Anonymous wrote:What did Kim Graves to in Alexandria? I thought she was an APS principal before a cabinet member.

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Anonymous wrote:As an ACPS parent would have preferred to keep Duncan over the unknown of a new hire.

Better than Balas who you all also took, he went to Wakefield.

Duncan is average in every sense. Somewhat surprised you all didn’t have pull to get someone more dynamic with track record of success.

I CANNOT believe that Duran is hiring all principals now from Alexandria City High School, just why??

What do you mean “all”.

He’s been hiring heavily from Alexandria City recently for several important positions and the hires have already drawn their own friends to Syphax. Seems an add choice vs. actually casting a wider net and searching for the best qualified candidates.

So between the new principals, and their hiring of APs and staff from their clan, we are wholesale adopting ACPS leadership?

Why couldn’t Duran pull some people form Fairfax?

Probably pay? Im not sure about other teachers but I know for SPED APS pays less than FCPS.

APS used to pay more than FFX! And it wasn’t that long ago! What happened?

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Anonymous wrote:As an ACPS parent would have preferred to keep Duncan over the unknown of a new hire.

Better than Balas who you all also took, he went to Wakefield.

Duncan is average in every sense. Somewhat surprised you all didn’t have pull to get someone more dynamic with track record of success.

I CANNOT believe that Duran is hiring all principals now from Alexandria City High School, just why??

What do you mean “all”.

He’s been hiring heavily from Alexandria City recently for several important positions and the hires have already drawn their own friends to Syphax. Seems an add choice vs. actually casting a wider net and searching for the best qualified candidates.

So between the new principals, and their hiring of APs and staff from their clan, we are wholesale adopting ACPS leadership?

Why couldn’t Duran pull some people form Fairfax?

Probably pay? Im not sure about other teachers but I know for SPED APS pays less than FCPS.

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Anonymous wrote:What the hell are all of you complaining about? By every indication Washington liberty is a high performing school. It has a very diverse population. The new principal is experienced in dealing with both. What the hell do you people want? Why aren’t you willing to even give the guy a chance? You’re just a bunch of overinvolved weirdos.

I’m the DCPS parent who posted above. I totally agree with you that there is a subset of parents who will be aggrieved at anything they feel they were not personally consulted about, and are unreasonably triggered by the notion of having to share resources with different types of people. But … it is still true that W-L has a college bound cohort who deserve to be seen as legitimate stakeholders and not just “rich white kids who will be fine no matter what.” And while Duncan’s record on disciple seems promising (just based on what the ACPS parent wrote here) I also am wary of the very very bad “woke”” educational trends that eviscerate academics, like getting rid of honors programs and “tracking,” endless redos, no or little homework, and failure to focus on content. So yeah, I would be more comfortable if he had a background in some kind of college prep program environment.

There would be a revolt in the community if the new leadership proposed undermining W-L’s academic legacy in any way, by lowering the bar so to speak.

For generations, the school has set high expectations across the board, and has been recognized for its academics by the U.S. Dept of Education, and the Ladies Home Journal way back in my grandparents’ generation.

To the DCPS poster I wouldn’t say W-L is uniquely diverse, as some have said, but the diversity it does have provides a healthy dose different perspectives. It is mostly white and affluent, reflecting the immediately surrounding neighborhoods, but has students from all walks of life. It is more diverse than Yorktown, which is uniquely not diverse in the context of the DC region, where public schools are quite diverse.

As you already know, both schools are good though, and your family should be fine at either.

It is actually not mostly white. It’s a majority minority. It’s 42% white, 33% Hispanic, 9% Asian and 8 percent black. It’s 24% economically disadvantaged. Yorktown is 61% white and 12% economically disadvantaged.

WL is mostly white. That’s the largest subgroup, hence “mostly”. There are very few if any majority white high schools in Northern Va, namely Yorktown and Madison.

That said, the school has the diversity lacking in most other close-in, affluent school districts, outside of Phila or Boston, etc. many of those schools are still 80-plus percent white.

Wow Yorktown is only 61% white?! More diverse than I thought.

Yorktown would probably be about 55% white, but the 2018 boundary changes moved a number of W-L neighborhoods to Yorktown. Still, W-L has more white students than most Northern Virginia high schools.

