Which APS high school manages its huge size best?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are likely moving to Arlington for my kid’s HS years. I see that all the three comprehensive HS are massive. Is there any difference in how they handle the size between them? I’m not that concerned about the differences in demographics etc. Just want my kid to be able to integrate into the school with the other kids. He is not a STEM kid so Arlington Tech isn’t really an option. I don’t think he will be full IB either.

Why would you do this? Move to FCC. We moved here pre kids for the short commute and metro access, but as nearly empty nesters FCC would be ideal.

Because I don’t like the suburbs and because I don’t think sticking him into a smaller school where all the kids have been together since K is a great idea either.

Arlington is a suburb. What are you talking about? If you send your kid to Yorktown its no different. 22207 and 22213 are as suburban as you can get.

Lots of DD's friends at Washington-Liberty live in high rises in Rosslyn and Ballston. Kids walk from school to Ballston to eat and hang out, and it definitely feels urban more than suburban. Depends where you are.

So they skip out on the bus home, how are they getting home? Mom and dad or a student with a car picks them up. No teenager is taking the ART at 5pm.

Ballston is a so-so mall, with a few ground level shops and a target, and a LOT of office buildings. Its not really urban in the vibrant community way.

I wouldn't consider Ballston a mall any longer. Maybe a failed mail. But it has a successful ice rink, food hall, and other places kids eat. No one's kidding themselves that Ballston is vibrant 14th Street or Union Market, etc. Ballston, Clarendon, Roslyn are vibrant communities with shops (Clarendon mainly), eateries, cultural institutions (MOCAA-Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington), robust public transit, diverse and dense housing types, etc.

W-L upperclassmen do take advantage of open lunch and walk to/from Ballston to eat. Students do in fact take the public bus or subway after dark.

Students also walk home after dark and after school sports events. I don't know why PPP is so fixated on Ballston, which is just one of a number of communities in the vicinity of the high school. The high school for "culturally vibrant" Georgetown is Macarthur, far from Metro and in an area that's not the most pedestrian friendly. Not knocking the MacArthur, but it helps make my point that W-L is well situated for walking, biking, transit, etc. And culturally vibrant DC (Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, National Theater, downtown shopping, pro sports venues, etc.) is a short subway ride away. Field trips from the school into the city have often used Metro over the many decades.

You are insane to think APS students are jetting off to the National Theater. When we talk about urban we don’t mean 5 metro stops away from anything.

BTW Meridian is about the same distance to West Falls station as WL is from Ballston station, and WF station is two stops further from DC. Its a wash.

The advantage is that Meridian is about 1/3 the size of WL. The insularity may be an issue, but in WL anonymity runs rampant.

[Anonymous]

We've been really happy at yorktown, where my daughter is a junior. She does two sports there and has been happy with the course selection and her teachers. I'm on the pta, which is active, and I like the administration. we have friends with kids at the other two big HS's and they seem happy.

At back to school night it can be challenging to get from one class to the next in the time you have. And it's hard to find parking, so you might want a house within the walk zone.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and to piggyback on to earlier posts, the Yorktown cross country team is a great way to meet people. The kids are nice, the parents are nice, the coaches are nice. Make sure to get your son a physical between 5/01 and 8/01 so he can participate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are likely moving to Arlington for my kid’s HS years. I see that all the three comprehensive HS are massive. Is there any difference in how they handle the size between them? I’m not that concerned about the differences in demographics etc. Just want my kid to be able to integrate into the school with the other kids. He is not a STEM kid so Arlington Tech isn’t really an option. I don’t think he will be full IB either.

Why would you do this? Move to FCC. We moved here pre kids for the short commute and metro access, but as nearly empty nesters FCC would be ideal.

Because I don’t like the suburbs and because I don’t think sticking him into a smaller school where all the kids have been together since K is a great idea either.

Arlington is a suburb. What are you talking about? If you send your kid to Yorktown its no different. 22207 and 22213 are as suburban as you can get.

Lots of DD's friends at Washington-Liberty live in high rises in Rosslyn and Ballston. Kids walk from school to Ballston to eat and hang out, and it definitely feels urban more than suburban. Depends where you are.

So they skip out on the bus home, how are they getting home? Mom and dad or a student with a car picks them up. No teenager is taking the ART at 5pm.

Ballston is a so-so mall, with a few ground level shops and a target, and a LOT of office buildings. Its not really urban in the vibrant community way.

