Anonymous wrote:NP. We switched 3rd grader DS to Catholic school this year (from a N Arlington school) and as a result of the great instruction plus nightly homework, he is finally working at grade level! He can finally spell basic words, write sentences with proper grammar, write book reports, converse in basic Spanish and solve math word problems. Religious education focuses on strong moral values. School day is slightly longer.

Moral values like raping boys? I don't get the appeal of Catholicism.

NP. We switched 3rd grader DS to Catholic school this year (from a N Arlington school) and as a result of the great instruction plus nightly homework, he is finally working at grade level! He can finally spell basic words, write sentences with proper grammar, write book reports, converse in basic Spanish and solve math word problems. Religious education focuses on strong moral values. School day is slightly longer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yep. It's a completely different ballgame at the elem and middle school level. HS kids can make DL work. It sucks but they're making it work and are less likely to leave. My senior is sticking it out although this year has been a total waste. Moved our elem kid to private in the fall. His 5th grade class lost 10 kids this year.

Moreover, in high school you have honors, AP, and other differentiated classes. While in elementary and middle school they lump all skill levels in same class, so your bright kid is stuck re-doing all the material that fell fallow because of virtual school etc. basically, a 7th grader can expect to be learning 6th grade material in APS for the next couple of years.

I really wonder (and hope) that perhaps COVID impacts will force APS into some form of differentiation in elementary/middle so that they can actually address disparities between kids, particularly since the differences age and readiness are going to be extreme for the next several years across the board in terms of who's held back, who got tutoring, who was left with minimal instruction.


- NP with a rising K who will be attending private because of lack of trust in APS' COVID response.

Aps does have differentiation in upper elementary and middle school. In fourth and fifth grades they usually have a home room and then different teachers for math and possibly language arts. In middle school, they have an intensified math track.

Not to be rude, but this is not differentiation. The kids in upper elementary who have different teachers for different subjects move as a block. If they are a strong reader or identified as “gifted” in any area, they are in the same class doing the same work with all of the other kids. Some kids who are really struggling to read get some addition focused interventions. And the intensified math track is for a tiny fraction of kids. This doesn’t bother me much about APS so far (I’ve had at least 1 “gifted” kid in APS for 9 years so far) but many parents want the work to challenge their gifted kids. I’m more concerned about how shockingly little APS gets away with doing for kids who are not doing well—barely reading at grade level, etc. Especially now. They settled one huge lawsuit in 2020 and I’m guessing there’s another coming their way.

Anonymous wrote:

Yep. It's a completely different ballgame at the elem and middle school level. HS kids can make DL work. It sucks but they're making it work and are less likely to leave. My senior is sticking it out although this year has been a total waste. Moved our elem kid to private in the fall. His 5th grade class lost 10 kids this year.

Moreover, in high school you have honors, AP, and other differentiated classes. While in elementary and middle school they lump all skill levels in same class, so your bright kid is stuck re-doing all the material that fell fallow because of virtual school etc. basically, a 7th grader can expect to be learning 6th grade material in APS for the next couple of years.

I really wonder (and hope) that perhaps COVID impacts will force APS into some form of differentiation in elementary/middle so that they can actually address disparities between kids, particularly since the differences age and readiness are going to be extreme for the next several years across the board in terms of who's held back, who got tutoring, who was left with minimal instruction.


- NP with a rising K who will be attending private because of lack of trust in APS' COVID response.

Aps does have differentiation in upper elementary and middle school. In fourth and fifth grades they usually have a home room and then different teachers for math and possibly language arts. In middle school, they have an intensified math track.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of that 8000 are kids who were registered for K and whose parents didn’t send them after all. When you take that out and realize they’ll all go in next year and many private defectors will come back, it’s not a huge number . Same for any districts.

Private defectors are not coming back. Why on earth would they?

Private school isn't worth $40k more than public 5-days, in-person for many families.

Parochials certainly aren't worth it.

Parochials at about $6-7k a year are worth it.

Not for subpar education and religious nonsense.

Subpar compared to Arlington? BWHAHAHAHAH. APS is bottom of the barrel at the moment. It's impossible to be supbar to that.

APS has a solid curriculum and many great, QUALIFIED teachers. Plus it doesn't waste time on myths.

Glad you enjoy it.

But can your kids read? Probably not.

