Are the City of Alexandria public schools really that bad?

[Anonymous]

We are very happy with our Alexandria elementary so far. My child is in a class of 20, and the teacher is great. Talk to your neighbors and other "real" people. Get an accurate picture of what is going on, and also visit yourself. And figure out what is important to you, that may be different than what is important to others. Finally, really look at the test scores. If you isolate them, the scores are not that different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

[Anonymous]

I attended Alexandria public schools, and I graduated to people who went to Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Columbia, Duke, etc. I had excellent teachers, and I loved the diversity and overall experience. People often talk about average scores, but you really should ask how are your kids going to learn. The reality is that your kids are pretty much going to do the well regardless of the school system because you are engaged in their education. What does it matter to you or your child how the other kids doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another ACPS "booster" here, who also sent kids to private from K-8 and then TC. TC was a fantastic experience. DD is now getting As at an Ivy. TC prepared her well.

It's interesting because you always pop up on these discussions yet from the stats TC releases there is maybe one or two kids in the past couple years going to actual Ivy schools.

Also, talking with neighbors I found was just worthless. They all touted their local elementary as great ... until I actually put my child in the school then they had a different story and started saying what they didn't like, etc.

My child's teachers have told me two years in a row that they don't use any kind of text books or non fiction books for Science or Social Studies because most of the kids can't read them anyway and the teachers are correct.

[Anonymous]

They suck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another ACPS "booster" here, who also sent kids to private from K-8 and then TC. TC was a fantastic experience. DD is now getting As at an Ivy. TC prepared her well.

It's interesting because you always pop up on these discussions yet from the stats TC releases there is maybe one or two kids in the past couple years going to actual Ivy schools.

Also, talking with neighbors I found was just worthless. They all touted their local elementary as great ... until I actually put my child in the school then they had a different story and started saying what they didn't like, etc.

My child's teachers have told me two years in a row that they don't use any kind of text books or non fiction books for Science or Social Studies because most of the kids can't read them anyway and the teachers are correct.

I'm not a TC booster or even from Alexandria, but I always heard that over twenty TC graduates tend to go on to the ivies every year. Maybe things have changed the past coupe of years, but I thought the school had a fairly large cohort of motivated kids form those wealthy families on Seminary Ridge, many who have ivy connections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another ACPS "booster" here, who also sent kids to private from K-8 and then TC. TC was a fantastic experience. DD is now getting As at an Ivy. TC prepared her well.

It's interesting because you always pop up on these discussions yet from the stats TC releases there is maybe one or two kids in the past couple years going to actual Ivy schools.

Also, talking with neighbors I found was just worthless. They all touted their local elementary as great ... until I actually put my child in the school then they had a different story and started saying what they didn't like, etc.

My child's teachers have told me two years in a row that they don't use any kind of text books or non fiction books for Science or Social Studies because most of the kids can't read them anyway and the teachers are correct.

I'm not a TC booster or even from Alexandria, but I always heard that over twenty TC graduates tend to go on to the ivies every year. Maybe things have changed the past coupe of years, but I thought the school had a fairly large cohort of motivated kids form those wealthy families on Seminary Ridge, many who have ivy connections.

This April, the offer list included Yale (multiple), Stanford (multiple), Columbia, Cornell, Chicago, multiple top publics (not just the usual UVA and W&M -- also Michigan, UT, UC system, UNC-Chapel Hill), and the typical collection of SLACs. All the better-known HBCs made offers (Howard, Tuskeegee, CAU-Morehouse and Spelman). All the VA publics made offers. I don't get the complaints.

[Anonymous]

Are there any studies indicating whether Alexandria public schools prepared them for college let alone ivy league?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there any studies indicating whether Alexandria public schools prepared them for college let alone ivy league?

Smart kids dont need HS to prepare them for college. Esp of they are raised with family support. Let's get real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there any studies indicating whether Alexandria public schools prepared them for college let alone ivy league?

According to the US News rankings, TC Williams has a college readiness index (CRI) of 32.7. This number is based on AP exam participation rates and percentages of students passing at least one exam. According to US News, "only schools that had values at or above 14.8 in their CRI scored high enough to meet the criteria for gold and silver medal selection. The minimum of 14.8 was used because it's the median (the statistical midpoint) of all the college readiness index values among all high schools with AP or IB test-takers."

The school I went to in Illinois, which has a "9" Great School rating, has a college readiness index of 20.5, and it's nationally ranked and was given a silver rating by US News.

I can't pretend to understand the rankings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any studies indicating whether Alexandria public schools prepared them for college let alone ivy league?

Smart kids dont need HS to prepare them for college. Esp of they are raised with family support. Let's get real.

Ok now I think we are getting a little crazy. Is the school system so bad that you think it would be better to just skip it and go straight to college?

[Anonymous]

My take on TC (and my kid is a long way away from it yet having not even started school) is that a lot depends on your kid. If your kid is academically motivated and bright-then you can get a good education there, take advantage of a range of honors and AP classes and be very prepared and competitive for college. If your kid is a personality that's going to get lost in a crowd, is a middle of the road student, etc-then being in a large school where a sizable chunk of the students are struggling and there are some issues with drugs, teen pregnancy, etc may not be a viable option for parents with other resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another ACPS "booster" here, who also sent kids to private from K-8 and then TC. TC was a fantastic experience. DD is now getting As at an Ivy. TC prepared her well.

