Reply to My New Favorite Anger at APS: XXL WL

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]^is that really true.  I hear a lot about turnover and staffing issues and unexperienced teachers teaching advanced courses that are not in their background at all.

Also, the crowding effects so many different aspects of the school, from hallways to lunch room to sports and activities to [b]attention from counselors and help during college application time[/b].

I get trying to make the best of a rotten situation, but some people are really in denial.  And, many of the people that I know that were happy have kids that have already graduated from college--or there now.  The clogged pipe that is rumbling is about to burst in the next few years.  The real problems haven't arrived yet.  Take a look at the coming years.  Next year's entering class is just the tip of the very large iceberg set to emerge.[/quote]

Don’t expect ANY help. The counselors are beyond awful even now. I can’t imagine how bad it will be in a few years. 
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Public school counselors are not hand-holders in the college process. If you aren't going to get educated so you can provide direction or have a go-getter kid, you should look into private counseling.[/quote]

While I agree that public school counselors are not hand-holders in the college application process, my 4th DC is a senior at WL and we have now gone through the process at WL 3 times.  As a whole, the counseling office has an excellent system in place for explanations of the process, financial aid, deadlines, expectations of parents v. kids and Saturday morning help for students who need help applying to college.  I have also been pleasantly surprised at individual counselor's availability to meet with parents and how well they knew most of my DCs.  But if you're expecting the counselor to help strategize over SAT v. ACT, content of personal essays and spend hours helping your DC figure out where to apply, that is not going to happen in public school.  It also did not happen at my one DC's excellent private HS.[/quote]

You kind of missed the point.  Your kids were all outside the population bubble.  Each year starting with entering Freshmen, the number of students is exponentially rising.  200+ next year and so on.  The biggest classes are not in MS yet.

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Do you honestly think that APS will add 200 - 800 students to WL and not increase the staffing?

Believe it or not, the current population bubble is not particularly unique and your complaints aren't either.  When my oldest first went to WL the school was already over capacity by a couple hundred students.  When my second DC attended, significant reconfiguration of interior space took place to relieve the overcrowding.  That relief lasted about a hot second.  My current WL senior spent 3 years of ES and all of MS and HS in and out of trailer classrooms.   Yes, there is a definite difference between a 2200 and 3000 student HS - I grant you that and that 2200 is preferable to 3000.  But it wasn't that long ago that many in the community were up in arms about APS HSs increasing from 1800 to 2200 students and we all used the same litany of arguments: clubs too big to join, sports teams impossible to get a spot on, counselors who will not know our kids, etc.  I was adamant that my current WL senior would have to go to private school; her graduating class is more than a 100 students larger than her brother's class/  Guess what, aside from COVID complaints, it  has been more than fine.  There are more clubs than ever to join, the vast majority of sports teams, even varsity, are extremely easy to make even if your kid is not athletic (I know - my DC is on 3 of them), the marching band would be thrilled to have another 20-40 members, sorry I don't know about theatre, and more staff has been hired.

Yes, there is a big difference between 2200 and 3000 and I think APS should build a comprehensive 4th HS but in the end it's what you and your kid make of the experience.  Feel sorry for yourself and teach your kid to complain and they will have a miserable experience.

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