Alexandria schools - why so bad?!

[Anonymous]

The bottom line is TC Williams is too big

For the more than 50% of kids that are below grade level they should have trade tracks. Using a college prep curriculum for everyone makes absolutely no sense

The same things should be done across the country. The push to have everyone go to college has been one of the dumbest short sided ideas of 21st century education policy

Dropping out with debt from a diploma mill or from a real school because you can't even pass remedial courses screws up finances for life. Instead these students should be shown the multiple ways of being successful in life without a 4 year degree via trades, skilled 2 year programs, military etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The bottom line is TC Williams is too big

For the more than 50% of kids that are below grade level they should have trade tracks. Using a college prep curriculum for everyone makes absolutely no sense

The same things should be done across the country. The push to have everyone go to college has been one of the dumbest short sided ideas of 21st century education policy

Dropping out with debt from a diploma mill or from a real school because you can't even pass remedial courses screws up finances for life. Instead these students should be shown the multiple ways of being successful in life without a 4 year degree via trades, skilled 2 year programs, military etc.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bottom line is TC Williams is too big

For the more than 50% of kids that are below grade level they should have trade tracks. Using a college prep curriculum for everyone makes absolutely no sense

The same things should be done across the country. The push to have everyone go to college has been one of the dumbest short sided ideas of 21st century education policy

Dropping out with debt from a diploma mill or from a real school because you can't even pass remedial courses screws up finances for life. Instead these students should be shown the multiple ways of being successful in life without a 4 year degree via trades, skilled 2 year programs, military etc.

+1

Amen!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that there are some good elementaries and TC is fine is you’re an AP student or UMC. Middle school is where the real cracks show.

Middle School sucks for everyone, EVERYWHERE. I'm in Arlington. Schools may be great, but kids are vaping, dabbing, and are obnoxious. Middle School...sigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bottom line is TC Williams is too big

For the more than 50% of kids that are below grade level they should have trade tracks. Using a college prep curriculum for everyone makes absolutely no sense

The same things should be done across the country. The push to have everyone go to college has been one of the dumbest short sided ideas of 21st century education policy

Dropping out with debt from a diploma mill or from a real school because you can't even pass remedial courses screws up finances for life. Instead these students should be shown the multiple ways of being successful in life without a 4 year degree via trades, skilled 2 year programs, military etc.

+1

Amen!

I feel like the people making these posts have no actual current experience with TC Williams. It has an incredibly robust CTE program. It has an award-winning JROTC. There is not a "college prep curriculum" for everyone.
There are diploma requirements, and those are dictated by the Virginia Department of Education.
Certainly the want to make sure that kids have access to college preparatory classes, but there a plenty of other career pathways offered. TCW's size is what makes it able to offer such a wide variety of courses--far more than some of the other area high schools.

[Anonymous]

Remember, school averages tell you nothing about how your own children will do. A lot of the reason that ACPS compares poorly on Great Schools is that it is not racially or economically segregated. For most of us in Alexandria, that is a reason to live here. But, for a minority of white residents, integrated schools are a negative. Nothing worse for these folks than feeling entitled but looked down upon by your neighbors for being a reprobate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bottom line is TC Williams is too big

For the more than 50% of kids that are below grade level they should have trade tracks. Using a college prep curriculum for everyone makes absolutely no sense

The same things should be done across the country. The push to have everyone go to college has been one of the dumbest short sided ideas of 21st century education policy

Dropping out with debt from a diploma mill or from a real school because you can't even pass remedial courses screws up finances for life. Instead these students should be shown the multiple ways of being successful in life without a 4 year degree via trades, skilled 2 year programs, military etc.

+1

Amen!

I feel like the people making these posts have no actual current experience with TC Williams. It has an incredibly robust CTE program. It has an award-winning JROTC. There is not a "college prep curriculum" for everyone.
There are diploma requirements, and those are dictated by the Virginia Department of Education.
Certainly the want to make sure that kids have access to college preparatory classes, but there a plenty of other career pathways offered. TCW's size is what makes it able to offer such a wide variety of courses--far more than some of the other area high schools.

DP -,You are correct. I have a problem with the state requirements. Many kids don’t need anything beyond earth science, and some very rudimentary chemistry and biology. There should be another educational track entirely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bottom line is TC Williams is too big

For the more than 50% of kids that are below grade level they should have trade tracks. Using a college prep curriculum for everyone makes absolutely no sense

The same things should be done across the country. The push to have everyone go to college has been one of the dumbest short sided ideas of 21st century education policy

Dropping out with debt from a diploma mill or from a real school because you can't even pass remedial courses screws up finances for life. Instead these students should be shown the multiple ways of being successful in life without a 4 year degree via trades, skilled 2 year programs, military etc.