I wouldn't consider Ballston a mall any longer. Maybe a failed mail. But it has a successful ice rink, food hall, and other places kids eat. No one's kidding themselves that Ballston is vibrant 14th Street or Union Market, etc. Ballston, Clarendon, Roslyn are vibrant communities with shops (Clarendon mainly), eateries, cultural institutions (MOCAA-Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington), robust public transit, diverse and dense housing types, etc.

W-L upperclassmen do take advantage of open lunch and walk to/from Ballston to eat. Students do in fact take the public bus or subway after dark.

Students also walk home after dark and after school sports events. I don't know why PPP is so fixated on Ballston, which is just one of a number of communities in the vicinity of the high school. The high school for "culturally vibrant" Georgetown is Macarthur, far from Metro and in an area that's not the most pedestrian friendly. Not knocking the MacArthur, but it helps make my point that W-L is well situated for walking, biking, transit, etc. And culturally vibrant DC (Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, National Theater, downtown shopping, pro sports venues, etc.) is a short subway ride away. Field trips from the school into the city have often used Metro over the many decades.

You are insane to think APS students are jetting off to the National Theater. When we talk about urban we don’t mean 5 metro stops away from anything.

BTW Meridian is about the same distance to West Falls station as WL is from Ballston station, and WF station is two stops further from DC. Its a wash.

The advantage is that Meridian is about 1/3 the size of WL. The insularity may be an issue, but in WL anonymity runs rampant.

Regarding the schools do you have first hand experience that anonymity "runs rampant" or insularity is potential problem? A lot of this is conjecture with hyperbole and not exactly helping OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are likely moving to Arlington for my kid’s HS years. I see that all the three comprehensive HS are massive. Is there any difference in how they handle the size between them? I’m not that concerned about the differences in demographics etc. Just want my kid to be able to integrate into the school with the other kids. He is not a STEM kid so Arlington Tech isn’t really an option. I don’t think he will be full IB either.

Why would you do this? Move to FCC. We moved here pre kids for the short commute and metro access, but as nearly empty nesters FCC would be ideal.

Because I don’t like the suburbs and because I don’t think sticking him into a smaller school where all the kids have been together since K is a great idea either.

Arlington is a suburb. What are you talking about? If you send your kid to Yorktown its no different. 22207 and 22213 are as suburban as you can get.

Lots of DD's friends at Washington-Liberty live in high rises in Rosslyn and Ballston. Kids walk from school to Ballston to eat and hang out, and it definitely feels urban more than suburban. Depends where you are.

So they skip out on the bus home, how are they getting home? Mom and dad or a student with a car picks them up. No teenager is taking the ART at 5pm.

Ballston is a so-so mall, with a few ground level shops and a target, and a LOT of office buildings. Its not really urban in the vibrant community way.

Wait, what? My teens took the ART bus at night. As does their now 60 y.o. mother, every evening to get home from work.

A large share of W-L kids are walkers, no schoolbus for them. My kids walked to school and if they went
to Ballston, they walked home or took the bus.

[Anonymous]

You have more options for courses in large schools which is an important factor for me. APS Also offered DE/AP/IB which is nice

[Anonymous]

The latest enrollment numbers show YHS & WHS are almost exactly the same size (2200 students), while W-L has a few hundred more kids since the annex was renovated.

We’ve been happy at Wakefield. I don’t know that there is appreciable difference in how the APS high schools “handle” their size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are likely moving to Arlington for my kid’s HS years. I see that all the three comprehensive HS are massive. Is there any difference in how they handle the size between them? I’m not that concerned about the differences in demographics etc. Just want my kid to be able to integrate into the school with the other kids. He is not a STEM kid so Arlington Tech isn’t really an option. I don’t think he will be full IB either.

Why would you do this? Move to FCC. We moved here pre kids for the short commute and metro access, but as nearly empty nesters FCC would be ideal.

Because I don’t like the suburbs and because I don’t think sticking him into a smaller school where all the kids have been together since K is a great idea either.

Arlington is a suburb. What are you talking about? If you send your kid to Yorktown its no different. 22207 and 22213 are as suburban as you can get.

Lots of DD's friends at Washington-Liberty live in high rises in Rosslyn and Ballston. Kids walk from school to Ballston to eat and hang out, and it definitely feels urban more than suburban. Depends where you are.

So they skip out on the bus home, how are they getting home? Mom and dad or a student with a car picks them up. No teenager is taking the ART at 5pm.

Ballston is a so-so mall, with a few ground level shops and a target, and a LOT of office buildings. Its not really urban in the vibrant community way.

