I have a kid at HB but I stopped paying attention to this thread because there are random annoyed people in here who want to argue about the existence of the program.

My kid likes the school. If you get in I strongly suggest going on the tour and maybe talking to parents of current kids. Our year started a facebook group to talk about issues specific to our kids and their grade as they come up, also met up at parks over the summer before 6th grade started.

I guess be aware that there will be people like one of the PPs above who are just mad at you and at the school generally even though they don't seem to have any real understanding of the school or the related APS issues. In the case above with the PP who wants to turn the HB building into a new high school, note that PP did apply to HB for his/her kid but didn't get in, and now PP would like to dismantle the school essentially for parts, so *shrug* it's helpful to have the axe grinding context for perspective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

Even better, they converted offices of Ed center to classrooms, so any office should be able to converted similarly and since their classes are just like the other high school students, let them loose in a high rise and turn Heights into a normal high school where kids cant come and go.

Presumably the kids in classrooms at the Ed Center will be using the non-classroom spaces in the main W-L building for all of those activities....theater, gym, library, band room, cafeteria..... How would that work with a standalone office building?

HB students can go off campus for lunch, and most office buildings have a cafe that could be converted to school use, they don't have a theater now just a blackbox, it would be easy to build a library or simply request books from other schools to be sent to HB like they do now, and band room can either be done at home campus, and they can then participate in marching band and such as well.

What would be the purpose of this? They already have a school building.

It's not like renting vacant office buildings is free, no matter what you put in there.

We need a proper 4th HS and that tiny building in Rosslyn doesn't work except for a small program like HB. The building has a capacity limit.

We aren’t getting a 4th high school for a decade. We have excess middle school seats and still not enough high school seats within 5 years.

Suddenly having a building holding 700 students would help a lot.

Haha, vacant office buildings are just about free now. Arlington had excess before the pandemic, now? Landlords would love a long term stable tenant.

The building is already holding those 700 students. You are talking about redistributing them for no reason. Into an office building that will also have a cost and need considerable reconfiguring. Why?? This doesn't make any rational sense.

It sounds like you just hate HB on principle.

DP Agree with PP.
I don't even understand the point of point 1 about going off-site not meeting federal nutrition guidelines for school lunches. Neither does packing one's lunch and bringing it from home and every school allows that for every student.

What about kids on free lunch? There has to be a cafeteria - that was the point. Now maybe there is a vacant office building somewhere with free (!) rent that happens to have a suitable cafeteria that is currently unused but functional...? But you aren't likely to find that in a building with all the rest of the requirements that a school needs - library, theater, band room, gym, etc. So APS would have to spend a lot of money to remodel, for a retrofitted building that is not purpose-built, and how many kids would this hold? Plus if they are leasing this building, what happens when the lease is up, or the rent is raised? This is short-sighted thinking, plugging the gaps with temporary solutions that turn out to be permanent and not sufficient for growth.

Why? We need to just build another actual school. That is the solution, and we need everybody pushing this as the number one priority. Not these wacky take-over-an-office schemes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it me, or does it seem like one of the posters is obsessed with dismantling everything at HB, even if it wouldn’t actually be affordable, sensible, or in any way mitigate overcrowding at other schools?

Please. I did the math for turning HB into high school only, I proved how it will help.

HB needs to do it’s part for the community. I know you all “got yours, F the rest of you” but we need to be creative because SH has dragged 4th high school out.

Moving to office building is hardly dismantling.

Grrrrl, you got issues. Time to make an appointment with a therapist if not for you, then your family.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

Even better, they converted offices of Ed center to classrooms, so any office should be able to converted similarly and since their classes are just like the other high school students, let them loose in a high rise and turn Heights into a normal high school where kids cant come and go.

Presumably the kids in classrooms at the Ed Center will be using the non-classroom spaces in the main W-L building for all of those activities....theater, gym, library, band room, cafeteria..... How would that work with a standalone office building?

HB students can go off campus for lunch, and most office buildings have a cafe that could be converted to school use, they don't have a theater now just a blackbox, it would be easy to build a library or simply request books from other schools to be sent to HB like they do now, and band room can either be done at home campus, and they can then participate in marching band and such as well.

What would be the purpose of this? They already have a school building.

It's not like renting vacant office buildings is free, no matter what you put in there.

