Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swanson... but all APS schools are full to bursting. Except HB.

But what are the class sizes like at Swanson?

Look at my post at 23:06. I am describing Swanson where my DD is a 7th grader. Yes, the teachers are generally handling the overcrowding the best they can but do you want your child in that far from ideal atmosphere at the same time other students have HB????

I have a 7th grader at Swanson. He LOVES it there. I think the teams approach is a good one in that it keeps the kids rotating in their core classes in smaller groups. He gets to meet up with his friends at lunch. He doesn't complain or feel that the school is overcrowded. I get the feeling it is the PARENTS who are freaking out about 'oh the overcrowding' whereas the kids are doing just fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swanson... but all APS schools are full to bursting. Except HB.

But what are the class sizes like at Swanson?

Low. Because trailers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do have the option to transfer to TJ or Kenmore. They are both under 100% and take transfers. We've been very happy at TJ.

Oh fuck you--you know they aren't even 1/8 comparable to HB much less Swanson or WMS

If you look just at White students (using that as a proxy for not-poor), the pass advanced rates at TJ are nearly the same as Swanson with the exception of being slightly lower at TJ for math. TJ is a good school, but your child will have to go south of 50 and interact with poor and brown kids.

I have 2 kids at TJ and both are having a good experience. Would I like it to be smaller, sure. But it's much better than the overcrowding at Swanson/WMS. They are still able to take transfers and my kids have a number of friends who are there to avoid Swanson/WMS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swanson... but all APS schools are full to bursting. Except HB.

But what are the class sizes like at Swanson?

Look at my post at 23:06. I am describing Swanson where my DD is a 7th grader. Yes, the teachers are generally handling the overcrowding the best they can but do you want your child in that far from ideal atmosphere at the same time other students have HB????

I agree APS should have dealt with the crowding and built the new middle school sooner but do you realize they can't just close HB and send all those kids back to their neighborhood schools since that would make your DD's school even more crowded?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swanson... but all APS schools are full to bursting. Except HB.

But what are the class sizes like at Swanson?

Look at my post at 23:06. I am describing Swanson where my DD is a 7th grader. Yes, the teachers are generally handling the overcrowding the best they can but do you want your child in that far from ideal atmosphere at the same time other students have HB????

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swanson... but all APS schools are full to bursting. Except HB.

But what are the class sizes like at Swanson?

It isn't class size you need to look at. That is fixed by law and so most of the schools are close to that limit most of the time in most classes. Look at if the teams are functioning (so a common English, science and history teacher share the same kid's and a common prep period), what percentage of the kids who try out get to actually make the team, if the parents are complaining things are chaotic, if the principal knows the kids by name....

I only ask about class size because that is OP's primary complaint.

Also, are the class sizes at Swanson close to the VA max class sizes?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swanson... but all APS schools are full to bursting. Except HB.

But what are the class sizes like at Swanson?

It isn't class size you need to look at. That is fixed by law and so most of the schools are close to that limit most of the time in most classes. Look at if the teams are functioning (so a common English, science and history teacher share the same kid's and a common prep period), what percentage of the kids who try out get to actually make the team, if the parents are complaining things are chaotic, if the principal knows the kids by name....

I only ask about class size because that is OP's primary complaint.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reposting from another thread:

Beyond having the protected school size, HB, especially, is a problem because they portray themselves as a model for diversity, when in fact, they are the second least diverse middle or high school in the county. HB has 15% FARMS, while APS is 30%. HB has <3% black kids vs 10% APS. 18% Hispanic vs 39% APS.. Overall 39% non-white kids vs 53% APS. HB has become a white flight (and affluent flight) school.

At the same time, HB is selfishly sucking away capital resources with a $100M+ school for 775 seats. HB refused to let anyone co-locate with them, such as preschool or Montessori, which would have made better use of resources and brought the per seat cost down.

HB does not have a public lottery and it is very suspicious that the well-connected in Arlington magically get in. We should demand a public lottery - and broadcast it online - for alll supposed "choice" schools. Even better, run the lottery at the Ed Center by people not affiliated with the school.

https://www.apsva.us/statistics/free-and-reduced-price-meals/

http://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Civ...hts-Table-1-2016-11-30-web.pdf

The HB community fought very hard to stay in the old crumbling Vacation Lane location. Initially APS wanted to put a middle school on the Rosslyn site but protests from parents in the Taylor neighborhood who wanted the HB location lead to a reversal of that decision. HB also fought hard to stay together with the Stratford program. My first kid did attend HB, but she got in without any "magic", evidenced by the fact that my second kid was about 250th on the countywide waitlist.

Yes, blame the high costs for HB on the Taylor families who didn't want the Wilson site. I can't believe the school board caved to them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swanson... but all APS schools are full to bursting. Except HB.

But what are the class sizes like at Swanson?

It isn't class size you need to look at. That is fixed by law and so most of the schools are close to that limit most of the time in most classes. Look at if the teams are functioning (so a common English, science and history teacher share the same kid's and a common prep period), what percentage of the kids who try out get to actually make the team, if the parents are complaining things are chaotic, if the principal knows the kids by name....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reposting from another thread:

Beyond having the protected school size, HB, especially, is a problem because they portray themselves as a model for diversity, when in fact, they are the second least diverse middle or high school in the county. HB has 15% FARMS, while APS is 30%. HB has <3% black kids vs 10% APS. 18% Hispanic vs 39% APS.. Overall 39% non-white kids vs 53% APS. HB has become a white flight (and affluent flight) school.

