Reply to Feedback on Yorktown HS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Re loving WMS. Believe it. Love it. Have a high achiever and he is very well served there.  Private isn’t an option for us. But we have plenty of friends in DC at the big 3 and middle school doesn’t sound terribly different. At least for the academicly inclined.  Also, don’t know why you think I wouldn’t take pot shots at the vocal entitled-parent population at WMS and YHS. Why not?! Many deserve it. They treat admin and staff like they expect individual attention.   Most of the unhappy parents I know fall firmly in that category. [/quote]

+1 My kid went from WMS to a big 3 for HS and was at no academic disadvantage compared to the private school kids. [/quote]

OP here.  Thanks so much for sharing this.  Would love to hear more about why you decided to forego Yorktown for a private HS.  That's the boat we're in and would love to hear more of the pros and cons you weighed.[/quote]

PP here. I was not enthusiastic about DC going to private HS, but I was overruled by DH and DC. It was DC's idea - they felt like they were in a rut, just coasting, and they were looking for something more challenging. And now, years later, I am 100% certain it was the correct decision.

Pros - The class sizes are much smaller, the teachers (almost all) are more engaged, and it's OK among your classmates - in fact, it's encouraged - to be smart. English/writing instruction is much superior to public HS - several papers required per year, with multiple drafts. College counseling is light-years ahead of that at a public school. And even though we're just separated by a river, [b]DC's classmates who live in Washington and Maryland tend to be more sophisticated and interested in the wider world than DC's Virginia friends.[/b] Kind of a city mouse vs country mouse dynamic.

Cons - The commute can be a pain. It can be difficult to get together with friends outside of school - but DC quickly became comfortable with Metro. Other parents are very nice, but I sometimes missed my parent friends I'd known for years. Homework is 3-4 hours/night by junior year. And I wouldn't do it if it would be a struggle to pay $50k/year.

[/quote]

You had me until you started with this drivel.  What, did you interview all of your kid's classmates and then analyze the results by geographic location?  [/quote]

You're right, I shouldn't have extrapolated my kid's own experience to make such a blanket statement. There is a difference though between going to school in DC vs Virginia - it's the difference between an urban vs. suburban experience. It was good for my kid to get outside the North Arlington bubble.[/quote]

My kid is going to HS in DC, but WL zone is very urban.  The kids that live along the corridor walk and take public transportation regularly.  Parts of the Rosslyn-Clarendon-Ballston corridor are as busy as the city all times of day...with homeless people to step over and sketchiness to boot.

This is why most of the parents living in this part of Arlington were completely fine with HB being built in Rosslyn while an entire contingent of APS parents farther out were crying about sending their MSs to a school  in 'dangerous' Rosslyn.

It will depend what part of DC ---riding the Metro to GZ vs being driven in a town car to Sidwell or Visi is very different.  Campus and location night and day.[/quote]

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