Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

Son is at Tech and I don't get this sense at all. Well, maybe more boys than girls, but it doesn't seem like the student population is coming from the Wakefield zone or that they're looking to go into trades. It's a STEM program with access to the very cool and diverse offerings at ACC. It's project-based learning, so concepts are not taught just in the abstract. We love it so far.

+1
This is not the Career Center program. It is a very rigorous academic program with lots of dual enrollment opportunities. Students also have much more access to the CTE classes at the Career Center because the AT program itself doesn't offer a lot of electives. That's great for the AT students, not so great for the comprehensive high school students who have more limited access to those classes now.

APS has done a terrible job of explaining and promoting this program to parents. It is NOT A TRADE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. It is NOT a bunch of kids wanting to opt out of Wakefield. Graduates have been going to prestigious colleges (there have only been one or two graduating classes so far); and students can graduate high school with up to 30+ college credits depending on what courseloads they took throughout their 4 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

Does it have more of a trade school or college prep feel? We are not looking for a trade school. Our child is a very strong and highly motivated student. Will they receive a stronger education at WL or Arlington Tech? I assume the school offers advanced and AP courses for those students who are interested? Are there any opportunities to visit the school at this stage?

Did you visit at all before applying? They are very clear that it is a college-prep program but the advanced classes are DE not AP. I like a lot about the program and thought it would be a good fit for DS but he didn't like the small size and opted for WL but I know several kids who really liked it.

There's a lot of info on their website. You can see that a senior there could potentially be taking Vector Calculus (DE), English Literature (DE), Physics 2 E&M (DE), US Gov, and doing a capstone internship/project. DE teachers (unlike AP) all need to have a master's degree in their field.

https://careercenter.apsva.us/for-admitted-students/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

Does it have more of a trade school or college prep feel? We are not looking for a trade school. Our child is a very strong and highly motivated student. Will they receive a stronger education at WL or Arlington Tech? I assume the school offers advanced and AP courses for those students who are interested? Are there any opportunities to visit the school at this stage?

I would say that W-L IB is more rigorous, and the IB credit is more likely to be transferred to out-of-state schools. However, Arlington Tech provides a great option for kids looking for college credit, particularly awesome for lower income kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

Does it have more of a trade school or college prep feel? We are not looking for a trade school. Our child is a very strong and highly motivated student. Will they receive a stronger education at WL or Arlington Tech? I assume the school offers advanced and AP courses for those students who are interested? Are there any opportunities to visit the school at this stage?

Watch the virtual videos. There are no AP classes at Arlington Tech; it is a Dual Enrollment program.

So basically you can complete half an AA degree before high school. This seems just like a vocational school.

No. A number of seniors earned full Associates degrees last year. It’s not just a voke school.

+1 It is probably more appealing to kids to expect to go to a VA state school since the DE classes will all transfer. It's not vocational. The one kid I know who goes there got into UVA ED.

Arlington Magazine has college admittance info (not sure how solid their data is) and last year included ACC/Arlington Tech as a category. That includes some other programs like Academic Academy, PEP, English Lang. Institute. I'd assume the AT program is the most college focused so likely most of the stats are from AT. Like other area HS's their largest applications/acceptances were VA state schools but also 1-2 apps at a wide range of other schools, OOS flagships, LACs, tech-focused schools, etc. Their UVA acceptance rate was similar to Yorktown's and their VT acceptance rate was the highest in the district (44%).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

Does it have more of a trade school or college prep feel? We are not looking for a trade school. Our child is a very strong and highly motivated student. Will they receive a stronger education at WL or Arlington Tech? I assume the school offers advanced and AP courses for those students who are interested? Are there any opportunities to visit the school at this stage?

Watch the virtual videos. There are no AP classes at Arlington Tech; it is a Dual Enrollment program.

So basically you can complete half an AA degree before high school. This seems just like a vocational school.

No. A number of seniors earned full Associates degrees last year. It’s not just a voke school.

+1 It is probably more appealing to kids to expect to go to a VA state school since the DE classes will all transfer. It's not vocational. The one kid I know who goes there got into UVA ED.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

Does it have more of a trade school or college prep feel? We are not looking for a trade school. Our child is a very strong and highly motivated student. Will they receive a stronger education at WL or Arlington Tech? I assume the school offers advanced and AP courses for those students who are interested? Are there any opportunities to visit the school at this stage?

Watch the virtual videos. There are no AP classes at Arlington Tech; it is a Dual Enrollment program.

So basically you can complete half an AA degree before high school. This seems just like a vocational school.

No. A number of seniors earned full Associates degrees last year. It’s not just a voke school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

Does it have more of a trade school or college prep feel? We are not looking for a trade school. Our child is a very strong and highly motivated student. Will they receive a stronger education at WL or Arlington Tech? I assume the school offers advanced and AP courses for those students who are interested? Are there any opportunities to visit the school at this stage?

Watch the virtual videos. There are no AP classes at Arlington Tech; it is a Dual Enrollment program.

So basically you can complete half an AA degree before high school. This seems just like a vocational school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

Does it have more of a trade school or college prep feel? We are not looking for a trade school. Our child is a very strong and highly motivated student. Will they receive a stronger education at WL or Arlington Tech? I assume the school offers advanced and AP courses for those students who are interested? Are there any opportunities to visit the school at this stage?

Watch the virtual videos. There are no AP classes at Arlington Tech; it is a Dual Enrollment program.

Anonymous wrote:Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

Son is at Tech and I don't get this sense at all. Well, maybe more boys than girls, but it doesn't seem like the student population is coming from the Wakefield zone or that they're looking to go into trades. It's a STEM program with access to the very cool and diverse offerings at ACC. It's project-based learning, so concepts are not taught just in the abstract. We love it so far.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

Does it have more of a trade school or college prep feel? We are not looking for a trade school. Our child is a very strong and highly motivated student. Will they receive a stronger education at WL or Arlington Tech? I assume the school offers advanced and AP courses for those students who are interested? Are there any opportunities to visit the school at this stage?

There were Harvard and Duke admits last year, so not just a trade school feel.

Anonymous wrote:Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

Does it have more of a trade school or college prep feel? We are not looking for a trade school. Our child is a very strong and highly motivated student. Will they receive a stronger education at WL or Arlington Tech? I assume the school offers advanced and AP courses for those students who are interested? Are there any opportunities to visit the school at this stage?

Another admittee looking for experiences, and I also have a question about the Algebra 1 / Geometry block. I know I can watch that posted video and/or email the school, but hoping someone knows off the top of their head. Does the student have to forego one of the other classes, which I guess would be PE or a language and pushed back to junior (?) year?

Mostly Wakefield students looking for a different environment and didn’t get into IB or HB.

More boys than girls, looking to go into trades

We are in the same position and would also really appreciate any information anyone can share!

Can you please share your experiences with Arlington Tech? Pros and cons? DC needs to make a decision within the next two weeks on whether to attend Arlington Tech or WL.