Arlington Tech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What types of students tend to enroll here as opposed to HB Woodlawn? Just wondering how rigorous the school and what kind of reputation it has. Thanks for any insights.

Kids enroll at AT instead of HBW because they didn't get a spot in the HBW lottery. You probably have a better chance of getting hit by a Metro bus than getting your kid a spot at HBW, especially coming from the North Arlington schools. If you have a kid who really needs a smaller high school -- and you didn't get a spot at HBW -- then Arlington Tech is your next best bet. Otherwise, you are going to a 3000 student high school. The college admits out of AT seem comparable to HBW, so it seems the school must be equally rigorous. The building is super ugly though, although going to be renovated soon.

WL will be nearly 3000 before current freshman graduate.

The search for a small school drives HBW and will eventually drive AT if it can ever escape its vocational affiliation (hard to do when collocated with a program for cooking classes and HVAC repair — not the kind of tech WL parents are thinking of)

If AT can get it’s own independent campus, even a high rise like HB, and maybe put in a couple cool labs it will take off. Stuck in career center it’s a huge drag to have to navigate the shared campus

The renovation will be a catalyst when it's done.

Do you know when it's going to happen? Selfishly I don't want the program to get really popular at least until my son is in ninth grade.

They are starting now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What types of students tend to enroll here as opposed to HB Woodlawn? Just wondering how rigorous the school and what kind of reputation it has. Thanks for any insights.

Kids enroll at AT instead of HBW because they didn't get a spot in the HBW lottery. You probably have a better chance of getting hit by a Metro bus than getting your kid a spot at HBW, especially coming from the North Arlington schools. If you have a kid who really needs a smaller high school -- and you didn't get a spot at HBW -- then Arlington Tech is your next best bet. Otherwise, you are going to a 3000 student high school. The college admits out of AT seem comparable to HBW, so it seems the school must be equally rigorous. The building is super ugly though, although going to be renovated soon.

WL will be nearly 3000 before current freshman graduate.

The search for a small school drives HBW and will eventually drive AT if it can ever escape its vocational affiliation (hard to do when collocated with a program for cooking classes and HVAC repair — not the kind of tech WL parents are thinking of)

If AT can get it’s own independent campus, even a high rise like HB, and maybe put in a couple cool labs it will take off. Stuck in career center it’s a huge drag to have to navigate the shared campus

The renovation will be a catalyst when it's done.

Do you know when it's going to happen? Selfishly I don't want the program to get really popular at least until my son is in ninth grade.

Don’t worry. New building for career center vocational programs will not raise profile of AT. When APS gets serious and builds a stand-alone contained school, with robot labs and chemistry labs and field space for launching rockets and drones — then it will be taken seriously.

Right now it’s an obvious desperate attempt to reduce over crowding by making a fake TJ wannabe carved out of some extra vocational school classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Kid at TJ. I don’t think AT is trying to be TJ. TJ is a full fledged high school with music program, sports programs, full complement of languages, strength in all sciences, and massive amounts of clubs and activities. AT is a program with a strong tech focus that offers a special concentration in engineering and computer programming options not available at most APS high schools. It is not meant to be a full fare high school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid at TJ. I don’t think AT is trying to be TJ. TJ is a full fledged high school with music program, sports programs, full complement of languages, strength in all sciences, and massive amounts of clubs and activities. AT is a program with a strong tech focus that offers a special concentration in engineering and computer programming options not available at most APS high schools. It is not meant to be a full fare high school

Are you not familiar with the term wannabe? TJ was stood up to be an outstanding technical magnet; AT was created to be a honey pot to draw enough students from the 3 neighborhood schools to limit crowding crisis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid at TJ. I don’t think AT is trying to be TJ. TJ is a full fledged high school with music program, sports programs, full complement of languages, strength in all sciences, and massive amounts of clubs and activities. AT is a program with a strong tech focus that offers a special concentration in engineering and computer programming options not available at most APS high schools. It is not meant to be a full fare high school

Are you not familiar with the term wannabe? TJ was stood up to be an outstanding technical magnet; AT was created to be a honey pot to draw enough students from the 3 neighborhood schools to limit crowding crisis.

100 students a year from across the County is not limiting crowding crises.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What types of students tend to enroll here as opposed to HB Woodlawn? Just wondering how rigorous the school and what kind of reputation it has. Thanks for any insights.