We need a proper 4th HS and that tiny building in Rosslyn doesn't work except for a small program like HB. The building has a capacity limit.

We aren’t getting a 4th high school for a decade. We have excess middle school seats and still not enough high school seats within 5 years.

Suddenly having a building holding 700 students would help a lot.

Haha, vacant office buildings are just about free now. Arlington had excess before the pandemic, now? Landlords would love a long term stable tenant.

The building is already holding those 700 students. You are talking about redistributing them for no reason. Into an office building that will also have a cost and need considerable reconfiguring. Why?? This doesn't make any rational sense.

It sounds like you just hate HB on principle.

DP Agree with PP.
I don't even understand the point of point 1 about going off-site not meeting federal nutrition guidelines for school lunches. Neither does packing one's lunch and bringing it from home and every school allows that for every student.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

Even better, they converted offices of Ed center to classrooms, so any office should be able to converted similarly and since their classes are just like the other high school students, let them loose in a high rise and turn Heights into a normal high school where kids cant come and go.

Presumably the kids in classrooms at the Ed Center will be using the non-classroom spaces in the main W-L building for all of those activities....theater, gym, library, band room, cafeteria..... How would that work with a standalone office building?

HB students can go off campus for lunch, and most office buildings have a cafe that could be converted to school use, they don't have a theater now just a blackbox, it would be easy to build a library or simply request books from other schools to be sent to HB like they do now, and band room can either be done at home campus, and they can then participate in marching band and such as well.

What would be the purpose of this? They already have a school building.

It's not like renting vacant office buildings is free, no matter what you put in there.

We need a proper 4th HS and that tiny building in Rosslyn doesn't work except for a small program like HB. The building has a capacity limit.

We aren’t getting a 4th high school for a decade. We have excess middle school seats and still not enough high school seats within 5 years.

Suddenly having a building holding 700 students would help a lot.

Haha, vacant office buildings are just about free now. Arlington had excess before the pandemic, now? Landlords would love a long term stable tenant.

The building is already holding those 700 students. You are talking about redistributing them for no reason. Into an office building that will also have a cost and need considerable reconfiguring. Why?? This doesn't make any rational sense.

It sounds like you just hate HB on principle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

Even better, they converted offices of Ed center to classrooms, so any office should be able to converted similarly and since their classes are just like the other high school students, let them loose in a high rise and turn Heights into a normal high school where kids cant come and go.

Presumably the kids in classrooms at the Ed Center will be using the non-classroom spaces in the main W-L building for all of those activities....theater, gym, library, band room, cafeteria..... How would that work with a standalone office building?

Anonymous wrote:HB students can go off campus for lunch

a) I thought the issue was kids "coming and going" and b) going offsite for meals does not meet requirements of federal school lunch program

Anonymous wrote:and most office buildings have a cafe that could be converted to school use

so, not just "loose in a high rise?" -- now we're retrofitting kitchens that can serve 400-700 meals a day?

Anonymous wrote:they don't have a theater now just a blackbox

yes, HB has a theater, which is used for theater classes 6 periods a day and for theater performances

Anonymous wrote:it would be easy to build a library

again, we're retrofitting an office building now?

Anonymous wrote:or simply request books from other schools to be sent to HB like they do now

what? HB has a library and study rooms

Anonymous wrote:and band room can either be done at home campus, and they can then participate in marching band and such as well.

we're going to bus kids to other high schools 6 periods a day to take band and orchestra?

I don't think you have any idea what a high school schedule looks like, or a high school building

Omg, dramatic. Yes they can fee 700 kids; an office building that held 1000s would easily have that throughout and it’s probably a nicer kitchen than most elem schools.

Building a library — add book shelves to some open floor plan which used to have cubicles. “retrofitting”. And yes students routinely request books that are only at other schools.

So exactly how big is the theater in the Heights building?

Band schedules can be consolidated to only need 1-2, most of the time overlap so, you know, the band can play together.

Please stop, you're not going to convince anyone with these idiotic arguments that just show you don't have a middle or high schooler and have no idea how schools work.

Never mind the money side not adding up. Maybe if it made sense in a dollars-and-cents way, people would stretch to make the program side fit. Or, like they have done other times, make the program fit the money. But if the money makes no sense and the program makes no sense--why do you keep arguing?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

Even better, they converted offices of Ed center to classrooms, so any office should be able to converted similarly and since their classes are just like the other high school students, let them loose in a high rise and turn Heights into a normal high school where kids cant come and go.