We all live in one of the most multi-culturally diverse areas in the country, and Yorktown is the outlier, not the norm. W-L more closely resembles the current norm, while skewing more white and affluent.

That said, DCPS poster would probably be happy at any of the APS high schools. Yorktown does have more of a country club culture than W-L. Perhaps the DCPS poster seeks to avoid the Upper NW country club scene at Wilson/Jackson-Reed and any perceived/real DCPS dysfunction?

The newly appointed W-L principal appears to be okay, after the initial surprise. He hasn’t stood out in a bad or good way in his current job. Maybe he’s looking for a more stable high school environment and a long term gig. (I assume any principal at ACHS would have more challenges than one at a smaller high school located on one campus.) APS high school principals do tend to stay at their schools for 10-plus years on average so I hope he develops strong relationships with the staff and families. Past W-L principals have been generally well-liked and respected.

Hi I am DCPS poster! I would like to stay in DC but I will be renting an apartment and the rental situation is better at W-L. I also like Ballston better than the neighborhoods around J-R in some respects. But the big deciding factor is access to state colleges especially since it looks like DC TAG (the program that gives DC kids $10k/year for college) may go away.

I also am considering BCC and Blair. But I really just kinda like Ballston/Clarendon better. It grew on me!

What’s uniquely special about W-L in this sprawling DC region, is that many students can safely walk to school for elementary, middle and high school. The renovated, historic Dorothy Hamm Middle School is just down the street under a mile away. That walkability has helped to create a unique sense of community.

Yorktown and its middle and elementary schools are similarly walkable, but not from the more urban areas—those students are bussed to Yorktown.

I have a connection to Bethesda, and B-CC is uniquely walkable, but not the middle schools—nearby Leland Junior High School was shortsightedly demolished in the 1980s. Both B-CC and W-L are really old schools with fascinating legacies and famous alumni. They are both roughly 100 years old.

You’re probably only looking at high school options, but I thought you might find this context interesting.

yes thanks!! Walkability is a huge thing for me and I am looking for that culture for my kid. If I could roll back time I might have just moved to send him to Dorothy Hamm but that ship has sailed.

BCC - I dunno, when it comes down to it, I think I would just enjoy living in Arlington more than Bethesda, but feel free to try to change my mind.

I would have considered the new MacArthur HS in DC, but the city decided to put it in a really inaccessible place. Not many rentals around there and really poor transit options.

I live in Arlington, and my kids (now in their 20s) walked to W-L High School. We moved here from the Hill when my kids were in late elementary school. I *really* didn't want to leave the Hill, but DH had changed jobs and it made sense for us to relocate here to ease his commute. (My easy commute got a bit worse, his terrible commute got much better.)

I have loved living in Arlington and highly recommend it. We love our neighbors, have several amenities in walking distance (groceries, little hardware store, library, parks), and also have very easy driving access to DC. We are almost a mile from the metro, but we live on 2 different bus lines that go straight to Roslyn or Ballston, so great public transit options, too.

Having your kids be able to walk to high school is fantastic. 10/10

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Anonymous wrote:What the hell are all of you complaining about? By every indication Washington liberty is a high performing school. It has a very diverse population. The new principal is experienced in dealing with both. What the hell do you people want? Why aren’t you willing to even give the guy a chance? You’re just a bunch of overinvolved weirdos.

I’m the DCPS parent who posted above. I totally agree with you that there is a subset of parents who will be aggrieved at anything they feel they were not personally consulted about, and are unreasonably triggered by the notion of having to share resources with different types of people. But … it is still true that W-L has a college bound cohort who deserve to be seen as legitimate stakeholders and not just “rich white kids who will be fine no matter what.” And while Duncan’s record on disciple seems promising (just based on what the ACPS parent wrote here) I also am wary of the very very bad “woke”” educational trends that eviscerate academics, like getting rid of honors programs and “tracking,” endless redos, no or little homework, and failure to focus on content. So yeah, I would be more comfortable if he had a background in some kind of college prep program environment.

There would be a revolt in the community if the new leadership proposed undermining W-L’s academic legacy in any way, by lowering the bar so to speak.

For generations, the school has set high expectations across the board, and has been recognized for its academics by the U.S. Dept of Education, and the Ladies Home Journal way back in my grandparents’ generation.

