Ashlawn/Kenmore vs. Long Branch/Jefferson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle school was not like this when I grew up! I grew up in New Jersey where the school system was run at at the township level and not county so obviously it’s very different. But we had behavioral and academic standards. I never saw a fight in middle or high school. I was bullied in 6th grade, but as soon as I went to the guidance counselor to report it (after months of hoping it would stop), the principal shut it down and threatened suspension to the group of boys if I reported even one more incident. It’s so sad how much times have changed both for academics and behavior.

These daily or weekly fights and drug use weren’t happening in Arlington either 15 to 20 years ago. It’s a new reality public school districts are coming to terms with all across the country, especially post pandemic. When we were kids, public schools actually enforced “drug free school zones” and students were better behaved when school resource officers were present on campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ashlawn/Kenmore family here - Ashlawn was fine, we saw the change after the AWESOME principal Mr. AB left but still a good school.

Kenmore is ok - we have a boy there and he has avoided most of the drama/violence so far. His friends are at Swanson and it does not sound much better there - except the kids are all white, still a good amount of fights/bullying.

Girls are more "mean girl" types at Swanson while Kenmore girls are violent (mostly in the latino population). The girls there regularly will fight boys in 3 on 1 type fight. Group fights is when you normally get the EMS on campus text alert....about once a week.

Probably more girl fights at Kenmore than most places, typically non-white on non-white.

If you are latino from Ashlawn or N Arlington you would have a challenge mixing with the tougher south arlington latino crowd....typically they leave white kids alone.

Oh wow. This sounds scary. My kids are still in elementary but had no idea middle school was like this.

Middle school kids are a tough age.
There is no “safe” school except for hb probably. But that school is rigged for kids in favor and their siblings. Like a private fraternity and sorority paid for by Arlington county.

I would not stress about any middle school- you survived and it is probably not much different now than it was for you….unless you went to school with like 100 kids and 25 teachers.

and here comes the hb conspiracy theorists, of course they had to show up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is MS Spanish Immersion still moving to Kenmore?

That discussion ended when APS did the address verification process and Gunston was no longer over enrolled. Who knows what the future holds but I would guess those who want the program moved will lobby for that in the upcoming MS boundary process.

It did not end, they pushed it back. APS is reviewing it with the middle school boundaries this fall. We'll see if it happens.

[Anonymous]

Williamsburg is a ghost town and APS will have to move Swanson kids there as ballston continue to explode with apartments.

Not sure what will happen to ashlawn kids that go to kenmore. Ashlawn has kids that go to 2 ms and 2 hs. Although most ashlawn kids waiver out of Yorktown for w&l. They get some sort of pass for some reason.

Swanson as a facility sucks. Old and should be raised to the ground. Pick your poison between kenmore or Swanson - kenmore has a great facility but is diverse. So if you want to stay with the white kids in a terrible building or the diverse kids in nice building they round out all things considered about equally miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle school was not like this when I grew up! I grew up in New Jersey where the school system was run at at the township level and not county so obviously it’s very different. But we had behavioral and academic standards. I never saw a fight in middle or high school. I was bullied in 6th grade, but as soon as I went to the guidance counselor to report it (after months of hoping it would stop), the principal shut it down and threatened suspension to the group of boys if I reported even one more incident. It’s so sad how much times have changed both for academics and behavior.

+1

[Anonymous]

We are in the Ashlawn/Kenmore/W&L pyramid and our 10th grader is now in W&L. Ashlawn was fantastic, but we heard enough honest opinions about Kenmore early on that we saved up for three years of private middle school and it was the right choice for our daughter. She was in a much more nurturing environment during the tough middle school years and now is thriving academically at W&L. Her friends who came to W&L from Kenmore are really struggling to keep up.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is in 4th grade at Ashlawn. Aside from the teachers being good and facilities far better than what we saw for 2 years at PGPS, I have no kind words about the APS curriculum. We are also planning to apply to private school for 6th grade.

For the curriculum, I went to a public school in another country. Our 4th grade homework was to memorize 30-line long classic poems and recite them to the class. Difficult math, again w/ pressure on students to know the answer because tested pulled to the board to show the work. Here, the expectation on what students are supposed to know are so low, I'm

[Anonymous]

My daughter is in 4th grade at Ashlawn. Aside from the teachers being good and facilities far better than what we saw for 2 years at PGPS, I have no kind words about the APS curriculum. We are also planning to apply to private school for 6th grade.

