Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why everyone seems to want their kid to go to WL but then complains about the large size. There is a disconnect there.

They want someone else to leave. It is tough because elementary has many equivalent schools, but the difference between the 3 high schools is stark.

Is it really? My kids are not in HS yet but our neighbors go to Wakefield and they absolutely love it! I know that WL is the only one that has IB, but seems like a small number of kids do the full program. So what is so much better about WL, especially when it will be so large?

It’s not just the IB. It’s having critical mass of kids to take the top tier advanced classes in AP as well. Wakefield doesn’t run all the offerings in the course guide. Not by a long shot. WL and Yorktown run any more of them because they have plenty of kids who want those classes. WL and Yorktown are still very different schools themselves. But the salient difference between Wakefield and WL is large numbers of super motivated advanced learners. You can get a fine education at Wakefield by any measure. But it’s not comparable to WL.

I'm really sick of people characterizing schools with lower stats as filled with a lot of students who are not highly motivated learners. I'm not saying there aren't any unmotivated or low-motivated students; but you don't have to be taking 5 AP courses every year to be a "super motivated advanced learner." Not everyone is at the same place, coming from advantaged backgrounds and proficient in speaking, reading, and writing in English. And, quite frankly, many students were/are under-served at the lower levels and weren't/aren't able to perform at the same level as those you consider "super motivated advanced learners." Many of them are highly motivated and work just as hard, if not harder in some ways.

What does "a fine education at Wakefield by any measure" mean? I agree there are stark differences between the schools; but what does that comment mean? (besides "inferior" - which is still insulting to the highest-performing students at wakefield).

And the AP offerings is the prime example of why socioeconomic balance matters in educational settings. Concentrating poverty is a disservice to all the students of any means in our Title I schools and high FRM middle and high schools precisely because of the lack of access to equal offerings and opportunities. That's the essence and entirety of the "diversity" debate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why everyone seems to want their kid to go to WL but then complains about the large size. There is a disconnect there.

They want someone else to leave. It is tough because elementary has many equivalent schools, but the difference between the 3 high schools is stark.

Is it really? My kids are not in HS yet but our neighbors go to Wakefield and they absolutely love it! I know that WL is the only one that has IB, but seems like a small number of kids do the full program. So what is so much better about WL, especially when it will be so large?

It’s not just the IB. It’s having critical mass of kids to take the top tier advanced classes in AP as well. Wakefield doesn’t run all the offerings in the course guide. Not by a long shot. WL and Yorktown run any more of them because they have plenty of kids who want those classes. WL and Yorktown are still very different schools themselves. But the salient difference between Wakefield and WL is large numbers of super motivated advanced learners. You can get a fine education at Wakefield by any measure. But it’s not comparable to WL.

What kinds of classes does Wakefield not offer? Things like AP biology & AP chemistry? Advanced math? Something else?
I know that none of the high schools run everything in the course guide every year.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why everyone seems to want their kid to go to WL but then complains about the large size. There is a disconnect there.

W-L has educational advantages with both AP classes and the IB program and has reputable sports programs, but without the attitude (however you want to define it) and uber-wealthy perceptions/atmosphere/whatever of Yorktown. And obviously it isn't Wakefield; so, proclaiming they want diversity, they also have Wakefield's diversity without the corresponding negative perceptions of Wakefield academically and athletically. It's "the best of all worlds" - just crowded. If you thought you had "the best of everything," you'd probably tolerate crowding as a small, if not insignificant sacrifice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why everyone seems to want their kid to go to WL but then complains about the large size. There is a disconnect there.

They want someone else to leave. It is tough because elementary has many equivalent schools, but the difference between the 3 high schools is stark.

I don’t disagree that the schools are quite different, but I’d be happy for my child to go to W-L or Wakefield. Both sound great in different ways.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why everyone seems to want their kid to go to WL but then complains about the large size. There is a disconnect there.

They want someone else to leave. It is tough because elementary has many equivalent schools, but the difference between the 3 high schools is stark.

Is it really? My kids are not in HS yet but our neighbors go to Wakefield and they absolutely love it! I know that WL is the only one that has IB, but seems like a small number of kids do the full program. So what is so much better about WL, especially when it will be so large?

It’s not just the IB. It’s having critical mass of kids to take the top tier advanced classes in AP as well. Wakefield doesn’t run all the offerings in the course guide. Not by a long shot. WL and Yorktown run any more of them because they have plenty of kids who want those classes. WL and Yorktown are still very different schools themselves. But the salient difference between Wakefield and WL is large numbers of super motivated advanced learners. You can get a fine education at Wakefield by any measure. But it’s not comparable to WL.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no additional cafeteria, but the annex (the space that added the 600 seats and used to be admin) has a lot of general/flex space. My kid ate there whenever the weather was bad and they couldn't eat outside. You really only need to go in the cafeteria if you are buying lunch. Kids eat outside, in the annex, the courtyard, and anywhere on the 1st floor of the main building. My kids loved the flexibility. There is a new weight room in the annex but no additional field space. Still, as one poster pointed out, it's easier to make the teams at WL than Yorktown. Yorktown tends to have more kids that played travel sports and their teams are typically better than WL. WL has more diversity, both SES and race, than Yorktown.

Sounds like you like the expansion. You won’t be as happy when W-L has all the additional kids and it’s harder for kids to make teams or fill positions than at Yorktown.

Well kid just graduated so I really don’t care.

