Reply to Seeking first-person experience in Wakefield

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]NP here with two students at Wakefield currently (both in immersion program but it is also our neighborhood HS). I could have written the following from PP:

"If you want a more pressure-cooker atmosphere for your child, WL is your best bet. If you're not so uptight about your kid taking 5 AP classes at once and being on the most competitive teams and accept that a less-pressure, less-competitive, still-among-the-top-2% of high schools in the country is perfectly fine and won't ruin your child's entire future, Wakefield is absolutely fine.

Parents not talking and boasting about their kids' extraordinary brilliance and academic achievement doesn't mean they do not emphasize academics or believe them to be important. Personally, I'm grateful not to be surrounded by competitive parents living vicariously through their children, stressing their kids out, and insisting anything less than the best and an ivy league degree is failure. I can't speak to the level of anxiety or pressure at Yorktown; but even though WL is an excellent school, I find the Wakefield environment pleasantly less stressful for us as parents and for our kid v. our kid and others we know at WL.
We have not heard of any problems with "disruptive" kids in any of our kid's classes of any level. I'm not aware of policies at any of the schools precluding students from taking an AP class - all students register for classes through their counselor and teachers make recommendations; but you can always discuss those recommendations with the teachers if you disagree. Generally, though, if a student is a good student and performing well, they will be recommended for the appropriate level courses."

DC 1 is a Junior and too AP World History as a Freshman (5 on AP exam), two APs as a Sophomore, 5 as a Junior and planning 5 as a Senior. For non-AP core classes has had intensified throughout. Has found the writing instruction rigorous. DC 2 is a Freshman and given the weakness of MS instruction during Covid chose not to take AP World (and grateful as one core class has provided plenty of challenge) but all intensified. Will have 3 APs next year.

It is a very "you do you" welcoming community. Kids tend to be involved in whatever sports/activities work for them. Most (if not all) of the "cut" sports are easier to make than at W-L and Yorktown.

Counselors have only been minimally helpful but they are all overwhelmed and, frankly, we can provide the additional support our kids need for college search, etc. so we really don't stress over it.

Our kids have been very happy there and have both commented how glad they are to be there.[/quote]

This poster seems to be getting a lot of hate but I found this post to be very helpful. Just because my kids are Type A and want to push themselves doesn't mean I want them in a pressure cooker environment. thanks PP[/quote]
+1
Anyone posting positively about Wakefield - especially Wakefield academics - is greeted with something negative.[/quote]

That's because there is a lot of negative. You just can't or won't see it.  You are one of those white parents who are obsessed with anything that let's you be a do gooder and you can contribute to or do a drive for but could care less about academics because your own kids are excelling and are racking up AP classes. You can't see the forest for the tress. As long as your kid is excelling, who cares about anything else that is going on.  The school has real issues. Pretending otherwise just hurts those kids that you do those drives for. But then again, you don't want to do anything to upset the apple cart and put at risk your child's precious AP classes and perfect GPA.[/quote]

You are so far off base on your assessments.
My kids have been through majority-poverty/minority schools through elementary, middle, and high school.  I am very, very aware of the stark differences between my kids' schools and those in the far white north.

I don't do drives or other feel-good activities.

My kids are not clones of each other; their individual academic course loads and success vary significantly from "less than average" to "very-good-but-still-not-straight-A's-and-all-highest-level-challenge." Oldest is a junior - one AP class earned.  Is that what you consider "racking up"?  They're not ivy-league bound.  One may not even be 4-year college bound and is particularly far from "excelling," struggling since middle school. Still, being white (you got one thing right), the attention isn't on that one.  I know that. I acknowledge that as one of Wakefield's shortcomings.  Still, that child would be worse off at a "pressure cooker" school like WL or YHS.  Last thing that kid needs is more anxiety and pressure to excel more, and falling way short.

I have no idea what you're talking about about upsetting the apple cart and risking my kids' academics.

I'm outraged about APS' mediocre - and decreasing - standards and the homework and grading policies they are looking to adopt -- on behalf of ALL the students, ESPECIALLY students who are already disadvantaged/at-risk.

But none of that makes the teaching or the courses offered at Wakefield sub-par relative to any other Arlington school.

If there are so many negatives about Wakefield, then all the more reason to acknowledge a positive without diminishing it or taking away from the kids who earned it.

You clearly see nothing positive or good about Wakefield; so just get the eff out and let others who find it satisfactory share their experiences without you tearing it all down?  It's like you have a specific mission to ensure Wakefield doesn't develop at positive reputation.  Are you actually at Wakefield, or are your kids elsewhere and you're just afraid Wakefield's rise in respect and reputation will take away from your child's precious academic stats?[/quote]

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