Reply to Wakefield HS year 2030

Forum Index » Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)

Reply to "Wakefield HS year 2030"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So... What do we think Wakefield is going to be like 15 years from now? I have a friend who grew up zoned Washington- Lee in the 90's. She said is was terrible and not an option. I believe her parents sent her to Bishop O'Connell. I'm not really interested in debated people's experiences with W-L 20 years ago. If you graduated at that time, I'm sure you turned out fine. However, the reputation of the school has changed.
Thoughts on Wakefield?[/quote]

My brother went to Washington-Lee 25 years ago, and it was a generally well regarded school. It may have a slightly better reputation today, but I can't  think of anyone who thought it was "terrible." And the school actually had a wealthier student demographic then as the Donaldson Run kids were zoned to W-L. Colin Powell's kids were classmates of his and Powell was the graduation speaker one year. It's hard to compare W-L twenty years ago with Wakefield today, because W-L then had wealthier demographics than Wakefield does today.

While W-L had a pretty good reputation in the early 90s in my recollection, some nearby neighborhoods had gone downhill and that can affect perceptions. Neighborhoods like Buckingham had gang and crime problems, and many of those kids went to W-L. Friends of mine were jumped by a gang near the old Steak and Egg in '93. For comparison Yorktown was close to 100% white, did not have any ESL classes, and had virtually no low income students. That's why Rosslyn students are bused to Yorktown today.

Unlike W-L, Wakefield does not draw from a high concentration of middle and upper income neighborhoods. So unless boundaries are changed between all three high schools, school quality or the perception of school quality will not change. 25 years ago, Wakefield had a reputation as the "ghetto school." That is still true today for many in Arlington, but I hope and I am optimistic that will change. Wakefield's reputation is already improving if you look at the increasing numbers of 8th graders from Gunston who pick Wakefield over private schools.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics