Who sends their kid to Wakefield HS? Is it really that bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

URMs

What a bigoted thing to say. You don't know this person's kid and you are making an assumption based on their race. Notably, you also are ignoring the point of the poster in that there's no value for a black family to send their children to Yorktown when black children perform better at Wakefield. Interesting dodge.

I do think the diversity is a good thing, in my experience as another black parent raising kids in the Wakefield zone. It's stressful enough dealing with racism and bullshit normally. I don't need to subject my kids to an environment like Yorktown on top of it.

DP here, but the most recent test scores suggest black kids at both Yorktown and W-L are performing higher than those at Wakefield. It's one thing to say you that, for social reasons, you want a school with a higher or minimum percentage of a particular minority group, but it's another to just assume those kids also perform better than their peers at other schools. That may or may not be the case.

Dp- the most recent scores of black students at Wakefield include large numbers of immigrants from North Africa. Many are ESOL. Your current stats are worthless to native speaking middle class AA’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

URMs

What a bigoted thing to say. You don't know this person's kid and you are making an assumption based on their race. Notably, you also are ignoring the point of the poster in that there's no value for a black family to send their children to Yorktown when black children perform better at Wakefield. Interesting dodge.

I do think the diversity is a good thing, in my experience as another black parent raising kids in the Wakefield zone. It's stressful enough dealing with racism and bullshit normally. I don't need to subject my kids to an environment like Yorktown on top of it.

DP here, but the most recent test scores suggest black kids at both Yorktown and W-L are performing higher than those at Wakefield. It's one thing to say you that, for social reasons, you want a school with a higher or minimum percentage of a particular minority group, but it's another to just assume those kids also perform better than their peers at other schools. That may or may not be the case.

Dp- the most recent scores of black students at Wakefield include large numbers of immigrants from North Africa. Many are ESOL. Your current stats are worthless to native speaking middle class AA’s.

That might depress scores on tests all students take, assuming that Wakefield had a disproportionate number of ESOL immigrants from North Africa. It wouldn't provide an explanation for the lower scores on the tests that ESOL students are less likely to take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

URMs

What a bigoted thing to say. You don't know this person's kid and you are making an assumption based on their race. Notably, you also are ignoring the point of the poster in that there's no value for a black family to send their children to Yorktown when black children perform better at Wakefield. Interesting dodge.

I do think the diversity is a good thing, in my experience as another black parent raising kids in the Wakefield zone. It's stressful enough dealing with racism and bullshit normally. I don't need to subject my kids to an environment like Yorktown on top of it.

DP here, but the most recent test scores suggest black kids at both Yorktown and W-L are performing higher than those at Wakefield. It's one thing to say you that, for social reasons, you want a school with a higher or minimum percentage of a particular minority group, but it's another to just assume those kids also perform better than their peers at other schools. That may or may not be the case.

Dp- the most recent scores of black students at Wakefield include large numbers of immigrants from North Africa. Many are ESOL. Your current stats are worthless to native speaking middle class AA’s.

That's actually not true. When you look at score breakdowns, black children perform worse at Yorktown (also, strangely McLean).

The strongest school for black students in NOVA is West Springfield followed by Woodson. It's a strange thing, but there's no correlation between how expensive a district it is and black student performance.

-Mom who did a deep dive and settled into a west springfield feeder for her own black children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

URMs

What a bigoted thing to say. You don't know this person's kid and you are making an assumption based on their race. Notably, you also are ignoring the point of the poster in that there's no value for a black family to send their children to Yorktown when black children perform better at Wakefield. Interesting dodge.

I do think the diversity is a good thing, in my experience as another black parent raising kids in the Wakefield zone. It's stressful enough dealing with racism and bullshit normally. I don't need to subject my kids to an environment like Yorktown on top of it.

DP here, but the most recent test scores suggest black kids at both Yorktown and W-L are performing higher than those at Wakefield. It's one thing to say you that, for social reasons, you want a school with a higher or minimum percentage of a particular minority group, but it's another to just assume those kids also perform better than their peers at other schools. That may or may not be the case.

