Is HB Woodlawn right for my son?

[Anonymous]

The kids that do best there in terms of grades, AP scores, and elite college admissions are those that go from ATS directly to HB. Seems counterintuitive, but thats just my experience. Mine went to the neighborhood elem. and really floundered for a bit until he got to 9th grade and became more self-disciplined.

What people never talk about is how low performing/disruptive students are "mentored" into going to their home schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids that do best there in terms of grades, AP scores, and elite college admissions are those that go from ATS directly to HB. Seems counterintuitive, but thats just my experience. Mine went to the neighborhood elem. and really floundered for a bit until he got to 9th grade and became more self-disciplined.

What people never talk about is how low performing/disruptive students are "mentored" into going to their home schools.

I call horseshit on this.

Again, if you win ATS in ES, you should be ineligible to even apply for HBW. These are not people who are committed to an educational philosophy. These are people who are either chasing something these perceive to be a hot commodity or are fleeing their neighborhood school. Neither belongs at HBW. But more to the point, it's a fundamental question of fairness -- you should only be allowed to win one lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids that do best there in terms of grades, AP scores, and elite college admissions are those that go from ATS directly to HB. Seems counterintuitive, but thats just my experience. Mine went to the neighborhood elem. and really floundered for a bit until he got to 9th grade and became more self-disciplined.

What people never talk about is how low performing/disruptive students are "mentored" into going to their home schools.

I call horseshit on this.

Again, if you win ATS in ES, you should be ineligible to even apply for HBW. These are not people who are committed to an educational philosophy. These are people who are either chasing something these perceive to be a hot commodity or are fleeing their neighborhood school. Neither belongs at HBW. But more to the point, it's a fundamental question of fairness -- you should only be allowed to win one lottery.

So what would you say to someone whose child is in an elementary, that is a "choice" school with a lottery, that has a similar educational philosophy to HB? Because our principal specifically recommended that parents and kids who are a "fit" at her school, should look into HB beyond elementary. Does your choice school exclusion apply to all, or only ATS because it's more sought after/less congruent? Excluding those based solely on having previously "won" a lottery seems to show that you are buying into the idea of chasing a hot commodity, and are mad that you didn't win the hot commodity the first time around, and want less competition for the second round. Do you not see how you're coming off? Isn't the choice system within APS meant to encourage parents and children to find the best educational/community fit for their individual needs? The whole child and all that? Excluding ATS for philosophical reasons actually makes sense. The lottery argument seems like sour grapes.

[Anonymous]

These schools are more about affluence and small class sizes than about anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids that do best there in terms of grades, AP scores, and elite college admissions are those that go from ATS directly to HB. Seems counterintuitive, but thats just my experience. Mine went to the neighborhood elem. and really floundered for a bit until he got to 9th grade and became more self-disciplined.

What people never talk about is how low performing/disruptive students are "mentored" into going to their home schools.

I call horseshit on this.

Again, if you win ATS in ES, you should be ineligible to even apply for HBW. These are not people who are committed to an educational philosophy. These are people who are either chasing something these perceive to be a hot commodity or are fleeing their neighborhood school. Neither belongs at HBW. But more to the point, it's a fundamental question of fairness -- you should only be allowed to win one lottery.

I'm not sure why there is always such a firestorm about ATS kids going on to HB. It's not inconsistent for a child to be well suited to ATS at age 5 - or age 3 or 4 when you apply to the VPI lottery or the K lottery - and to later be well suited to HB at age 11. Perhaps you can tell what kind of middle/high school student your 5 year old child will be, but I can't. Some kids do well with a little bit of extra structure or discipline in the early elementary years, and the personal responsibility and discipline that ATS encourages might allow those students to thrive in a more permissive environment at HB in middle and high school. Moreover, it seems to me that ATS isn't all that different from other Arlington elementary schools. It's educational philosophy isn't really all that distinct. HB, on the other hand, does seem to offer a quite different middle and high school experience as compared with the neighborhood middle and high schools. I don't have any kids at HB, so I might be mistaken about that, of course. (I do have kids at ATS.)

As for the "one lottery win per student" rule, the School Board could do this, but it has not. The Board seems to want to preserve ATS and HB as truly County wide options for all. That doesn't strike me as particularly unfair. Why deprive a child who attends ATS, Montessori, Immersion, or Expeditionary Learning schools of the opportunity to try for HB - with the same odds as everyone else in their home school zone - if that is the best fit for middle and high school? If there are a disproportionate number of ATS kids at HB (or kids from the other elementary choice schools) it's probably because a disproportionately large number enter the lottery. When you have already opted out of the neighborhood schools once (the reason doesn't matter), you are more likely to do so again.

Good luck with your decision, OP. I don't have any first hand experience with HB, but the kids I know who go there really love it.

[Anonymous]

The choice schools by and large are not about " the whole child". They are about escape hatches for south Arlington's middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The choice schools by and large are not about " the whole child". They are about escape hatches for south Arlington's middle class.

If that were true, HB would be located in S. Arl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids that do best there in terms of grades, AP scores, and elite college admissions are those that go from ATS directly to HB. Seems counterintuitive, but thats just my experience. Mine went to the neighborhood elem. and really floundered for a bit until he got to 9th grade and became more self-disciplined.

What people never talk about is how low performing/disruptive students are "mentored" into going to their home schools.

??? Who does any "mentoring" about entering the HB lottery? How bizarre.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids that do best there in terms of grades, AP scores, and elite college admissions are those that go from ATS directly to HB. Seems counterintuitive, but thats just my experience. Mine went to the neighborhood elem. and really floundered for a bit until he got to 9th grade and became more self-disciplined.

