Wakefield or Arlington Tech for an A/B Student Who Will Most Likely Stay In-State for College
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Anonymous
| Is Arlington Tech the one on S. Walter Reed by the library? I had no idea this was an regular high school. I thought it was either for 'problem students' or, as others have said, a vocational school. |
Anonymous
Yes, this is north of Columbia Pike, the Career Center parcel with the library, and Patrick Henry elementary school. Big changes are coming to that location over the next years. |
Anonymous
Though if you had an eighth grader and looking at HS options then you probably would know. |
Anonymous
| We checked it out as a possibility for next year for our 8th grader. It's definitely not a vocational school. I was very impressed by the dual enrollment vs. AP and the project based learning aspects. The main down side I saw was that it was so new there really isn't a full track record. I talked to one of the Assistant Principal's at an information night and he was very helpful. Unfortunately, DC just had no interest in splitting off from his friends. |
Anonymous
There are actually several programs housed there: Arlington Tech high school Career Center classes for students from the other high schools -- they can bus over during the day to take a wide variety of classes (Arl Tech is an outgrowth of that program) PEP - program for employment preparedness, a program for students with intellectual disabilities HILT Institute - high intensity language program for HS students Alternatives for Parenting Teens Program -- for teen mothers, includes on-site childcare Academic Academy - this I believe is the "problem students" program Elementary and middle school students can also take enrichment classes there on Saturdays and summers. I highly recommend those. My daughter loves the animal science classes and plans to do those as electives in 11th-12th grade. She won't do the Tech program because she wants to play in band. Arlington Tech HS program is planned to grow to 800 students and then another 700-800 HS seats will be added. They haven't explained exactly how that's going to work but sounds like Tech will essentially be a school-within-a-school along with the other 800. That's good because right now the AT kids have to go to their home school for sports and don't have opportunities to do music classes during the school day. They are going to have to build something new there. It's been really unclear to me how they are going to handle the Tech expansion in the next couple years along with planning for the larger build. They need to add space this summer for the larger freshman class next year. |
Anonymous
This was the SB punting on building a 4th HS. Ultimately, those seats are going to have to be absorbed by Tech, unless they come up with some other self-contained program. |
Anonymous
Yes, essentially there will be a 1600 seat high school there, although I don't see it all being seats in the Arlington Tech program. The board said those additional 800 are neighborhood HS seats. They need to offer the full range of classes (AP classes, arts, etc.) and extracurriculars for those students. But that benefits the Tech program because then those students can participate in activities right at the school instead of busing to home schools. |
Anonymous
No thanks. Not sacrificing my kid just because APS can’t plan and needs to warehouse students in some random program. The fact they just slapped the “Arlington Tech” name on it is a giveaway. |
Anonymous
But if you actually read these posts, or bothered to learn anything about it you'd see it's not just some sort of "random program." And I'm not sure why the name itself is some dead giveaway of a grand conspiracy to hoodwink APS parents. Just because a program is new doesn't make it bad. And geez, have you heard the complaints from W-L parents about the bulging size of their school? AT certainly isn't the building most in danger of becoming a warehouse. |
Anonymous
No, they never said these 800 seats are neighborhood seats. They are TBD. It's either going to be a stand alone new program, absorbed into the current Tech program, OR they will keep Tech small and build a neighborhood school of around 1600 seats. All on the same site. It's going to be really difficult to accommodate a neighborhood school on this site, though, with comparable amenities. And now Stratford wants to be moved here, too. |
Anonymous
Wait, what? When did that happen? What about the neighborhood high school? |
Anonymous
No it's not a vocational school, it's a high school that offers elective courses that focus on skills for vocational careers. This is not some new concept and had been done in Fairafx county for 20+. Kids go to college after taking these electives but the colleges might not meet the standard of some parents since it might not be UVA or W&M. A kid will earn a high school diploma. The votech classes are introductions and it might be possible for a kid to earn some kind of certificate for passing a test but to actually really go into the trade or line of work requires a high school diploma and then actual job experience which requires kids to be at least 18 yrs old. |
Anonymous
It's also not a new, unproved thing in Arlington. Tons of kids to over to the Career Center from Yorktown, W-L, Wakefield to take these elective classes, they just have to lose a class period to do so to allow for transportation time. A small group of seniors were already taking DE English, math at the Career Center because they wanted more time to focus on their electives. My friend's son did the video production series there, went on to major on it in college and now works in that field in LA. He says he learned most of what he does every day at the Career Center. One girl recently got a full ride to U of Michigan in engineering after completing the automotive technology classes at the Career Center. Your kid who might want to pre-med can take classes in physical therapy, sports medicine, EMT. Pre-vet, take animal science classes. Architect - architectural drawing. Lots of computer programming. Yes, the non-college-bound student can take cosmetology classes, get certified in automotive repair, etc. But the CTE classes also are very valuable for college-bound students. The very positive experience kids have with the Career Center classes is why parents lobbied to create the Arlington Tech program. It was not an idea the district came up with, although they now embrace it. |
Anonymous
The neighborhood seats were something that some nearby parents were pushing for, but APS never agreed. They have made no promises and the seats they voted on are just "TBD," with no commitment as to what they will be. Because they don't know that they can actually deliver on a comprehensive HS on that site. It was just caving to pressure not to make W-L campus even larger (scaled back the proposed number of seats at the program, IB, there and are putting half at the Career Center without any kind of plan. They just put off making a tough decision. I can't see a neighborhood school being built here for 800 kids. If it's a neighborhood school, it has to be around the same size as the others w/the same amenities. That's why I think it'll just wind up being absorbed into Tech or made into another option. Or it will be a lesser neighborhood school for the 22204 zip code. That could happen, too. |
Anonymous
any idea how many were they projecting and how many actually applied? |