Reply to APS or private school - NOT a pandemic driven question

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous] Basically I’m nervous we are going to be stuck in a cycle of redistricting due to capacity issues.  I attended a public school district with one high school that was smaller than any of the current Arlington options.  I don’t expect an urban area to be like that, but I didn’t quite appreciate the capacity issues until recently (and that’s on me).[/quote]
You wont get redistricted again.  The capacity problems are annoying, in that kids might have to eat lunch early or late, or have to be in a mobile classroom, but it doesn't impact education quality.  You should be worried about the dumbing down of curriculum (not solely an APS problem, btw) rather than these secondary issues.[/quote]

Thanks for the perspective.  I know families who LOVED Key Immersion and LOVED ASFS.  I’m sure people will love the new school too.  With all the unhappiness around APS lately, I think it’s easy to worry.[/quote]

I think the unhappiness is exaggerated, its the same handful or more posting over and over. Did these people go to the gold standard of schools as kids? I don't know where they develop their expectations. Look at the high school graduation rates and excellent colleges that APS students go to. It's still a very good system, but of course has flaws and room for improvement.

[/b]I personally would only look at private if your students struggle or are extremely gifted[b]. Some kids fly under the radar if they have good behavior (e.g. ADHD girls who are also gifted). I think a smaller school would help those kids. [/quote]

Agree. Don't put too much stock into online complaints - it's very one-sided from a small group of vocal parents.

And I think APS works well for most kids. Only exceptions are learning challenges or profoundly gifted.

Thanks! I def got sucked into reading too many complaints online during this pandemic and I started to think -  “why does everyone hate APS?  I thought the schools were good here”  Time to get off the Internet 😂.
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This. We moved 2 of our kids to private because of this. One with learning disabilities and one gifted and unchallenged by APS. As long as you’re a typical learner APS is fine. We still have one here. APS is good but I really don’t think it’s as good as everyone has made it out to be. 
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No, it's not.  And the college admission list published in the local magazine is ... underwhelming.  Having said that, it;s a school system.  It;s in Virginia.  It's generally ok.  So your kid will have a chance at UVA (or W&M) that they would not otherwise have had.  Other than that, I've got nothing.[/quote]

Yes, aside from TJ, the list of admissions from VA high schools is underwhelming. 
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I mean, there are lots of students in VA high schools whose parents aren't attorneys or consultants living by the country club. Where do you think the kids of lower-income, first-gen families end up going to college? Many of them go to NVCC, GMU, VCU. You don't see these schools on the admissions lists at Potomac and St. Stephen's because there are very few students from lower-income families there. But of course you know this; I'm sure it's why you are interested in private school in the first place.[/quote]

My kids attend APS.

It’s not about the money. The affluent parents aren’t sending their kids to top colleges either.

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Really? Because among the affluent public school families we know in Arlington, we know kids who are at or have recently graduated from Stanford, Brown, Wellesley, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, and Claremont McKenna. Those seem fairly "top" to me.[/quote]

So that’s across how many graduating years?

Are the lists posted in Arlington Magazine missing some data? Because when you look at the #s of kids for any particular year, it’s pretty pathetic. 
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