Kids enroll at AT instead of HBW because they didn't get a spot in the HBW lottery. You probably have a better chance of getting hit by a Metro bus than getting your kid a spot at HBW, especially coming from the North Arlington schools. If you have a kid who really needs a smaller high school -- and you didn't get a spot at HBW -- then Arlington Tech is your next best bet. Otherwise, you are going to a 3000 student high school. The college admits out of AT seem comparable to HBW, so it seems the school must be equally rigorous. The building is super ugly though, although going to be renovated soon.

WL will be nearly 3000 before current freshman graduate.

The search for a small school drives HBW and will eventually drive AT if it can ever escape its vocational affiliation (hard to do when collocated with a program for cooking classes and HVAC repair — not the kind of tech WL parents are thinking of)

If AT can get it’s own independent campus, even a high rise like HB, and maybe put in a couple cool labs it will take off. Stuck in career center it’s a huge drag to have to navigate the shared campus

The renovation will be a catalyst when it's done.

Do you know when it's going to happen? Selfishly I don't want the program to get really popular at least until my son is in ninth grade.

Update: I wrote this quote and my son got in!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What types of students tend to enroll here as opposed to HB Woodlawn? Just wondering how rigorous the school and what kind of reputation it has. Thanks for any insights.

Kids enroll at AT instead of HBW because they didn't get a spot in the HBW lottery. You probably have a better chance of getting hit by a Metro bus than getting your kid a spot at HBW, especially coming from the North Arlington schools. If you have a kid who really needs a smaller high school -- and you didn't get a spot at HBW -- then Arlington Tech is your next best bet. Otherwise, you are going to a 3000 student high school. The college admits out of AT seem comparable to HBW, so it seems the school must be equally rigorous. The building is super ugly though, although going to be renovated soon.

WL will be nearly 3000 before current freshman graduate.

The search for a small school drives HBW and will eventually drive AT if it can ever escape its vocational affiliation (hard to do when collocated with a program for cooking classes and HVAC repair — not the kind of tech WL parents are thinking of)

If AT can get it’s own independent campus, even a high rise like HB, and maybe put in a couple cool labs it will take off. Stuck in career center it’s a huge drag to have to navigate the shared campus

The renovation will be a catalyst when it's done.

Do you know when it's going to happen? Selfishly I don't want the program to get really popular at least until my son is in ninth grade.

Update: I wrote this quote and my son got in!

Does that mean it’s not popular yet or you got really lucky? 😀

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What types of students tend to enroll here as opposed to HB Woodlawn? Just wondering how rigorous the school and what kind of reputation it has. Thanks for any insights.

Kids enroll at AT instead of HBW because they didn't get a spot in the HBW lottery. You probably have a better chance of getting hit by a Metro bus than getting your kid a spot at HBW, especially coming from the North Arlington schools. If you have a kid who really needs a smaller high school -- and you didn't get a spot at HBW -- then Arlington Tech is your next best bet. Otherwise, you are going to a 3000 student high school. The college admits out of AT seem comparable to HBW, so it seems the school must be equally rigorous. The building is super ugly though, although going to be renovated soon.

WL will be nearly 3000 before current freshman graduate.

The search for a small school drives HBW and will eventually drive AT if it can ever escape its vocational affiliation (hard to do when collocated with a program for cooking classes and HVAC repair — not the kind of tech WL parents are thinking of)

If AT can get it’s own independent campus, even a high rise like HB, and maybe put in a couple cool labs it will take off. Stuck in career center it’s a huge drag to have to navigate the shared campus

The renovation will be a catalyst when it's done.

Do you know when it's going to happen? Selfishly I don't want the program to get really popular at least until my son is in ninth grade.

Update: I wrote this quote and my son got in!

Does that mean it’s not popular yet or you got really lucky? 😀

It really surprises me that it's not more popular. Kids can, if properly motivated, get an AA degree while in high school. That saves money and/or looks really impressive on a college app. I think. Anyway, my child is for sure, a project-based kid. So happy for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid at TJ. I don’t think AT is trying to be TJ. TJ is a full fledged high school with music program, sports programs, full complement of languages, strength in all sciences, and massive amounts of clubs and activities. AT is a program with a strong tech focus that offers a special concentration in engineering and computer programming options not available at most APS high schools. It is not meant to be a full fare high school

Are you not familiar with the term wannabe? TJ was stood up to be an outstanding technical magnet; AT was created to be a honey pot to draw enough students from the 3 neighborhood schools to limit crowding crisis.

Discussions proposing the AT program began many, many years ago with proactive APS parents. It was not created to solve an overcrowding crisis. What’s true is APS is growing the population of Arlington Tech a little to help with crowding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What types of students tend to enroll here as opposed to HB Woodlawn? Just wondering how rigorous the school and what kind of reputation it has. Thanks for any insights.

