I know some people who graduated from Wakefield, and they have done quite well for themselves, better than the APS haters. OP, you have to realize that there is animosity from McLean ("Fairfax County") toward APS (it is not reciprocal, as APS does not care what McLean is doing). Anything derogatory that you read on these boards, you know who wrote it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You analogy reveals a lot. You're saying you will pay 3.2 times as much for one car that does the same thing as another (drives you around) but has more "safety and comfort." The safety standards for all cars are pretty strict these days, so mostly you are willing to pay an enormous premium for comfort. I can't imagine wasting a child's summer indoors cramming for a multiple choice test so I can have the comfort of knowing they might get into a slightly more prestigious school.

- Can a kid attend Langley score 1600 on the SAT? The answer is yes
- Can a kid attend Wakefield score 1600 on the SAT? The answer is a resounding YES

Let assume you have the above scenario. Two kids with the exact same IQ, motivate, work hard and very driven. Kid X attends Wakefield with limited resources and kid Y attends Langley with lot of resources. They both study advanced physics. They both study very hard. Kid X has problem with one of the topics and he spends hours on it. He needs help so that he can continue but he has to wait until tomorrow when he gets to school when the teacher is available. Kid Y also has the same problem with one of the topics and he needs help before he can continue. There is a private tutor graduated from Carnegie Mellon specialized in Advanced Physics to help him with the topic that he has issue with. Once he understands that, he goes on to the next one. As time goes on, kid Y will be able to surpassed kid X because there are better resources available to him.

Does it make kid X any less smart than kid Y? Absolutely not, but over time, it will show that the rate of learning from Kid X will be not as good as Kid Y.

PP, I am an investor and so is Warren Buffet. Would you rather take advice from me or Warren Buffet (aka the Oracle of Omaha)? That's why you see Lexus on the road.

But your example of resources has nothing to do with the particular school. It's based on whether or not the parent has the resources to hire a great tutor. There's no reason an affluent family attending Wakefield would not be able to hire that tutor. Yes, over time that poor student may not be able to keep up -- but they wouldn't keep up at Yorktown either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

URMs

What a bigoted thing to say. You don't know this person's kid and you are making an assumption based on their race. Notably, you also are ignoring the point of the poster in that there's no value for a black family to send their children to Yorktown when black children perform better at Wakefield. Interesting dodge.

I do think the diversity is a good thing, in my experience as another black parent raising kids in the Wakefield zone. It's stressful enough dealing with racism and bullshit normally. I don't need to subject my kids to an environment like Yorktown on top of it.

DP here, but the most recent test scores suggest black kids at both Yorktown and W-L are performing higher than those at Wakefield. It's one thing to say you that, for social reasons, you want a school with a higher or minimum percentage of a particular minority group, but it's another to just assume those kids also perform better than their peers at other schools. That may or may not be the case.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok what?? Where in the world is this Wakefield-MS 13 connection coming from? In a matter of one page, the McLeans went from bashing its academics to claiming it's East LA.

Are you just pulling random crimes from all over Alexandria, MoCo and Fairfax Co and attributing them to a high school in Arlington? Show me the actual reports that show a legitimate gang presence at the school. Waiting...

Four Mile Run and Columbia Pike puts you squarely in the Wakefield district.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ms-13-member-wanted-2-homicides-arrested-northern-virginia

This story, about a fugitive from Texas, is literally the only one anyone every posts when asked this question, on any thread about South Arlington schools. This and the one about the shooting in the Kenmore parking lot in 1997.

OP, this is a questionable source to get answers about Wakefield if you're not the type of person who sends their kid to 7 hrs/day of SAT prep all summer long, would buy a Lexus over a Camry, and can't figure out why junior speaks to you that way when Janet Lansbury told you it was just a matter of being patient and visualizing your outcome. Many people who don't fit those categories don't tend to post on DCUM in general. I'm a future Wakefield parent so can't answer your question directly, but we are a white UMC household, both Ivy-educated with grad degrees, make enough to afford North Arlington (or McLean), and live in South Arlington zoned for Gunston and then Wakefield. Also we drive a Toyota.

I wouldn't send my kid to a low-performing school with which you have no personal experience just because you have a nice resume.

Also, it's odd that you'd suggest this story is old news when it relates to an arrest in South Arlington less than six months ago.

Again, you are basing "its low performing" on average test scores, etc. You don't know if any particular kid would have done better at Langley. Wakefield has the same teacher salaries, same policies, as "high performing" Yorktown. Unless there is evidence that the presence of ESOL and FARMs kids actually means other kids are not getting attention, there is no reason to think it is "low performing".

Anonymous wrote:You analogy reveals a lot. You're saying you will pay 3.2 times as much for one car that does the same thing as another (drives you around) but has more "safety and comfort." The safety standards for all cars are pretty strict these days, so mostly you are willing to pay an enormous premium for comfort. I can't imagine wasting a child's summer indoors cramming for a multiple choice test so I can have the comfort of knowing they might get into a slightly more prestigious school.

- Can a kid attend Langley score 1600 on the SAT? The answer is yes
- Can a kid attend Wakefield score 1600 on the SAT? The answer is a resounding YES

Let assume you have the above scenario. Two kids with the exact same IQ, motivate, work hard and very driven. Kid X attends Wakefield with limited resources and kid Y attends Langley with lot of resources. They both study advanced physics. They both study very hard. Kid X has problem with one of the topics and he spends hours on it. He needs help so that he can continue but he has to wait until tomorrow when he gets to school when the teacher is available. Kid Y also has the same problem with one of the topics and he needs help before he can continue. There is a private tutor graduated from Carnegie Mellon specialized in Advanced Physics to help him with the topic that he has issue with. Once he understands that, he goes on to the next one. As time goes on, kid Y will be able to surpassed kid X because there are better resources available to him.

Does it make kid X any less smart than kid Y? Absolutely not, but over time, it will show that the rate of learning from Kid X will be not as good as Kid Y.

PP, I am an investor and so is Warren Buffet. Would you rather take advice from me or Warren Buffet (aka the Oracle of Omaha)? That's why you see Lexus on the road.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

URMs

What a bigoted thing to say. You don't know this person's kid and you are making an assumption based on their race. Notably, you also are ignoring the point of the poster in that there's no value for a black family to send their children to Yorktown when black children perform better at Wakefield. Interesting dodge.

I do think the diversity is a good thing, in my experience as another black parent raising kids in the Wakefield zone. It's stressful enough dealing with racism and bullshit normally. I don't need to subject my kids to an environment like Yorktown on top of it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok what?? Where in the world is this Wakefield-MS 13 connection coming from? In a matter of one page, the McLeans went from bashing its academics to claiming it's East LA.

Are you just pulling random crimes from all over Alexandria, MoCo and Fairfax Co and attributing them to a high school in Arlington? Show me the actual reports that show a legitimate gang presence at the school. Waiting...

Four Mile Run and Columbia Pike puts you squarely in the Wakefield district.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ms-13-member-wanted-2-homicides-arrested-northern-virginia

What a load of crap.
There wa as shooting in Mclean recently. That’s about as relevant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok what?? Where in the world is this Wakefield-MS 13 connection coming from? In a matter of one page, the McLeans went from bashing its academics to claiming it's East LA.

Are you just pulling random crimes from all over Alexandria, MoCo and Fairfax Co and attributing them to a high school in Arlington? Show me the actual reports that show a legitimate gang presence at the school. Waiting...

Four Mile Run and Columbia Pike puts you squarely in the Wakefield district.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ms-13-member-wanted-2-homicides-arrested-northern-virginia

This story, about a fugitive from Texas, is literally the only one anyone every posts when asked this question, on any thread about South Arlington schools. This and the one about the shooting in the Kenmore parking lot in 1997.

OP, this is a questionable source to get answers about Wakefield if you're not the type of person who sends their kid to 7 hrs/day of SAT prep all summer long, would buy a Lexus over a Camry, and can't figure out why junior speaks to you that way when Janet Lansbury told you it was just a matter of being patient and visualizing your outcome. Many people who don't fit those categories don't tend to post on DCUM in general. I'm a future Wakefield parent so can't answer your question directly, but we are a white UMC household, both Ivy-educated with grad degrees, make enough to afford North Arlington (or McLean), and live in South Arlington zoned for Gunston and then Wakefield. Also we drive a Toyota.

I wouldn't send my kid to a low-performing school with which you have no personal experience just because you have a nice resume.

Also, it's odd that you'd suggest this story is old news when it relates to an arrest in South Arlington less than six months ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok what?? Where in the world is this Wakefield-MS 13 connection coming from? In a matter of one page, the McLeans went from bashing its academics to claiming it's East LA.

Are you just pulling random crimes from all over Alexandria, MoCo and Fairfax Co and attributing them to a high school in Arlington? Show me the actual reports that show a legitimate gang presence at the school. Waiting...

Four Mile Run and Columbia Pike puts you squarely in the Wakefield district.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ms-13-member-wanted-2-homicides-arrested-northern-virginia

This story, about a fugitive from Texas, is literally the only one anyone every posts when asked this question, on any thread about South Arlington schools. This and the one about the shooting in the Kenmore parking lot in 1997.