I wouldn't consider Ballston a mall any longer. Maybe a failed mail. But it has a successful ice rink, food hall, and other places kids eat. No one's kidding themselves that Ballston is vibrant 14th Street or Union Market, etc. Ballston, Clarendon, Roslyn are vibrant communities with shops (Clarendon mainly), eateries, cultural institutions (MOCAA-Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington), robust public transit, diverse and dense housing types, etc.

W-L upperclassmen do take advantage of open lunch and walk to/from Ballston to eat. Students do in fact take the public bus or subway after dark.

Students also walk home after dark and after school sports events. I don't know why PPP is so fixated on Ballston, which is just one of a number of communities in the vicinity of the high school. The high school for "culturally vibrant" Georgetown is Macarthur, far from Metro and in an area that's not the most pedestrian friendly. Not knocking the MacArthur, but it helps make my point that W-L is well situated for walking, biking, transit, etc. And culturally vibrant DC (Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, National Theater, downtown shopping, pro sports venues, etc.) is a short subway ride away. Field trips from the school into the city have often used Metro over the many decades.

You are insane to think APS students are jetting off to the National Theater. When we talk about urban we don’t mean 5 metro stops away from anything.

BTW Meridian is about the same distance to West Falls station as WL is from Ballston station, and WF station is two stops further from DC. Its a wash.

The advantage is that Meridian is about 1/3 the size of WL. The insularity may be an issue, but in WL anonymity runs rampant.

+1 Yorktown kids are in Georgetown all the time but not for @culture@ lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The latest enrollment numbers show YHS & WHS are almost exactly the same size (2200 students), while W-L has a few hundred more kids since the annex was renovated.

We’ve been happy at Wakefield. I don’t know that there is appreciable difference in how the APS high schools “handle” their size.

January numbers:
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2026/02/U-MEM_281_Summary.pdf

Wakefield- 2100
Yorktown- 2185
WL - 2629

Yorktown and Wakefield are more similar w/r to class size. WL has an extra 125 kids per grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The latest enrollment numbers show YHS & WHS are almost exactly the same size (2200 students), while W-L has a few hundred more kids since the annex was renovated.

We’ve been happy at Wakefield. I don’t know that there is appreciable difference in how the APS high schools “handle” their size.

January numbers:
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2026/02/U-MEM_281_Summary.pdf

Wakefield- 2100
Yorktown- 2185
WL - 2629

Yorktown and Wakefield are more similar w/r to class size. WL has an extra 125 kids per grade.

Wow, my high school had 125 kids per grade TOTAL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are likely moving to Arlington for my kid’s HS years. I see that all the three comprehensive HS are massive. Is there any difference in how they handle the size between them? I’m not that concerned about the differences in demographics etc. Just want my kid to be able to integrate into the school with the other kids. He is not a STEM kid so Arlington Tech isn’t really an option. I don’t think he will be full IB either.

Why would you do this? Move to FCC. We moved here pre kids for the short commute and metro access, but as nearly empty nesters FCC would be ideal.

Because I don’t like the suburbs and because I don’t think sticking him into a smaller school where all the kids have been together since K is a great idea either.

Arlington is a suburb. What are you talking about? If you send your kid to Yorktown its no different. 22207 and 22213 are as suburban as you can get.

Lots of DD's friends at Washington-Liberty live in high rises in Rosslyn and Ballston. Kids walk from school to Ballston to eat and hang out, and it definitely feels urban more than suburban. Depends where you are.

So they skip out on the bus home, how are they getting home? Mom and dad or a student with a car picks them up. No teenager is taking the ART at 5pm.

Ballston is a so-so mall, with a few ground level shops and a target, and a LOT of office buildings. Its not really urban in the vibrant community way.

I wouldn't consider Ballston a mall any longer. Maybe a failed mail. But it has a successful ice rink, food hall, and other places kids eat. No one's kidding themselves that Ballston is vibrant 14th Street or Union Market, etc. Ballston, Clarendon, Roslyn are vibrant communities with shops (Clarendon mainly), eateries, cultural institutions (MOCAA-Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington), robust public transit, diverse and dense housing types, etc.

W-L upperclassmen do take advantage of open lunch and walk to/from Ballston to eat. Students do in fact take the public bus or subway after dark.

Students also walk home after dark and after school sports events. I don't know why PPP is so fixated on Ballston, which is just one of a number of communities in the vicinity of the high school. The high school for "culturally vibrant" Georgetown is Macarthur, far from Metro and in an area that's not the most pedestrian friendly. Not knocking the MacArthur, but it helps make my point that W-L is well situated for walking, biking, transit, etc. And culturally vibrant DC (Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, National Theater, downtown shopping, pro sports venues, etc.) is a short subway ride away. Field trips from the school into the city have often used Metro over the many decades.

