APS Return of COVID Exodus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The families I know who left for Congressional and Gesher are not coming back.

What is Gesher? Congo is not worth the premium over APS.

https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=gesher+school+

NEVER heard of this.

+1

Not worth Googling.

Are you Jewish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pulled DC out of APS (to Catholic) to avoid virtual school. We've been very satisfied with the academics and love the school community. But, we are considering moving back to APS only due to "teacher shortage" concerns and very recent turnover.

Because there aren’t major teacher shortages and turnover in public school? Not following…

APS pays way way better than Catholic schools. Only advantage is some Catholic teachers are lifers (basically they attended catholic school, live off a trust or spouse, and fulfill a calling to teach at Catholic school)

Not better than Independent Catholic HS. Not a chance.

What about a small catholic like OLV, k-8?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never. If anything, I'm seeing more families go to private and/or plans for private HS.

Covid gave an already flailing school system a beating.

Things seem back to normal, SOL scores are up, so why do you think it’s taking a beating?

How do you know SOL scores are up? I know my kids' scores, but the state hasn't published overall scores yet.

Just wait til the Covid Kinder Babies have to do SOLs...now THAT will be telling.

--Mom of Rising Third Grader

[Anonymous]

DHMS is currently under-enrolled. But there will be housing developments coming online near Washington Blvd & Kirkwood, and likely other places that will fill the school once families move in.

[Anonymous]

We left APS for Catholic school (are not Catholic) and are not coming back. I think APS will be a mess for years because it was virtual for so long. Plus we discovered that our kids are held to higher standards in Catholic school and are learning more. The smaller size also means they are better known. And, Catholic schools use less tech and more textbooks, and in general have more of a focus on the fundamentals. I hope APS recovers eventually from what I will call the Murphy 1-1 disaster, but the system is not as good as it once was.

[Anonymous]

Those private spots will be filled. Schools still have waitlists. A lot of issues in APS came to light over the past few years. Arlington is still growing. Overcrowding is the future in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never. If anything, I'm seeing more families go to private and/or plans for private HS.

Covid gave an already flailing school system a beating.

Things seem back to normal, SOL scores are up, so why do you think it’s taking a beating?

How do you know SOL scores are up? I know my kids' scores, but the state hasn't published overall scores yet.

Was wondering that, too. Nobody has seen the district-wide scores yet. And “top math group” just means the top of that group of kids. Haven’t all APS elementaries moved to skills based report cards now? There’s no metric for anything above “meeting the standard.”

My third grader still got letter grades last year. Not skills based.

Innovation and ASFS still has grades. DHMS has graded.

Asfs doesn’t have grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never. If anything, I'm seeing more families go to private and/or plans for private HS.

Covid gave an already flailing school system a beating.

Things seem back to normal, SOL scores are up, so why do you think it’s taking a beating?

How do you know SOL scores are up? I know my kids' scores, but the state hasn't published overall scores yet.

Was wondering that, too. Nobody has seen the district-wide scores yet. And “top math group” just means the top of that group of kids. Haven’t all APS elementaries moved to skills based report cards now? There’s no metric for anything above “meeting the standard.”

My third grader still got letter grades last year. Not skills based.

Innovation and ASFS still has grades. DHMS has graded.

Asfs doesn’t have grades.

For lower grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pulled DC out of APS (to Catholic) to avoid virtual school. We've been very satisfied with the academics and love the school community. But, we are considering moving back to APS only due to "teacher shortage" concerns and very recent turnover.

Because there aren’t major teacher shortages and turnover in public school? Not following…

APS pays way way better than Catholic schools. Only advantage is some Catholic teachers are lifers (basically they attended catholic school, live off a trust or spouse, and fulfill a calling to teach at Catholic school)

Not better than Independent Catholic HS. Not a chance.

75% of teachers at my kids' Independent Catholic have Ivy degrees, most have top 10 University degrees. They have very high retention, very low turnover.

Which school is this?

[Anonymous]

But not high pay. Moreover, parochial school teachers don't necessarily have grad degrees or teacher training in their backgrounds. Attending an Ivy League school (did that), doesn't necessarily a fine educator make.

I taught at a Catholic HS in NOVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pulled DC out of APS (to Catholic) to avoid virtual school. We've been very satisfied with the academics and love the school community. But, we are considering moving back to APS only due to "teacher shortage" concerns and very recent turnover.

Because there aren’t major teacher shortages and turnover in public school? Not following…

APS pays way way better than Catholic schools. Only advantage is some Catholic teachers are lifers (basically they attended catholic school, live off a trust or spouse, and fulfill a calling to teach at Catholic school)

Not better than Independent Catholic HS. Not a chance.

75% of teachers at my kids' Independent Catholic have Ivy degrees, most have top 10 University degrees. They have very high retention, very low turnover.

Which school is this?

Probably st anselm’s

[Anonymous]

I know a couple of families who sent their kids to Catholic schools, but they weren't particularly impressed and are coming back to APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a couple of families who sent their kids to Catholic schools, but they weren't particularly impressed and are coming back to APS.

None of the APS families from our Arlington Catholic school in DC's grade who enrolled in past few years (including ours) are returning to APS this year.

[Anonymous]

The majority of my kids' teachers at APS went to UVA or W&M.

And unlike private school teachers, they're actually certified to teach. Private schools can hire any warm body and call them a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pulled DC out of APS (to Catholic) to avoid virtual school. We've been very satisfied with the academics and love the school community. But, we are considering moving back to APS only due to "teacher shortage" concerns and very recent turnover.

Because there aren’t major teacher shortages and turnover in public school? Not following…

APS pays way way better than Catholic schools. Only advantage is some Catholic teachers are lifers (basically they attended catholic school, live off a trust or spouse, and fulfill a calling to teach at Catholic school)

Not better than Independent Catholic HS. Not a chance.

75% of teachers at my kids' Independent Catholic have Ivy degrees, most have top 10 University degrees. They have very high retention, very low turnover.

Which school is this?

Oh yikes.