To the DCPS poster I wouldn’t say W-L is uniquely diverse, as some have said, but the diversity it does have provides a healthy dose different perspectives. It is mostly white and affluent, reflecting the immediately surrounding neighborhoods, but has students from all walks of life. It is more diverse than Yorktown, which is uniquely not diverse in the context of the DC region, where public schools are quite diverse.

As you already know, both schools are good though, and your family should be fine at either.

It is actually not mostly white. It’s a majority minority. It’s 42% white, 33% Hispanic, 9% Asian and 8 percent black. It’s 24% economically disadvantaged. Yorktown is 61% white and 12% economically disadvantaged.

WL is mostly white. That’s the largest subgroup, hence “mostly”. There are very few if any majority white high schools in Northern Va, namely Yorktown and Madison.

That said, the school has the diversity lacking in most other close-in, affluent school districts, outside of Phila or Boston, etc. many of those schools are still 80-plus percent white.

Wow Yorktown is only 61% white?! More diverse than I thought.

Yorktown would probably be about 55% white, but the 2018 boundary changes moved a number of W-L neighborhoods to Yorktown. Still, W-L has more white students than most Northern Virginia high schools.

We all live in one of the most multi-culturally diverse areas in the country, and Yorktown is the outlier, not the norm. W-L more closely resembles the current norm, while skewing more white and affluent.

That said, DCPS poster would probably be happy at any of the APS high schools. Yorktown does have more of a country club culture than W-L. Perhaps the DCPS poster seeks to avoid the Upper NW country club scene at Wilson/Jackson-Reed and any perceived/real DCPS dysfunction?

The newly appointed W-L principal appears to be okay, after the initial surprise. He hasn’t stood out in a bad or good way in his current job. Maybe he’s looking for a more stable high school environment and a long term gig. (I assume any principal at ACHS would have more challenges than one at a smaller high school located on one campus.) APS high school principals do tend to stay at their schools for 10-plus years on average so I hope he develops strong relationships with the staff and families. Past W-L principals have been generally well-liked and respected.

Hi I am DCPS poster! I would like to stay in DC but I will be renting an apartment and the rental situation is better at W-L. I also like Ballston better than the neighborhoods around J-R in some respects. But the big deciding factor is access to state colleges especially since it looks like DC TAG (the program that gives DC kids $10k/year for college) may go away.

I also am considering BCC and Blair. But I really just kinda like Ballston/Clarendon better. It grew on me!

What’s uniquely special about W-L in this sprawling DC region, is that many students can safely walk to school for elementary, middle and high school. The renovated, historic Dorothy Hamm Middle School is just down the street under a mile away. That walkability has helped to create a unique sense of community.

Yorktown and its middle and elementary schools are similarly walkable, but not from the more urban areas—those students are bussed to Yorktown.

I have a connection to Bethesda, and B-CC is uniquely walkable, but not the middle schools—nearby Leland Junior High School was shortsightedly demolished in the 1980s. Both B-CC and W-L are really old schools with fascinating legacies and famous alumni. They are both roughly 100 years old.

You’re probably only looking at high school options, but I thought you might find this context interesting.

yes thanks!! Walkability is a huge thing for me and I am looking for that culture for my kid. If I could roll back time I might have just moved to send him to Dorothy Hamm but that ship has sailed.

BCC - I dunno, when it comes down to it, I think I would just enjoy living in Arlington more than Bethesda, but feel free to try to change my mind.

I would have considered the new MacArthur HS in DC, but the city decided to put it in a really inaccessible place. Not many rentals around there and really poor transit options.

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Anonymous wrote:As an ACPS parent would have preferred to keep Duncan over the unknown of a new hire.

Better than Balas who you all also took, he went to Wakefield.

Duncan is average in every sense. Somewhat surprised you all didn’t have pull to get someone more dynamic with track record of success.

I CANNOT believe that Duran is hiring all principals now from Alexandria City High School, just why??

What do you mean “all”.

He’s been hiring heavily from Alexandria City recently for several important positions and the hires have already drawn their own friends to Syphax. Seems an add choice vs. actually casting a wider net and searching for the best qualified candidates.

So between the new principals, and their hiring of APs and staff from their clan, we are wholesale adopting ACPS leadership?

Why couldn’t Duran pull some people form Fairfax?

