Why does everybody get so worked up over "facilities?"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know HB people. You gotta know you’re going to get picked on in your brand new building while the rest of our middle school kids are in literal falling down hovels. Small price to pay while we fight over some pathetic scraps to half ass some renovations for the rest of the middle schools to maybe do some small improvements.

See, here's the thing. HB families were forced to move to where they are now so their old building could be converted to Hamm. It was the last thing the community wanted to do. They were perfectly fine in their crappy old building. So it's really not fair to pin this on them.

Stratford is the LARGEST plot of land with a middle school on it. Of course they were happy to stay there; they were given the option of staying if they were willing to expand the school to help middle school overcrowding but they said that the small size was a core necessity of their program.

Lots of students in Arlington have crappy old buildings; most middle school students, tech until last year, probably half of the elementary schools are much much worse.

Some parts of Wakefield were falling apart pretty early on after it first opened. Some seriously shoddy construction there. Especially the pool facilities, which opened later.

Same with the HB building. They left the floors concrete because they ran out of money, there were problems with floods in the first year leaving classrooms and the gym unusable for a time. And it still doesn’t have enough onsite parking and picking up your kid is a mess.

HB was forced to leave the Stratford site and move to a tiny site in Rosslyn that no one else wanted. There was no choice to stay and expand. They took that land for a middle school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know HB people. You gotta know you’re going to get picked on in your brand new building while the rest of our middle school kids are in literal falling down hovels. Small price to pay while we fight over some pathetic scraps to half ass some renovations for the rest of the middle schools to maybe do some small improvements.

See, here's the thing. HB families were forced to move to where they are now so their old building could be converted to Hamm. It was the last thing the community wanted to do. They were perfectly fine in their crappy old building. So it's really not fair to pin this on them.

Stratford is the LARGEST plot of land with a middle school on it. Of course they were happy to stay there; they were given the option of staying if they were willing to expand the school to help middle school overcrowding but they said that the small size was a core necessity of their program.

Lots of students in Arlington have crappy old buildings; most middle school students, tech until last year, probably half of the elementary schools are much much worse.

Some parts of Wakefield were falling apart pretty early on after it first opened. Some seriously shoddy construction there. Especially the pool facilities, which opened later.

Anonymous wrote:I am more and more confused about what HBW actually is. In my neighborhood I’ve heard it’s for the quirky/different kids that don’t fit in. On this website, some people say it’s like a private school that’s so good people pull strings to get their kids in. Others say it’s dumbed down and doesn’t have difficult classes. Still no clue what it’s all about.

#1 and #3. Many kids that might not have had friends at the neighborhood schools. And classes are as you described. Close to 7-Eleven and Starbucks though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know HB people. You gotta know you’re going to get picked on in your brand new building while the rest of our middle school kids are in literal falling down hovels. Small price to pay while we fight over some pathetic scraps to half ass some renovations for the rest of the middle schools to maybe do some small improvements.

See, here's the thing. HB families were forced to move to where they are now so their old building could be converted to Hamm. It was the last thing the community wanted to do. They were perfectly fine in their crappy old building. So it's really not fair to pin this on them.

Stratford is the LARGEST plot of land with a middle school on it. Of course they were happy to stay there; they were given the option of staying if they were willing to expand the school to help middle school overcrowding but they said that the small size was a core necessity of their program.

Lots of students in Arlington have crappy old buildings; most middle school students, tech until last year, probably half of the elementary schools are much much worse.

. Tech is currently still very crappy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know HB people. You gotta know you’re going to get picked on in your brand new building while the rest of our middle school kids are in literal falling down hovels. Small price to pay while we fight over some pathetic scraps to half ass some renovations for the rest of the middle schools to maybe do some small improvements.

See, here's the thing. HB families were forced to move to where they are now so their old building could be converted to Hamm. It was the last thing the community wanted to do. They were perfectly fine in their crappy old building. So it's really not fair to pin this on them.

Stratford is the LARGEST plot of land with a middle school on it. Of course they were happy to stay there; they were given the option of staying if they were willing to expand the school to help middle school overcrowding but they said that the small size was a core necessity of their program.

Lots of students in Arlington have crappy old buildings; most middle school students, tech until last year, probably half of the elementary schools are much much worse.

This is not true. I had kids there at the time. The community fought tooth and nail not to move. In fact, the HB community back then quite deliberately never complained about their aging facility because they didn't want to rock the boat.

I'm not sure what you expected the county to do. Force the school to move and then build it something shitty to move to?

