Thinking about moving, so kids can go to Yorktown for HS instead of Wakefield -- pros? cons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without getting into Wakefield vs. Yorktown or other options, Arlington will currently let you do this for free. If you are about to be at the high school years, you can just apply to transfer and have your DC transported to Yorktown.

https://www.apsva.us/school-options/high-school-choices/ - and check the waiver, neither Wakefield nor Yorktown is close to 120%. No guarantees about five years from now.

No bus for transfers is my understanding.

Part of the temporary waiver to address overcrowding is that bus transit will be provided for students transferring schools under the waiver program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without getting into Wakefield vs. Yorktown or other options, Arlington will currently let you do this for free. If you are about to be at the high school years, you can just apply to transfer and have your DC transported to Yorktown.

https://www.apsva.us/school-options/high-school-choices/ - and check the waiver, neither Wakefield nor Yorktown is close to 120%. No guarantees about five years from now.

That sounds like an awesome option, your child can spend an excessive amount of time traveling to and from school every day, and then be no where near his friends during non-school hours.

Huh. Selling your house and buying another one, just for a different school, is totally reasonable, but a slightly longer bus ride isn't?

I don't think selling your house and moving to a different community because you want your children in different schools and want to be part of that broader community so that your child will have an easier time seeing friends outside of school, you have an easier time getting to know the parents, it's easier for you to attend events at the school, is a ridiculous idea. The more fractured your community is (neighbors here, school there, etc.), the less connected people are likely to feel to any of them. Especially when your neighbors learn you decided to transfer your child to a different school because being with their children wasn't good enough for yours. That tends to alienate people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Without getting into Wakefield vs. Yorktown or other options, Arlington will currently let you do this for free. If you are about to be at the high school years, you can just apply to transfer and have your DC transported to Yorktown.

https://www.apsva.us/school-options/high-school-choices/ - and check the waiver, neither Wakefield nor Yorktown is close to 120%. No guarantees about five years from now.

Would anyone that has used the waiver program to have DC at Yorktown please comment on their experience (whether it was worthwhile, happy with the decision, etc.)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without getting into Wakefield vs. Yorktown or other options, Arlington will currently let you do this for free. If you are about to be at the high school years, you can just apply to transfer and have your DC transported to Yorktown.

https://www.apsva.us/school-options/high-school-choices/ - and check the waiver, neither Wakefield nor Yorktown is close to 120%. No guarantees about five years from now.

That sounds like an awesome option, your child can spend an excessive amount of time traveling to and from school every day, and then be no where near his friends during non-school hours.

Huh. Selling your house and buying another one, just for a different school, is totally reasonable, but a slightly longer bus ride isn't?

I don't think selling your house and moving to a different community because you want your children in different schools and want to be part of that broader community so that your child will have an easier time seeing friends outside of school, you have an easier time getting to know the parents, it's easier for you to attend events at the school, is a ridiculous idea. The more fractured your community is (neighbors here, school there, etc.), the less connected people are likely to feel to any of them. Especially when your neighbors learn you decided to transfer your child to a different school because being with their children wasn't good enough for yours. That tends to alienate people.

Look, if ***you*** also want to move, go for it. Loads of people send kids to other than neighborhood schools in Arlington -HB, immersion, Montessori, IB. Just don't pretend it's because you're the only one not going to the neighborhood school. After you move to yortktown, you neighbors will still be sending kids to W-L for ib or to HB, or back to Wakefield for that matter.

[Anonymous]

While I have heard comments about all three of the APS high schools, I can't speak from experience about any of them except Yorktown. One thing I would recommend is not falling into the trap of simply looking at test scores or other academic indicators when evaluating which of Arlington's high schools would be best for your kids. There really is a lot more that goes into it, and the school with the best academic indicators may not be the best choice for you.

An earlier poster noted the current drug problem at Yorktown. As I believe someone else stated, the drug problem is not confined to Yorktown, and I'm sure that's true. However, the problem there is really bad. We're not just talking about drinking and weed, and we're not just talking about upperclassmen. Pills and LSD are widespread (and are readily available down at Williamsburg Middle School as well). A significant portion of even the freshman class is drinking and smoking pot on a regular basis, and into other drugs as well. The student activities department put on a program back in December about drug and alcohol use among student athletes at Yorktown. It was very informative, though downright scary. The problem is bad, as acknowledged by those involved with athletics there. Two sets of parents talked about how their sons the previous two years (both good athletes, good students, popular, etc.) missed the end of their senior years because they were in residential rehab. I have recently heard of other students (younger than seniors) who are in long-term residential rehab programs. Again, maybe the problem isn't confined to Yorktown, and maybe I'm naive, but kids going away to rehab should be outliers and not so commonplace.

