APS pyramids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Dorothy Hamm, the new middle school in North Arlington, has been way under-enrolled, and was built to a much higher capacity. It’s new building and grounds are beautiful, the best among middle schools in Arlington. Test scores are among the highest in Northern Virginia, and the principal and teachers are well liked. All that is still not enough to convince families to return to APS. Families here are wealthy and fickle and the pandemic created a large shift away from APS towards private schools. Area privates like Maret, SFS, STA, NCS, GDS, WIS, etc are all quite good. Hopefully new families will came back to APS.

It wasn’t mentioned, but Long Branch is also a popular neighborhood ES located on the N/S Arlington border. The new Fleet ES also on the N/S Arlington border is well liked and serves nearby Fort Myer and military families in general.



We are Long Branch/TJ/W-L and have generally been happy but my youngest is now graduating from W-L. The virtue of APS vs Fairfax when we started was consistently small class sizes which made in ES for better meeting kids needs, including at the time pull-out for gifted students. All of those benefits seem to be gone. I still love living in Arlington but if moving here now with young kids I'd look for schools that go to Hamm/W-L. I think that's the best MS/HS option right now. And assume your may need to supplement for ES wherever you go.

But your own kids went to TJ? What was wrong with TJ?

TJ's fine but crowded and my kids hated how dark and prison-like the building is with barely any windows (this may have improved slightly with the renovation done as part of the Fleet building). I hear good things about Hamm, which also has a lot of room to grow because it's under capacity and I'd keep that in mind if house shopping with young kids. I did, however, like the IB program at TJ. It pushed DS to start doing community service in 6th grade (a program requirement) and he ended up volunteering for the same org throughout high school.

Despite the crowding, we've been very happy with W-L. It's a nice community where both kids found their different niches and appreciated the ability to take both AP and IB classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Also you should know Arlington doesn't have defined pyramids. Many middle schools feed to multiple high schools

Lol...there are only 3 high schools, and only 6 middle schools.

Yorktown
W&L
Wakefield
HB
Arlington tech

I count 5 high schools.

Yes but middle schools only feed to 3 of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Also you should know Arlington doesn't have defined pyramids. Many middle schools feed to multiple high schools

Lol...there are only 3 high schools, and only 6 middle schools.

Yorktown
W&L
Wakefield
HB
Arlington tech

I count 5 high schools.

Yes but middle schools only feed to 3 of them.

To be technical, TJHSST is the 6th high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


Yes but middle schools only feed to 3 of them.



To be technical, TJHSST is the 6th high school.

To be technical, TJHSST is a governor's school. It is not part of any county's school system, and you have to apply to get in. NIce try though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you expected to see performing seals rather than a typical classroom.

I get that each school is different. I don't think anyone expected to see a child going "I love learning! Teacher give me more knowledge!" Not sure how you say that in Spanish. But a visit to the neighborhood school and to another option school were very different in the feel of the place. Not trying to offend any parents who send their kids there, mostly trying to understand because if you meet people who send their kids to Key they will rave about the cultural exchange, the PTA, etc and that was such a contrast to what we felt that day as far as the actual classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Fairfax schools went through COVID, too--they also taught remotely, have bad behaviors among returning kids and learning loss issues. So you can't just blame APS school rankings on that.

8 FFX HS schools outrank Yorktown, the top APS school at #14:

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia

Part of it is the lower-key attitude toward academics--APS parents have pushed for less homework due to their kids' sports and don't support the Fairfax model for gifted-talented education.

This
We moved because we wanted a stronger gifted program. Best decision ever.

From where to where (school pyramid) did you move?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When people move to APS for “the schools,” are there certain schools they are targeting for their kids? Or is it any of the schools? TIA.

Most of the answers in this thread are gross. My kids went to school in south Arlington and I guarantee you many, if not most of the kids in the schools were there because their parents wanted them to be in the best schools they could be in -- for working class families, SE DC, PG county, or Woodbridge might have been cheaper but they stuck it out in Arlington so their kids could get the benefit of APS.

For wealthy families, it is certain schools that have fewer poor children. For other families, it is any of the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If people are moving for schools, they are moving to FFX Co.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When people move to APS for “the schools,” are there certain schools they are targeting for their kids? Or is it any of the schools? TIA.

Most of the answers in this thread are gross. My kids went to school in south Arlington and I guarantee you many, if not most of the kids in the schools were there because their parents wanted them to be in the best schools they could be in -- for working class families, SE DC, PG county, or Woodbridge might have been cheaper but they stuck it out in Arlington so their kids could get the benefit of APS.

For wealthy families, it is certain schools that have fewer poor children. For other families, it is any of the schools.

I didn’t see anything too controversial let alone “gross.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When people move to APS for “the schools,” are there certain schools they are targeting for their kids? Or is it any of the schools? TIA.