Then you should have avoided the thread, since your views are irrelevant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no additional cafeteria, but the annex (the space that added the 600 seats and used to be admin) has a lot of general/flex space. My kid ate there whenever the weather was bad and they couldn't eat outside. You really only need to go in the cafeteria if you are buying lunch. Kids eat outside, in the annex, the courtyard, and anywhere on the 1st floor of the main building. My kids loved the flexibility. There is a new weight room in the annex but no additional field space. Still, as one poster pointed out, it's easier to make the teams at WL than Yorktown. Yorktown tends to have more kids that played travel sports and their teams are typically better than WL. WL has more diversity, both SES and race, than Yorktown.

Sounds like you like the expansion. You won’t be as happy when W-L has all the additional kids and it’s harder for kids to make teams or fill positions than at Yorktown.

Well kid just graduated so I really don’t care.

Which is why we never got the 4th high school. The people impacted when decision was made had kids in preschool then and were unaware of coming train wreck.

No, we were fully aware we’re just done dealing with the $hit show that is APS Administration. We’ve been fighting it for a decade and we’re done. I truly DGAF anymore. I’m done with this fight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why everyone seems to want their kid to go to WL but then complains about the large size. There is a disconnect there.

They want someone else to leave. It is tough because elementary has many equivalent schools, but the difference between the 3 high schools is stark.

Is it really? My kids are not in HS yet but our neighbors go to Wakefield and they absolutely love it! I know that WL is the only one that has IB, but seems like a small number of kids do the full program. So what is so much better about WL, especially when it will be so large?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no additional cafeteria, but the annex (the space that added the 600 seats and used to be admin) has a lot of general/flex space. My kid ate there whenever the weather was bad and they couldn't eat outside. You really only need to go in the cafeteria if you are buying lunch. Kids eat outside, in the annex, the courtyard, and anywhere on the 1st floor of the main building. My kids loved the flexibility. There is a new weight room in the annex but no additional field space. Still, as one poster pointed out, it's easier to make the teams at WL than Yorktown. Yorktown tends to have more kids that played travel sports and their teams are typically better than WL. WL has more diversity, both SES and race, than Yorktown.

Sounds like you like the expansion. You won’t be as happy when W-L has all the additional kids and it’s harder for kids to make teams or fill positions than at Yorktown.

Well kid just graduated so I really don’t care.

Which is why we never got the 4th high school. The people impacted when decision was made had kids in preschool then and were unaware of coming train wreck.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why everyone seems to want their kid to go to WL but then complains about the large size. There is a disconnect there.

They want someone else to leave. It is tough because elementary has many equivalent schools, but the difference between the 3 high schools is stark.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no additional cafeteria, but the annex (the space that added the 600 seats and used to be admin) has a lot of general/flex space. My kid ate there whenever the weather was bad and they couldn't eat outside. You really only need to go in the cafeteria if you are buying lunch. Kids eat outside, in the annex, the courtyard, and anywhere on the 1st floor of the main building. My kids loved the flexibility. There is a new weight room in the annex but no additional field space. Still, as one poster pointed out, it's easier to make the teams at WL than Yorktown. Yorktown tends to have more kids that played travel sports and their teams are typically better than WL. WL has more diversity, both SES and race, than Yorktown.

Sounds like you like the expansion. You won’t be as happy when W-L has all the additional kids and it’s harder for kids to make teams or fill positions than at Yorktown.

Well kid just graduated so I really don’t care.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no additional cafeteria, but the annex (the space that added the 600 seats and used to be admin) has a lot of general/flex space. My kid ate there whenever the weather was bad and they couldn't eat outside. You really only need to go in the cafeteria if you are buying lunch. Kids eat outside, in the annex, the courtyard, and anywhere on the 1st floor of the main building. My kids loved the flexibility. There is a new weight room in the annex but no additional field space. Still, as one poster pointed out, it's easier to make the teams at WL than Yorktown. Yorktown tends to have more kids that played travel sports and their teams are typically better than WL. WL has more diversity, both SES and race, than Yorktown.

Sounds like you like the expansion. You won’t be as happy when W-L has all the additional kids and it’s harder for kids to make teams or fill positions than at Yorktown.

True, once they add 600 additional kids, those lunch nooks will be filled with classes, and hard to see how clubs and teams won’t get much more competitive with no additional field space to add more A/B/C teams.

I don't understand why everyone seems to want their kid to go to WL but then complains about the large size. There is a disconnect there.

Anonymous wrote:There's no additional cafeteria, but the annex (the space that added the 600 seats and used to be admin) has a lot of general/flex space. My kid ate there whenever the weather was bad and they couldn't eat outside. You really only need to go in the cafeteria if you are buying lunch. Kids eat outside, in the annex, the courtyard, and anywhere on the 1st floor of the main building. My kids loved the flexibility. There is a new weight room in the annex but no additional field space. Still, as one poster pointed out, it's easier to make the teams at WL than Yorktown. Yorktown tends to have more kids that played travel sports and their teams are typically better than WL. WL has more diversity, both SES and race, than Yorktown.

Sounds like you like the expansion. You won’t be as happy when W-L has all the additional kids and it’s harder for kids to make teams or fill positions than at Yorktown.

There's no additional cafeteria, but the annex (the space that added the 600 seats and used to be admin) has a lot of general/flex space. My kid ate there whenever the weather was bad and they couldn't eat outside. You really only need to go in the cafeteria if you are buying lunch. Kids eat outside, in the annex, the courtyard, and anywhere on the 1st floor of the main building. My kids loved the flexibility. There is a new weight room in the annex but no additional field space. Still, as one poster pointed out, it's easier to make the teams at WL than Yorktown. Yorktown tends to have more kids that played travel sports and their teams are typically better than WL. WL has more diversity, both SES and race, than Yorktown.