"I think much of school (I am Arl Co., but don't think it is just this Co.) is geared toward females"

Yes, this is a known fact, what do you think should be done. Do you how many times I've gotten comments on my middle schoolers report card saying "johnny is very bright, but he is not working to his full potential, only if he could stay focus and turn in his homework." Seeing that I was fighting an uphill battle and I was tearing my hair out, I was tired of hearing at parents teacher conferences he is bright but. Knowing him best, my husband and I created our own educational program for him where he teaches himself a lot of the materials he needs to know and then some, but not in a structured way. He set the pace and because he feels in charge he puts in a lot of efforts in learning things now. It takes a lot of extra weekend hours which he impose on himself, we don't have to encourage him to do his work. He test well and it does help he doesn't get a lot homework at his current school so he is able to do sport. This has been a change year for us and we needed that.

Anonymous wrote:I am a mom to 2 boys and I think much of school (I am Arl Co., but don't think it is just this Co.) is geared toward females. There is a wealth of info that supports our schools systems favor females. There is a female drain at the University level so much so that many schools will try to balance gender ratios at admission time.

Increased teaching to the test, sitting for long time periods, shortened recess and athletic times, female facutly favoring female students (maybe not consciously), limiting boy-type of activities on the playground--no touch rules, no tag, etc.

My kids are elem. so I can't speak to any Arlington middle schools other than to generalize that it is that way at most public schools.

I didn't mean female drain at Univ level---I mean girls outnumber boys in great demand at undergrad and more so at grad level.

I am a mom to 2 boys and I think much of school (I am Arl Co., but don't think it is just this Co.) is geared toward females. There is a wealth of info that supports our schools systems favor females. There is a female drain at the University level so much so that many schools will try to balance gender ratios at admission time.

Increased teaching to the test, sitting for long time periods, shortened recess and athletic times, female facutly favoring female students (maybe not consciously), limiting boy-type of activities on the playground--no touch rules, no tag, etc.

My kids are elem. so I can't speak to any Arlington middle schools other than to generalize that it is that way at most public schools.

PP here, I should also add that they post the homework on a website at WMS, which is SUPER helpful for my disorganized kid. So that is a nice resource.

My son is headed to 6th grade at WMS next year and I've gotten quite the opposite impression from parents I've spoken with. They all say the "team" approach is really nice. Every kid is put in a group ("team") and they travel with that team through the entire 3 years there. They also keep the same counselor and vice principal for all 3 grades, so there are administrators who really get to know your kid. There are lots of after school activities and they seem to have a lot of counseling supports in place, which I've heard are very helpful.

http://www.apsva.us/domain/1906


There are a bunch of kids on my street who go there and they chat with me and tell me how much they love it. I was quite surprised because my jr. high experience was brutal, but they all seem really happy.

For what it's worth.

Our daughter applied for the lottery at HB maybe two years ago and was assigned a number like 117 on the wait list. Now we're advised she's like 40th on the list and HB wants to know if we want to keep her in play for the lottery. Interesting. Any thoughts?