TC Williams or private?
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Anonymous
False. There are a number of parents on this forum that evaluated TC Williams and other ACPS and FCPS schools in and around Alexandria that chose NOT to send our kids to those schools. It is obviously important for the reasons underlying those decisions to be addressed on this forum. Some may be personal (a number of people will have an issue with the diversity of the school), while others will be more objective (many will have issues with the test score results of the school), but those reasons are still worthy to be considered and evaluated. |
Anonymous
Not the PP, but I think you highlight the point that PP was trying to make. The two things you mention (diversity statistics and published standardized test scores) are two data points that are obtainable from ACPS' website. They are also two data points that may or may not tell you anything about the school. My view is they don't tell you much, but I recognize that others may differ. The point is that if you chose not to send kids to the school, then you really cannot offer any insight into what actually goes on in the school, what it is like to be a student there, what it is like to send your kids there, the quality of the teaching, the peer groups, or anything else. I agree there is value to "We were in your position X years ago and we chose a different school for Y reasons" -- that gives three relevant pieces of information: that the poster faced the same choice, when the decision was made relative to the present time (makes a difference because schools change over time), and the general basis for the decision. But beyond that, if your child didn't actually attend the school you cannot say what it is like at the school. You can't know what it is like. You can't even know what the experience would have been like for your kid compared to whatever school you chose. You can't even know whether your fears based on diversity or test scores (or whatever other fact) was justified. This doesn't just apply to TC and ACPS but to any school, public or private, in any jurisdiction. I find it really amazing the extent to which people on this board are willing to make definitive (and often very nasty) statements about what it is like to be a student or parent at a school having never been in the building. I would never feel comfortable doing that. I could tell you a lot about the schools my kids attend and our experience there. But I would never presume to tell someone asking about what it is like at any other public or private school that we chose not to send our kid to, other than 1. (if true) we didn't choose that school (for whatever reason) and 2. (if true) we know people who have kids there and are happy (or not). That's a long way of saying I agree with PP that the more valuable information comes from people whose kids are currently at the school in question. |
Anonymous
| I concur that the only people who really know about the pluses and minuses of a given school are those with kids who either currently attend or have recently attended the school. However, I think there are many community members who have either heard about a given school from a neighbor or friend and/or have looked into the school extensively when trying to decide where to send their kids. While this information may not be quite as useful as the first hand accounts from those with kids at the school, it is still helpful. The opinions that really don't add to the conversation are those who don't live here and like to say nasty things about ACPS based on what they have heard. |
Anonymous
| If she can get into Sidwell or I would do private. Other good academic school for girls are not co-Ed. Otherwise I would stay in public.. Second tier private schools can be excellent places to learn, but if a t college is important they wouldn't help that much. |
Anonymous
What about Maret or Potomac? |
Anonymous
Those are solid schools. They have good college placement. That said it depends what your college aims are. |
Anonymous
PP poster here. My daughter says her ideal school right now is UVA. I think she is bright enough to get into a top school (maybe even ivy league?) but she would need to be in the right environment - otherwise she will still do well but not really put herself out there. I'm not sure if Maret/Potomac would help her more than TC or not - we are not connected nor does my daughter have any special "hooks" so we are just not sure.... |
Anonymous
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FYI, ACPS published it's class of 2016 "decision day" list of colleges and universities. Link below. 331 students headed to college. Since you mentioned UVA - 31 from the class of 2016 are headed there. TC students are also headed to Princeton, Stanford, Dartmouth, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Emory, UC Berkley. Lots going to other Virginia schools too (e.g., 50 to Va Tech, 16 to Radford).
http://www.acpsk12.org/news/?p=2666 |
Anonymous
Yes, I saw this list too and thought it was pretty darn impressive. I do wonder, though, if a lot of these kids who are going to the top schools are first generation college students - if they are, I'm thrilled that they are getting that opportunity and I have no doubt that they deserve it but my kid will not be in that category. |
Anonymous
This year's college list isn't really bad, but it's not anywhere near as good as any recent year's list. No Harvard, no Yale, no UPenn, no Chicago, no MIT, not one single service academy (right near the Pentagon -- NONE? No West Point or Annapolis or Colo Springs or New London or King's Point -- not even one kid?), no Duke, etc etc. Only one each for Cornell, Stanford, Emory, and so forth. Colleges that picked up one or two TC seniors every year seem to have moved to zero. This is a very, truly bad result for TC this year. Not a confidence-builder for any parent that looks carefully at the list and compares it to the list for any recent year. One reason might be the SAT performance -- 2d lowest scores in the last decade. The school board had better be ready to deliver an explanation to the parents and voters, because performance has really plummeted, in just one year. |
Anonymous
It could also be that some kids chose not to go to some of the more pricey Ivy League schools because of financial reasons. If I'm reading it right, the list is a matriculation list, not an acceptance list. |
Anonymous
So the class of '15 was dramatically wealthier than the class of '16? I doubt it, particularly given that many of the top-layer of colleges (that used to enroll more kids from TC) are generous with financial aid, while lower-ranked and less-well-endowed colleges usually don't have as much to hand around. This is a really dramatic drop-off in enrollment quality. |
Anonymous
I don't understand this question/statement. What is the correlation or do you mean your child won't have deserved it? |
Anonymous
ACPS must focus on academics above all. The Capital Improvement Plan over the next 15 years on new ACPS builds should reflect this focus with school basics, not all the fluff. Buildings don't educate, teachers and a organized admin do. Get rid of ACPS entrenchment and get on with ACPS academic improvement. |
Anonymous
I don't disagree, but how? My only thought is, get rid of the entire school board and make the Superintendent report directly to City Council, like it was before 1971. |