Dp- the most recent scores of black students at Wakefield include large numbers of immigrants from North Africa. Many are ESOL. Your current stats are worthless to native speaking middle class AA’s.

That's actually not true. When you look at score breakdowns, black children perform worse at Yorktown (also, strangely McLean).

The strongest school for black students in NOVA is West Springfield followed by Woodson. It's a strange thing, but there's no correlation between how expensive a district it is and black student performance.

-Mom who did a deep dive and settled into a west springfield feeder for her own black children.

What scores and over what period?

Found this on a 2015 thread:

"There are periodic threads about which FCPS high school pyramids are "good" for AA families who emphasize education.

To assist, I've crunched some numbers. Here are the average SAT scores by HS for black students only over the past three years (I just took the average scores for the past three years and averaged them, without weighting for the number of students taking the SAT each year). I've added in parenthesis the percentage of black students at each school as of September 2015

TJ 2145 (1.4%)
Madison 1659 (1.9%)
Oakton 1620 (4.6%)
Langley 1610 (1.0%)
McLean 1600 (2.6%)
Woodson 1600 (5.0%)
Marshall 1582 (4.6%)
Chantilly 1530 (6.9%)
Lake Braddock 1527 (6.3%)
West Springfield 1508 (6.9%)
Robinson 1507 (6.6%)
Fairfax 1496 (10.4%)
Westfield 1473 (12.1%)
South Lakes 1471 (13.1%)
Centreville 1457 (9.0%)
Edison 1457 (21.4%)
Hayfield 1443 (27.4%)
South County 1441 (17.9%)
Herndon 1438 (8.4%)
Lee 1425 (13.8%)
Annandale 1423 (17.0%)
Stuart 1364 (10.1%)
Falls Church 1355 (7.1%)
West Potomac 1336 (18.0%)
Mount Vernon 1334 (27.3%)"

[Anonymous]

There was a thread about this years ago. Someone did a comparison on SOL pass rates, I think, for black children. http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/413330.page

The result was that West Springfield was the best of the bunch, I believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a thread about this years ago. Someone did a comparison on SOL pass rates, I think, for black children. http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/413330.page

The result was that West Springfield was the best of the bunch, I believe.

According to the post in that thread that referenced West Springfield, schools with fewer than 5% AAs weren't considered.

[Anonymous]

Wait. West Springfield is in Arlington? That’s some news!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

URMs

What a bigoted thing to say. You don't know this person's kid and you are making an assumption based on their race. Notably, you also are ignoring the point of the poster in that there's no value for a black family to send their children to Yorktown when black children perform better at Wakefield. Interesting dodge.

I do think the diversity is a good thing, in my experience as another black parent raising kids in the Wakefield zone. It's stressful enough dealing with racism and bullshit normally. I don't need to subject my kids to an environment like Yorktown on top of it.

DP here, but the most recent test scores suggest black kids at both Yorktown and W-L are performing higher than those at Wakefield. It's one thing to say you that, for social reasons, you want a school with a higher or minimum percentage of a particular minority group, but it's another to just assume those kids also perform better than their peers at other schools. That may or may not be the case.

Dp- the most recent scores of black students at Wakefield include large numbers of immigrants from North Africa. Many are ESOL. Your current stats are worthless to native speaking middle class AA’s.

That might depress scores on tests all students take, assuming that Wakefield had a disproportionate number of ESOL immigrants from North Africa. It wouldn't provide an explanation for the lower scores on the tests that ESOL students are less likely to take.

News flash: ESOL students take the SAT you f#cking racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

URMs

What a bigoted thing to say. You don't know this person's kid and you are making an assumption based on their race. Notably, you also are ignoring the point of the poster in that there's no value for a black family to send their children to Yorktown when black children perform better at Wakefield. Interesting dodge.

I do think the diversity is a good thing, in my experience as another black parent raising kids in the Wakefield zone. It's stressful enough dealing with racism and bullshit normally. I don't need to subject my kids to an environment like Yorktown on top of it.

