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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]

Anonymous wrote:
    We have a fourth grader and are moving to a larger house. We are considering putting offers on one of two homes - one zoned for Kenmore and one zoned for Swanson. I've heard fairly negative things about both middle schools, for different reasons (Kenmore not being terribly rigorous and having a lot of fights, and Swanson being overcrowded with more bullying than the standard middle school). Interested in perspectives of those whose kids have attended both schools. We might just suck it up and pay for private but would prefer not to.

Swanson’s old principal (Loft) is back and things are under control. The previous bullying incidents were highly publicized but it was mainly one student bully, who is no longer at the school. It’s a nice, walkable, community school that [b]actually looks like that Hollywood image of the classic jr high school — red brick facade, green lawn out front. It’s a very old school building (roughly 85 years old) that has a lot of charm. The auditorium still has the stained wood paneling. It’s nice how students can walk to Swanson and patronize the shops in Westover Village.[/b]

[b]Kenmore has a newer building and has the largest auditorium of all the APS schools. [/b]The arts focus there is popular and students would often transfer in for that program specifically. There was a highly publicized incident this year of a group of Kenmore students in a physical altercation with a Dorothy Hamm MS basketball player waiting for the bus at the bus stop.[/quote]
	
The most important thing about a school is what happens inside. This is a description of the physical buildings, with a little gossip thrown in. IT would help to have information about academics, extra curriculars, or sports, as well as the sense of community created at the school.[/quote]

Swanson has always been a strong school academically, with students winning MATHCOUNTS awards for years. Experiencing US and Virginia history in engaging ways has always been a hallmark of Swanson. The school used to host an Ellis Island Reenactment day for 7th graders.

Swanson has a strong sense of community since so many students walk from the immediately surrounding neighborhoods. All those kids grow up together and parents know each other. Westover Village shops and the park add to that sense of community.

The incident at Kenmore is not gossip but was local news. Some on this forum and other new sites speculated it might be part of larger post pandemic behavioral problems. Others were concerned about safety issues at Kenmore in general. That said, Kenmore is also a good school, and some prefer its newer spacious building to the old charm of Swanson. The narrow halls at Swanson certainly don’t help with the overcrowding there. But the school has managed nicely. [/quote]

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