Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get super worked up about this. A bunch of things going on. A huge factor is Arlington is getting wealthier and wealthier. More people CAN afford private school than ever before. Covid, some left and won't ever come back. And yes, the equity dog whistle. [google]There is a lot of misrepresentation I see on this board about how there is no homework (not true), no one is allowed to fail any more (not true), everyone gets an A (not true), no rigorous content for more advanced students (not true), blah, blah. High school is plenty rigorous in APS if your student is capable and on that track. Intensified content is back in middle school. And if you want your kid pulled out for gifted services in APS, well we never did that so move to Fairfax and enjoy all that comes with that.

Many kids are still going public in Arlington and my genuine reaction is I'm glad for anyone to leave. More space for my kids and I hope it siphons off the more extreme wealth, which I don't want my kids around anyway.

Exactly. People misrepresenting probably don’t even have kids in APS.

Did you see the link I posted regarding writing at APS. We need to stop denying that there are issues. Most grads are unprepared for college. This is a country wide issue and Arlington is not immune.

I’m a DP and I read it. Thank you for posting this. I am grateful to hear these perspectives. It is beyond unacceptable that students are reporting [b]they were never assigned a research paper during their entire time at APS. To this day I can remember some of the research papers I was assigned in my (excellent) public high school. My first research paper was assigned in 5th grade. We had a unit on using the library for research and we all had to write a 2 page paper. I’m not sure if we should expect research papers from 5th graders, but by high school it should be standard for all English and History classes.

How in the world is this not happening? Is the student wrong?

That is BS. Kids do have research papers starting in ES.

APS kids do research *powerpoint presentations* in ES. They don't write research papers. If you want your kid to learn actual writing, you need to supplement during the summer. This doesn't change in middle school. Our oldest just finished Swanson, and he never wrote a research paper while he was there. His projects were mostly powerpoint presentations and posterboards. APS does not teach writing the way that most of us learned it. They deserve all the criticism they are getting right now about the writing instruction.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get super worked up about this. A bunch of things going on. A huge factor is Arlington is getting wealthier and wealthier. More people CAN afford private school than ever before. Covid, some left and won't ever come back. And yes, the equity dog whistle. [google]There is a lot of misrepresentation I see on this board about how there is no homework (not true), no one is allowed to fail any more (not true), everyone gets an A (not true), no rigorous content for more advanced students (not true), blah, blah. High school is plenty rigorous in APS if your student is capable and on that track. Intensified content is back in middle school. And if you want your kid pulled out for gifted services in APS, well we never did that so move to Fairfax and enjoy all that comes with that.[b]

Many kids are still going public in Arlington and my genuine reaction is I'm glad for anyone to leave. More space for my kids and I hope it siphons off the more extreme wealth, which I don't want my kids around anyway.

Exactly. People misrepresenting probably don’t even have kids in APS.

Did you see the link I posted regarding writing at APS. We need to stop denying that there are issues. Most grads are unprepared for college. This is a country wide issue and Arlington is not immune.

I’m a DP and I read it. Thank you for posting this. I am grateful to hear these perspectives. It is beyond unacceptable that students are reporting they were never assigned a research paper during their entire time at APS. To this day I can remember some of the research papers I was assigned in my (excellent) public high school. My first research paper was assigned in 5th grade. We had a unit on using the library for research and we all had to write a 2 page paper. I’m not sure if we should expect research papers from 5th graders, but by high school it should be standard for all English and History classes.

How in the world is this not happening? Is the student wrong?

That student is wrong, perhaps not about their individual experience, but it’s not the norm. My kids definitely have done them in ES, maybe they’re not called that, but they’ve had writing assignments that are age-appropriate “research papers.” And same for MS, obviously a lot closer to a real research paper at that point.

I do think the writing curriculum is lacking, but I think that’s a problem at the National level, and even when I was in college, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, my ENG professors complained that none of their students could write a good paper. I don’t know what the answer is, but it might have something to do with public school teachers largely having education degrees, while private school teachers often have other degrees, like English, for example. You can’t major in English without learning how to write well, and you can’t teach how to write if you can’t do it well yourself.

Given the fact that ELA staff believe that that APS’ writing program is dismal and are working to improve it, and the ELAAC committee believe the same (see their recommendations), and Dr Duran seemingly agreed with the ELAAC committee during their presentation, the students are most likely not wrong.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get super worked up about this. A bunch of things going on. A huge factor is Arlington is getting wealthier and wealthier. More people CAN afford private school than ever before. Covid, some left and won't ever come back. And yes, the equity dog whistle. There is a lot of misrepresentation I see on this board about how there is no homework (not true), no one is allowed to fail any more (not true), everyone gets an A (not true), no rigorous content for more advanced students (not true), blah, blah. High school is plenty rigorous in APS if your student is capable and on that track. Intensified content is back in middle school. And if you want your kid pulled out for gifted services in APS, well we never did that so move to Fairfax and enjoy all that comes with that.