What people never talk about is how low performing/disruptive students are "mentored" into going to their home schools.

??? Who does any "mentoring" about entering the HB lottery? How bizarre.

Ummm... I think they mean they are mentored to leave HB if they can't cut it...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The choice schools by and large are not about " the whole child". They are about escape hatches for south Arlington's middle class.

If that were true, HB would be located in S. Arl.

The physical location of the building doesn't matter. Besides high school isn't really the issue. The middle class families I know are ok with Wakefield- it's the elementaries that are the problem. My whole south Arlington neighborhood is standing on the curb catching buses away from the neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The choice schools by and large are not about " the whole child". They are about escape hatches for south Arlington's middle class.

If that were true, HB would be located in S. Arl.

If there were more South Arlingtonians of color and of lower SES at HB, the middle-class white SArlingtonians would not be as interested in sending their kids there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The choice schools by and large are not about " the whole child". They are about escape hatches for south Arlington's middle class.

If that were true, HB would be located in S. Arl.

If there were more South Arlingtonians of color and of lower SES at HB, the middle-class white SArlingtonians would not be as interested in sending their kids there.

What in the heck are you talking about? There are just as many kids from north Arlington (maybe more) at ATS. And I bet if you took a look at the HB applications there are just as many, if not more, from north Arlington.

But yeah, you're totally right. It's the middle class people who have moved to south Arlington, despite the counsel of DCUM, that are the problem. It's much more acceptable to buy your way out of diversity.

[Anonymous]

On the other hand, he's not a terrific student. If he likes an assignment, he'll do an outstanding job. But if he doesn't like it--like math worksheets-he'll generally do an OK, but not great, job. We've been lucky to be able to place him with teachers who get him and will nudge him to work up to his potential. He's also pretty disorganized--forgetting homework, his clarinet, gym uniform, etc. So much about HBW is about being a self-motivated, disciplined student. Are those skills that HBW helps students build in the early years, or is it assumed that they come in having them already?

H-B helps students build self-reliance skills. The freedoms that kids have start smaller at first and increase in higher grades (off-campus permission and the ability to choose more of their classes come later), and TAs work more closely with 6th-graders on things like balancing workload, keeping track of assignments, etc.
We had far more interaction with our son's TA in 6th grade (mostly through emails she sent us) than in later years. More reminders to the parents, more organized TA activities, and such. There are 2 TA periods a week, and I think in 6th grade our TA often used one of those for TA bonding activities and one of them for discussions of organization, ways to keep on top of things, and other self-reliance-building things.

Are you able to go visit on the day they have for students who've been admitted? It would be extremely helpful in making your decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

On the other hand, he's not a terrific student. If he likes an assignment, he'll do an outstanding job. But if he doesn't like it--like math worksheets-he'll generally do an OK, but not great, job. We've been lucky to be able to place him with teachers who get him and will nudge him to work up to his potential. He's also pretty disorganized--forgetting homework, his clarinet, gym uniform, etc. So much about HBW is about being a self-motivated, disciplined student. Are those skills that HBW helps students build in the early years, or is it assumed that they come in having them already?

H-B helps students build self-reliance skills. The freedoms that kids have start smaller at first and increase in higher grades (off-campus permission and the ability to choose more of their classes come later), and TAs work more closely with 6th-graders on things like balancing workload, keeping track of assignments, etc.
We had far more interaction with our son's TA in 6th grade (mostly through emails she sent us) than in later years. More reminders to the parents, more organized TA activities, and such. There are 2 TA periods a week, and I think in 6th grade our TA often used one of those for TA bonding activities and one of them for discussions of organization, ways to keep on top of things, and other self-reliance-building things.

Are you able to go visit on the day they have for students who've been admitted? It would be extremely helpful in making your decision.

Sorry, I was reading the rest of the thread and forgot to go back and read your post, which said that you're overseas now and if you don't choose H-B, may stay there longer. So you can't visit.
You could email with the principal, if you like, and she'd be responsive to discussing it with you. Go to the staff directory at http://www.apsva.us/domain/1616 and search for Casey under first name.

Some classes would allow your son to do more creative types of assignments (I've seen some artistic ones in English). But they'll also have plenty of assignments that are about teaching students to write or do the math assignments, so not everything can be creative. The teachers tend to be pleasant and work on having relationships with the kids as well as teaching, meaning it's possible they'll give him a little nudge when he needs it (at least at first).

If your son will thrive in a friendlier, less discipline-driven environment, HB would be a good fit for him. (Doesn't describe every teacher, but the bulk of them) If he needs to have more rigid discipline imposed in order to get his work done, it may not be the best fit. The watchword at HB is "Verbum Sap Sat," meaning 'a word to the wise is sufficient'. It's explained as "This means that your life is your responsibility. We believe that you have the sense to manage your education and work through your problems with the help of the people around you. It also means that we believe you have the consideration and respect to let other people go about their business and learning -- we're all human enough to really appreciate and care for each other. Most of all, Verbum Sap Sat means that people don't have to be told to be sensible. Enough said."
This may be a good philosophy for your son if you think he'd respond well to it by starting to work on his organization skills. Lots of kids don't come in terribly organized at first, and a TA can work with them. And there are many very creative kids and plenty of outlets for it (a terrific art teacher, great theater and music programs, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The choice schools by and large are not about " the whole child". They are about escape hatches for south Arlington's middle class.

And the term "choice school" is a complete misnomer in Arlington these days. There really aren't any choices when you have to have lotteries.