Arlington Tech - how did your child like it??

[Anonymous]

I have younger kids, but these descriptions seem to fit what we have seen with neighbors who have gone to AT instead of our neighborhood school.

Many kids are thriving, and I am so glad this awesome program is a thing! I'm not sure it'll be right for my kids, but we'll see when we get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have younger kids, but these descriptions seem to fit what we have seen with neighbors who have gone to AT instead of our neighborhood school.

Many kids are thriving, and I am so glad this awesome program is a thing! I'm not sure it'll be right for my kids, but we'll see when we get there.

I bet it will be right for your kids when the building is all shiny and new with state of the art science labs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Social Butterfly is not a usual description of an AT student. They aren't all introverts, but not many big extroverts attend that school. If DC needs a big social scene, it might not be the best fit. Also, it really is smaller, so is not a big social pool in any case.

It's 700 kids. That's not small. Yes, compared to 3K but not small. My kid is a social butterfly and loves it there.

When the new campus is finished, how large will Tech grow? 1600 students?

Spot on! So they'll shove 1800 in there. (not joking).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Social Butterfly is not a usual description of an AT student. They aren't all introverts, but not many big extroverts attend that school. If DC needs a big social scene, it might not be the best fit. Also, it really is smaller, so is not a big social pool in any case.

It's 700 kids. That's not small. Yes, compared to 3K but not small. My kid is a social butterfly and loves it there.

When the new campus is finished, how large will Tech grow? 1600 students?

Spot on! So they'll shove 1800 in there. (not joking).

Does the 1800 account for the kids bussed in from the neighborhood high schools for a double period of class time at Tech?

[Anonymous]

We're passing on AT due to the team project requirements. My son has been burned in middle school with teammates (friends) not pulling their weight on assignments requiring him to do their portion and/or lower his grade. He knows he will face group projects again in high school but for his interest and chosen fields of study (computer science, business), he feels more confident if he is responsible for the bulk of his assignments or project work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're passing on AT due to the team project requirements. My son has been burned in middle school with teammates (friends) not pulling their weight on assignments requiring him to do their portion and/or lower his grade. He knows he will face group projects again in high school but for his interest and chosen fields of study (computer science, business), he feels more confident if he is responsible for the bulk of his assignments or project work.

My son has this at AT and I see him thriving as a leader. He doesn't do it, it gets them to do it. (from what a teacher told me). He didn't have this problem in his private middle school though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is PP above. Also something that I noticed with my DD's group is that there are advantages to not going to the same school as your friends. At this age, the the big high school has cliques form and your kid may end up being left out, even with kids they've been friends with forever. However, when they are at different schools, it becomes a non-issue because the friends can still be their old selves with each other and not have to put on whatever high school persona they have developed.

To not scare OP, I will say that I have not seen the clique/exclusion thing at the big HS.

[Anonymous]

loved it, no more words!

[Anonymous]

Can you still apply to AT right now? Is it too late?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you still apply to AT right now? Is it too late?

You can but you will be at the bottom of the waitlist. We are 42 and there has been little movement unfortunately

[Anonymous]

I've been surprised by how little movement there has been on the waitlist. I had heard in the past kids over 100 on the waitlist got in and am wondering when the movement starts. We have moved up just 3 spots. I was expecting to move much more based on feedback from past years. Today was the deadline to accept spots and I guess I thought there would be a big move today but there was nothing-- maybe it hasn't updated? Or maybe families accept the spots "just in case" knowing they can change their mind as they get closer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been surprised by how little movement there has been on the waitlist. I had heard in the past kids over 100 on the waitlist got in and am wondering when the movement starts. We have moved up just 3 spots. I was expecting to move much more based on feedback from past years. Today was the deadline to accept spots and I guess I thought there would be a big move today but there was nothing-- maybe it hasn't updated? Or maybe families accept the spots "just in case" knowing they can change their mind as they get closer?

The new building comes 0nline in 2 years. Might have s0mething 2 d0 with it. It's really great

[Anonymous]

I'm hoping it starts to move more when private school and TJ admissions happen. I'm guessing a lot of families hold onto the spot (both spots at the school and on the waitlist) until they absolutely have to make a decision because "why not?" (admittedly a little frustrating for those of us with a kid who has their heart set on it but I get it). If families accept the spot they can always change their mind right up through August (or even after the school year starts "just give it a try") and decide to withdraw and send their student to their home/ in-bounds school. With that in mind, folks may just take the spot and push their decision down the path. I'm guessing/hoping the waitlist will move eventually. . .

I do also hope parents aren't pushing their kids to "just try it" though. I think it's a great option but also clearly not for everyone-- ex. Engineering is required for all kids-- I have one kid who would HATE that and another kid who the school is clearly a great fit for. Or the fact that there are limited music and sport options. I feel it's a bit unfair to for parents to push kids to go without really investigating the fit only for the student to switch back to their home school weeks into the school year (I know that happens A LOT specifically with AT).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you still apply to AT right now? Is it too late?

You can but you will be at the bottom of the waitlist. We are 42 and there has been little movement unfortunately

Me again- WE JUST GOT IN! I wonder if the 21st was a soft deadline and they waited until today to process. We are over the moon excited. It’s our second to attend there so we know it will be a great fit. I can now tell people how much we love it

[Anonymous]

Same for us!! Our child just got in!! They were close to 50 on the waitlist and it had barely moved as of this morning so I wanted to come on to tell anyone whose child is high on the waitlist not to lose hope or get discouraged if the list doesn't seem to be moving. Hopefully all who want to will end up getting in.