+1

Amen!

I feel like the people making these posts have no actual current experience with TC Williams. It has an incredibly robust CTE program. It has an award-winning JROTC. There is not a "college prep curriculum" for everyone.
There are diploma requirements, and those are dictated by the Virginia Department of Education.
Certainly the want to make sure that kids have access to college preparatory classes, but there a plenty of other career pathways offered. TCW's size is what makes it able to offer such a wide variety of courses--far more than some of the other area high schools.

No it does not. It does not have a good CTE program for trades at all.

A quick look at FCPS and APS will show you that both those school systems have very good programs for trades at the high school level. See FCPS here - https://www.fcps.edu/academics/high-school-academics-9-12/career-and-technical-education-cte/trade-and-industrial

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The bottom line is TC Williams is too big[i]

For the more than 50% of kids that are below grade level they should have trade tracks. Using a college prep curriculum for everyone makes absolutely no sense

The same things should be done across the country. The push to have everyone go to college has been one of the dumbest short sided ideas of 21st century education policy

Dropping out with debt from a diploma mill or from a real school because you can't even pass remedial courses screws up finances for life. Instead these students should be shown the multiple ways of being successful in life without a 4 year degree via trades, skilled 2 year programs, military etc.

This is the school board's excuse for its lousy performance. They're in the process of splitting TC, so that all the brown kids west of Quaker Lane will be stuck in a warehouse on Eisenhower, so if you're in Preferred Alexandria, you'll get your way. Then Alexandria will have an entirely new failing high school, and the school board can come up with its next non-fix.

The school board, superintendent, and their central admins are just too dumb and dishonest for the job. Get rid of all of them and the Alexandria schools will fix themselves within a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember, school averages tell you nothing about how your own children will do. A lot of the reason that ACPS compares poorly on Great Schools is that it is not racially or economically segregated. For most of us in Alexandria, that is a reason to live here. But, for a minority of white residents, integrated schools are a negative. Nothing worse for these folks than feeling entitled but looked down upon by your neighbors for being a reprobate.

That's why the school board is dividing TC. They want a white high school for the east end and that way they can move what they think of as their problems way out west.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember, school averages tell you nothing about how your own children will do. A lot of the reason that ACPS compares poorly on Great Schools is that it is not racially or economically segregated. For most of us in Alexandria, that is a reason to live here. But, for a minority of white residents, integrated schools are a negative. Nothing worse for these folks than feeling entitled but looked down upon by your neighbors for being a reprobate.

That's why the school board is dividing TC. They want a white high school for the east end and that way they can move what they think of as their problems way out west.

+1

[Anonymous]

I am not sure I agree with pp. Unfortunately, T.C. is centrally located in the city. Unless you add two more high schools, one is in west side, one is in northeast side which closes to all those new developments north of Old Town, there is no better way to balance it out geographically, and there is also a reality of the availability of the land in the city. I don’t think keeping T.C. as one huge school just for the sake of ‘equality’ or afraid of segregation is the solution. Population is going to keep grow, what if the high school population grow to 6000, 7000? For the future, it is better to have the second high school, and maybe 3rd high school planned.

[Anonymous]

TC is too big but shrinking TC by half does no good if Pete, Tammy, Kathy and Kathy's spouse are still in charge

[Anonymous]

There is much to be improved at TC, but standardized test score averages are a terrible measure and school size is not a problem per se. For example, New Trier in suburban Chicago is about 4000 students too. It has a separate 9th grade campus too. But its stats look great because its students are almost exclusively well-to-do. In contrast, Alexandria has a predominately low-income student population - 60% are eligible for free and reduced lunch.

Middle/upper middle-class students from families with college educations have access to nearly every AP subject and do very well. The winner of this year's Regeneron Science Talent Search (formerly known as Westinghouse and Intel) is from TC -- only 7 kids in the DC area have cracked the top 10 in the past decade.

22:40 - Most of us are not "afraid of segregation." We already know it well. We just don't want more racial discrimination in our hometown because we believe in the constitutional right to equality.

[Anonymous]

Another year of TC bashing, and another year of UMC TC graduates getting into top schools. I'll bet there'll be more HYP admits from TC than all the Arlington high schools.