Yorktown vs WL — Ranking vs word on street

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't know 1 person who applied to the IB program and didn't get in - even with waitlist numbers in the 60s.

This may be true in the past but this year the waitlist has not moved since March. There are kids on that list who are qualified and not getting in. Do you have any facts to back up that EVERY YEAR all the kids get off the waitlist? Why have a waitlist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't know 1 person who applied to the IB program and didn't get in - even with waitlist numbers in the 60s.

This may be true in the past but this year the waitlist has not moved since March. There are kids on that list who are qualified and not getting in. Do you have any facts to back up that EVERY YEAR all the kids get off the waitlist? Why have a waitlist?

Aren’t interested Wakefield students automatically getting neighborhood transfers to W-L due to overcrowding at Wakefield. That might be one way to go to W-L, and neighborhood transfers could choose to do IB or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't know 1 person who applied to the IB program and didn't get in - even with waitlist numbers in the 60s.

This may be true in the past but this year the waitlist has not moved since March. There are kids on that list who are qualified and not getting in. Do you have any facts to back up that EVERY YEAR all the kids get off the waitlist? Why have a waitlist?

Aren’t interested Wakefield students automatically getting neighborhood transfers to W-L due to overcrowding at Wakefield. That might be one way to go to W-L, and neighborhood transfers could choose to do IB or not.

I have heard anecdotally the same thing, meaning that the only kids not getting in are Yorktown kids. That’s unfortunate for the children who are sitting on the list, hoping to do IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't know 1 person who applied to the IB program and didn't get in - even with waitlist numbers in the 60s.

This may be true in the past but this year the waitlist has not moved since March. There are kids on that list who are qualified and not getting in. Do you have any facts to back up that EVERY YEAR all the kids get off the waitlist? Why have a waitlist?

This is pretty typical. They will very likely be admitted during the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't know 1 person who applied to the IB program and didn't get in - even with waitlist numbers in the 60s.

I’ve had 4 DCs go through the IB program at W-L. With all their peers/friends I’ve only heard of one who was outright rejected and presumably it was because she had a MS transcript of mostly Cs.

[Anonymous]

Then what is the point of a waitlist? Why stress families/kids out by suggesting for MONTHS that they won’t get in (where the children are plainly qualified)? If the program is truly open to anyone in Arlington who meets the (concededly very low) “qualifications”, then that would potentially moot *some* criticism.

[Anonymous]

Also, I’d be interested in what others have heard because I have heard that there are more than 40 kids (and maybe more???) on the list as of now (May) so I’m fascinated with how that will shake out during the summer.

[Anonymous]

Meanwhile there less than 100 kids who get the IB diploma at WL most years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this so hard?
My kid is graduating from W-L this year and is in the IB Diploma program. She is a transfer from Wakefield. She has many friends (also transfers) who chose partial IB (3 classes per year). Partial IB is an option for those who don't want to go the full IB route. They weren't sent back to their home schools.

It's not hard, basically one PP didn't know that partial IB was permitted per the policy so now wants the whole IB system to be overhauled or gotten rid of entirely.

No. The policy is the policy. It has a minimum requirement to stay at W-L as a transfer of SIX IB classes. You are saying that they have bent the policy. That is different.

And pray tell how is the average applicant supposed to glean that they bend the policy????

I guess the insiders know. Hence the inequity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this so hard?
My kid is graduating from W-L this year and is in the IB Diploma program. She is a transfer from Wakefield. She has many friends (also transfers) who chose partial IB (3 classes per year). Partial IB is an option for those who don't want to go the full IB route. They weren't sent back to their home schools.

It's not hard, basically one PP didn't know that partial IB was permitted per the policy so now wants the whole IB system to be overhauled or gotten rid of entirely.

No. The policy is the policy. It has a minimum requirement to stay at W-L as a transfer of SIX IB classes. You are saying that they have bent the policy. That is different.

And pray tell how is the average applicant supposed to glean that they bend the policy????

I guess the insiders know. Hence the inequity.

SIX = THREE per year

It said that clearly in the link posted pages ago. It is written policy.

[Anonymous]

There are definitely Wakefield kids on the waitlist for IB. I think applications were up this year because a lot of kids and parents freaked out about the OD and the (not Wakefield) student who got into the school with a gun, looking to murder a student. My kid doesn’t want to go either, but I pointed out those things, sadly, could’ve happened at any of the HS here or anywhere. It’s just bad luck that those incidents happened within a week of each other and right around the lottery application time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are definitely Wakefield kids on the waitlist for IB. I think applications were up this year because a lot of kids and parents freaked out about the OD and the (not Wakefield) student who got into the school with a gun, looking to murder a student. My kid doesn’t want to go either, but I pointed out those things, sadly, could’ve happened at any of the HS here or anywhere. It’s just bad luck that those incidents happened within a week of each other and right around the lottery application time.

True there are unusual circumstances this year. I just hope the IB applicants from Yorktown also have a fair shot of getting in. Hopefully the waitlist moves this summer as many have reported happens every year, and that most if not all interested students can transfer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this so hard?
My kid is graduating from W-L this year and is in the IB Diploma program. She is a transfer from Wakefield. She has many friends (also transfers) who chose partial IB (3 classes per year). Partial IB is an option for those who don't want to go the full IB route. They weren't sent back to their home schools.