Presumably the kids in classrooms at the Ed Center will be using the non-classroom spaces in the main W-L building for all of those activities....theater, gym, library, band room, cafeteria..... How would that work with a standalone office building?

Anonymous wrote:HB students can go off campus for lunch

a) I thought the issue was kids "coming and going" and b) going offsite for meals does not meet requirements of federal school lunch program

Anonymous wrote:and most office buildings have a cafe that could be converted to school use

so, not just "loose in a high rise?" -- now we're retrofitting kitchens that can serve 400-700 meals a day?

Anonymous wrote:they don't have a theater now just a blackbox

yes, HB has a theater, which is used for theater classes 6 periods a day and for theater performances

Anonymous wrote:it would be easy to build a library

again, we're retrofitting an office building now?

Anonymous wrote:or simply request books from other schools to be sent to HB like they do now

what? HB has a library and study rooms

Anonymous wrote:and band room can either be done at home campus, and they can then participate in marching band and such as well.

we're going to bus kids to other high schools 6 periods a day to take band and orchestra?

I don't think you have any idea what a high school schedule looks like, or a high school building

Omg, dramatic. Yes they can fee 700 kids; an office building that held 1000s would easily have that throughout and it’s probably a nicer kitchen than most elem schools.

Building a library — add book shelves to some open floor plan which used to have cubicles. “retrofitting”. And yes students routinely request books that are only at other schools.

So exactly how big is the theater in the Heights building?

Band schedules can be consolidated to only need 1-2, most of the time overlap so, you know, the band can play together.

Anonymous wrote:Is it me, or does it seem like one of the posters is obsessed with dismantling everything at HB, even if it wouldn’t actually be affordable, sensible, or in any way mitigate overcrowding at other schools?

Please. I did the math for turning HB into high school only, I proved how it will help.

HB needs to do it’s part for the community. I know you all “got yours, F the rest of you” but we need to be creative because SH has dragged 4th high school out.

Moving to office building is hardly dismantling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

Even better, they converted offices of Ed center to classrooms, so any office should be able to converted similarly and since their classes are just like the other high school students, let them loose in a high rise and turn Heights into a normal high school where kids cant come and go.

Presumably the kids in classrooms at the Ed Center will be using the non-classroom spaces in the main W-L building for all of those activities....theater, gym, library, band room, cafeteria..... How would that work with a standalone office building?

HB students can go off campus for lunch, and most office buildings have a cafe that could be converted to school use, they don't have a theater now just a blackbox, it would be easy to build a library or simply request books from other schools to be sent to HB like they do now, and band room can either be done at home campus, and they can then participate in marching band and such as well.

What would be the purpose of this? They already have a school building.

It's not like renting vacant office buildings is free, no matter what you put in there.

We need a proper 4th HS and that tiny building in Rosslyn doesn't work except for a small program like HB. The building has a capacity limit.

We aren’t getting a 4th high school for a decade. We have excess middle school seats and still not enough high school seats within 5 years.

Suddenly having a building holding 700 students would help a lot.

Haha, vacant office buildings are just about free now. Arlington had excess before the pandemic, now? Landlords would love a long term stable tenant.

Is it me, or does it seem like one of the posters is obsessed with dismantling everything at HB, even if it wouldn’t actually be affordable, sensible, or in any way mitigate overcrowding at other schools?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

Even better, they converted offices of Ed center to classrooms, so any office should be able to converted similarly and since their classes are just like the other high school students, let them loose in a high rise and turn Heights into a normal high school where kids cant come and go.

Presumably the kids in classrooms at the Ed Center will be using the non-classroom spaces in the main W-L building for all of those activities....theater, gym, library, band room, cafeteria..... How would that work with a standalone office building?

Anonymous wrote:HB students can go off campus for lunch

a) I thought the issue was kids "coming and going" and b) going offsite for meals does not meet requirements of federal school lunch program

Anonymous wrote:and most office buildings have a cafe that could be converted to school use

so, not just "loose in a high rise?" -- now we're retrofitting kitchens that can serve 400-700 meals a day?

