Seeking first-person experience in Wakefield

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid at Wakefield is a white kid with average grades and a junior. We can't think of one person in the building who can write a college rec, because no one really has a relationship with them. Pre-COVID I was more impressed with the school, but I'm basically over all of APS now, including Wakefield.

This is a huge problem. I recently attended a college admissions event with panelists from 3 schools. All of them said that if there are two kids with all things being equal and one has recs where the teachers clearly know the kid they’re going to take the kid with the better (less generic) recs. You can hire the best college consultant there is and this will still be a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid at Wakefield is a white kid with average grades and a junior. We can't think of one person in the building who can write a college rec, because no one really has a relationship with them. Pre-COVID I was more impressed with the school, but I'm basically over all of APS now, including Wakefield.

There isn't a single teacher your child had at least some interaction with or in whose class they participated well and did well? No coach or extracurricular club sponsor? If not, I'd tell him to start forging a relationship with a teacher and his guidance counselor now. Or what about people outside of school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid at Wakefield is a white kid with average grades and a junior. We can't think of one person in the building who can write a college rec, because no one really has a relationship with them. Pre-COVID I was more impressed with the school, but I'm basically over all of APS now, including Wakefield.

Wouldn't this be the same for any average kid at any of the APS high schools? I can't imagine it will be better at WL when there are 3000 kids there...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP above, also noting my kid learned close to zero math last year at Wakefield virtually, and we've been paying all year for a tutor to help catch up, with very little help from the school and a fair amount of attitude from the teacher. Which is part of my disgruntlement.

Couldn't they have just repeated the math class this year? Or switched from honors to regular, or whatever the different levels are?

My kids are not in HS yet, but I thought math was the one area where there are lots of different classes and levels for a wide range of students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid at Wakefield is a white kid with average grades and a junior. We can't think of one person in the building who can write a college rec, because no one really has a relationship with them. Pre-COVID I was more impressed with the school, but I'm basically over all of APS now, including Wakefield.

Wouldn't this be the same for any average kid at any of the APS high schools? I can't imagine it will be better at WL when there are 3000 kids there...

It would be the same at a high school of 1200 students with fewer counselors and teachers but a still proportionally large number of anonymous students. Only at a unique public school like HB Woodlawn could this problem be remedied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP above, also noting my kid learned close to zero math last year at Wakefield virtually, and we've been paying all year for a tutor to help catch up, with very little help from the school and a fair amount of attitude from the teacher. Which is part of my disgruntlement.

Couldn't they have just repeated the math class this year? Or switched from honors to regular, or whatever the different levels are?

My kids are not in HS yet, but I thought math was the one area where there are lots of different classes and levels for a wide range of students.

In many cases, parents aren’t fully realizing the gaps in math learning until the child is well into the next year. Plus, if the child got a decent grade last year, schools are simply going to advance them to the next level. We just now got specific feedback regarding huge learning gaps for my middle schooler in math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP above, also noting my kid learned close to zero math last year at Wakefield virtually, and we've been paying all year for a tutor to help catch up, with very little help from the school and a fair amount of attitude from the teacher. Which is part of my disgruntlement.

Couldn't they have just repeated the math class this year? Or switched from honors to regular, or whatever the different levels are?

My kids are not in HS yet, but I thought math was the one area where there are lots of different classes and levels for a wide range of students.

In many cases, parents aren’t fully realizing the gaps in math learning until the child is well into the next year. Plus, if the child got a decent grade last year, schools are simply going to advance them to the next level. We just now got specific feedback regarding huge learning gaps for my middle schooler in math.

Yes, exactly this. They got a B in the class last year, which was taught almost completely virtual. (High schools were open in-person for what, 15 days last year?) Then this year's math class started with a review test from the previous year and basically half the class failed or got a D. It is what it is, the tutor has helped tremendously, and my kid is doing OK now, but Wakefield did not intervene, offered no assistance, and the teacher was really not helpful about the entire situation when I forced a meeting. We can afford a tutor. I think a lot of other kids have just been totally let down by APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid at Wakefield is a white kid with average grades and a junior. We can't think of one person in the building who can write a college rec, because no one really has a relationship with them. Pre-COVID I was more impressed with the school, but I'm basically over all of APS now, including Wakefield.

