ACPS Schools Opinions on Here

[Anonymous]

The bullies have found the thread.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:ACPS is a joke. Its superintendent doesn't even send his kids there.

People, we have gone over this repeatedly. He pulled his daughter because she was being bullied. The situation wasn't remedied despite an awful lot of effort made by the school and her parents. He made a tough choice. I respect his choice because he could have forced her to tough it out so that it would make his life easier. He didn't do that and I respect that as a Dad.

Now people will fight back. Bullies? Here in Alexandria? Nah, we don't have any of that.

In which case I will direct your attention to the OpenACPS Facebook page. Yeah. We definitely have bullies. If you don't look at that and then conclude we have bullies, then we have an extreme disconnect in understanding what a bully is.

Use the search feature on this thread and look for the terms ACPS, Maury and MacArthur. Even with all the redacting and reporting of inappropriate content it is painfully obvious that we have a bully problem in Alexandria and it isn't only in the schools. Kids learn their bully behavior at home and they bring it to school.

As noted above, Hutchings is a hypocrite because he did what was best for his daughter (sending her to BI) but attacked parents who took similar steps for their children. (Considered forming pods).

Understand. That is a different matter and I did not address it because it did not matter to me. I clarified why the daughter was pulled. The sentences by the first poster imply a problem with the quality of the education, which is not the reason why the daughter was pulled.

Was this reported publicly? Not Hutchings being a hypocrite but the bullying? Any update on why restorative justice circles didn't work? A lot of people have gone through that with no resolution too but they can't afford to send their kid to an expensive private school. So I guess that makes him a double hypocrite. Thanks for reminding everyone of that.

+1000

No it wasn’t reported because it didn’t happen (or to the extent it did, it was not at the level of pulling the child). My source is my own kids. And of note, he sent his daughter to hybrid; BI has a virtual option if he was that concerned about sending kids virtually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ACPS has a very high FARMS rate, nearly 70% at some schools, and thus test scores reflect that. Alexandria is FULL of super wealthy white people (and some wealthy minorities) who like the convenient location and the beautiful neighborhoods, and who can afford to send their kids to private. Thus they have no skin in the game on the success of ACPS kids. Even in my middle class west end neighborhood a lot of parents send their kids to private. We’ve had a middling experience with some great teachers, some mediocre teachers, and fortunately no terrible teachers. We receive special education services which we’ve had to fight for but not like I’ve heard from parents in other districts. I don’t think my son was actually delayed in reading, I think they just don’t know how to teach reading. My son was guessing words left and right. He’s finally above grade level like his testing/intelligence scores suggest he should be, but it was a long frustrating road to get there. ACPS has hugely managed the pandemic but I don’t know that I’d judge a district on 2020/2021. If you’re educated your kids will probably do well. (Disclosure my experience is only elementary so far.)

Why wouldn't you judge a district's leadership during a crisis? Anyone who was paying attention to ACPS, the SB, Hutchings prior to 2020/2021 is not be surprised at how ACPS mishandled this.

I have friends at FCPS and APS who are just as pissed about the pandemic response. I think it should be taken in context. Absolutely judge Hutchings on his comments belittling parents, though!

+1 grass is not greener...

[Anonymous]

have friends at FCPS and APS who are just as pissed about the pandemic response. I think it should be taken in context. Absolutely judge Hutchings on his comments belittling parents, though!


+1 grass is not greener...

That's fine, and I honestly don't care where he send his own daughter, but his inability to control his temper and resulting inappropriate comments to and about parents are outrageous. If I acted that way in a professional capacity, I'd be canned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. So I'll say that PP 13:47 isn't wrong but take it with a grain. I'll agree ACPS has poor leadership and a focus bordering on manic obsession with equity but the scores you see on Great Schools reflect our FARMS numbers.

Yes, there is a weird cadre of ACPS groupies (I have steered clear) and definitely some failing schools or burned out teachers/principals. BUT there are a lot of parents who are content (I won't say happy since that may be a stretch) with their child's education within ACPS. Or as content as you can get in a public school system these days.

Speaking specifically to your questions about Alexandria High (formally TC), your kids will do just fine. In fact, they will have opportunities to thrive. The rowing team is world class, the robotics team is nationally ranked, they still teach German and Latin at a HS level, and there is a ton of diversity to keep everyone grounded. Fun fact, two years ago the winner of the Intel Science Fair was from TC. She's at Stanford now. So to answer your question, yes, your kids have a good shot at a great and FREE education there. It's worth a shot!

