HB Woodlawn Lottery Results Released

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

Well, there was the career center idea that fell flat because it couldn't get a swimming pool... The problem is everyone always complaining and no one is happy with any of the proposals.

WTH. the obvious solution was a high school at the Kenmore site. They were just playing chicken with population growth and pushing people to private.

Don’t give me the “Fairfax won’t let us build a road” nonsense; Falls Church City has their entire high school in FFX. They would sort that sheet out

How does making Wakefield the 3000 person school help?

[Anonymous]

Can’t the City just buy a bunch of old beater houses and build a modern type school family with multiple floors?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can’t the City just buy a bunch of old beater houses and build a modern type school family with multiple floors?

Because the priority is building more housing. In ArlNow yesterday there was a chart with 3 tiers of development and planning issues. Addressing school capacity was in the third (least important) tier. But initiatives related to getting more people to Arlington were in the first 2 tiers. The County thinks the schools are fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Not really, and it’s pretty poor form to stuff WL to 3000 while HB students lounge around in their award winning building.

Anonymous wrote:



OH.MY.GOD. My kid doesn't even go to HB, but I feel the need to remind people that when the SB proposed an urban middle school, keeping Hamm at the Stratford site, Cherrydale parents lost their ever-loving minds at the thought of their snowflakes traveling to Rosslyn for middle school. The H-B people didn't WANT to move there, but they were essentially forced to do so. [/b]

You can't give them grief about the building. They didn't want it.

Right, but they built more seats on the W-L campus. The time to fight this was BEFORE they spent money and constructed infrastructure. Not after, because they can’t just leave those available seats empty. And it’s not an appropriate space for an ES. Montessori was trying to stake its claim, but that didn’t work. So there are HS seats. Allow for more IB transfers, since it’s a unique program and they won’t replicate it elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Did you see they are allowing neighborhood transfers for WL for next year? That seems to show that even with IB there are still additional seats available.

[Anonymous]

OH.MY.GOD. My kid doesn't even go to HB, but I feel the need to remind people that when the SB proposed an urban middle school, keeping Hamm at the Stratford site, Cherrydale parents lost their ever-loving minds at the thought of their snowflakes traveling to Rosslyn for middle school. The H-B people didn't WANT to move there, but they were essentially forced to do so.

This - 1000x this.
The site in Rosslyn doesn't support playing fields, much less a playground for anything other than a school like HB.
Plus, they are co-located with the Stratford (now Kennedy Shriver) program. The facilities needed for compliance to support kids with developmental/physical disabilities costs more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OH.MY.GOD. My kid doesn't even go to HB, but I feel the need to remind people that when the SB proposed an urban middle school, keeping Hamm at the Stratford site, Cherrydale parents lost their ever-loving minds at the thought of their snowflakes traveling to Rosslyn for middle school. The H-B people didn't WANT to move there, but they were essentially forced to do so.

This - 1000x this.
The site in Rosslyn doesn't support playing fields, much less a playground for anything other than a school like HB.
Plus, they are co-located with the Stratford (now Kennedy Shriver) program. The facilities needed for compliance to support kids with developmental/physical disabilities costs more.

Whatever. HB cries that their preference was to keep one of the largest plot of lands that APS owns for their tiny school population but they were forced kicking in screaming into a brand new $100M architectural gem. Oh the humanity. If you hate it that much, we should move HB into office buildings TODAY, and repurpose the Heights building as a high school.

[Anonymous]

To get back on topic to the original post, I’m also interested in hearing more about the middle school experience at HBW. Parents get excited when they win the lottery, but does it live up to expectations for the kids? From what I’ve read so far, kids who are very athletic and want the high school sports experience eventually leave for their neighborhood school. Other than the sports issue, are there any major downsides of going the HB route, especially in 6th?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To get back on topic to the original post, I’m also interested in hearing more about the middle school experience at HBW. Parents get excited when they win the lottery, but does it live up to expectations for the kids? From what I’ve read so far, kids who are very athletic and want the high school sports experience eventually leave for their neighborhood school. Other than the sports issue, are there any major downsides of going the HB route, especially in 6th?

Very much interested in this. People say my child fits the “profile” for HB, but what does that mean for 6th?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To get back on topic to the original post, I’m also interested in hearing more about the middle school experience at HBW. Parents get excited when they win the lottery, but does it live up to expectations for the kids? From what I’ve read so far, kids who are very athletic and want the high school sports experience eventually leave for their neighborhood school. Other than the sports issue, are there any major downsides of going the HB route, especially in 6th?

My middle schooler has had a great experience there so far! Wonderful and caring teachers, a close community with a lot of special traditions and events, a new degree of freedom and independence with regard to how to manage time and off-campus privileges, and a very accepting student body (no fights/bullying). My kid is not into sports anyway, so doesn't miss that aspect at all. I would say the only hesitation would be if your kid needs a lot of structure and organization. For example, my kid never seems to have daily homework but has done several long-term projects that require continual work over several weeks, so it takes some discipline to do those, which is part of the learning experience.

I don't have experience to compare with another middle school, though. Maybe they are all like this, albeit larger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

Well, there was the career center idea that fell flat because it couldn't get a swimming pool... The problem is everyone always complaining and no one is happy with any of the proposals.

WTH. the obvious solution was a high school at the Kenmore site. They were just playing chicken with population growth and pushing people to private.

Don’t give me the “Fairfax won’t let us build a road” nonsense; Falls Church City has their entire high school in FFX. They would sort that sheet out

How does making Wakefield the 3000 person school help?

I agree, they should reconsider the Kenmore site for a 4th HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To get back on topic to the original post, I’m also interested in hearing more about the middle school experience at HBW. Parents get excited when they win the lottery, but does it live up to expectations for the kids? From what I’ve read so far, kids who are very athletic and want the high school sports experience eventually leave for their neighborhood school. Other than the sports issue, are there any major downsides of going the HB route, especially in 6th?

Wow, are you daft? Its private school on public dime. Unless you are big on sports, it is a win win win. The small student body means you have much more connection with your teacher, and whether you are doing homework or projects, that is the biggest driver to success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

Even better, they converted offices of Ed center to classrooms, so any office should be able to converted similarly and since their classes are just like the other high school students, let them loose in a high rise and turn Heights into a normal high school where kids cant come and go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get back on topic to the original post, I’m also interested in hearing more about the middle school experience at HBW. Parents get excited when they win the lottery, but does it live up to expectations for the kids? From what I’ve read so far, kids who are very athletic and want the high school sports experience eventually leave for their neighborhood school. Other than the sports issue, are there any major downsides of going the HB route, especially in 6th?

Wow, are you daft? Its private school on public dime. Unless you are big on sports, it is a win win win. The small student body means you have much more connection with your teacher, and whether you are doing homework or projects, that is the biggest driver to success.

Am I daft? Our assigned school is also very good, and it is also paid for with public funds.