up a ton in my view when you pull for private and almost always it’s the wrong call and based more on parents neediness than child’s actual development.

For our average student, they had zero assigned novels in middle school, just excerpts handed out or “pick your own reading — hello graphic novels”. We switched to private in 7th, and we have about 4 assigned novels with reports due end of each quarter

Definitely not the experience my DD had. She had assigned novels and reports due. She went to Swanson.

What grade? We didn’t have any at Hamm for 6th.

NP, at SA MS. I can’t remember if my DC had any novels assigned in 6th, but across the board 7th grade was a huge step up in terms of work. I think they take it really easy on 6th graders as they make the transition to MS, then it gets real in 7th. Also, DC did have novels assigned with reports (they didn’t call them book reports, but they were more like essays of analysis).