For the curriculum, I went to a public school in another country. Our 4th grade homework was to memorize 30-line long classic poems and recite them to the class. Difficult math, again w/ pressure on students to know the answer because pulled to the board to show the work. At Ashlawn, the expectation on what students are supposed to know are so low, I'm angry about all the wasted time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is in 4th grade at Ashlawn. Aside from the teachers being good and facilities far better than what we saw for 2 years at PGPS, I have no kind words about the APS curriculum. We are also planning to apply to private school for 6th grade.

For the curriculum, I went to a public school in another country. Our 4th grade homework was to memorize 30-line long classic poems and recite them to the class. Difficult math, again w/ pressure on students to know the answer because pulled to the board to show the work. At Ashlawn, the expectation on what students are supposed to know are so low, I'm angry about all the wasted time.

Similar experience with a fourth grader at Ashlawn but I am not that worked up about it because the school really focuses on making them global citizens and other social aspects. He always scores high on the various standardized tests and seems to be learning. I do hope that middle school is more rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Williamsburg is a ghost town and APS will have to move Swanson kids there as ballston continue to explode with apartments.

Not sure what will happen to ashlawn kids that go to kenmore. Ashlawn has kids that go to 2 ms and 2 hs. Although most ashlawn kids waiver out of Yorktown for w&l. They get some sort of pass for some reason.

Swanson as a facility sucks. Old and should be raised to the ground. Pick your poison between kenmore or Swanson - kenmore has a great facility but is diverse. So if you want to stay with the white kids in a terrible building or the diverse kids in nice building they round out all things considered about equally miserable.

Swanson is a beautiful classic colonial revival building with a nice front lawn. It can be renovated, but not demolished since it is an Arlington County Hostoric District like Dorothy Hamm MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williamsburg is a ghost town and APS will have to move Swanson kids there as ballston continue to explode with apartments.

Not sure what will happen to ashlawn kids that go to kenmore. Ashlawn has kids that go to 2 ms and 2 hs. Although most ashlawn kids waiver out of Yorktown for w&l. They get some sort of pass for some reason.

Swanson as a facility sucks. Old and should be raised to the ground. Pick your poison between kenmore or Swanson - kenmore has a great facility but is diverse. So if you want to stay with the white kids in a terrible building or the diverse kids in nice building they round out all things considered about equally miserable.

Swanson is a beautiful classic colonial revival building with a nice front lawn. It can be renovated, but not demolished since it is an Arlington County Hostoric District like Dorothy Hamm MS.

it's a dump inside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williamsburg is a ghost town and APS will have to move Swanson kids there as ballston continue to explode with apartments.

Not sure what will happen to ashlawn kids that go to kenmore. Ashlawn has kids that go to 2 ms and 2 hs. Although most ashlawn kids waiver out of Yorktown for w&l. They get some sort of pass for some reason.

Swanson as a facility sucks. Old and should be raised to the ground. Pick your poison between kenmore or Swanson - kenmore has a great facility but is diverse. So if you want to stay with the white kids in a terrible building or the diverse kids in nice building they round out all things considered about equally miserable.

Swanson is a beautiful classic colonial revival building with a nice front lawn. It can be renovated, but not demolished since it is an Arlington County Hostoric District like Dorothy Hamm MS.

it's a dump inside.

APS can renovate the inside of Swanson. Didn’t APS hire a consultant to rank all the school facilities in terms of renovation or rebuilding needs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in the Ashlawn/Kenmore/W&L pyramid and our 10th grader is now in W&L. Ashlawn was fantastic, but we heard enough honest opinions about Kenmore early on that we saved up for three years of private middle school and it was the right choice for our daughter. She was in a much more nurturing environment during the tough middle school years and now is thriving academically at W&L. Her friends who came to W&L from Kenmore are really struggling to keep up.

Do you mind sharing what middle school? I am considering pulling my kids out for middle school and putting them in private. Would do it for middle school only because that’s what we can afford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the Ashlawn/Kenmore/W&L pyramid and our 10th grader is now in W&L. Ashlawn was fantastic, but we heard enough honest opinions about Kenmore early on that we saved up for three years of private middle school and it was the right choice for our daughter. She was in a much more nurturing environment during the tough middle school years and now is thriving academically at W&L. Her friends who came to W&L from Kenmore are really struggling to keep up.

Do you mind sharing what middle school? I am considering pulling my kids out for middle school and putting them in private. Would do it for middle school only because that’s what we can afford.

I knew a few families who sent their kids to Congressional to avoid Kenmore and were happy with it. Of course this was pre-Covid so it probably is more competitive now.

[Anonymous]

I have W-L high schoolers that came up through the Ashlawn/Kenmore pyramid. Neither of them ever struggle to keep up in HS. Kenmore is fine.