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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My daughter just got into H-B Woodlawn 8th grade so this thread has been useful as we are relatively new to the area. She's been attending Dorothy Hamm for a year which I can't say enough good things a about.

She tested as gifted but has problems with her grades and some minor discipline issues around her commitment to achieve. I won't turn down the opportunity and how lucky we are but I wonder how well this school can handle her lack of discipline. Fortunately we are literally next door and I can stay involved.

Are the teachers and staff responsive to parent involvement? Dorothy Hamm has been phenomenal in that regard.[/quote]

[b]HB works best for students who are self-motivated since there is a lot of freedom.[/b] It makes sense to try it out for a year or so, and if it’s not the best environment, transferring back to the home high school is no problem. In fact, transferring back to the home school is not uncommon. The HB philosophy is not ideal for all students. [/quote]

This is not always true for high performing students who have free academic time because they finished all the work quickly. HB lacks the tools for kids to learn on their own unless they have access to facilities/resources/teachers elsewhere. Their science labs are a joke using half baked equipment, some purchased from Amazon. Many classes are blended so they can't possibly teach to everyone. Based upon experience, many teachers have no time (or motivation) to discuss topics with kids who want to learn more and are often turned away. Recently, I think there has even been discussion in Town Meeting to do away with the AP program, thus completing the loop of some people trying to make HB a special needs school in all but name.[/quote]

This is incoherent, ill-informed, and teacher bashing. Teachers vary in every school, but neither of my kids have ever been turned away by a HB teacher when they wanted to go deeper into a niche interest. They were supported in crafting independent studies, proposing new classes, or less formal projects. HB, much like any university experience, is going to be what a student makes of it. Lots of kids aren’t ready for taking full advantage.

Suggesting blended classes make it impossible to meet all students’ needs is counter to plenty of research.

I heard the discussions about getting rid of AP was brought up by high school students and probably not going to happen. But even if it did, AP is not the most academically challenging possibility. I trust there would be an alternative of some kind. All the top local private schools have gotten rid of AP classes in recent years and it wasn’t to make Sidwell “a special needs school.”

Again, HB is serious about empowering students, for better and for worse. It seems for your kid(s) it was for worse, but there’s no need to universalize.[/quote]

This is true. Over the years, students have created their own challenging courses with a faculty member knowledgeable in the particular area of interest. HB could easily supplant AP Courses with classes of equal rigour like at St Albans for example. HB is [b]not limited[/b] by the APS secondary school course of study. 
[/quote]

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