APS: HB Woodlawn waitlist

[Anonymous]

My daughter was number 3 on the waitlist a few of years ago and was admitted into 9th grade. My understanding is that there will be a lot more variability this year, as many kids who got slots in the lottery are turning down HB because they cannot visit and current 6th and 9th graders kids are leaving because they lost a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We know 4 kids that went to HB. Every single one of them transferred out. 3 for 9th grade and 1 left after Sophomore year.

It is actually not uncommon for kids to leave ANY school in the 9th grade. My DD, who was at HB from 6-12, saw 12 kids transfer out of HB in 9th grade. Some went to the neighborhood school, some went to private, some moved out of the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was number 3 on the waitlist a few of years ago and was admitted into 9th grade. My understanding is that there will be a lot more variability this year, as many kids who got slots in the lottery are turning down HB because they cannot visit and current 6th and 9th graders kids are leaving because they lost a year.

Do you recall if her admission was before or after they switched the 9th grade HB lottery from county wide to MS allocations? So was she #3 for the middle school she was coming from or was she #3 countywide? Also, was she admitted before school started?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was number 3 on the waitlist a few of years ago and was admitted into 9th grade. My understanding is that there will be a lot more variability this year, as many kids who got slots in the lottery are turning down HB because they cannot visit and current 6th and 9th graders kids are leaving because they lost a year.

Do you recall if her admission was before or after they switched the 9th grade HB lottery from county wide to MS allocations? So was she #3 for the middle school she was coming from or was she #3 countywide? Also, was she admitted before school started?

#3 on her middle school girls wait-list (so she knew the other girls that were accepted via the lottery and knew that they would turn down their slots at the acceptance deadline at the end of February). She was notified late February and did a tour (I think in March).

[Anonymous]

Looks like there isn't much movement right now - the initial small movement we saw after the 22 Feb deadline for those offered spots is probably what we'll see until just before school starts and folks start finalizing plans. Those on the fence are probably keeping their spots for now...

[Anonymous]

My kid at Jamestown was #4 for middle school. Moved to No. 1 but never did get in.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, the IB number keeps dropping, but HB stays the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid at Jamestown was #4 for middle school. Moved to No. 1 but never did get in.

Wow, that is a lot of movement for a 6th grade spot at HB. Was this a recent year? Your kid moved to #1 that first year on the waitlist and then you didn't reapply for 7th and 8th? Or was this before you had to reapply every year?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone seen any movement in your HB waitlist number? If so, can you say what grade and if you’re comfortable saying, which school your DC is coming from, - what waitlist is your DC on.

[Anonymous]

You aren’t going to see any more HB movement. Unless you’re talking about kids getting into privates. That’s it. The list is pretty much set.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You aren’t going to see any more HB movement. Unless you’re talking about kids getting into privates. That’s it. The list is pretty much set.

Unfortunately, this is true. HB should be expanding 6th and 9th to help share the burden, but they have powerful protectors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You aren’t going to see any more HB movement. Unless you’re talking about kids getting into privates. That’s it. The list is pretty much set.

Unfortunately, this is true. HB should be expanding 6th and 9th to help share the burden, but they have powerful protectors.

Yes, they should definitely be accepting more than 75 6th graders via the lottery. Class size in MS seems to average around 81, so they are also accepting about 6 admin transfers each year? Seems like a high number of admin transfers. They should accept more during the initial lottery and if APS decides to let someone in outside of the lottery, this should be in addition to the set lottery enrollment. Maybe if this were the case, fewer admin transfer requests would be approved? I understand the main office maintains the waitlist until May 1. After that, the list is maintained by HB. Who approves admin transfers at that point? I'm trying to think of a situation where a rising 6th grader gets into HB outside of the lottery because the parents argue their neighborhood school can't meet the child's needs? Aren't all school supposed to meet the needs of all kids? I can see if a child enters middle school and the bullying is severe - worse than normal MS bullying - and after efforts to rectify it fail, they transfer the child to HB. In this case, a transfer wouldn't happen until after the school year has already started, not before the first day of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You aren’t going to see any more HB movement. Unless you’re talking about kids getting into privates. That’s it. The list is pretty much set.

Unfortunately, this is true. HB should be expanding 6th and 9th to help share the burden, but they have powerful protectors.

Name names.

[Anonymous]

Is there anyone on this forum who had a child who was #1 or #2 on the 6th grade HB waitlist who actually got a 6th grade spot, or know of someone who did? I wonder if APS/HB receives fewer admin transfer requests if they then offer a few spots to those on the waitlist just before the school year starts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You aren’t going to see any more HB movement. Unless you’re talking about kids getting into privates. That’s it. The list is pretty much set.

Unfortunately, this is true. HB should be expanding 6th and 9th to help share the burden, but they have powerful protectors.

What does "share the burden" even mean? There are 6,000 middle schoolers and 7,500 high schoolers in Arlington. HB has 241 middle schoolers and 450 high schoolers, they account for 4% and 6% of total enrollment. You could DOUBLE the size and it wouldn't make a dent in enrollment at any of the comprehensive schools, you'd be removing 1 1/2 classrooms per grade per school. It would actually create a lot of costs because they would have to add a lot of classrooms for them at HB where now they are spread across all those grades and schools and included in existing ratios.