There isn't a single teacher your child had at least some interaction with or in whose class they participated well and did well? No coach or extracurricular club sponsor? If not, I'd tell him to start forging a relationship with a teacher and his guidance counselor now. Or what about people outside of school?

Not really. Started to form some connections freshman year, but on the quieter side so it took a while, and neither brilliant nor a trouble maker, so not the kid that stands out. Then COVID happened. Teachers from last year didn't get to know the kids at all. I doubt they could even recognize their students. And this year has been so chaotic with all the issues from school being closed for so long.

At the HS level, most teachers have 6 classes maybe, 20-30 kids per class, so my kid is one of 120 or so they see during a typical week? I mean, they hardly have time to grade papers and give even a small amount of feedback. Clubs didn't exist last year. So yeah, not really any adult in that building who knows my kid well outside of family. probably the teacher spent the most time with was the driver's ed instructor! Tutor can write a letter maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP above, also noting my kid learned close to zero math last year at Wakefield virtually, and we've been paying all year for a tutor to help catch up, with very little help from the school and a fair amount of attitude from the teacher. Which is part of my disgruntlement.

Couldn't they have just repeated the math class this year? Or switched from honors to regular, or whatever the different levels are?

My kids are not in HS yet, but I thought math was the one area where there are lots of different classes and levels for a wide range of students.

In many cases, parents aren’t fully realizing the gaps in math learning until the child is well into the next year. Plus, if the child got a decent grade last year, schools are simply going to advance them to the next level. We just now got specific feedback regarding huge learning gaps for my middle schooler in math.

Yes, exactly this. They got a B in the class last year, which was taught almost completely virtual. (High schools were open in-person for what, 15 days last year?) Then this year's math class started with a review test from the previous year and basically half the class failed or got a D. It is what it is, the tutor has helped tremendously, and my kid is doing OK now, but Wakefield did not intervene, offered no assistance, and the teacher was really not helpful about the entire situation when I forced a meeting. We can afford a tutor. I think a lot of other kids have just been totally let down by APS.

It’s not just that last year was mostly virtual - remember we only had instruction 4 days per week for.. reasons. That’s 20% of the school year gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP above, also noting my kid learned close to zero math last year at Wakefield virtually, and we've been paying all year for a tutor to help catch up, with very little help from the school and a fair amount of attitude from the teacher. Which is part of my disgruntlement.

Couldn't they have just repeated the math class this year? Or switched from honors to regular, or whatever the different levels are?

My kids are not in HS yet, but I thought math was the one area where there are lots of different classes and levels for a wide range of students.

In many cases, parents aren’t fully realizing the gaps in math learning until the child is well into the next year. Plus, if the child got a decent grade last year, schools are simply going to advance them to the next level. We just now got specific feedback regarding huge learning gaps for my middle schooler in math.

Yes, exactly this. They got a B in the class last year, which was taught almost completely virtual. (High schools were open in-person for what, 15 days last year?) Then this year's math class started with a review test from the previous year and basically half the class failed or got a D. It is what it is, the tutor has helped tremendously, and my kid is doing OK now, but Wakefield did not intervene, offered no assistance, and the teacher was really not helpful about the entire situation when I forced a meeting. We can afford a tutor. I think a lot of other kids have just been totally let down by APS.

It’s not just that last year was mostly virtual - remember we only had instruction 4 days per week for.. reasons. That’s 20% of the school year gone.

Agreed! And also for my particular kid their brain is not structured in a way that remote learning is going to work. they need direct instruction. So actual learning last year was close to zero. I think this happened a lot. National data back it up. across the board it was horrible for most. And I've not seen Wakefield doing anything in particular to remedy that, or even acknowledge it, honestly. I doubt the other HS's in Arlington are any better, however, but I bet more of those kids have private tutors. It's sad, really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: conservative ideals— is it any different at WL or Yorktown? All of Arlington is pretty liberal….

I believe there is at least a Young Republicans club at those schools. Not at Wakefield. So, yes, there may be some difference.

There is a Wakefield Republicans in the club list: https://wakefield.apsva.us/republicans/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: conservative ideals— is it any different at WL or Yorktown? All of Arlington is pretty liberal….

I believe there is at least a Young Republicans club at those schools. Not at Wakefield. So, yes, there may be some difference.