Anonymous wrote:they don't have a theater now just a blackbox

yes, HB has a theater, which is used for theater classes 6 periods a day and for theater performances

Anonymous wrote:it would be easy to build a library

again, we're retrofitting an office building now?

Anonymous wrote:or simply request books from other schools to be sent to HB like they do now

what? HB has a library and study rooms

Anonymous wrote:and band room can either be done at home campus, and they can then participate in marching band and such as well.

we're going to bus kids to other high schools 6 periods a day to take band and orchestra?

I don't think you have any idea what a high school schedule looks like, or a high school building

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

Even better, they converted offices of Ed center to classrooms, so any office should be able to converted similarly and since their classes are just like the other high school students, let them loose in a high rise and turn Heights into a normal high school where kids cant come and go.

Presumably the kids in classrooms at the Ed Center will be using the non-classroom spaces in the main W-L building for all of those activities....theater, gym, library, band room, cafeteria..... How would that work with a standalone office building?

HB students can go off campus for lunch, and most office buildings have a cafe that could be converted to school use, they don't have a theater now just a blackbox, it would be easy to build a library or simply request books from other schools to be sent to HB like they do now, and band room can either be done at home campus, and they can then participate in marching band and such as well.

What would be the purpose of this? They already have a school building.

It's not like renting vacant office buildings is free, no matter what you put in there.

We need a proper 4th HS and that tiny building in Rosslyn doesn't work except for a small program like HB. The building has a capacity limit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

Even better, they converted offices of Ed center to classrooms, so any office should be able to converted similarly and since their classes are just like the other high school students, let them loose in a high rise and turn Heights into a normal high school where kids cant come and go.

Presumably the kids in classrooms at the Ed Center will be using the non-classroom spaces in the main W-L building for all of those activities....theater, gym, library, band room, cafeteria..... How would that work with a standalone office building?

HB students can go off campus for lunch, and most office buildings have a cafe that could be converted to school use, they don't have a theater now just a blackbox, it would be easy to build a library or simply request books from other schools to be sent to HB like they do now, and band room can either be done at home campus, and they can then participate in marching band and such as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who can afford to live in the WL zone can afford to live elsewhere and send their kids to another high school (ahem, Wakefield) if they want. They made choices with their money about where to live and what schools to send their kids to. Don't feel sorry that they paid so much to send their kids to crowded schools, it's not like we didn't see this coming the ENTIRE TIME their kids were in school.

Sure, everyone has seen it coming – but it’s also not unreasonable to expect that the school board would have actually done something about it in all this time. Like use some of that insane $$$$ spent to build the new HBW building on a new HS.

They effectively spent it on a new middle school (moved HB and added Hamm)

Why didn’t they just vacant office space for HB students? They are free to leave campus even in middle school, it’s a focus on independence and self directed study, so some converted office spaces with lots of white boards for Socratic discussions seems right up the alley, and would have cost almost nothing.

What are you talking about with Socratic discussions? HB kids take all the same classes as other APS kids (fewer choices, if anything) and have the same graduation requirements. The independence and self directed study has to do with being responsible for how they use their free periods and deciding how to spend the PTA budget--they aren't teaching themselves chemistry and APUSH.

Even better, they converted offices of Ed center to classrooms, so any office should be able to converted similarly and since their classes are just like the other high school students, let them loose in a high rise and turn Heights into a normal high school where kids cant come and go.

Presumably the kids in classrooms at the Ed Center will be using the non-classroom spaces in the main W-L building for all of those activities....theater, gym, library, band room, cafeteria..... How would that work with a standalone office building?

Anonymous wrote:To get back on topic to the original post, I’m also interested in hearing more about the middle school experience at HBW. Parents get excited when they win the lottery, but does it live up to expectations for the kids? From what I’ve read so far, kids who are very athletic and want the high school sports experience eventually leave for their neighborhood school. Other than the sports issue, are there any major downsides of going the HB route, especially in 6th?

I have a middle schooler at HB who is very active in sports and is also very happy at HB. You cannot participate in middle school sports teams because of the different schedule but many kids continue to play travel sports and/or rec sports after school.

Also once kids get to high school they can arrange their schedules to make it possible to play sports for their home high schools and many kids take advantage of this.

Overall, my perception of HB is that it is generally a very kind, welcoming, and accepting community where students feel free to be themselves.