Kids enroll at AT instead of HBW because they didn't get a spot in the HBW lottery. You probably have a better chance of getting hit by a Metro bus than getting your kid a spot at HBW, especially coming from the North Arlington schools. If you have a kid who really needs a smaller high school -- and you didn't get a spot at HBW -- then Arlington Tech is your next best bet. Otherwise, you are going to a 3000 student high school. The college admits out of AT seem comparable to HBW, so it seems the school must be equally rigorous. The building is super ugly though, although going to be renovated soon.

WL will be nearly 3000 before current freshman graduate.

The search for a small school drives HBW and will eventually drive AT if it can ever escape its vocational affiliation (hard to do when collocated with a program for cooking classes and HVAC repair — not the kind of tech WL parents are thinking of)

If AT can get it’s own independent campus, even a high rise like HB, and maybe put in a couple cool labs it will take off. Stuck in career center it’s a huge drag to have to navigate the shared campus

The renovation will be a catalyst when it's done.

Do you know when it's going to happen? Selfishly I don't want the program to get really popular at least until my son is in ninth grade.

Update: I wrote this quote and my son got in!

Congratulations! I’m sure when the new building opens it will be even harder to get in. I think APS needs to get better at marketing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid at TJ. I don’t think AT is trying to be TJ. TJ is a full fledged high school with music program, sports programs, full complement of languages, strength in all sciences, and massive amounts of clubs and activities. AT is a program with a strong tech focus that offers a special concentration in engineering and computer programming options not available at most APS high schools. It is not meant to be a full fare high school

Are you not familiar with the term wannabe? TJ was stood up to be an outstanding technical magnet; AT was created to be a honey pot to draw enough students from the 3 neighborhood schools to limit crowding crisis.

Discussions proposing the AT program began many, many years ago with proactive APS parents. It was not created to solve an overcrowding crisis. What’s true is APS is growing the population of Arlington Tech a little to help with crowding.

The genesis was a mini TJ, but the execution was because of over crowding.

[Anonymous]

My daughter just got in and she and we are happy! We did not apply to TJSSM or HB Woodlawn. Project based learning motivates her.
As for how lucky we were, we will know when APS releases this year's chart of lottery results for option schools. The application added a short written answer this year for students to say why they wanted AT. That may have reduced the number of parents adding an AT application when they preferred HB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter just got in and she and we are happy! We did not apply to TJSSM or HB Woodlawn. Project based learning motivates her.
As for how lucky we were, we will know when APS releases this year's chart of lottery results for option schools. The application added a short written answer this year for students to say why they wanted AT. That may have reduced the number of parents adding an AT application when they preferred HB.

Congrats. Project based and learning through “making” are what set AT apart from TJ and from most other public schools in this area. People still confuse the two and believe AT was supposed to be a TJ type school.

(And of course the neighborhood high school students aren’t left out and can take a career center bus for access to the specialized course offerings. I don’t think full-IB diploma students would have the time in their schedules though.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid at TJ. I don’t think AT is trying to be TJ. TJ is a full fledged high school with music program, sports programs, full complement of languages, strength in all sciences, and massive amounts of clubs and activities. AT is a program with a strong tech focus that offers a special concentration in engineering and computer programming options not available at most APS high schools. It is not meant to be a full fare high school

Are you not familiar with the term wannabe? TJ was stood up to be an outstanding technical magnet; AT was created to be a honey pot to draw enough students from the 3 neighborhood schools to limit crowding crisis.

Discussions proposing the AT program began many, many years ago with proactive APS parents. It was not created to solve an overcrowding crisis. What’s true is APS is growing the population of Arlington Tech a little to help with crowding.

The genesis was a mini TJ, but the execution was because of over crowding.

No, to the first; mostly, to the second.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter just got in and she and we are happy! We did not apply to TJSSM or HB Woodlawn. Project based learning motivates her.
As for how lucky we were, we will know when APS releases this year's chart of lottery results for option schools. The application added a short written answer this year for students to say why they wanted AT. That may have reduced the number of parents adding an AT application when they preferred HB.

Congrats. Project based and learning through “making” are what set AT apart from TJ and from most other public schools in this area. People still confuse the two and believe AT was supposed to be a TJ type school.

(And of course the neighborhood high school students aren’t left out and can take a career center bus for access to the specialized course offerings. I don’t think full-IB diploma students would have the time in their schedules though.)

Unfortunately, due to population growth and especially due to the AT program using the CTE courses for their electives and getting priority, fewer students from the other high schools have access to these classes. This is a problem APS needs to invest in solving.