So what is it about Yorktown that makes the drug problem so bad? I don't believe it is simply mismanagement by school administrators. Rather, the number one problem in the community is the parents. Parents who are too busy in their own careers and with their own social lives to have much of a clue about what their kids and their kids' friends are doing on a regular basis. Parents who take a casual attitude toward drinking and drug use and think "kids will be kids" and "I did those things when I was their age." Parents who let their kids and their friends drink in the basement "because they're safe down there." Parents who don't set concrete expectations and consequences for their kids, and who lawyer up or threaten the school system when their kids do screw up, so their kids never face any natural consequences and feel they can do whatever they want.

There are kids at Yorktown who excel academically and athletically and steer clear of the risky behavior. I applaud their parents because it takes a lot of effort and they are the exception rather than the rule. But even when you're trying to do what you know is right when raising your own kids, it becomes much more challenging when they are in an environment where so many kids get away with so much. Other posters will continue to cheerlead for Yorktown and put down the other high schools in Arlington, but if they try to say Yorktown doesn't have a big problem, they are either not smart or they are not paying attention.

[Anonymous]

I think the pp's statements are not far from the truths. Here's what I've been told about the drug culture in all three high schools:

Yorktown - pills, alcohol, weed
W&L - alcohol, pills, weed
Wakefield - weed

That is the way it was explained to me.

[Anonymous]

After that all the dirty laundry that was aired this past year regarding Yorktown, it just doesn't seem like an upgrade. Wakefield has the nicest facility, and I've never met an unkind student. We're sticking with Wakefield.

[Anonymous]

If you can afford it, it'd be stupid NOT to try to get into the NoAr Elementary/Williamsburg/Yorktown triad. Get a frickin' basement apartment and "live" there. I'm sure someone is willing to "rent" you their basement for $500/month. A lot cheaper than private tuition for equal or better education.

That said, if your kid is definitely going to get into AP classes, they'll be away from the "problem" kids. But those years in middle school when they're all together can be miserable.

[Anonymous]

The whole YTown "drug problem" was likely fabricated so people would stop trying to go there. To much "diversity" for the white parents at that school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I have heard comments about all three of the APS high schools, I can't speak from experience about any of them except Yorktown. One thing I would recommend is not falling into the trap of simply looking at test scores or other academic indicators when evaluating which of Arlington's high schools would be best for your kids. There really is a lot more that goes into it, and the school with the best academic indicators may not be the best choice for you.

An earlier poster noted the current drug problem at Yorktown. As I believe someone else stated, the drug problem is not confined to Yorktown, and I'm sure that's true. However, the problem there is really bad. We're not just talking about drinking and weed, and we're not just talking about upperclassmen. Pills and LSD are widespread (and are readily available down at Williamsburg Middle School as well). A significant portion of even the freshman class is drinking and smoking pot on a regular basis, and into other drugs as well. The student activities department put on a program back in December about drug and alcohol use among student athletes at Yorktown. It was very informative, though downright scary. The problem is bad, as acknowledged by those involved with athletics there. Two sets of parents talked about how their sons the previous two years (both good athletes, good students, popular, etc.) missed the end of their senior years because they were in residential rehab. I have recently heard of other students (younger than seniors) who are in long-term residential rehab programs. Again, maybe the problem isn't confined to Yorktown, and maybe I'm naive, but kids going away to rehab should be outliers and not so commonplace.

So what is it about Yorktown that makes the drug problem so bad? I don't believe it is simply mismanagement by school administrators. Rather, the number one problem in the community is the parents. Parents who are too busy in their own careers and with their own social lives to have much of a clue about what their kids and their kids' friends are doing on a regular basis. Parents who take a casual attitude toward drinking and drug use and think "kids will be kids" and "I did those things when I was their age." Parents who let their kids and their friends drink in the basement "because they're safe down there." Parents who don't set concrete expectations and consequences for their kids, and who lawyer up or threaten the school system when their kids do screw up, so their kids never face any natural consequences and feel they can do whatever they want.

There are kids at Yorktown who excel academically and athletically and steer clear of the risky behavior. I applaud their parents because it takes a lot of effort and they are the exception rather than the rule. But even when you're trying to do what you know is right when raising your own kids, it becomes much more challenging when they are in an environment where so many kids get away with so much. Other posters will continue to cheerlead for Yorktown and put down the other high schools in Arlington, but if they try to say Yorktown doesn't have a big problem, they are either not smart or they are not paying attention.