OP, this is a questionable source to get answers about Wakefield if you're not the type of person who sends their kid to 7 hrs/day of SAT prep all summer long, would buy a Lexus over a Camry, and can't figure out why junior speaks to you that way when Janet Lansbury told you it was just a matter of being patient and visualizing your outcome. Many people who don't fit those categories don't tend to post on DCUM in general. I'm a future Wakefield parent so can't answer your question directly, but we are a white UMC household, both Ivy-educated with grad degrees, make enough to afford North Arlington (or McLean), and live in South Arlington zoned for Gunston and then Wakefield. Also we drive a Toyota.

Anonymous wrote:Ok what?? Where in the world is this Wakefield-MS 13 connection coming from? In a matter of one page, the McLeans went from bashing its academics to claiming it's East LA.

Are you just pulling random crimes from all over Alexandria, MoCo and Fairfax Co and attributing them to a high school in Arlington? Show me the actual reports that show a legitimate gang presence at the school. Waiting...

Four Mile Run and Columbia Pike puts you squarely in the Wakefield district.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ms-13-member-wanted-2-homicides-arrested-northern-virginia

Ok what?? Where in the world is this Wakefield-MS 13 connection coming from? In a matter of one page, the McLeans went from bashing its academics to claiming it's East LA.

Are you just pulling random crimes from all over Alexandria, MoCo and Fairfax Co and attributing them to a high school in Arlington? Show me the actual reports that show a legitimate gang presence at the school. Waiting...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Langley's mom here. I don't know what kids at Wakefield HS do in the summer but at Langley, I do know a lot of kids including mine, especially Asians, attend SAT prep class for eight straight weeks from M-F, 9am-4pm in the summer at the cost of around 6K. That probably explains why they have better scores than kids from Wakefield.

You won’t find many kids from Langley spending eight full weeks of their summer at an SAT prep class. Not even the Asians.

On its face, that does sound like overkill (and over priced!) for your typical academically focused UMC. From what I've seen, some targeted one-on-one tutoring would save 200 hours of time and $3-$4k.

I am another mom from Langley and my daughter does go to eight weeks summer SAT boot camp. PP, I hope you're smarter than what you wrote here. You can get a Camry for 25k or you can get a Lexus for 80K. People who can afford it prefer Lexus over Camry because of all the safety features and comfort that Camry just does not have. The same goes with SAT prep. You get what you pay for.

If the kid is already smart and motivated, he/she doesn't need SAT boot camp. The kid could have been attending Wakefield and score 1600 on the SAT. Unfortunately, most kids can not do that so therefore they need help. Btw, I think Wakefield is a wonderful school. It is not where you go to school, it's how you make the most of it.

I do have a somewhat idiotic question. Is gang an issue at Wakefield as some in thread mentioned?

You analogy reveals a lot. You're saying you will pay 3.2 times as much for one car that does the same thing as another (drives you around) but has more "safety and comfort." The safety standards for all cars are pretty strict these days, so mostly you are willing to pay an enormous premium for comfort. I can't imagine wasting a child's summer indoors cramming for a multiple choice test so I can have the comfort of knowing they might get into a slightly more prestigious school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.apsva.us/post/wakefield-senior-wins-prestigious-horatio-alger-national-scholarship/

this is really misleading: The 2018 Horatio Alger Association National Scholars are students who come from households with an average income of $12,996 per year but maintain an average GPA of 3.8[u][i]. Each National Scholarship recipient is awarded $25,000 to apply toward the educational costs of the college or university of their choice and will have access to a variety of Association-provided resources including counseling and referral services, internship opportunities and Alumni connections.

so this is not a academic scholarship but it has other strings attached.

How do it not academic? You are retarded.

Can we all agree that, while the typical DCUM snark is part of the attraction of this site, we don't need to use slurs like "retarded"?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.apsva.us/post/wakefield-senior-wins-prestigious-horatio-alger-national-scholarship/

this is really misleading: The 2018 Horatio Alger Association National Scholars are students who come from households with an average income of $12,996 per year but maintain an average GPA of 3.8[u][i]. Each National Scholarship recipient is awarded $25,000 to apply toward the educational costs of the college or university of their choice and will have access to a variety of Association-provided resources including counseling and referral services, internship opportunities and Alumni connections.

so this is not a academic scholarship but it has other strings attached.

How do it not academic? You are retarded.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.apsva.us/post/wakefield-senior-wins-prestigious-horatio-alger-national-scholarship/

this is really misleading: The 2018 Horatio Alger Association National Scholars are students who come from households with an average income of $12,996 per year but maintain an average GPA of 3.8[u][i]. Each National Scholarship recipient is awarded $25,000 to apply toward the educational costs of the college or university of their choice and will have access to a variety of Association-provided resources including counseling and referral services, internship opportunities and Alumni connections.

so this is not a academic scholarship but it has other strings attached.

I don't understand your point. It's still an academic scholarship. It doesn't especially make me want to send my kids to Wakefield, but this student certainly deserves congratulations.