There is a Wakefield Republicans in the club list: https://wakefield.apsva.us/republicans/

It's on that particular list; but it is not an active group. And it did not appear on the ACTIVE club list in the Canvas extracurriculars course page this year.
Also, direct communication with the teacher who led the group confirmed its inactivity. It also didn't function like a typical YR Club when it was active; but it was, as intended, a place for students with more conservative political leanings to be able to express themselves without the intimidation or judgement or hostility from others. All the more reason need for it to be active in today's heightened political environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP above, also noting my kid learned close to zero math last year at Wakefield virtually, and we've been paying all year for a tutor to help catch up, with very little help from the school and a fair amount of attitude from the teacher. Which is part of my disgruntlement.

Couldn't they have just repeated the math class this year? Or switched from honors to regular, or whatever the different levels are?

My kids are not in HS yet, but I thought math was the one area where there are lots of different classes and levels for a wide range of students.

THis is what we did with my daughter from 9th to 10th. She was scraping the bottom of the B range in Intensified Algebra 2 / Trig and when I delved into her specific grades, I could see that she was getting bump ups from doing all her classwork and homework and participating. Her test grades, however, were bad. After first semester, we got her a tutor, and then bumped her from Intensified Pre-calc to regular pre-calc this year. She's doing much better and actually understands what she is doing.

[Anonymous]

NP here with two students at Wakefield currently (both in immersion program but it is also our neighborhood HS). I could have written the following from PP:

"If you want a more pressure-cooker atmosphere for your child, WL is your best bet. If you're not so uptight about your kid taking 5 AP classes at once and being on the most competitive teams and accept that a less-pressure, less-competitive, still-among-the-top-2% of high schools in the country is perfectly fine and won't ruin your child's entire future, Wakefield is absolutely fine.

Parents not talking and boasting about their kids' extraordinary brilliance and academic achievement doesn't mean they do not emphasize academics or believe them to be important. Personally, I'm grateful not to be surrounded by competitive parents living vicariously through their children, stressing their kids out, and insisting anything less than the best and an ivy league degree is failure. I can't speak to the level of anxiety or pressure at Yorktown; but even though WL is an excellent school, I find the Wakefield environment pleasantly less stressful for us as parents and for our kid v. our kid and others we know at WL.
We have not heard of any problems with "disruptive" kids in any of our kid's classes of any level. I'm not aware of policies at any of the schools precluding students from taking an AP class - all students register for classes through their counselor and teachers make recommendations; but you can always discuss those recommendations with the teachers if you disagree. Generally, though, if a student is a good student and performing well, they will be recommended for the appropriate level courses."

DC 1 is a Junior and too AP World History as a Freshman (5 on AP exam), two APs as a Sophomore, 5 as a Junior and planning 5 as a Senior. For non-AP core classes has had intensified throughout. Has found the writing instruction rigorous. DC 2 is a Freshman and given the weakness of MS instruction during Covid chose not to take AP World (and grateful as one core class has provided plenty of challenge) but all intensified. Will have 3 APs next year.

It is a very "you do you" welcoming community. Kids tend to be involved in whatever sports/activities work for them. Most (if not all) of the "cut" sports are easier to make than at W-L and Yorktown.

Counselors have only been minimally helpful but they are all overwhelmed and, frankly, we can provide the additional support our kids need for college search, etc. so we really don't stress over it.

Our kids have been very happy there and have both commented how glad they are to be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP Geography is also offered to freshman.

The AP Network they advertise is not an actual thing. It just means that the school offers AP classes.

Our kid is a junior. It's a pretty poor educational experience and if we had had the option of sending them to W-L would have taken it in a heartbeat.

The AP classes and intensified classes are ok but any student can sign up for them so there are still a lot of disruptive students in them which is a pain.

The teachers have been ok - some great -some so/so - like any high school.

They encourage participation in sports and clubs for students.

The do very little in terms of preparing students for college. We hired a private college counselor. We got the name from other parents.

They are very big on sending kids to NOVA. They push it constantly.

The PTA finally sponsored a mock SAT test this year. I am pretty sure it was the first time. Yorktown seems to offer them on the regular every year for comparison.