I attended Yorktown about 20ish years ago and a lot of this rings true to me based on my own experience. Now those neighborhoods are even more wealthy, parents are even higher fliers then mine and my friends' were. I think the other high schools also have their own problems but no one should think Yorktown is a utopia. There was a ton of pressure to excel even 20 years ago. I had a straight A average and wasn't even in the top ten percent of my class. Can't imagine what the atmosphere is like now. People should choose the environment they think is best for their kids and their families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can afford it, it'd be stupid NOT to try to get into the NoAr Elementary/Williamsburg/Yorktown triad. Get a frickin' basement apartment and "live" there. I'm sure someone is willing to "rent" you their basement for $500/month. A lot cheaper than private tuition for equal or better education.

That said, if your kid is definitely going to get into AP classes, they'll be away from the "problem" kids. But those years in middle school when they're all together can be miserable.

Troll score: 3

I gave you points for suggesting they seek out an illegal basement rental, but deducted points for "Noar" and "triad". Stop trying to make fetch happen. It's not going to happen.

[Anonymous]

I would really urge you to try and get more insight into whether the "problem" is the child or the school. You don't want to put yourself through a forced move, only to realize you're dealing with the same issue at a different school. If you have some good equity in a S Arlington home, you can probably use that to swing a place in N Arlington. You'll probably sacrifice some space & "niceness" of the house, but it's doable.

We're a S Arlington family in the immersion program at Claremont. So we may face the opposite problem you have: if the Board switches things up as one proposal suggests, we'd be continuing on to Williamsburg & Yorktown. We have several friends in N Arlington, and they like Yorktown a lot. Drugs aside, we hear really good things about the academics & teachers. The issue for us is we have 3 kids, and we've been counting on one day having a Wakefield high school student helping her two younger siblings get to school at Claremont. We both work, so it'd relieve a lot of pressure. But as a PP said, this is Arlington - no commute is all that long compared to other, larger counties.

It's not an easy decision, wish you luck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I have heard comments about all three of the APS high schools, I can't speak from experience about any of them except Yorktown. One thing I would recommend is not falling into the trap of simply looking at test scores or other academic indicators when evaluating which of Arlington's high schools would be best for your kids. There really is a lot more that goes into it, and the school with the best academic indicators may not be the best choice for you.

An earlier poster noted the current drug problem at Yorktown. As I believe someone else stated, the drug problem is not confined to Yorktown, and I'm sure that's true. However, the problem there is really bad. We're not just talking about drinking and weed, and we're not just talking about upperclassmen. Pills and LSD are widespread (and are readily available down at Williamsburg Middle School as well). A significant portion of even the freshman class is drinking and smoking pot on a regular basis, and into other drugs as well. The student activities department put on a program back in December about drug and alcohol use among student athletes at Yorktown. It was very informative, though downright scary. The problem is bad, as acknowledged by those involved with athletics there. Two sets of parents talked about how their sons the previous two years (both good athletes, good students, popular, etc.) missed the end of their senior years because they were in residential rehab. I have recently heard of other students (younger than seniors) who are in long-term residential rehab programs. Again, maybe the problem isn't confined to Yorktown, and maybe I'm naive, but kids going away to rehab should be outliers and not so commonplace.

So what is it about Yorktown that makes the drug problem so bad? I don't believe it is simply mismanagement by school administrators. Rather, the number one problem in the community is the parents. Parents who are too busy in their own careers and with their own social lives to have much of a clue about what their kids and their kids' friends are doing on a regular basis. Parents who take a casual attitude toward drinking and drug use and think "kids will be kids" and "I did those things when I was their age." Parents who let their kids and their friends drink in the basement "because they're safe down there." Parents who don't set concrete expectations and consequences for their kids, and who lawyer up or threaten the school system when their kids do screw up, so their kids never face any natural consequences and feel they can do whatever they want.

There are kids at Yorktown who excel academically and athletically and steer clear of the risky behavior. I applaud their parents because it takes a lot of effort and they are the exception rather than the rule. But even when you're trying to do what you know is right when raising your own kids, it becomes much more challenging when they are in an environment where so many kids get away with so much. Other posters will continue to cheerlead for Yorktown and put down the other high schools in Arlington, but if they try to say Yorktown doesn't have a big problem, they are either not smart or they are not paying attention.

Sadly, this is a true representation of what's going on. (You can add in rampant promiscuity/sexting, too. This year's 9th grade class really is a piece of work.) There are similar issues at W&L, although I don't think it's as widespread.

There's a lot of denial and excuse-making among parents and I'm afraid that it's going to take some kind of crisis to wake them up.

[Anonymous]

YHS parents may be uninvolved, but they are not destitute. The % of low income at Wakefield, on the other hand, is substantial. Nothing is worse for a child than going to school with the poors. I would move if I were you OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:YHS parents may be uninvolved, but they are not destitute. The % of low income at Wakefield, on the other hand, is substantial. Nothing is worse for a child than going to school with the poors. I would move if I were you OP.

Why aren't you doing your homework? Or going to bed?