It's not hard, basically one PP didn't know that partial IB was permitted per the policy so now wants the whole IB system to be overhauled or gotten rid of entirely.

No. The policy is the policy. It has a minimum requirement to stay at W-L as a transfer of SIX IB classes. You are saying that they have bent the policy. That is different.

And pray tell how is the average applicant supposed to glean that they bend the policy????

I guess the insiders know. Hence the inequity.

As has been said repeatedly on this thread, anybody who bothers to talk to the IB coordinator, anybody who talks to kids who transferred to W-L for IB, anybody who talks to their neighbors, their kids' friends' parents, blah blah blah. It's fairly common knowledge in Arlington for anyone considering having their kid apply for IB that a non-zoned need only take 3 IB classes a year to stay at W-L once the student has transferred. There is no inequity here regarding this information. It is not some top secret information that W-L zone parents learn and swear upon pain of death not to share with Wakefield or Yorktown zone families. You or your kid must not have been that interested in IB because clearly neither bothered to learn much about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this so hard?
My kid is graduating from W-L this year and is in the IB Diploma program. She is a transfer from Wakefield. She has many friends (also transfers) who chose partial IB (3 classes per year). Partial IB is an option for those who don't want to go the full IB route. They weren't sent back to their home schools.

It's not hard, basically one PP didn't know that partial IB was permitted per the policy so now wants the whole IB system to be overhauled or gotten rid of entirely.

No. The policy is the policy. It has a minimum requirement to stay at W-L as a transfer of SIX IB classes. You are saying that they have bent the policy. That is different.

And pray tell how is the average applicant supposed to glean that they bend the policy????

I guess the insiders know. Hence the inequity.

As has been said repeatedly on this thread, anybody who bothers to talk to the IB coordinator, anybody who talks to kids who transferred to W-L for IB, anybody who talks to their neighbors, their kids' friends' parents, blah blah blah. It's fairly common knowledge in Arlington for anyone considering having their kid apply for IB that a non-zoned need only take 3 IB classes a year to stay at W-L once the student has transferred. There is no inequity here regarding this information. It is not some top secret information that W-L zone parents learn and swear upon pain of death not to share with Wakefield or Yorktown zone families. You or your kid must not have been that interested in IB because clearly neither bothered to learn much about it.

NP. I think you're ludicrous to expect or believe parents would, or need, to do that much "research" about a program - there is no reason any reasonable person would expect to NEED to talk to all those sources just to find out if the official written policy and rules about the program are indeed enforced. Are parents supposed to talk to the principal and teachers and seek out others who attended Montessori to find out if the program actually follows a Montessori pedagogy? WL parents' self-righteous and superior attitudes are so tiresome. I absolutely LOATHE whenever someone refers to somebody else "speaking from their place of privilege;" but that's exactly what WL parents are doing whenever somebody criticizes something about WL or suggests something that might take something away from their kid - even if their kid isn't participating in IB, the mere suggestion that maybe their kid shouldn't have automatic access for dabbling if they should one day want to take an IB course is taking away something. Parents who take the written APS information about the program are not at fault. Stop blaming them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this so hard?
My kid is graduating from W-L this year and is in the IB Diploma program. She is a transfer from Wakefield. She has many friends (also transfers) who chose partial IB (3 classes per year). Partial IB is an option for those who don't want to go the full IB route. They weren't sent back to their home schools.

It's not hard, basically one PP didn't know that partial IB was permitted per the policy so now wants the whole IB system to be overhauled or gotten rid of entirely.

No. The policy is the policy. It has a minimum requirement to stay at W-L as a transfer of SIX IB classes. You are saying that they have bent the policy. That is different.

And pray tell how is the average applicant supposed to glean that they bend the policy????

I guess the insiders know. Hence the inequity.

As has been said repeatedly on this thread, anybody who bothers to talk to the IB coordinator, anybody who talks to kids who transferred to W-L for IB, anybody who talks to their neighbors, their kids' friends' parents, blah blah blah. It's fairly common knowledge in Arlington for anyone considering having their kid apply for IB that a non-zoned need only take 3 IB classes a year to stay at W-L once the student has transferred. There is no inequity here regarding this information. It is not some top secret information that W-L zone parents learn and swear upon pain of death not to share with Wakefield or Yorktown zone families. You or your kid must not have been that interested in IB because clearly neither bothered to learn much about it.

NP. I think you're ludicrous to expect or believe parents would, or need, to do that much "research" about a program - there is no reason any reasonable person would expect to NEED to talk to all those sources just to find out if the official written policy and rules about the program are indeed enforced. Are parents supposed to talk to the principal and teachers and seek out others who attended Montessori to find out if the program actually follows a Montessori pedagogy? WL parents' self-righteous and superior attitudes are so tiresome. I absolutely LOATHE whenever someone refers to somebody else "speaking from their place of privilege;" but that's exactly what WL parents are doing whenever somebody criticizes something about WL or suggests something that might take something away from their kid - even if their kid isn't participating in IB, the mere suggestion that maybe their kid shouldn't have automatic access for dabbling if they should one day want to take an IB course is taking away something. Parents who take the written APS information about the program are not at fault. Stop blaming them.

The official written policy is three classes per year = partial IB. No detective work needed.