Feedback on Yorktown HS

[Anonymous]

We are considering either Yorktown HS or private school for our children and would love some candid feedback from those with experience at Yorktown. And, even better if some parents have experience with both Yorktown and private high schools. We love the idea of public school and never thought we'd consider private, but the growing class size is concerning. (incoming class of 9th graders predicted to be 660 kids)

[Anonymous]

I don’t know much about it but if you want to see college admissions:

https://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/where-arlington-grads-applied-and-were-accepted-to-college/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know much about it but if you want to see college admissions:

https://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/where-arlington-grads-applied-and-were-accepted-to-college/

Keep in mind those are only acceptances. Yorktown shows acceptance to Brown and Princeton, but that could be the same kid.

[Anonymous]

We live in the Yorktown district, and I've been wondering the same thing. You can see the college acceptances in Arlignton magazine. They are not impressive at all. I don't know if that's true for all public schools in the area or not.

[Anonymous]

It's a good high school. You do have to understand that, for college admissions today, a place like Yorktown can actually be a disadvantage (see heavily URM white high school). So if you're looking to maximize your kid's chances of admission at a good school you might consider alternatives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are considering either Yorktown HS or private school for our children and would love some candid feedback from those with experience at Yorktown. And, even better if some parents have experience with both Yorktown and private high schools. We love the idea of public school and never thought we'd consider private, but the growing class size is concerning. (incoming class of 9th graders predicted to be 660 kids)

An APS report that came out in December 2019 projected 521 9th graders at Yorktown in the fall of 2020. The 660 number probably does not account for kids who live in the YHS district but end up at Arlington Tech, HB Woodlawn and W-L.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering either Yorktown HS or private school for our children and would love some candid feedback from those with experience at Yorktown. And, even better if some parents have experience with both Yorktown and private high schools. We love the idea of public school and never thought we'd consider private, but the growing class size is concerning. (incoming class of 9th graders predicted to be 660 kids)

An APS report that came out in December 2019 projected 521 9th graders at Yorktown in the fall of 2020. The 660 number probably does not account for kids who live in the YHS district but end up at Arlington Tech, HB Woodlawn and W-L.

Just to add, however, that APS projected some large increases in class sizes starting in the fall of 2021.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in the Yorktown district, and I've been wondering the same thing. You can see the college acceptances in Arlignton magazine. They are not impressive at all. I don't know if that's true for all public schools in the area or not.

The Arlington magazine report also isn’t accurate, because while APS gives them the data on where students applied (which they do have access to by virtue of the application process), the statistics on where people were accepted is based entirely on student reporting of their acceptances, which means a kid needs to go out of their way to log in to the system and enter all of their acceptances and rejections. As you might imagine, this isn’t a high priority many students, so this report significantly under-reports college acceptances.

There is a reason FCPS and FCC refuse to participate, and I really don’t understand why APS does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in the Yorktown district, and I've been wondering the same thing. You can see the college acceptances in Arlignton magazine. They are not impressive at all. I don't know if that's true for all public schools in the area or not.

The Arlington magazine report also isn’t accurate, because while APS gives them the data on where students applied (which they do have access to by virtue of the application process), the statistics on where people were accepted is based entirely on student reporting of their acceptances, which means a kid needs to go out of their way to log in to the system and enter all of their acceptances and rejections. As you might imagine, this isn’t a high priority many students, so this report significantly under-reports college acceptances.

There is a reason FCPS and FCC refuse to participate, and I really don’t understand why APS does.

Don’t the counselors ask the kids to supply the information for Naviance? I think most kids do so out of a sense of obligation since they also looked at Naviance data when deciding where to apply.

FCPS stopped sharing information because they interpret their privacy regulations differently, so the tables led to misleading comparisons, plus Arlington Magazine only asked for the information from Langley and McLean, which FCPS also found problematic.

[Anonymous]

How are the teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are considering either Yorktown HS or private school for our children and would love some candid feedback from those with experience at Yorktown. And, even better if some parents have experience with both Yorktown and private high schools. We love the idea of public school and never thought we'd consider private, but the growing class size is concerning. (incoming class of 9th graders predicted to be 660 kids)[/quote

Private, full-stop. We are stuck at Yorktown because my child did not get into private school. It has been even worse than Williamsburg, which I didn't think was possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering either Yorktown HS or private school for our children and would love some candid feedback from those with experience at Yorktown. And, even better if some parents have experience with both Yorktown and private high schools. We love the idea of public school and never thought we'd consider private, but the growing class size is concerning. (incoming class of 9th graders predicted to be 660 kids)[/quote

Private, full-stop. We are stuck at Yorktown because my child did not get into private school. It has been even worse than Williamsburg, which I didn't think was possible.

+1 When I talk to people in person they tell a very different story about the Arlington high schools (kids currently in APS HS) than people on this board.

I know so many kids heading to private HS next Fall.

[Anonymous]

Funny! We love Williamsburg. And I bet we’ll love Yorktown too. Lots of over-protective, over-involved parents are dissatisfied at WMS. They are never going to be satisfied unless they get concierge service at their school. So take comments with a grain of salt. Unless you are a concierge type. Then go private so you can keep to the style you’re accustomed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering either Yorktown HS or private school for our children and would love some candid feedback from those with experience at Yorktown. And, even better if some parents have experience with both Yorktown and private high schools. We love the idea of public school and never thought we'd consider private, but the growing class size is concerning. (incoming class of 9th graders predicted to be 660 kids)[/quote

Private, full-stop. We are stuck at Yorktown because my child did not get into private school. It has been even worse than Williamsburg, which I didn't think was possible.

No offense, but this is profoundly unhelpful without specifics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering either Yorktown HS or private school for our children and would love some candid feedback from those with experience at Yorktown. And, even better if some parents have experience with both Yorktown and private high schools. We love the idea of public school and never thought we'd consider private, but the growing class size is concerning. (incoming class of 9th graders predicted to be 660 kids)[/quote

Private, full-stop. We are stuck at Yorktown because my child did not get into private school. It has been even worse than Williamsburg, which I didn't think was possible.

No offense, but this is profoundly unhelpful without specifics.

Yes, please do say more about how Yorktown has been worse than expected. This would be super helpful. Thanks a million!