Anonymous wrote:Anecdotally speaking, the middle schools in APS are probably the weakest link in the overall education continuum. That's been our experience and I know many others who feel similarly. It's not bad, per se, it's just not as strong as elementary and high school.

As to Kenmore, I'd say it unfairly gets a bad rap. My DD is in high school with a bunch of great and smart kids who went there and a lot of parents love it. The middle school parents seem the happiest with is Hamm.

Also, you should read up on the APS approach for gifted students. I believe it is starting to change and get stronger, but it's nothing like the FCPS AAP program.

Isn't that the case pretty much everywhere? It's just a tough transitional age. I have a friend who is a long time middle school teacher, mostly in a gifted program (not APS) and even with a generally "easy" population, she says middle school is just hard everywhere.

Let's face, despite Kenmore getting a total refurb/rebuild a few years ago that would be welcomed in UA, it is, in fact, in LA...so be careful...

Keep in mind that depending on where your future house is located, your kid and their friends may end up in separate high schools. Kids who attend Kenmore & live north of highway 50 go to W&L (I believe) and south go to Wakefield. Kenmore may (or might not) become the new immersion location but the SB put that convo on hold. You might consider joining Arlington Education Matters to get a feel for how some parents feel about APS. So far we are still new to Kenmore but find the staff responsive (but we are heavily involved and pay for a lot of external activities for our kid).

I was really impressed with the Kenmore teachers at BTSN for the intensified classes. They have advanced degrees (in the subject matter, not just ED) and have taught for many years, some at the HS level. Even before intensified classes, kid was happy and never complained of slow classes or disruptive behavior in the classroom, just hallways and bathrooms between classes and observed but not directed toward DC. I don’t have direct experience with schools in FFX, but have close friends and it all sounds very similar at the MS level and above. ES differs with centers and AAP being segregated, whereas APS has gifted clusters and push-in services for ES.

Anecdotally speaking, the middle schools in APS are probably the weakest link in the overall education continuum. That's been our experience and I know many others who feel similarly. It's not bad, per se, it's just not as strong as elementary and high school.

As to Kenmore, I'd say it unfairly gets a bad rap. My DD is in high school with a bunch of great and smart kids who went there and a lot of parents love it. The middle school parents seem the happiest with is Hamm.

Also, you should read up on the APS approach for gifted students. I believe it is starting to change and get stronger, but it's nothing like the FCPS AAP program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:haven’t been overly impressed with Kenmore and the location is a nightmare in the morning and after school. It’s a big mess with the traffic patterns and I don’t suggest walking either. The building is nice, but academically there is much better in the DMV area.

Academically, what have been the big problems at Kenmore?

Friends whose kid went there said that some of the teachers are pretty lax, especially for the kids who are more advanced. It's because they have to focus more on pulling up the many ESL kids. But they kept their son in Kenmore and just took a more active role in ensuring that he was engaged and learning. He did great in high school and is now at a very good college, so it really is what you make of it.

Obviously, Potomac School would be a very different type of education. But there is nothing uniquely bad about Kenmore compared to other APS middle schools.

Anonymous wrote:haven’t been overly impressed with Kenmore and the location is a nightmare in the morning and after school. It’s a big mess with the traffic patterns and I don’t suggest walking either. The building is nice, but academically there is much better in the DMV area.

Academically, what have been the big problems at Kenmore?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not choose - or not choose - a school based on anecdotal reports of bullying. That happens at all schools. If you think you can avoid it in private school, you are kidding youself.

+1 If you care about test scores, just look at the VA state website. Overall averages are not reasonable comparisons between Kenmore and more affluent schools but you can see how scores break out for "not economically disadvantaged" students. I just looked at Kenmore vs Swanson and they are pretty much the same for the reading average and math average.

Increasingly, not economically disadvantaged students are receiving outside supplementation, either at home or through external programs. So it's getting harder to tell how much school is driving these scores versus outside programs/home supplementation.

haven’t been overly impressed with Kenmore and the location is a nightmare in the morning and after school. It’s a big mess with the traffic patterns and I don’t suggest walking either. The building is nice, but academically there is much better in the DMV area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not choose - or not choose - a school based on anecdotal reports of bullying. That happens at all schools. If you think you can avoid it in private school, you are kidding youself.

Ha that's true, and if you aren't rich rich you can probably count on your kid getting bullied at least a little bit.

We moved my daughter from public elementary to private middle school, thinking that it would be better socially. But she was the relatively poor kid and it was awful for her. Just tons of overt class shaming. We moved her back to public middle school, where she was much happier.

Anonymous wrote:I would not choose - or not choose - a school based on anecdotal reports of bullying. That happens at all schools. If you think you can avoid it in private school, you are kidding youself.

+1 If you care about test scores, just look at the VA state website. Overall averages are not reasonable comparisons between Kenmore and more affluent schools but you can see how scores break out for "not economically disadvantaged" students. I just looked at Kenmore vs Swanson and they are pretty much the same for the reading average and math average.

Anonymous wrote:I would not choose - or not choose - a school based on anecdotal reports of bullying. That happens at all schools. If you think you can avoid it in private school, you are kidding youself.

Ha that's true, and if you aren't rich rich you can probably count on your kid getting bullied at least a little bit.

I would not choose - or not choose - a school based on anecdotal reports of bullying. That happens at all schools. If you think you can avoid it in private school, you are kidding youself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of fights and bullying and behavior issues. Don’t let people say this is typical for all APS middle schools, it’s not.

It is. Do we need to dig up the ARLNow articles about other MS again?

Not at Williamsburg.

+1

Or Hamm for the most part. Unless you count the kid that was attacked by the Kenmore students.

I’m sure that Hamm and Williamsburg are free of bullying.

Anonymous wrote:Stay in Fairfax. The schools are better there.

Agree