At the same time, HB is selfishly sucking away capital resources with a $100M+ school for 775 seats. HB refused to let anyone co-locate with them, such as preschool or Montessori, which would have made better use of resources and brought the per seat cost down.

HB does not have a public lottery and it is very suspicious that the well-connected in Arlington magically get in. We should demand a public lottery - and broadcast it online - for alll supposed "choice" schools. Even better, run the lottery at the Ed Center by people not affiliated with the school.

https://www.apsva.us/statistics/free-and-reduced-price-meals/

http://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Civ...hts-Table-1-2016-11-30-web.pdf

The HB community fought very hard to stay in the old crumbling Vacation Lane location. Initially APS wanted to put a middle school on the Rosslyn site but protests from parents in the Taylor neighborhood who wanted the HB location lead to a reversal of that decision. HB also fought hard to stay together with the Stratford program. My first kid did attend HB, but she got in without any "magic", evidenced by the fact that my second kid was about 250th on the countywide waitlist.

This. It's not fair to say the refused to be colocated with another program. They ARE colocated with another program, one that has its own expensive facility requirements. Are they spending too much, probably (they certainly did on Discovery) but that location is also very challenging to build on. Still, I agree that some modest growth in HB would be reasonable given the overcrowding in the system.

I know there is a lot of push for another comprehensive HS but one of the things people find so appealing about HB is that it is small. Given the smaller sites available for schools, I'd prefer to see more smaller programs where the staff can get to know students better. If HB is so amazing (I have no idea - my kids weren't interested in going there) then replicate it, don't tear it apart. Of course, then it wouldn't be seen as so "exclusive" so it would lose its appeal to some people. Starting smaller programs would also require getting enough families to take a risk to try something new and put in the effort to build it and not be 100% certain what the path looks like. For parents who are super-focused on their kids working a pre-defined path to (they assume) a highly-selective college that risk is not acceptable. I've heard that attitude at meetings about Arlington Tech.

Anonymous wrote:We know how hard HB fought to stay in Vacation Lane. That large property was needed for the greater good. The fight was ugly and HB brought in the NAACP to throw racist insinuations on people who who supported keeping HB, but at another site. (While in fact, HB is highly white and affluent.) That, combined with a refusal to co-locate with other small programs (Montessori, preschool, immersion) and backroom politics to overbuild the new Taj Ma High School (now over $100M) have made a lot of the community resentful and less supportive of HB. HB frequently comes across as an entitled community these days.

Totally right.

When my daughter was of the age to apply, we did not because the program did not seem a good fit for my kid's disposition. Now as we have actually experienced the chaos at an overcrowded high school and Arlington is struggling to manage the numbers, it seems that a lucky few get a lucky lottery number that lets them escape the chaos for better.

Anonymous wrote:Swanson... but all APS schools are full to bursting. Except HB.

But what are the class sizes like at Swanson?

We know how hard HB fought to stay in Vacation Lane. That large property was needed for the greater good. The fight was ugly and HB brought in the NAACP to throw racist insinuations on people who who supported keeping HB, but at another site. (While in fact, HB is highly white and affluent.) That, combined with a refusal to co-locate with other small programs (Montessori, preschool, immersion) and backroom politics to overbuild the new Taj Ma High School (now over $100M) have made a lot of the community resentful and less supportive of HB. HB frequently comes across as an entitled community these days.

Anonymous wrote:Reposting from another thread:

Beyond having the protected school size, HB, especially, is a problem because they portray themselves as a model for diversity, when in fact, they are the second least diverse middle or high school in the county. HB has 15% FARMS, while APS is 30%. HB has <3% black kids vs 10% APS. 18% Hispanic vs 39% APS.. Overall 39% non-white kids vs 53% APS. HB has become a white flight (and affluent flight) school.

At the same time, HB is selfishly sucking away capital resources with a $100M+ school for 775 seats. HB refused to let anyone co-locate with them, such as preschool or Montessori, which would have made better use of resources and brought the per seat cost down.

HB does not have a public lottery and it is very suspicious that the well-connected in Arlington magically get in. We should demand a public lottery - and broadcast it online - for alll supposed "choice" schools. Even better, run the lottery at the Ed Center by people not affiliated with the school.

https://www.apsva.us/statistics/free-and-reduced-price-meals/

http://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Civ...hts-Table-1-2016-11-30-web.pdf

The HB community fought very hard to stay in the old crumbling Vacation Lane location. Initially APS wanted to put a middle school on the Rosslyn site but protests from parents in the Taylor neighborhood who wanted the HB location lead to a reversal of that decision. HB also fought hard to stay together with the Stratford program. My first kid did attend HB, but she got in without any "magic", evidenced by the fact that my second kid was about 250th on the countywide waitlist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do have the option to transfer to TJ or Kenmore. They are both under 100% and take transfers. We've been very happy at TJ.

This. If you have concerns about class sizes, you do have options.

I think your data is a bit dated now. TJmis about a third again as big as when my kid was there. My child is definitely suffering from the crowds at WL. It is overwhelming. It affects the kinds of assignments teachers can assign. It affects access to teams. It is staggeringly loud.