No clue what myths you’re talking about. Not in a parochial school but getting an actual 5 day a week education. But go on about your quality teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of that 8000 are kids who were registered for K and whose parents didn’t send them after all. When you take that out and realize they’ll all go in next year and many private defectors will come back, it’s not a huge number . Same for any districts.

Private defectors are not coming back. Why on earth would they?

Private school isn't worth $40k more than public 5-days, in-person for many families.

Parochials certainly aren't worth it.

Parochials at about $6-7k a year are worth it.

Not for subpar education and religious nonsense.

Subpar compared to Arlington? BWHAHAHAHAH. APS is bottom of the barrel at the moment. It's impossible to be supbar to that.

APS has a solid curriculum and many great, QUALIFIED teachers. Plus it doesn't waste time on myths.

Glad you enjoy it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of that 8000 are kids who were registered for K and whose parents didn’t send them after all. When you take that out and realize they’ll all go in next year and many private defectors will come back, it’s not a huge number . Same for any districts.

Private defectors are not coming back. Why on earth would they?

Private school isn't worth $40k more than public 5-days, in-person for many families.

Parochials certainly aren't worth it.

Parochials at about $6-7k a year are worth it.

Not for subpar education and religious nonsense.

Subpar compared to Arlington? BWHAHAHAHAH. APS is bottom of the barrel at the moment. It's impossible to be supbar to that.

APS has a solid curriculum and many great, QUALIFIED teachers. Plus it doesn't waste time on myths.

Anonymous wrote:

Yep. It's a completely different ballgame at the elem and middle school level. HS kids can make DL work. It sucks but they're making it work and are less likely to leave. My senior is sticking it out although this year has been a total waste. Moved our elem kid to private in the fall. His 5th grade class lost 10 kids this year.

Moreover, in high school you have honors, AP, and other differentiated classes. While in elementary and middle school they lump all skill levels in same class, so your bright kid is stuck re-doing all the material that fell fallow because of virtual school etc. basically, a 7th grader can expect to be learning 6th grade material in APS for the next couple of years.

I really wonder (and hope) that perhaps COVID impacts will force APS into some form of differentiation in elementary/middle so that they can actually address disparities between kids, particularly since the differences age and readiness are going to be extreme for the next several years across the board in terms of who's held back, who got tutoring, who was left with minimal instruction.


- NP with a rising K who will be attending private because of lack of trust in APS' COVID response.

Do you have older children? Any actual experience with APS?

Yep. It's a completely different ballgame at the elem and middle school level. HS kids can make DL work. It sucks but they're making it work and are less likely to leave. My senior is sticking it out although this year has been a total waste. Moved our elem kid to private in the fall. His 5th grade class lost 10 kids this year.

Moreover, in high school you have honors, AP, and other differentiated classes. While in elementary and middle school they lump all skill levels in same class, so your bright kid is stuck re-doing all the material that fell fallow because of virtual school etc. basically, a 7th grader can expect to be learning 6th grade material in APS for the next couple of years.

I really wonder (and hope) that perhaps COVID impacts will force APS into some form of differentiation in elementary/middle so that they can actually address disparities between kids, particularly since the differences age and readiness are going to be extreme for the next several years across the board in terms of who's held back, who got tutoring, who was left with minimal instruction.


- NP with a rising K who will be attending private because of lack of trust in APS' COVID response.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of that 8000 are kids who were registered for K and whose parents didn’t send them after all. When you take that out and realize they’ll all go in next year and many private defectors will come back, it’s not a huge number . Same for any districts.

Private defectors are not coming back. Why on earth would they?

Private school isn't worth $40k more than public 5-days, in-person for many families.

Parochials certainly aren't worth it.

Parochials at about $6-7k a year are worth it.

Not for subpar education and religious nonsense.

Subpar compared to Arlington? BWHAHAHAHAH. APS is bottom of the barrel at the moment. It's impossible to be supbar to that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of that 8000 are kids who were registered for K and whose parents didn’t send them after all. When you take that out and realize they’ll all go in next year and many private defectors will come back, it’s not a huge number . Same for any districts.

Private defectors are not coming back. Why on earth would they?

Private school isn't worth $40k more than public 5-days, in-person for many families.

Parochials certainly aren't worth it.

Parochials at about $6-7k a year are worth it.

Not for subpar education and religious nonsense.

Well, “religious nonsense” is your own, angry characterization. And I’d wager that most parochial schools run academic circles around Arlington.