Reply to Hardy/Deal vs Arlington middle schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you have specific questions about curricula I think you should do some of your own research. My kids are in an APS high school and I do not compare notes on specifics with my friends who stayed in DC. But a few things I would mention:

1) Arlington tech has some really cool STEM classes that are an option even if your kids don't go to Arlington Tech
2) I think it is more common for kids to take algebra in 7th grade in Arlington (I'll let you decide if that is a pro or a con)
3) My kids high school offers an amazing AP World History class for freshman and AP European history for 10th grade - not sure if those are options at Jackson-Reed.
4) Arts curriculum is great - one of my kids is in great pottery class and there is band/orchestra starting in late elementary.

I do wish the kids were on their (AI-enabled) laptops less and read more actual books (so far honors 9th grade english has only read one full book and it was Night, which is very short!). But I think you really have to pay for private to have your kids read a book a month, like I did when I was in high school. [/quote]

We left DCPS for Arlington after 6th grade and I second the motion. Above is a good and accurate post.

In our experience, APS is much more organized than DCPS and teachers are better trained and supported overall. If you need to go up the chain on an issue in APS, no great stress, no big deal; they'll work with you. The capacity in the system is simply much greater, particularly for enrichment as PP mentions. We like how APS doesn't shy away from academic tracking at the MS level, creating big cohorts of students who are well prepared to handle HS challenge.

In Arlington, you get announcements APS almost every day announcing competitions, workshop, cheap or free summer enrichment etc. that your HS kid can take advantage. My kid says he wants to be a vet and he's found vet shadow days and Zoom workshops and volunteer opportunities with animals in the county through the announcements. School facilities are so much better in APS and DCPS that you have to experience it to believe it. Great auditoriums, pools, gyms and playing fields (sometimes run by the county for the public but attached to the school). Arlington Tech/Career center has a snazzy new building, opening this summer, where shop classes, a big animal lab, cooking classes etc. will be housed. The other public high schools in Arlington all run shuttle vans to the tech building for students.

Things haven't been perfect for us in APS: we've had a few bad teachers along with inexperienced school counselors and obnoxious coaches. We could have gone to DCI or Hardy from Ward 6 but didn't want to deal with the commutes. [/quote]

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