Many kids are still going public in Arlington and my genuine reaction is I'm glad for anyone to leave. More space for my kids and I hope it siphons off the more extreme wealth, which I don't want my kids around anyway.

It's interesting to hear you say some of those common talking points aren't true. We've always been in catholic, so I just hear people talking and they definitely say there's no homework in elementary or middle school and you can retake tests (so hard to fail and easier to get As). Is that not true? Genuinely curious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get super worked up about this. A bunch of things going on. A huge factor is Arlington is getting wealthier and wealthier. More people CAN afford private school than ever before. Covid, some left and won't ever come back. And yes, the equity dog whistle. [google]There is a lot of misrepresentation I see on this board about how there is no homework (not true), no one is allowed to fail any more (not true), everyone gets an A (not true), no rigorous content for more advanced students (not true), blah, blah. High school is plenty rigorous in APS if your student is capable and on that track. Intensified content is back in middle school. And if you want your kid pulled out for gifted services in APS, well we never did that so move to Fairfax and enjoy all that comes with that.

Many kids are still going public in Arlington and my genuine reaction is I'm glad for anyone to leave. More space for my kids and I hope it siphons off the more extreme wealth, which I don't want my kids around anyway.

Exactly. People misrepresenting probably don’t even have kids in APS.

Did you see the link I posted regarding writing at APS. We need to stop denying that there are issues. Most grads are unprepared for college. This is a country wide issue and Arlington is not immune.

I’m a DP and I read it. Thank you for posting this. I am grateful to hear these perspectives. It is beyond unacceptable that students are reporting [b]they were never assigned a research paper during their entire time at APS. To this day I can remember some of the research papers I was assigned in my (excellent) public high school. My first research paper was assigned in 5th grade. We had a unit on using the library for research and we all had to write a 2 page paper. I’m not sure if we should expect research papers from 5th graders, but by high school it should be standard for all English and History classes.

How in the world is this not happening? Is the student wrong?

That is BS. Kids do have research papers starting in ES.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saw this in WF in line. Didn’t get to read. Didn’t that happen in pandemic, I thought people were coming back?

The article was pointless. yeah, people left during the pandemic. Old news. No substantive material or information in the article.

I worry that these families aren’t coming back or that private school is becoming the normal for those that can afford it. I don’t want to become Alexandria. Anyone not worried about this has their head in the sand or doesn’t realize we need kids of all backgrounds (including the privileged) to go to public school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get super worked up about this. A bunch of things going on. A huge factor is Arlington is getting wealthier and wealthier. More people CAN afford private school than ever before. Covid, some left and won't ever come back. And yes, the equity dog whistle. There is a lot of misrepresentation I see on this board about how there is no homework (not true), no one is allowed to fail any more (not true), everyone gets an A (not true), no rigorous content for more advanced students (not true), blah, blah. High school is plenty rigorous in APS if your student is capable and on that track. Intensified content is back in middle school. And if you want your kid pulled out for gifted services in APS, well we never did that so move to Fairfax and enjoy all that comes with that.

Many kids are still going public in Arlington and my genuine reaction is I'm glad for anyone to leave. More space for my kids and I hope it siphons off the more extreme wealth, which I don't want my kids around anyway.

It's interesting to hear you say some of those common talking points aren't true. We've always been in catholic, so I just hear people talking and they definitely say there's no homework in elementary or middle school and you can retake tests (so hard to fail and easier to get As). Is that not true? Genuinely curious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get super worked up about this. A bunch of things going on. A huge factor is Arlington is getting wealthier and wealthier. More people CAN afford private school than ever before. Covid, some left and won't ever come back. And yes, the equity dog whistle. There is a lot of misrepresentation I see on this board about how there is no homework (not true), no one is allowed to fail any more (not true), everyone gets an A (not true), no rigorous content for more advanced students (not true), blah, blah. High school is plenty rigorous in APS if your student is capable and on that track. Intensified content is back in middle school. And if you want your kid pulled out for gifted services in APS, well we never did that so move to Fairfax and enjoy all that comes with that.

Many kids are still going public in Arlington and my genuine reaction is I'm glad for anyone to leave. More space for my kids and I hope it siphons off the more extreme wealth, which I don't want my kids around anyway.

It's interesting to hear you say some of those common talking points aren't true. We've always been in catholic, so I just hear people talking and they definitely say there's no homework in elementary or middle school and you can retake tests (so hard to fail and easier to get As). Is that not true? Genuinely curious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP about FCCPS... we know three families who moved out of Arlington for FCC because they wanted a smaller middle/high school experience and lower student teacher ratios. We just pulled our oldest from APS and put him in private for high school for the same reason. The teachers at our APS middle school were so hit or miss over his three years there, that we just didn't feel confident that he would be prepared for college coming out of the APS high schools.