Most of the answers in this thread are gross. My kids went to school in south Arlington and I guarantee you many, if not most of the kids in the schools were there because their parents wanted them to be in the best schools they could be in -- for working class families, SE DC, PG county, or Woodbridge might have been cheaper but they stuck it out in Arlington so their kids could get the benefit of APS.

For wealthy families, it is certain schools that have fewer poor children. For other families, it is any of the schools.

So you are really just saying everyone is trying to do the best for their kids, whatever that means for them. Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If people are moving for schools, they are moving to FFX Co.

Come on, plenty of families move from DC to Arlington for schools without the bad FFX Co. commutes to office buildings downtown. We moved to Lyon Park for Thomas Jefferson and Washington Liberty IB Diploma, along with a walkable/bikeable community and decent commute to DC. We're glad we did - TJ, while not paradise, is much better than any public middle school option we had in DC living in NE.

My kid has really taken off in the TJ music program, plays in the honors band and in a competitive MD Classic Youth Orchestra ensemble up at Strathmore. The band teacher at TJ rocks. My kid also does well academically, likes her teachers, has made a good group of friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If people are moving for schools, they are moving to FFX Co.

Come on, plenty of families move from DC to Arlington for schools without the bad FFX Co. commutes to office buildings downtown. We moved to Lyon Park for Thomas Jefferson and Washington Liberty IB Diploma, along with a walkable/bikeable community and decent commute to DC. We're glad we did - TJ, while not paradise, is much better than any public middle school option we had in DC living in NE.

My kid has really taken off in the TJ music program, plays in the honors band and in a competitive MD Classic Youth Orchestra ensemble up at Strathmore. The band teacher at TJ rocks. My kid also does well academically, likes her teachers, has made a good group of friends.

Falls Church City and McLean are right next to Arlington and you get better schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If people are moving for schools, they are moving to FFX Co.

Come on, plenty of families move from DC to Arlington for schools without the bad FFX Co. commutes to office buildings downtown. We moved to Lyon Park for Thomas Jefferson and Washington Liberty IB Diploma, along with a walkable/bikeable community and decent commute to DC. We're glad we did - TJ, while not paradise, is much better than any public middle school option we had in DC living in NE.

My kid has really taken off in the TJ music program, plays in the honors band and in a competitive MD Classic Youth Orchestra ensemble up at Strathmore. The band teacher at TJ rocks. My kid also does well academically, likes her teachers, has made a good group of friends.

Falls Church City and McLean are right next to Arlington and you get better schools.

It’s obvious people have been moving to Arlington for both the neighborhoods and the schools. Not in spite of the schools. People moving just for schools alone would likely chose schools in the Whitman pyramid in Bethesda, the renovated Langley and its feeder schools, or maybe McLean despite its neglected, crowded building. If they liked IB and preferred smaller schools, then maybe Falls Church City.

[Anonymous]

What if they like driving to work in the District in 15 minutes, or Metro'ing in 25? Life is almost never just about picking a school for a kid or teen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Dorothy Hamm, the new middle school in North Arlington, has been way under-enrolled, and was built to a much higher capacity. It’s new building and grounds are beautiful, the best among middle schools in Arlington. Test scores are among the highest in Northern Virginia, and the principal and teachers are well liked. All that is still not enough to convince families to return to APS. Families here are wealthy and fickle and the pandemic created a large shift away from APS towards private schools. Area privates like Maret, SFS, STA, NCS, GDS, WIS, etc are all quite good. Hopefully new families will came back to APS.

It wasn’t mentioned, but Long Branch is also a popular neighborhood ES located on the N/S Arlington border. The new Fleet ES also on the N/S Arlington border is well liked and serves nearby Fort Myer and military families in general.



We are Long Branch/TJ/W-L and have generally been happy but my youngest is now graduating from W-L. The virtue of APS vs Fairfax when we started was consistently small class sizes which made in ES for better meeting kids needs, including at the time pull-out for gifted students. All of those benefits seem to be gone. I still love living in Arlington but if moving here now with young kids I'd look for schools that go to Hamm/W-L. I think that's the best MS/HS option right now. And assume your may need to supplement for ES wherever you go.

But your own kids went to TJ? What was wrong with TJ?

Despite the crowding, we've been very happy with W-L. It's a nice community where both kids found their different niches and appreciated the ability to take both AP and IB classes.

We're at TJ now. The natural light situation is better than a few years ago. TJ is a hidden gem these days for being under-subscribed. The largest core class (English, social studies, math, science) my kid has in 7th grade this year has 22 kids. Several of her classes only have 18 or 19 students. She takes algebra this year. Almost all her teachers seem v. good. The music program is special and she enjoys working in the school garden, growing vegetables to donate to local soup kitchens and rec center skating nights (around one a month). We supplement a bit, hire a writing tutor, send her to a weekend language heritage program and summer immersion camps, but can't complain.