Yorktown HS (APS) compared to Wilson High School (DCPS)
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Anonymous
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Hello,
Have a question and would really appreciate any constructive perspectives from the DCUM experts. We are currently in-boundary for Wilson High School in DC. (Though DC may change the feeder pattern for Wilson and/or create another high school.) For commute and housing option reasons, we are considering a move from NW DC to north Arlington, and being in-boundary for Yorktown High School. While I expect few people have direct experience with both schools, I would appreciate any perspectives on comparing Wilson High School (DCPS) to Yorktown High School (APS) in terms of academics, social environment, overcrowding, etc. I know both are schools that have many strengths, and some challenges. Ideally, we would like to be at a school with a welcoming community, strong academics but not pressure cooker, and a school that has the capacity to handle its enrolled students. (I recognize we may not meet all those goals outside of considering private school options.) |
Anonymous
| Arlington has significant overcrowding as a system and has yet to effectively address it at the high schools. |
Anonymous
| I think Wilson would be a 1 in Great Schools if it were in Virginia. |
Anonymous
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Well 32% of kids at wilson are proficient at math. That’s pretty horrible. It has an 88% graduation rate. 78% of kids feel safe there.
93% of kids at Yorktown are proficient in math. 92% graduation rate. 86% feel safe. Pretty similar except on academics. |
Anonymous
This comparison is meaningless without OP looking at the ethnic/SES subgroup breakdown for those statistics. An upper middle class white or Asian kid coming from a highly educated high school, who does not have any special learning needs, and capable of honors level work would do fine at Wilson, and get a broader exposure to others of differing racial/SES backgrounds. Based solely on observing the education choices of AA professional families in DC that I know, I think that higher income/highly educated AA and biracial families are more cautious about Wilson and more likely to consider privates or MoCo, Arlington or Fairfax schools, but that may have changed more in recent years. |
Anonymous
| I don’t know about capacity issues, but I think Washington-Liberty may be a good fit based on your description |
Anonymous
| OP, you didn’t specify diversity as a consideration, but as a black parent I’d never send my child to Yorktown. |
Anonymous
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My kids went to Yorktown. They had very good friends who went to Wilson. Both schools are top notch for high achieving students. Yorktown is far less diverse and overall has a far wealthier student body -- but it is more diverse than DCUM gives it credit for. One-third of the student body is minority.
Yorktown can be a pressure cooker, though. No doubt about that. Personally, I'd go with Yorktown over Wilson for the access it gives you to in state college options, particularly UVA and William & Mary. That was the deciding factor for us. |
Anonymous
Based on what? |
Anonymous
Yeah it is not clear to me why OP is only considering homes that zone for Yorktown. The W-L neighborhoods are great and the school is a bit more diverse and has a good IB program. We used to live in bounds for Wilson and are now in bounds for W-L. We have been happy with Arlington schools and life here in general. |
Anonymous
| If I were moving to NoVa from DC, and schools were a major consideration, I would pick the Washington-Liberty, Meridian (formerly George Mason), Langley, McLean or Marshall pyramids over Yorktown for academics. Yorktown is considered a school for rich white kids that punches below its weight. |
Anonymous
What's up with all the hatred for Yorktown High School? And when did it become a school for rich kids? |
Anonymous
Lots of kids who are in bounds for Yorktown go to W&L for IB. |
Anonymous
When all of the original houses got torn down and started selling for $1.5 million plus. |
Anonymous
W-L. W&L is the university in Lexington. |