HB Admissions are rigged

[Anonymous]

Is it an open public double blind lottery like DC charters?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only way they can get away with limited enrollment is to make it fair. But it isn't. APS should shut the whole program down.

What determines fair? How do you know that the reasons for the small number of students who get in other than through the application process weren't placed there for very good reasons? It truly is a small number, last school year, of the 244 middle school students at HB Woodlawn, 241 came in through the application process and 3 through administrative placement. At the high school level, out of 443 total students, 4 were there by administrative/special placement, and 439 by the countywide lottery. I'm sorry your child didn't make it into HB Woodlawn, but the placements of these students in the school weren't the reason.

We didn't even apply. I am so opposed to this school I wouldn't want it if we did get in. I think it stinks, and I don't like paying for your snowflake to go there.

Were you born an awful person or is this learned behavior after living in this area? Serious question.

You worry about you.

I don't think my behavior is awful, and I think I'm pretty nice. I'm just tired of paying this program that we can't afford where some kids are more equal than others. It's bad enough when admissions are fair, but if it's not fair, it's unacceptable. I think most people would agree with me.

There are elementary schools in Arlington with a PTA that can raise more money in a single event than other schools in Arlington can raise in a whole year. Every child in Arlington has an equal chance of going to HB. Every child in Arlington does not have an equal chance of going to Jamestown or Discovery. HB is hardly a good example of inequity within APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another poster here - I also know a kid who got in for middle school because child was being bullied. Parent also happened to be a county employee but I don't know if that made a difference. Child thrived and blossomed at HB.

I also think that families who already have one child at HB get some kind of admissions bump because I know many, many families whose second child got in despite the huge odds. It seems to me more than coincidence. JMO

True, but they're not supposed to as laid out in the lottery process.

Who's not supposed to? The bullied child? There are explicit policies in place administrative placements outside of the lottery, and it can cover situations like this (e.g., if the bullied child has autism and is being moved into the HB autism program). It's not a secret.

Sorry, sibling preference. No issue with the kid being bullied or the ASD program which I "think" is separate from the lottery, etc.

[Anonymous]

This is all kind of the point. There's so much we don't know, so many facts are hidden. It just seems to stink too much to be legitimate. And honestly, even it were legit, I don't think APS should have a limited enrollment program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is all kind of the point. There's so much we don't know, so many facts are hidden. It just seems to stink too much to be legitimate. And honestly, even it were legit, I don't think APS should have a limited enrollment program.

Should we also do away with all of the choice/countywide programs? No Claremont/Key/Gunston/Wakefield immersion, no ATS, no Drew/Gunston Montessori, no Campbell, no Wakefield AP, no W-L IB?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not a secret, just look at the transfer reports from APS and they'll show that while most come from the usual application/transfer process, there are a handful of people who go there due to placement by the administration outside the regular process. There are a variety of reasons why someone might be placed there outside the process, and those reasons aren't anyone else's business.

The reasons aren't, but the process is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only way they can get away with limited enrollment is to make it fair. But it isn't. APS should shut the whole program down.

What determines fair? How do you know that the reasons for the small number of students who get in other than through the application process weren't placed there for very good reasons? It truly is a small number, last school year, of the 244 middle school students at HB Woodlawn, 241 came in through the application process and 3 through administrative placement. At the high school level, out of 443 total students, 4 were there by administrative/special placement, and 439 by the countywide lottery. I'm sorry your child didn't make it into HB Woodlawn, but the placements of these students in the school weren't the reason.

You are correct that no one knows their circumstances. That said, with the overcrowding and the implications of that crowding on the attention the remaining children receive, it has become a golden ticket. We had a serious issue that was handled very poorly by one of our schools. I want to know why some families get treated well when their kid is troubled and others are treated like an inconvenience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But are admissions really rigged?

No, they're not.

Rigged or not, it is not the case that all children face an equal chance of getting in. The math just doesn't support it. The odds are a function of a) the number of kids in your district that apply, and b) the fact that we can only admit a whole child so just like the House of Representatives, the apportioning isn't quite equal. Also, twins. The denominator changes when two kids go in on the same chance, which changes the odds. I can't tell if it is rigged, but it most definitely is not Equal.

[Anonymous]

This issue should be that with the gross overcrowding and the need to build a new building anyway and double or triple the size of the program. It still will be smaller and allow many of the advantages of the current program but will serve more students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't think my behavior is awful, and I think I'm pretty nice. I'm just tired of paying this program that we can't afford where some kids are more equal than others. It's bad enough when admissions are fair, but if it's not fair, it's unacceptable. I think most people would agree with me.

How much more is H-B per student than other MSs/HSs?

Costs aside, there should be more fairness and transparency around the lottery/admissions.

Bump to ask again: How much more per student does APS spend for HB students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another poster here - I also know a kid who got in for middle school because child was being bullied. Parent also happened to be a county employee but I don't know if that made a difference. Child thrived and blossomed at HB.

I also think that families who already have one child at HB get some kind of admissions bump because I know many, many families whose second child got in despite the huge odds. It seems to me more than coincidence. JMO

True, but they're not supposed to as laid out in the lottery process.

Who's not supposed to? The bullied child? There are explicit policies in place administrative placements outside of the lottery, and it can cover situations like this (e.g., if the bullied child has autism and is being moved into the HB autism program). It's not a secret.

In this case the bullied child did NOT have autism, just had issues fitting in with the general school population. As I said the kid thrived at HB but only got in because parents lobbied for admission. So I know for a fact that kids get into HB without going through lottery or being admitted through the autism program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all kind of the point. There's so much we don't know, so many facts are hidden. It just seems to stink too much to be legitimate. And honestly, even it were legit, I don't think APS should have a limited enrollment program.

Should we also do away with all of the choice/countywide programs? No Claremont/Key/Gunston/Wakefield immersion, no ATS, no Drew/Gunston Montessori, no Campbell, no Wakefield AP, no W-L IB?

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it an open public double blind lottery like DC charters?

Anyone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another poster here - I also know a kid who got in for middle school because child was being bullied. Parent also happened to be a county employee but I don't know if that made a difference. Child thrived and blossomed at HB.

I also think that families who already have one child at HB get some kind of admissions bump because I know many, many families whose second child got in despite the huge odds. It seems to me more than coincidence. JMO

True, but they're not supposed to as laid out in the lottery process.

Who's not supposed to? The bullied child? There are explicit policies in place administrative placements outside of the lottery, and it can cover situations like this (e.g., if the bullied child has autism and is being moved into the HB autism program). It's not a secret.

Sorry, sibling preference. No issue with the kid being bullied or the ASD program which I "think" is separate from the lottery, etc.

HB had no sibling preference, did they change that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another poster here - I also know a kid who got in for middle school because child was being bullied. Parent also happened to be a county employee but I don't know if that made a difference. Child thrived and blossomed at HB.

I also think that families who already have one child at HB get some kind of admissions bump because I know many, many families whose second child got in despite the huge odds. It seems to me more than coincidence. JMO

True, but they're not supposed to as laid out in the lottery process.

Who's not supposed to? The bullied child? There are explicit policies in place administrative placements outside of the lottery, and it can cover situations like this (e.g., if the bullied child has autism and is being moved into the HB autism program). It's not a secret.

In this case the bullied child did NOT have autism, just had issues fitting in with the general school population. As I said the kid thrived at HB but only got in because parents lobbied for admission. So I know for a fact that kids get into HB without going through lottery or being admitted through the autism program.

Wait shouldn't he beer in Stratford program not HB?