It's interesting because you always pop up on these discussions yet from the stats TC releases there is maybe one or two kids in the past couple years going to actual Ivy schools.

Also, talking with neighbors I found was just worthless. They all touted their local elementary as great ... until I actually put my child in the school then they had a different story and started saying what they didn't like, etc.

My child's teachers have told me two years in a row that they don't use any kind of text books or non fiction books for Science or Social Studies because most of the kids can't read them anyway and the teachers are correct.

I'm not a TC booster or even from Alexandria, but I always heard that over twenty TC graduates tend to go on to the ivies every year. Maybe things have changed the past coupe of years, but I thought the school had a fairly large cohort of motivated kids form those wealthy families on Seminary Ridge, many who have ivy connections.

This April, the offer list included Yale (multiple), Stanford (multiple), Columbia, Cornell, Chicago, multiple top publics (not just the usual UVA and W&M -- also Michigan, UT, UC system, UNC-Chapel Hill), and the typical collection of SLACs. All the better-known HBCs made offers (Howard, Tuskeegee, CAU-Morehouse and Spelman). All the VA publics made offers. I don't get the complaints.

Meh, if this was true they would be bragging like crazy. right now their current "brag" on their website sites 2009 stats. I also recall seeing a snapshot of their published list for 2013 and I believe it mentioned Yale and that was it.

http://www.acps.k12.va.us/tcw-transformation/points-of-pride.php

I school like TC needs all the bragging it can get so I find it highly unlikely if they had all these great acceptances that they would not advertise them quite widely and loudly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I school like TC needs all the bragging it can get so I find it highly unlikely if they had all these great acceptances that they would not advertise them quite widely and loudly.

Here's what they said this year:

Out of the currently enrolled 705 seniors, 651 will graduate on Saturday. The remaining students will attend summer school. Fifty-three percent of the graduating class will attend four-year colleges, 40 percent will attend two-year colleges or technical schools and 7 percent will join the military or work.

Our students will be attending schools such as Dartmouth College (to which a student received a full scholarship), Yale University (one of two students attending received a full scholarship), Stanford University, University of Chicago, Oberlin College & Conservatory, Tulane University, Vassar College, University of Alabama, Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Florida A&M University and Miami University. Almost all Virginia schools are represented, as well as all of the armed forces.

The class includes two National Merit Finalists, four National Achievement Scholarship Program Semi-Finalists and one National Achievement Scholarship Recipient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another ACPS "booster" here, who also sent kids to private from K-8 and then TC. TC was a fantastic experience. DD is now getting As at an Ivy. TC prepared her well.

It's interesting because you always pop up on these discussions yet from the stats TC releases there is maybe one or two kids in the past couple years going to actual Ivy schools.

Also, talking with neighbors I found was just worthless. They all touted their local elementary as great ... until I actually put my child in the school then they had a different story and started saying what they didn't like, etc.

My child's teachers have told me two years in a row that they don't use any kind of text books or non fiction books for Science or Social Studies because most of the kids can't read them anyway and the teachers are correct.

I'm not a TC booster or even from Alexandria, but I always heard that over twenty TC graduates tend to go on to the ivies every year. Maybe things have changed the past coupe of years, but I thought the school had a fairly large cohort of motivated kids form those wealthy families on Seminary Ridge, many who have ivy connections.

This April, the offer list included Yale (multiple), Stanford (multiple), Columbia, Cornell, Chicago, multiple top publics (not just the usual UVA and W&M -- also Michigan, UT, UC system, UNC-Chapel Hill), and the typical collection of SLACs. All the better-known HBCs made offers (Howard, Tuskeegee, CAU-Morehouse and Spelman). All the VA publics made offers. I don't get the complaints.

Meh, if this was true they would be bragging like crazy. right now their current "brag" on their website sites 2009 stats. I also recall seeing a snapshot of their published list for 2013 and I believe it mentioned Yale and that was it.

http://www.acps.k12.va.us/tcw-transformation/points-of-pride.php

I school like TC needs all the bragging it can get so I find it highly unlikely if they had all these great acceptances that they would not advertise them quite widely and loudly.

PP, don't ignore the difference between accept vs. enroll. The High School often does not find out about the former. So TC may only be able to report actual enrollments, rather than acceptances.

[Anonymous]

I was also really nervous about ACPS when my children started, and it has been 9 years now and I have 3 in the system: 2nd, 5th and 7th. It seems like on these forums there is a definite bias against ACPS, a lot of it undeserved. Is it a school district with no problems at all? No. We have found it to be a really great experience so far and I feel like my children are engaged and challenged, I love the class sizes in elementary and after 2 years at GWMS, am really liking that as well. I have heard these stories of how no one sends their kids to the middle schools and I was fully prepared to pull out my daughter at the slightest provocation, but I've been so pleasantly surprised. Of the 12 children in my daughter's 5th grade math TAG class, all 12 are still at the middle school. Her science projects have been so interesting, her math teachers really challenged her with special projects, and she has developed a real love for reading. I mean, I don't know what else I can ask for, the kids are learning, they love school, are testing well and its in a safe environment. I think you just need to decide for yourself, talk to parents in the neighborhood who send their kids to ACPS and see what you think, go to an elementary school and see what you think.