Lots and lots and lots of talk about equity and inclusion. Very little conversation on academics or academic achievement. This is from both the admin side at school and from the parent side. Sometimes I wonder if they remember that it's actually a school and the point is education not a nonprofit dedicated to social justice.

While there is a lot of promotion of NOVA, that's because almost half the school is potential first-generation college and students with limited financial means. It's not like it's a bad thing to promote, especially since it also promotes the "early start" program and other opportunities that require a 3.0 GPA to participate in. Nevertheless, if you're not in that particular demographic, you can easily plan and get information and assistance for the colleges you're interested in. College and military representatives visit the school throughout the year and lots of scholarship opportunities are also promoted - many are specific to students of color; but again, the majority of students are students of color and that's a good thing to be encouraging.

The PTA doesn't have the resources of Yorktown; but Yorktown tends to open up its mock exams and other programs to all the high school communities.

If you're hiring a private college counselor, you're likely someone who would do that even if your kid were at WL or YHS.

I agree the AP Network isn't a big deal - though I honestly don't really get what it is; but the AP Capstone is a positive and they have a sufficient offering of AP classes relative to the other schools. There is a great deal of equity and inclusion speak and the teachers and students clearly lean pretty far left politically (like a lot of Arlington).

If you want a more pressure-cooker atmosphere for your child, WL is your best bet. If you're not so uptight about your kid taking 5 AP classes at once and being on the most competitive teams and accept that a less-pressure, less-competitive, still-among-the-top-2% of high schools in the country is perfectly fine and won't ruin your child's entire future, Wakefield is absolutely fine.

Parents not talking and boasting about their kids' extraordinary brilliance and academic achievement doesn't mean they do not emphasize academics or believe them to be important. Personally, I'm grateful not to be surrounded by competitive parents living vicariously through their children, stressing their kids out, and insisting anything less than the best and an ivy league degree is failure. I can't speak to the level of anxiety or pressure at Yorktown; but even though WL is an excellent school, I find the Wakefield environment pleasantly less stressful for us as parents and for our kid v. our kid and others we know at WL.
We have not heard of any problems with "disruptive" kids in any of our kid's classes of any level. I'm not aware of policies at any of the schools precluding students from taking an AP class - all students register for classes through their counselor and teachers make recommendations; but you can always discuss those recommendations with the teachers if you disagree. Generally, though, if a student is a good student and performing well, they will be recommended for the appropriate level courses.

I also much prefer the "senior project" over the "senior experience" at the other high schools. It's a year long project of the student's choosing with a "mentor" guiding them along the way, culminating in a written piece and a presentation.

Since the poster asked for real world experiences, not a bunch of fluff to promote the school -

Wakefield could never be a pressure cooker. It can't even be a boiling pot. Maybe not even a simmering pot. The academic expectations are low even in the AP and Intensified classes. So stop making it about pressure cooker and start listening to parents who have the average, in the middle kids. We are just trying to get a decent, appropriate high school level education for our kids to prepare them to actually go to college, and be able to do the work once there.

Writing is non existent. I feel terrible for kids who go off to college who never received any outside preparation. Can you image getting slammed with writing multi-page papers in freshman year but your only experience was writing one 5 paragraph essay in your entire high school career?

Nothing wrong with NOVA except first gen students can and should be offered the chance to go to 4 yr colleges right out of high school. It takes help and planning to find the right fit for them. No one has time for that. NOVA is easier.

Most of the scholarships announcements that are sent out are nothing more than a lottery. Send in a bunch of essays and recommendations, wait months and months, and nothing. Or maybe $500. Never once I have seen any helpful information regarding merit aid, why it matters, how to get it, how to target schools most likely to provide it to a student.

The college counselor we hired isn't to get our kid into an ivy league. It is to help them apply to public universities, understand the application process, help with their essay, and stay on track. It doesn't matter if the counselors are nice at the school, they have a lot of students with a lot of issues. They don't have time to really discuss college or the college process. It's not their fault. It's just how it is.

You’re clueless and sound like someone who is just plain bitter that you can’t afford to move to a whiter and more affluent part of Arlington where clearly you belong. The bottom line is that Arlington publishes test scores for each of the high schools broken down by demographics, and there’s no material difference between Wakefield’s scores in the “privileged” demographics and Yorktown and W-L.