Seems like educational apartheid in Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe OP is just sick of all you tools shitting all over ACPS. Really, enough already!

Rarely do I say this, but: She started it. I was just here, minding my business, taking advantages of solicitations to ask various people anything, and she waltzes in and cherrypicks something bad about an Arlington school ... imply TC is the tops? The tower of Pisa? All that and a bag of chips?

Sorry she feels shat on. Doesn't change the fact that ACPS is a shitty system with fundamental problems. It's interesting that her answer to that is to lash out at Arlington. But then again, mindsets like that keep ACPS from improving.

Through bringing up Wakefield on a topic thread about Tuckahoe Elementary, it seems like she was just trying to "crash the party." Wakefield has nothing to do with Tuckahoe.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe OP is just sick of all you tools shitting all over ACPS. Really, enough already!

Rarely do I say this, but: She started it. I was just here, minding my business, taking advantages of solicitations to ask various people anything, and she waltzes in and cherrypicks something bad about an Arlington school ... imply TC is the tops? The tower of Pisa? All that and a bag of chips?

Sorry she feels shat on. Doesn't change the fact that ACPS is a shitty system with fundamental problems. It's interesting that her answer to that is to lash out at Arlington. But then again, mindsets like that keep ACPS from improving.

Maybe OP is just sick of all you tools shitting all over ACPS. Really, enough already!

Anonymous wrote:OP, the joy you seem to be expressing that some kids aren't getting an education is repugnant. Why would you be happy to know that anyone is dropping out of school? so you can gloat about your own school???

TC's nothing to gloat about, which makes OP's post even stranger.

Eh, a 21% dropout rate at TC Williams isn't anything to write home about, either, especially when 6% of TC's graduates received either a "modified standard" or a "special" diploma ("special" diploma isn't a mark of standard achievement, btw).

10 percent of whites at TC drop out vs. 8 percent of whites at Wakefield.

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/graduation_completion/cohort_reports/index.shtml

Not defending Wakefield, but I find your denigration of it as proof of TC's superiority to be uproariously funny.

OP, the joy you seem to be expressing that some kids aren't getting an education is repugnant. Why would you be happy to know that anyone is dropping out of school? so you can gloat about your own school???

Anonymous wrote:The most recent four year dropout rate at Wakefield High in Arlington is over 25%. That's much higher than at TC Williams. Guess you CAN go wrong in some Arlington schools.

I think we'll stay with ACPS for a while!

Sigh, do you REALLY want to do this again? Enjoy your shitty school!

Anonymous wrote:
The gentrifying neighborhoods in DC are actually attracting lots of families. Affluent, mostly white families with kids are moving into Woodridge, Brookland, Petworth and other formerly African American neighborhoods as the older residents retire and move out. While there are decent elementary and charter school options, after 6th grade there aren't many good public schools except Deal, Wilson, School W/o Walls, and Banneker.

It will take time to see if these families remain in those neighborhoods and send their kids to public school. Overall, the enrollment in DCPS is down substantially compared to what it used to be, and much of the decline is due to middle-class AA families who left the city.

Anonymous wrote: The longer-term implication is whether, as South Arlington gets redeveloped (as seems inevitable), it will attract families who'll send their kids to the public schools or, instead, a growing numbers of residents without children, like some gentrifying DC neighborhoods.

The gentrifying neighborhoods in DC are actually attracting lots of families. Affluent, mostly white families with kids are moving into Woodridge, Brookland, Petworth and other formerly African American neighborhoods as the older residents retire and move out. While there are decent elementary and charter school options, after 6th grade there aren't many good public schools except Deal, Wilson, School W/o Walls, and Banneker.

I had no idea, but the OP is right. The drop-out rate at Wakefield for the students scheduled to graduate in mid-2011 was over 25%. That's the highest of any high school in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church or Loudoun, according to the Virginia Department of Education. Other schools in the area with high concentrations of students from challenged backgrounds - such as TC Williams in Alexandria, Annandale, Falls Church and Stuart in Fairfax, and Park View in Loudoun - all have higher graduation rates. It may be that there's only so much that a school system can do for some of these kids, but the statistic does suggest that Arlington has allowed one of its high schools to be the region's worst, at least by one measure of achievement.

Arlington could change that statistic in a heartbeat by revising the current HS boundaries. It's not clear that would necessarily help the students who struggle, but it might change some of the current perceptions about South Arlington schools. The longer-term implication is whether, as South Arlington gets redeveloped (as seems inevitable), it will attract families who'll send their kids to the public schools or, instead, a growing numbers of residents without children, like some gentrifying DC neighborhoods.

Most people won't bother to go from TCW to Wakefield. If they move out of Alexandria for the schools, they're likely to move to North Arlington. Otherwise, what's the point? (shorter commute?)

OP is just trying to make herself feel better about ACPS. Let her.

I would think you'd have to dig deeper into that data to get a full picture. I suspect that Wakefield's higher percentage of Latino students contributes to that statistic. I read recently that less than 60 percent of Latino students in Arlington graduate, which is consistent with national trends as well. I have a Latina foster daughter who is a high school senior struggling to graduate in Arlington, struggling with a combination of language difficulty and cultural norms for Latinas. Her school has been beyond helpful, and if she fails to graduate, while it will be a mark against their statistics, it should not be construed as a failure or lack of effort or educational quality on their part.

The most recent four year dropout rate at Wakefield High in Arlington is over 25%. That's much higher than at TC Williams. Guess you CAN go wrong in some Arlington schools.

I think we'll stay with ACPS for a while!