Probably pay? Im not sure about other teachers but I know for SPED APS pays less than FCPS.

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Anonymous wrote:As an ACPS parent would have preferred to keep Duncan over the unknown of a new hire.

Better than Balas who you all also took, he went to Wakefield.

Duncan is average in every sense. Somewhat surprised you all didn’t have pull to get someone more dynamic with track record of success.

I CANNOT believe that Duran is hiring all principals now from Alexandria City High School, just why??

What do you mean “all”.

He’s been hiring heavily from Alexandria City recently for several important positions and the hires have already drawn their own friends to Syphax. Seems an add choice vs. actually casting a wider net and searching for the best qualified candidates.

So between the new principals, and their hiring of APs and staff from their clan, we are wholesale adopting ACPS leadership?

Why couldn’t Duran pull some people form Fairfax?

Probably pay? Im not sure about other teachers but I know for SPED APS pays less than FCPS.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an ACPS parent would have preferred to keep Duncan over the unknown of a new hire.

Better than Balas who you all also took, he went to Wakefield.

Duncan is average in every sense. Somewhat surprised you all didn’t have pull to get someone more dynamic with track record of success.

I CANNOT believe that Duran is hiring all principals now from Alexandria City High School, just why??

What do you mean “all”.

He’s been hiring heavily from Alexandria City recently for several important positions and the hires have already drawn their own friends to Syphax. Seems an add choice vs. actually casting a wider net and searching for the best qualified candidates.

So between the new principals, and their hiring of APs and staff from their clan, we are wholesale adopting ACPS leadership?

Why couldn’t Duran pull some people form Fairfax?

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People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

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Anonymous wrote:As an ACPS parent would have preferred to keep Duncan over the unknown of a new hire.

Better than Balas who you all also took, he went to Wakefield.

Duncan is average in every sense. Somewhat surprised you all didn’t have pull to get someone more dynamic with track record of success.

I CANNOT believe that Duran is hiring all principals now from Alexandria City High School, just why??

What do you mean “all”.

He’s been hiring heavily from Alexandria City recently for several important positions and the hires have already drawn their own friends to Syphax. Seems an add choice vs. actually casting a wider net and searching for the best qualified candidates.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an ACPS parent would have preferred to keep Duncan over the unknown of a new hire.

Better than Balas who you all also took, he went to Wakefield.

Duncan is average in every sense. Somewhat surprised you all didn’t have pull to get someone more dynamic with track record of success.

I CANNOT believe that Duran is hiring all principals now from Alexandria City High School, just why??

What do you mean “all”.

He’s been hiring heavily from Alexandria City recently for several important positions and the hires have already drawn their own friends to Syphax. Seems an add choice vs. actually casting a wider net and searching for the best qualified candidates.

First guess is that APS is not able to hire people from MCPS and FCPS in general because they now pay more and are decent places to work.

Hiring from further afield fails because when they see the salary and the COL, they balk.

But ACPS is so dysfunctional and already expensive so checking out to APS is a good alternative.

APS is doomed.

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Anonymous wrote:As an ACPS parent would have preferred to keep Duncan over the unknown of a new hire.

Better than Balas who you all also took, he went to Wakefield.

Duncan is average in every sense. Somewhat surprised you all didn’t have pull to get someone more dynamic with track record of success.

I CANNOT believe that Duran is hiring all principals now from Alexandria City High School, just why??

What do you mean “all”.

He’s been hiring heavily from Alexandria City recently for several important positions and the hires have already drawn their own friends to Syphax. Seems an add choice vs. actually casting a wider net and searching for the best qualified candidates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an ACPS parent would have preferred to keep Duncan over the unknown of a new hire.

Better than Balas who you all also took, he went to Wakefield.

Duncan is average in every sense. Somewhat surprised you all didn’t have pull to get someone more dynamic with track record of success.

I CANNOT believe that Duran is hiring all principals now from Alexandria City High School, just why??

What do you mean “all”.

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Anonymous wrote:As an ACPS parent would have preferred to keep Duncan over the unknown of a new hire.

Better than Balas who you all also took, he went to Wakefield.

Duncan is average in every sense. Somewhat surprised you all didn’t have pull to get someone more dynamic with track record of success.

I CANNOT believe that Duran is hiring all principals now from Alexandria City High School, just why??