DP here, but the most recent test scores suggest black kids at both Yorktown and W-L are performing higher than those at Wakefield. It's one thing to say you that, for social reasons, you want a school with a higher or minimum percentage of a particular minority group, but it's another to just assume those kids also perform better than their peers at other schools. That may or may not be the case.

Dp- the most recent scores of black students at Wakefield include large numbers of immigrants from North Africa. Many are ESOL. Your current stats are worthless to native speaking middle class AA’s.

That might depress scores on tests all students take, assuming that Wakefield had a disproportionate number of ESOL immigrants from North Africa. It wouldn't provide an explanation for the lower scores on the tests that ESOL students are less likely to take.

News flash: ESOL students take the SAT you f#cking racist.

The SAT participation rate at Wakefield is lower than at W-L, and lower at W-L than at Yorktown.

Darn those facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

URMs

What a bigoted thing to say. You don't know this person's kid and you are making an assumption based on their race. Notably, you also are ignoring the point of the poster in that there's no value for a black family to send their children to Yorktown when black children perform better at Wakefield. Interesting dodge.

I do think the diversity is a good thing, in my experience as another black parent raising kids in the Wakefield zone. It's stressful enough dealing with racism and bullshit normally. I don't need to subject my kids to an environment like Yorktown on top of it.

DP here, but the most recent test scores suggest black kids at both Yorktown and W-L are performing higher than those at Wakefield. It's one thing to say you that, for social reasons, you want a school with a higher or minimum percentage of a particular minority group, but it's another to just assume those kids also perform better than their peers at other schools. That may or may not be the case.

Dp- the most recent scores of black students at Wakefield include large numbers of immigrants from North Africa. Many are ESOL. Your current stats are worthless to native speaking middle class AA’s.

That might depress scores on tests all students take, assuming that Wakefield had a disproportionate number of ESOL immigrants from North Africa. It wouldn't provide an explanation for the lower scores on the tests that ESOL students are less likely to take.

News flash: ESOL students take the SAT you f#cking racist.

The SAT participation rate at Wakefield is lower than at W-L, and lower at W-L than at Yorktown.

Darn those facts.

Lower but not non existent, you racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

URMs

What a bigoted thing to say. You don't know this person's kid and you are making an assumption based on their race. Notably, you also are ignoring the point of the poster in that there's no value for a black family to send their children to Yorktown when black children perform better at Wakefield. Interesting dodge.

I do think the diversity is a good thing, in my experience as another black parent raising kids in the Wakefield zone. It's stressful enough dealing with racism and bullshit normally. I don't need to subject my kids to an environment like Yorktown on top of it.

DP here, but the most recent test scores suggest black kids at both Yorktown and W-L are performing higher than those at Wakefield. It's one thing to say you that, for social reasons, you want a school with a higher or minimum percentage of a particular minority group, but it's another to just assume those kids also perform better than their peers at other schools. That may or may not be the case.

Dp- the most recent scores of black students at Wakefield include large numbers of immigrants from North Africa. Many are ESOL. Your current stats are worthless to native speaking middle class AA’s.

That might depress scores on tests all students take, assuming that Wakefield had a disproportionate number of ESOL immigrants from North Africa. It wouldn't provide an explanation for the lower scores on the tests that ESOL students are less likely to take.

News flash: ESOL students take the SAT you f#cking racist.

The SAT participation rate at Wakefield is lower than at W-L, and lower at W-L than at Yorktown.

Darn those facts.

Lower but not non existent, you racist.

Who said “non-existent,” you moron.

[Anonymous]

Sadly, that’s how society works. Wealthy families in Mclean, Great Falls, and Arlington send their kids to private schools like Sidwell orPotomac school. The ultra smart kids and super athletes get scholarships to attend Sidwell and Potomac. The UMC in Mclean and Arlington send their kids to Langley, McLean or Yorktown. Low income families and recent immigrants send their kids to Wakefield. Very unfortunate but that is today’s reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You analogy reveals a lot. You're saying you will pay 3.2 times as much for one car that does the same thing as another (drives you around) but has more "safety and comfort." The safety standards for all cars are pretty strict these days, so mostly you are willing to pay an enormous premium for comfort. I can't imagine wasting a child's summer indoors cramming for a multiple choice test so I can have the comfort of knowing they might get into a slightly more prestigious school.