PS: Don't let these other posts make it seem like there are amazing private school alternatives in the immediate Alexandria area. We've either had a student there or done our due diligence, and none of them are world class. Maybe the Big 3 in DC are worth the $$$ but that add a whole lot of hassle to your life.

Good luck with the move!

Can you point me to the posts on this thread that make it seem like there amazing private school alternative in the immediate Alexandria area? Because I don't see them.

I wasn't just speaking about this thread but even within these posts, it was alluded to that "rich/white" Alexandrians send their children to private schools. While this is true to a certain extent, I didn't want OP to imply that that because this happens, those private schools are inherently better than the public schools here.

Well from personal experience, I will tell you that the small class sizes and the responsiveness of faculty and the administrators and the insight into where my child is thriving and where challenged, has vastly improved our family’s experience. And the curriculum is evidenced based. Lastly no one is trying to inject their political/social justice agenda into the classroom — something which happens at ACPS. Plus we’ve been in the classroom since September, rather than on the iPad. Big difference from ow things were or would have been in ACPS. So is it better? I’d say so, but at some level there are aspects that are the same as public. Sure. But there ls a lot that isn’t.

+1

[Anonymous]

Lastly no one is trying to inject their political/social justice agenda into the classroom — something which happens at ACPS

To what are you referring? Helping classmates whose families may be less fortunate? Opposing racial violence by police? Do tell what it is that bothers you so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Lastly no one is trying to inject their political/social justice agenda into the classroom — something which happens at ACPS

To what are you referring? Helping classmates whose families may be less fortunate? Opposing racial violence by police? Do tell what it is that bothers you so.

When they take away your TAG and your AP, etc., remember this conversation.

[Anonymous]

ACPS has this crazy version of block scheduling. You do a year long course in a semester. So you might take one year of Spanish or math, then you wait a YEAR before taking the subject again.

[Anonymous]

Lastly no one is trying to inject their political/social justice agenda into the classroom — something which happens at ACPS


To what are you referring? Helping classmates whose families may be less fortunate? Opposing racial violence by police? Do tell what it is that bothers you so.


When they take away your TAG and your AP, etc., remember this conversation.

Kids are too old for TAG to matter at this point. And they will not take away APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ACPS has this crazy version of block scheduling. You do a year long course in a semester. So you might take one year of Spanish or math, then you wait a YEAR before taking the subject again.

+1 This was the most ill-advised development of the past year. Ask anyone whose kid signed up for an AP and found out later they had/has only one semester to do it. Or kids who had no world language from June-end of January. And then have to do a YEAR'S worth of work in four months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Lastly no one is trying to inject their political/social justice agenda into the classroom — something which happens at ACPS


To what are you referring? Helping classmates whose families may be less fortunate? Opposing racial violence by police? Do tell what it is that bothers you so.


When they take away your TAG and your AP, etc., remember this conversation.

Kids are too old for TAG to matter at this point. And they will not take away APs.

Mine aren’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Lastly no one is trying to inject their political/social justice agenda into the classroom — something which happens at ACPS


To what are you referring? Helping classmates whose families may be less fortunate? Opposing racial violence by police? Do tell what it is that bothers you so.


When they take away your TAG and your AP, etc., remember this conversation.

Kids are too old for TAG to matter at this point. And they will not take away APs.

I don't have kids in middle or high school yet and I'm curious why you think that ACPS won't take away APs? With the handwriting on the wall for TAG it seems that the next step will be to end honors and then AP classes.

[Anonymous]

What's going on with TAG? All I could find was an article about needing to address disproportionate demographics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's going on with TAG? All I could find was an article about needing to address disproportionate demographics.

It's going away. Then VA is planning to offer only one diploma type to HS graduates. Betting AP is next. We can't have systemic inequities. SJW -- it's gotten out of hand, and will continue to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's going on with TAG? All I could find was an article about needing to address disproportionate demographics.

It's going away. Then VA is planning to offer only one diploma type to HS graduates. Betting AP is next. We can't have systemic inequities. SJW -- it's gotten out of hand, and will continue to do so.

I believe you, but can you point me to a source on TAG going away?