Anonymous wrote:That’s not how I remember it

Well I was in the auditorium when they announced the original design for the 1200 student neighborhood middle school for the heights, with a preposterous amount of greenwashing from the fancy design team. So I’ve been involved since the beginning; how do you remember it differently? Or just keep vague posting?

That’s not how I remember it

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know HB people. You gotta know you’re going to get picked on in your brand new building while the rest of our middle school kids are in literal falling down hovels. Small price to pay while we fight over some pathetic scraps to half ass some renovations for the rest of the middle schools to maybe do some small improvements.

See, here's the thing. HB families were forced to move to where they are now so their old building could be converted to Hamm. It was the last thing the community wanted to do. They were perfectly fine in their crappy old building. So it's really not fair to pin this on them.

Stratford is the LARGEST plot of land with a middle school on it. Of course they were happy to stay there; they were given the option of staying if they were willing to expand the school to help middle school overcrowding but they said that the small size was a core necessity of their program.

Lots of students in Arlington have crappy old buildings; most middle school students, tech until last year, probably half of the elementary schools are much much worse.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know HB people. You gotta know you’re going to get picked on in your brand new building while the rest of our middle school kids are in literal falling down hovels. Small price to pay while we fight over some pathetic scraps to half ass some renovations for the rest of the middle schools to maybe do some small improvements.

See, here's the thing. HB families were forced to move to where they are now so their old building could be converted to Hamm. It was the last thing the community wanted to do. They were perfectly fine in their crappy old building. So it's really not fair to pin this on them.

Anonymous wrote:I am more and more confused about what HBW actually is. In my neighborhood I’ve heard it’s for the quirky/different kids that don’t fit in. On this website, some people say it’s like a private school that’s so good people pull strings to get their kids in. Others say it’s dumbed down and doesn’t have difficult classes. Still no clue what it’s all about.

This is not really true currently. Maybe you have neighbors who grew up here though (I did). It did used to be more true.

I have two HS kids. From what I can tell, most UMC parents with any involvement in the schooling of their child puts their kid's name in the lottery. Very few people turn down the slot if they get it. And almost no one gets in.

I agree as PP said, it's become oh it's small and a new building and it's hard to get in. Therefore it's good. I have heard a couple people who say the kid got the slot and they knew nothing about it and weren't sure but now that they are in how could they possibly turn it down. It seems like a scarce and valuable resource, so people don't turn it down. The waitlist barely moves. I have heard of kids who do middle school there and leave for regular high school though. It's not a fit for everyone.

It's a shame it used to be a great option for a certain type of kid with a certain type of learning style and people genuinely self-selected if it was a good fit. It did also use to be an extraordinary arts community because those type of kids self-selected there and that's not really the case anymore either. It's lost a lot of what made it special, IMO.

Anonymous wrote:I am more and more confused about what HBW actually is. In my neighborhood I’ve heard it’s for the quirky/different kids that don’t fit in. On this website, some people say it’s like a private school that’s so good people pull strings to get their kids in. Others say it’s dumbed down and doesn’t have difficult classes. Still no clue what it’s all about.

30 years ago it was a quirky independent study type program but in 2000s their curriculum was aligned with other schools

It was less attractive when comprehensive high schools were only 2x as big and not supersized. It was also in an old building though a huge plot of land for a middle school.

Now they are 1/3 the size of the high schools, in a $100m newer building, and everyone wants a better scaled school experience.

It has fewer AP, which is not the terror you think it is— many private schools are dropping them too. Dumbing down is hardly an issue, it has much lower FARMS by virtue of their lottery gate keeping.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And here’s one of the ranters right on cue!

Spouting uninformed nonsense as usual!

What in my post was incorrect? I had facts and numbers and you throw insults.

I'm done trying to provide you with accurate info. Stay ignorant.

Uh new poster and the persons statements are accurate. Say what is incorrrct.

Nope, I'm done engaging with know it all conspiracy theorists who don't need info about a school their kids don't attend.

Ah, so you probably know even more siblings, and you keep claiming you are done engaging rather than actual facts.

I am more and more confused about what HBW actually is. In my neighborhood I’ve heard it’s for the quirky/different kids that don’t fit in. On this website, some people say it’s like a private school that’s so good people pull strings to get their kids in. Others say it’s dumbed down and doesn’t have difficult classes. Still no clue what it’s all about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And here’s one of the ranters right on cue!

Spouting uninformed nonsense as usual!

What in my post was incorrect? I had facts and numbers and you throw insults.

I'm done trying to provide you with accurate info. Stay ignorant.

Uh new poster and the persons statements are accurate. Say what is incorrrct.

Nope, I'm done engaging with know it all conspiracy theorists who don't need info about a school their kids don't attend.