- Can a kid attend Langley score 1600 on the SAT? The answer is yes
- Can a kid attend Wakefield score 1600 on the SAT? The answer is a resounding YES

Let assume you have the above scenario. Two kids with the exact same IQ, motivate, work hard and very driven. Kid X attends Wakefield with limited resources and kid Y attends Langley with lot of resources. They both study advanced physics. They both study very hard. Kid X has problem with one of the topics and he spends hours on it. He needs help so that he can continue but he has to wait until tomorrow when he gets to school when the teacher is available. Kid Y also has the same problem with one of the topics and he needs help before he can continue. There is a private tutor graduated from Carnegie Mellon specialized in Advanced Physics to help him with the topic that he has issue with. Once he understands that, he goes on to the next one. As time goes on, kid Y will be able to surpassed kid X because there are better resources available to him.

Does it make kid X any less smart than kid Y? Absolutely not, but over time, it will show that the rate of learning from Kid X will be not as good as Kid Y.

PP, I am an investor and so is Warren Buffet. Would you rather take advice from me or Warren Buffet (aka the Oracle of Omaha)? That's why you see Lexus on the road.

The parent supplies the tutor in your scenario, or are you suggesting that McLean HS hires after school tutors and provides them free of charge for any student? Or that the rich parents hire tutors and then let their less wealthy friends borrow them? If a child attends Wakefield and has the same supports (parental, financial, extracurricular) the child will have the same outcome as McLean child.

Lexus indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sadly, that’s how society works. Wealthy families in Mclean, Great Falls, and Arlington send their kids to private schools like Sidwell orPotomac school. The ultra smart kids and super athletes get scholarships to attend Sidwell and Potomac. The UMC in Mclean and Arlington send their kids to Langley, McLean or Yorktown. Low income families and recent immigrants send their kids to Wakefield. Very unfortunate but that is today’s reality.

Why is it sad or unfortunate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You analogy reveals a lot. You're saying you will pay 3.2 times as much for one car that does the same thing as another (drives you around) but has more "safety and comfort." The safety standards for all cars are pretty strict these days, so mostly you are willing to pay an enormous premium for comfort. I can't imagine wasting a child's summer indoors cramming for a multiple choice test so I can have the comfort of knowing they might get into a slightly more prestigious school.

- Can a kid attend Langley score 1600 on the SAT? The answer is yes
- Can a kid attend Wakefield score 1600 on the SAT? The answer is a resounding YES

Let assume you have the above scenario. Two kids with the exact same IQ, motivate, work hard and very driven. Kid X attends Wakefield with limited resources and kid Y attends Langley with lot of resources. They both study advanced physics. They both study very hard. Kid X has problem with one of the topics and he spends hours on it. He needs help so that he can continue but he has to wait until tomorrow when he gets to school when the teacher is available. Kid Y also has the same problem with one of the topics and he needs help before he can continue. There is a private tutor graduated from Carnegie Mellon specialized in Advanced Physics to help him with the topic that he has issue with. Once he understands that, he goes on to the next one. As time goes on, kid Y will be able to surpassed kid X because there are better resources available to him.

Does it make kid X any less smart than kid Y? Absolutely not, but over time, it will show that the rate of learning from Kid X will be not as good as Kid Y.

PP, I am an investor and so is Warren Buffet. Would you rather take advice from me or Warren Buffet (aka the Oracle of Omaha)? That's why you see Lexus on the road.

The parent supplies the tutor in your scenario, or are you suggesting that McLean HS hires after school tutors and provides them free of charge for any student? Or that the rich parents hire tutors and then let their less wealthy friends borrow them? If a child attends Wakefield and has the same supports (parental, financial, extracurricular) the child will have the same outcome as McLean child.

Lexus indeed.

The dearth of high achievers at Wakefield dispels your hypothesis.

I mean, you can keep posting this stuff to try and convince people to move to South Arlington, but the vast majority of those who care about education will pick Langley HS or something closer to Langley than Wakefield every time.