You are insane to think APS students are jetting off to the National Theater. When we talk about urban we don’t mean 5 metro stops away from anything.

BTW Meridian is about the same distance to West Falls station as WL is from Ballston station, and WF station is two stops further from DC. Its a wash.

The advantage is that Meridian is about 1/3 the size of WL. The insularity may be an issue, but in WL anonymity runs rampant.

+1 Yorktown kids are in Georgetown all the time but not for @culture@ lol.

The point was that culture and sports venues are a few metro stops away from W-L on the orange line and MOCAA is in Va Square.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The latest enrollment numbers show YHS & WHS are almost exactly the same size (2200 students), while W-L has a few hundred more kids since the annex was renovated.

We’ve been happy at Wakefield. I don’t know that there is appreciable difference in how the APS high schools “handle” their size.

January numbers:
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2026/02/U-MEM_281_Summary.pdf

Wakefield- 2100
Yorktown- 2185
WL - 2629

Yorktown and Wakefield are more similar w/r to class size. WL has an extra 125 kids per grade.

Wow, my high school had 125 kids per grade TOTAL.

That's quite normal in small towns and rural areas but I'd be surprised to find a school that small here in th DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are likely moving to Arlington for my kid’s HS years. I see that all the three comprehensive HS are massive. Is there any difference in how they handle the size between them? I’m not that concerned about the differences in demographics etc. Just want my kid to be able to integrate into the school with the other kids. He is not a STEM kid so Arlington Tech isn’t really an option. I don’t think he will be full IB either.

Why would you do this? Move to FCC. We moved here pre kids for the short commute and metro access, but as nearly empty nesters FCC would be ideal.

Because I don’t like the suburbs and because I don’t think sticking him into a smaller school where all the kids have been together since K is a great idea either.

Arlington is a suburb. What are you talking about? If you send your kid to Yorktown its no different. 22207 and 22213 are as suburban as you can get.

Lots of DD's friends at Washington-Liberty live in high rises in Rosslyn and Ballston. Kids walk from school to Ballston to eat and hang out, and it definitely feels urban more than suburban. Depends where you are.

So they skip out on the bus home, how are they getting home? Mom and dad or a student with a car picks them up. No teenager is taking the ART at 5pm.

Ballston is a so-so mall, with a few ground level shops and a target, and a LOT of office buildings. Its not really urban in the vibrant community way.

I wouldn't consider Ballston a mall any longer. Maybe a failed mail. But it has a successful ice rink, food hall, and other places kids eat. No one's kidding themselves that Ballston is vibrant 14th Street or Union Market, etc. Ballston, Clarendon, Roslyn are vibrant communities with shops (Clarendon mainly), eateries, cultural institutions (MOCAA-Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington), robust public transit, diverse and dense housing types, etc.

W-L upperclassmen do take advantage of open lunch and walk to/from Ballston to eat. Students do in fact take the public bus or subway after dark.

Students also walk home after dark and after school sports events. I don't know why PPP is so fixated on Ballston, which is just one of a number of communities in the vicinity of the high school. The high school for "culturally vibrant" Georgetown is Macarthur, far from Metro and in an area that's not the most pedestrian friendly. Not knocking the MacArthur, but it helps make my point that W-L is well situated for walking, biking, transit, etc. And culturally vibrant DC (Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, National Theater, downtown shopping, pro sports venues, etc.) is a short subway ride away. Field trips from the school into the city have often used Metro over the many decades.

You are insane to think APS students are jetting off to the National Theater. When we talk about urban we don’t mean 5 metro stops away from anything.

BTW Meridian is about the same distance to West Falls station as WL is from Ballston station, and WF station is two stops further from DC. Its a wash.

The advantage is that Meridian is about 1/3 the size of WL. The insularity may be an issue, but in WL anonymity runs rampant.

+1 Yorktown kids are in Georgetown all the time but not for @culture@ lol.

The point was that culture and sports venues are a few metro stops away from W-L on the orange line and MOCAA is in Va Square.

Well, most kids uber anyway

[Anonymous]

FYI, YHS has a weird boundary. My kids have friends that live nearish to Courthouse/Rosslyn if you’re wanting more urban neighborhood but prefer YHS for whatever reason.

To be clear, I think APS high schools are all solid

[Anonymous]

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2025/07/HS_Boundaries_LgFormat_SY25_26.pdf