Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not a neighborhood school, it's a lottery.

It's stricter, has a dress code and has homework.

Classes are bigger.

It's generally used by people trying to escape neighborhood schools that have a lot of poverty.

I only know a few people who have kids there, and they have said that it's hard to schedule playdates and get to know families since they oftentimes don't speak English as their first language.

ATS family here. I do not agree with the "it's hard to schedule playdates and get to know families since they often times don't speak English as their first language". The school is diverse in many ways since it's lottery, however, it isn't hard to meet families or set up outside school activates if that is something you are interested in doing.

Another ATS family - easy to schedule playdates with classmates from ATS. Neighborhood kids? Good luck. Every new family we meet in our neighborhood groans when we say we go to ATS. If they just moved to Arlington (all those new people!) and we say ATS, they have no idea, but the next time we see them you see the jealousy.

OP, Put your kid in the lottery and make a decision later. Chances are that you won't get in. If you do, then you can take the spot and think about it and tour the school. If you change your mind your kid can always go to their neighborhood school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You really see no difference between ATS and other kids at the middle school level. At least IME.

I dunno. The transition to middle for my child from a no-homework, no-grade school was brutal. She is fine now but boy were there some rough times.

Yeah, how would a random parent know what the kids transition was like for kids not at ATS? My kid mostly hung out with former elem students for the first year anyway.

Anonymous wrote:You really see no difference between ATS and other kids at the middle school level. At least IME.

I dunno. The transition to middle for my child from a no-homework, no-grade school was brutal. She is fine now but boy were there some rough times.

Anonymous wrote:It is self contained, which means that the same teacher teaches all of the same subjects and the kids don't switch classes. Regular homework and updates from teachers. Think of an "old school" model.

Is it better is a loaded question. It is better for some kids and not for others. My kids do better with differentiation and being taught at their level. They like meeting other teachernns, dislike dress codes, and prefer not to have homework. For us, ATS wasn't the right fit. But it is a very, very good school and was an excellent fit for our neighbor.

What school offers differentiation for advanced students. I'm my DD class once you show SOL level competence you get less teacher time and get shuffled to DreamBox and such while teacher focuses on those not meeting SOL benchmarks.

ATS has the advantage that because of its self selected academic focused population, most students are already passing SOLs first try and then the whole class move on to more advanced Roland ne

Compare ATS to nearby Ashlawn, test scores are about 10% lower.

You really see no difference between ATS and other kids at the middle school level. At least IME.

Anonymous wrote:It’s more structured, more academic, etc. I didn’t apply because I thought homework for kids was bad but in hindsight I think the school would have been good for them. But also the kids wanted to go to school with neighborhood friends, so that has been nice. And we probably wouldn’t have gotten in anyway. I’m sure an ATS parent will respond but the ATS parents I know personally have loved it.

Same here. I thought it was crazy to apply because of the homework for the younger grades. I'm kicking myself now because we are in a school with no homework which isn't really ideal either. Wish I would have tried to get in. Glad I'm not the only one kicking myself.

As many have mentioned it is a lottery school. In my experience, there has been a bit more of an emphasis on academics. We have one child in a neighborhood school and one at ATS. Different kids, different needs and it's a pain because the school start times are different, location is different but so are our kids. Your child will get a good education at ATS but just know it is work. There's more of a "traditional" learning experience - weekly/daily reports on your child and progress checks, lots of time spent on core subjects like math and reading. Staff and teachers are great (but I think that is at most schools). You are going to get such a wide range of opinions on here. My advice if you are interested is calling and setting up a virtual or in person call with someone to get more information. Families either love or hate the school so it's hard to get a true picture of what it's like on this type of forum. Best of luck!

Anonymous wrote:It's not a neighborhood school, it's a lottery.

It's stricter, has a dress code and has homework.

Classes are bigger.

It's generally used by people trying to escape neighborhood schools that have a lot of poverty.

I only know a few people who have kids there, and they have said that it's hard to schedule playdates and get to know families since they oftentimes don't speak English as their first language.

ATS family here. I do not agree with the "it's hard to schedule playdates and get to know families since they often times don't speak English as their first language". The school is diverse in many ways since it's lottery, however, it isn't hard to meet families or set up outside school activates if that is something you are interested in doing.

It's probably like any other school in that it depends on your child. It's hard to get in so I wouldn't have my heart set on it since the odds are not in your favor.

It’s more structured, more academic, etc. I didn’t apply because I thought homework for kids was bad but in hindsight I think the school would have been good for them. But also the kids wanted to go to school with neighborhood friends, so that has been nice. And we probably wouldn’t have gotten in anyway. I’m sure an ATS parent will respond but the ATS parents I know personally have loved it.

It is self contained, which means that the same teacher teaches all of the same subjects and the kids don't switch classes. Regular homework and updates from teachers. Think of an "old school" model.

Is it better is a loaded question. It is better for some kids and not for others. My kids do better with differentiation and being taught at their level. They like meeting other teachers, dislike dress codes, and prefer not to have homework. For us, ATS wasn't the right fit. But it is a very, very good school and was an excellent fit for our neighbor.

It's not a neighborhood school, it's a lottery.

It's stricter, has a dress code and has homework.

Classes are bigger.

It's generally used by people trying to escape neighborhood schools that have a lot of poverty.

I only know a few people who have kids there, and they have said that it's hard to schedule playdates and get to know families since they oftentimes don't speak English as their first language.

It is an option school that has higher average scores because by definition it only pulls in students whose parents are highly engaged with academic achievement.

As for how it compares otherwise with your neighborhood school, we have no clue what your neighborhood school is.

New to the area. How is this different from my neighborhood elementary ? Is it better academically ?