Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High schools in this area are pretty much sink or swim. If your daughter needs executive functioning help, you’ll need to hire an EF coach.

I agree. In addition, you should be prepared for the highly competitive nature of this area. There are schools in the northeast that don't rank kids and foster a cooperative rather than a competitive atmosphere among students. NoVa is basically the opposite. I've heard middle schoolers trash talking each other about their future SAT scores.

Maybe the peer pressure to do better than the next person will give your daughter the nudge to succeed.

I disagree re high school being sink or swim....it depends on the kid, and on which school.
If you're in a particularly targeted group for assistance, you'll find plenty of support. I think it's more like: you're a go-getter and high achiever, you'll do fine. You need a lot of help because you're a minority, you'll have access to lots of supports. You're in the middle doing "fine" by APS standards (meaning, you're passing and not in academic failure), you'll be stuck in the middle.

But I agree with other comments, OP, that if you're looking for what you just left, you are likely to be frustrated and disappointed. There are a few small high school programs you can put in the lottery for (HB Woodlawn and Arlington Tech) Otherwise, find a private school. Or, give your kid a chance to blossom on their own in a larger school. You never know.

OP, if you want a smaller school and town experience you should look at Falls Church City.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in New England and went to a small, well-regarded public high school and was nervous about sending my kids to a giant high school like W-L. But both my kids had great experiences there and both have been successful in college, so apparently their executive function skills did not suffer neglect.

There may be less personal attention, but the idea that a small high school would be better at differentiating is completely ass-backward. At a big high school, there are far more class offerings, generally a wider range of levels available in math and language, and there are dozens and dozens of clubs, so it can be easier for a kid to find their people. My brother's kids went through a small highly rated public in

+1. Agree completely. I grew up in CT and my DD is now a Junior at W-L. She’s loved her experience there and so have we. They aren’t going to hold your child’s hand, but there are lots of opportunities for help with various class options and levels.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High schools in this area are pretty much sink or swim. If your daughter needs executive functioning help, you’ll need to hire an EF coach.

I agree. In addition, you should be prepared for the highly competitive nature of this area. There are schools in the northeast that don't rank kids and foster a cooperative rather than a competitive atmosphere among students. NoVa is basically the opposite. I've heard middle schoolers trash talking each other about their future SAT scores.

Maybe the peer pressure to do better than the next person will give your daughter the nudge to succeed.

APS high schools don't rank. All students with a weighted 4.0 and above are ranked number 1 and are considered valedictorians.

They do rank everyone who has below a 4.0.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High schools in this area are pretty much sink or swim. If your daughter needs executive functioning help, you’ll need to hire an EF coach.

I agree. In addition, you should be prepared for the highly competitive nature of this area. There are schools in the northeast that don't rank kids and foster a cooperative rather than a competitive atmosphere among students. NoVa is basically the opposite. I've heard middle schoolers trash talking each other about their future SAT scores.

Maybe the peer pressure to do better than the next person will give your daughter the nudge to succeed.

APS high schools don't rank. All students with a weighted 4.0 and above are ranked number 1 and are considered valedictorians.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in New England and went to a small, well-regarded public high school and was nervous about sending my kids to a giant high school like W-L. But both my kids had great experiences there and both have been successful in college, so apparently their executive function skills did not suffer neglect.

There may be less personal attention, but the idea that a small high school would be better at differentiating is completely ass-backward. At a big high school, there are far more class offerings, generally a wider range of levels available in math and language, and there are dozens and dozens of clubs, so it can be easier for a kid to find their people. My brother's kids went through a small highly rated public in

Sorry, hit enter too soon:

... and there seemed to be more problems with bullying and mean-girl behavior because it was difficult to get away from one's tormentors. Much less of an issue in a big school.

My kids did well in high school but did not get caught up in the rat race mentioned above. Honestly, IME, parents contribute a great deal to that mind set. If you aren't caught up in it, your kids are less likely to be.

Anyway, I'm a big fan of W-L. I'll also say that we moved to Arlington from an excellent elementary school, and overall I thought our previous elementary had some real advantages over the APS my younger child attended, including in writing instruction-- my older child definitely got more. However, the outcomes were similar-- both my kids turned out to be excellent writers and have found in college that they are better at it than many of their peers.

I grew up in New England and went to a small, well-regarded public high school and was nervous about sending my kids to a giant high school like W-L. But both my kids had great experiences there and both have been successful in college, so apparently their executive function skills did not suffer neglect.

