Arlington Traditional School

Anonymous
Does anyone have first-hand experience with this school? I'm trying to decide whether to send my child to her neighborhood school for kindergarten next fall or to apply for ATS.

I'd like to hear from someone who has children attending (or recently attended) who can explain to me what precisely makes it different from the Arlington neighborhood schools and why they preferred it for their children.

Anonymous
We chose not to apply, both because we liked our neighborhood school and because we found ATS offputting. In our case, while our firstborn would have been fine there, it was already clear that the younger sibling was not going to cope well with such a rigid environment, and we wanted our kids to be in the same place if possible.

We have friends whose children go there, and they like it very much. Honestly, it's hard to go wrong with Arlington schools
Anonymous
We have two children at ATS and would concur with the above poster that is very difficult to go wrong with Arlington schools. Period.

The school (ATS) does have its own culture and practices that need to fit with your family's ideas about what they want from elementary education: homework every night for children of every grade; weekly reports from teachers on student progress; a focus on character education; and self-contained classrooms (meaning that children do not have a different teacher for math, a different teacher for social studies, a different teacher for English/language arts). Otherwise, it is important to know that there is a vigorous arts, music, and drama program - some people do not understand that- and that parent involvement is welcomed and quite active in the school. Finally, particularly as compared to other schools located north of Rt 50, the school body is about 40% minority and - since it is a countywide program - does better represent the diversity of Arlington than other schools geographically near by (some of which are 90-95% white and relatively wealthy in composition).

We and our kids are very happy, but the school needs to fit your ideas of what you want from an elementary experience. I'd also add that 'your mileage may vary' depending on the individual teachers your kids might have, but - again - this is not different than in other schools. No school is perfect. We love ATS and if you find its program attractive (they do give tours and I'd encourage you to take one), I'd encourage you to apply.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
The school (ATS) does have its own culture and practices that need to fit with your family's ideas about what they want from elementary education: homework every night for children of every grade; weekly reports from teachers on student progress; a focus on character education;


all the things above fit my family's idea of elementary education. but i wonder if this does not applies to most families. are other schools not going to have these 'practices'? i don't know whether i'd like self-contained classrooms or not but that appears to be the only thing unique about ATS.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
The school (ATS) does have its own culture and practices that need to fit with your family's ideas about what they want from elementary education: homework every night for children of every grade; weekly reports from teachers on student progress; a focus on character education;


all the things above fit my family's idea of elementary education. but i wonder if this does not applies to most families. are other schools not going to have these 'practices'? i don't know whether i'd like self-contained classrooms or not but that appears to be the only thing unique about ATS.


DS attends one of the Arlington dual immersion schools and I can tell you that there is weekly homework, but it is not daily (no homework on Mondays, and only one weekend day). The homework is kept to sane levels. We certainly want "rigor" in our son's education but I'm not sure that throwing lots of homework at kids is the way to achieve it. Our son's school certainly stresses good character and the teachers are readily available to discuss concerns.

The kids of neighbors attend ATS and love it, so I'm not criticizing the program. One of the great things in the Arlington schools is the number of options available.
Anonymous
all the things above fit my family's idea of elementary education. but i wonder if this does not applies to most families. are other schools not going to have these 'practices'? i don't know whether i'd like self-contained classrooms or not but that appears to be the only thing unique about ATS.


Lots of schools have less-than-nightly homework for kindergartners, or at least not specific assignments, although I think most schools want you to read with your child every night.

Lots of schools teach "character education," but for some it's developing empathy/awareness of social problems/a sense of personal responsibility; for others, it's learning to behave yourself and follow the rules.

Lots of schools have regular feedback from the teachers, but it isn't necessarily a weekly report form.

ATS is very structured. Tuck in your shirt. Learn to read by the end of kindergarten. Whether that's the sort of thing that's a good fit for your family (either because that's the way your kid rolls or because you want to push her/him out of the comfort zone) is your call. ATS is also more diverse than a lot of schools in North Arlington, although it is far from the only one with that percentage of nonwhite students. And again, maybe that's not a significant advantage to you, or maybe it's enough to tip the balance.
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