Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone - we are just afraid of losing connection to the local community and sports as well.

If they have good friends going to Swanson, then I’d probably stay there. What about high school? Will friends split between high schools? W&L and yorktown?

Anonymous wrote:There are kids at HB who play sports for their home school but this isn't possible until high school due to the schedules. If you want the traditional sporty middle and high school experience, don't go to HB.

This. HB is for nerds. Anyone who gets in is very lucky. It’s like a private within Arlington.

I’ve never heard of anyone turned down HB.

I get it OP. I don’t think it’s a total no brainer. My son didn’t get a slot at HB but we were very torn about whether we would do it if he did. We are walkers and have a great community and HB is far.

Swanson has been great for my kid. I’m sure HB is great too.

There are kids at HB who play sports for their home school but this isn't possible until high school due to the schedules. If you want the traditional sporty middle and high school experience, don't go to HB.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone - we are just afraid of losing connection to the local community and sports as well.

Everyone who starts at HB is new and barely knows anyone so the kids make friends easily.

But don't take the spot if you don't want it, give it to someone who does!

Thanks everyone - we are just afraid of losing connection to the local community and sports as well.

It's a no brainer to take HB, but if you don't want it, you will make someone on the wait list very happy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The extracurriculars were not a ding for us, but needing to pretty much start over with school friends was a downside. My kid wanted to give it a try and has been very happy, but they do feel forgotten by elementary friends – but they know that might have happened along the way anyway. No regrets.

Both DD went to neighborhood middle school, and all elementary friends drifted. Some moved to private, some formed new friendships and “outgrew” old friends, etc. friendships are pretty fluid at this age.

PP here – no disagreement here. It just felt abrupt to the kid. It was not at all unexpected by me. And we let the kid make the final decision, knowing if they didn’t feel like it was a good fit, returning to the neighborhood MS was an option. It’s not a utopia, but for my child, the upsides outweighed any (perceived) downsides.

Anonymous wrote:The extracurriculars were not a ding for us, but needing to pretty much start over with school friends was a downside. My kid wanted to give it a try and has been very happy, but they do feel forgotten by elementary friends – but they know that might have happened along the way anyway. No regrets.

Both DD went to neighborhood middle school, and all elementary friends drifted. Some moved to private, some formed new friendships and “outgrew” old friends, etc. friendships are pretty fluid at this age.

Why is this a hard decision, go to HBW and if you don’t like it you can always go back to neighborhood school. There’s a reason it’s considered a golden ticket, there is zero downside.

The extracurriculars were not a ding for us, but needing to pretty much start over with school friends was a downside. My kid wanted to give it a try and has been very happy, but they do feel forgotten by elementary friends – but they know that might have happened along the way anyway. No regrets.

Anonymous wrote:Do kids automatically go from HBW middle school to high school or do they have to get through another lottery (for 9th grade +)?

If they automatically move into high school, then they'd have the same friends.

No, they don't go through another lottery. Once they're in they're in.

This is pretty basic stuff. Apparently you don't know nearly enough about HB to comment on this thread. Just sayin'.

Do kids automatically go from HBW middle school to high school or do they have to get through another lottery (for 9th grade +)?

If they automatically move into high school, then they'd have the same friends.

Has anyone declined HBW for Swanson and regretted it? Making new friends and limited extracurriculars really are concerning. Just seeing if anyone has thoughts.