There may be less personal attention, but the idea that a small high school would be better at differentiating is completely ass-backward. At a big high school, there are far more class offerings, generally a wider range of levels available in math and language, and there are dozens and dozens of clubs, so it can be easier for a kid to find their people. My brother's kids went through a small highly rated public in

I grew up in the northeast. My kids are in catholic school here. I think it’s a lot closer to my public school experience twenty years ago than what is found in today’s public schools in this area. Worth considering if it’s something you’d be open to.

Anonymous wrote:We are moving to Arlington from a small northeast school which enjoyed small schools and small class sizes, and I know my DD performs well with encouragement and clear expectations; she has not yet developed a self-starter mentality where she would seek out her own work -- she would just do the assigned work well, and then spend her free time reading or watching TV. She is not an athlete, so she has a lot of downtime, and I want an environment where the school will really engage her and give her sufficient homework and challenge to keep her engaged rather than busy work she whips through and then left to her own devices.

Our realtor has an 8th grader too, and told us that they read 3 novels in their english class this year and wrote summaries on them, which seemed a little light to me at her DD's middle school (Ham? I think she goes to?). She said there is only differentiation in middle school math and language, and no seperate computer science requirement nor differentiated English or History classes, and that classes in middle school can get up to 30 kids with 800 kids in the school (our current school has about 22 per class, and the school it self is 300 students because of the town based enrollment).

High school seems kind of giant sized, like 3000 at the Washington High School? Our realtor said they had IB and would have good differnetiation and plenty of engagement and challenge for our DD, but it would not be much individual engagement because of large class size and the size of the school? How do they build executive function within students, and is there plenty of engagement and enrichment available for a capable student who may tend to need a nudge? Or do they really expect the students to take the iniativie and build their own objectives starting freshman year and executive function is up to the parents? Would Yorktown be any different?

Is this what she told you about the middle school or high school?

Budget for housing and private school accordingly. Our county-based systems suck here, especially if you are coming from a wealthy town-based system.

A “capable student who needs a nudge” won’t get it from a large public high school in APS. Either go into this 100% aware of that, and be prepared to handle this yourself, or look at private school options.

I also second PP on the competitive nature of the area, and I think that will be a complicating factor when combined with the additional transition from middle to high school.

Anonymous wrote:High schools in this area are pretty much sink or swim. If your daughter needs executive functioning help, you’ll need to hire an EF coach.

I agree. In addition, you should be prepared for the highly competitive nature of this area. There are schools in the northeast that don't rank kids and foster a cooperative rather than a competitive atmosphere among students. NoVa is basically the opposite. I've heard middle schoolers trash talking each other about their future SAT scores.

Maybe the peer pressure to do better than the next person will give your daughter the nudge to succeed.

High schools in this area are pretty much sink or swim. If your daughter needs executive functioning help, you’ll need to hire an EF coach.

You were in a small school district where parents income completely and absolutely determined the income level of the students your child was surrounded with. APS is not that. It is actual public school with a mix of incomes and diversity.

You are going to be unhappy based upon the language you already used in your post.

Go private here if you can afford it.

We are moving to Arlington from a small northeast school which enjoyed small schools and small class sizes, and I know my DD performs well with encouragement and clear expectations; she has not yet developed a self-starter mentality where she would seek out her own work -- she would just do the assigned work well, and then spend her free time reading or watching TV. She is not an athlete, so she has a lot of downtime, and I want an environment where the school will really engage her and give her sufficient homework and challenge to keep her engaged rather than busy work she whips through and then left to her own devices.

Our realtor has an 8th grader too, and told us that they read 3 novels in their english class this year and wrote summaries on them, which seemed a little light to me at her DD's middle school (Ham? I think she goes to?). She said there is only differentiation in middle school math and language, and no seperate computer science requirement nor differentiated English or History classes, and that classes in middle school can get up to 30 kids with 800 kids in the school (our current school has about 22 per class, and the school it self is 300 students because of the town based enrollment).

High school seems kind of giant sized, like 3000 at the Washington High School? Our realtor said they had IB and would have good differnetiation and plenty of engagement and challenge for our DD, but it would not be much individual engagement because of large class size and the size of the school? How do they build executive function within students, and is there plenty of engagement and enrichment available for a capable student who may tend to need a nudge? Or do they really expect the students to take the iniativie and build their own objectives starting freshman year and executive function is up to the parents? Would Yorktown be any different?