Progressive Education in Fairfax and Arlington Public Schools

[Anonymous]

Do any of the public schools use a progressive educational approach or are they traditional?

[Anonymous]

Anyone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do any of the public schools use a progressive educational approach or are they traditional?

H-B Woodlawn in Arlington. It is arguably the most "progressive" public school in the DC area, although its philosophy is based on 60s-era ideas of student self-reliance and independence opposed to the typical "factory model" comprehensive schools. Students, parents, and school staff collectively make decisions on how the school is run, on hiring teachers, the creation of new courses/electives, etc. Everyone is on a first name basis. Students have unstructured free periods, and the school has an open-campus policy. It also has the test scores to back it up.

[Anonymous]

I'm in Fairfax and I don't know of a single school in Fairfax County that would be considered progressive. They all focus heavily on SOL preparation. And even in the GT Center schools, there seems to be a surprising amount of worksheet-driven work.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks PP. We are thinking of moving to Fairfax for the G&T but my DC got into a progressive school which does differentiation. I'm trying to figure out if the quality of a great progressive school might challenge him to think in a different way than a G&T. Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks PP. We are thinking of moving to Fairfax for the G&T but my DC got into a progressive school which does differentiation. I'm trying to figure out if the quality of a great progressive school might challenge him to think in a different way than a G&T. Any thoughts?

Do you mean "differentiated learning" i.e. "personalized learning?" Taylor Elementary in Arlington offers that type of individualized instruction, but I think quite a few schools these days have differentiated learning to some degree. From APS's profile on the school: "Taylor is a team teaching school. While its enrollment is typically about 625, students spend their school day working in smaller grade-level learning communities. With four of five teachers on each team, students are grouped flexibly based on academic need and learning style. Teachers on each team quickly get to know individiual students and a family feeling pervades."

[Anonymous]

20:37 here. I have two children in GT in Fairfax County. My oldest starting 8th grade this fall. Both my kids are quirky, out of the box thinkers. They hate busy work, never study for tests, but are highly curious with very high IQ scores.

Our experience with Fairfax GT classes is that it depends on the teacher and the school. For the most part, I have been very disappointed. There are lots of worksheets, too much busywork for homework, very little critical thinking, and lots of rote regurgitation. Most of my childrens' learning comes from reading books and outside learning. I would love to send them to a progressive private school, but we just can't afford it. But I am seriously thinking of moving out of the area. Fairfax is such a pressure cooker, and while it may be great for kids and parents who believe in achievement for achievement's sake, it has not been a good fit for our family. We believe in a more balanced approach to life, are not grade-obsessed, and have kids who really love to learn -- but school, for them, has been more about performance than anything else.

[Anonymous]

12:49/20:37 Understand exactly what you're saying. Either of your kids interested in the outdoors/science? If so, you might want to look at www.burgundycenter.org for a future summer experience. Not a gifted program, but puts gifted programs to shame WRT creative thinking, & hands-on science. Being a "good citizen" & having a sense of humor counts here too. It's rustic: low-tech, high-thinking. Great for the right fit...