Is their instruction better though when it comes to reading, writing and math? I love the IB curriculum for 11th and 12th grade but I am not a big fan of the elementary and middle school IB curriculum. It can be good if done right (especially the elementary school one). But a lot of times it isn’t. See this criticism here of the IB middle years curriculum. https://wrpvincent.com/why-i-am-not-a-fan-of-the-myp/

I am specifically asking because a friend of mine is looking to move her family to northern Virginia from NYC. Their daughter goes to a blue ribbon elementary school. They are interested in moving to Falls Church City, Arlington, or McLean. Anything else would be too far. When they came to visit, they fell in love with Falls Church City and they asked me about the schools. I told them what I knew. That families seem to be happy with the schools because the school system is small and less crowded. But I wasn’t sure about the academics. My assumption is that it’s good based on what I have heard. But when she asked me whether APS had a better reputation than FCCS I told her I don’t know. I told her that many parents are critical of APS because of declining standards but it good be because everyone wants the absolute best. Overall the schools are still good and wasn’t sure how they compare to Falls Church City.

PP here. I can't answer firsthand, but the families that I know who moved are very, very happy. The downside is that there are fewer houses for sale in FCC, and they tend to be pricier. Also, property taxes are higher in FCC-- but they pump a lot of that money back into the schools. Arlington Co has so many residents without kids who just kick and scream any time property taxes go up, so our school system seems to constantly be under budget pressures lately. Parents also seem to love the FCC superintendent, as opposed to Arlington where we just tend to get hand-me-downs assistant superintendents from Fairfax Co who just try to turn us into a mini FCPS. My sense is that FCC is able to be more responsive to issues that come up because they are smaller. I would choose FCC over APS today, although I think the systems were more similar 10 years ago when our oldest entered APS.

We considered FCC. Talked to a lot of families there. Pros: Not a lot of low-income students and the needs they bring to a school system. That’s the entire basis for FCC schools existing and they achieved the goal. You will never get redistricted. One school the whole way through.

Cons: Your kid is with the same kids the whole way through. Works for some and not others. No chance to reinvent yourself socially. Some kids find stifling. If the academic environment isn’t a fit, no other options. I have heard from many it’s very insular for adults too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get super worked up about this. A bunch of things going on. A huge factor is Arlington is getting wealthier and wealthier. More people CAN afford private school than ever before. Covid, some left and won't ever come back. And yes, the equity dog whistle. [google]There is a lot of misrepresentation I see on this board about how there is no homework (not true), no one is allowed to fail any more (not true), everyone gets an A (not true), no rigorous content for more advanced students (not true), blah, blah. High school is plenty rigorous in APS if your student is capable and on that track. Intensified content is back in middle school. And if you want your kid pulled out for gifted services in APS, well we never did that so move to Fairfax and enjoy all that comes with that.

Many kids are still going public in Arlington and my genuine reaction is I'm glad for anyone to leave. More space for my kids and I hope it siphons off the more extreme wealth, which I don't want my kids around anyway.

Exactly. People misrepresenting probably don’t even have kids in APS.

Did you see the link I posted regarding writing at APS. We need to stop denying that there are issues. Most grads are unprepared for college. This is a country wide issue and Arlington is not immune.

I’m a DP and I read it. Thank you for posting this. I am grateful to hear these perspectives. It is beyond unacceptable that students are reporting [b]they were never assigned a research paper during their entire time at APS. To this day I can remember some of the research papers I was assigned in my (excellent) public high school. My first research paper was assigned in 5th grade. We had a unit on using the library for research and we all had to write a 2 page paper. I’m not sure if we should expect research papers from 5th graders, but by high school it should be standard for all English and History classes.

How in the world is this not happening? Is the student wrong?

That is BS. Kids do have research papers starting in ES.

APS kids do research *powerpoint presentations* in ES. They don't write research papers. If you want your kid to learn actual writing, you need to supplement during the summer. This doesn't change in middle school. Our oldest just finished Swanson, and he never wrote a research paper while he was there. His projects were mostly powerpoint presentations and posterboards. APS does not teach writing the way that most of us learned it. They deserve all the criticism they are getting right now about the writing instruction.

My kids did 5 paragraph research and informational essays in ES. And also made a research “book” when they were younger (for TOC, index, etc). Google slides for some research topic (science class), but not for a paper.

Is there room for improvement? Sure. Are they doing research papers and other writing? Yes.

It definitely varies by school. My kids elementary school is great. Others not so much. Middle school is a bigger issue. Standards go down but not in all schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get super worked up about this. A bunch of things going on. A huge factor is Arlington is getting wealthier and wealthier. More people CAN afford private school than ever before. Covid, some left and won't ever come back. And yes, the equity dog whistle. [google]There is a lot of misrepresentation I see on this board about how there is no homework (not true), no one is allowed to fail any more (not true), everyone gets an A (not true), no rigorous content for more advanced students (not true), blah, blah. High school is plenty rigorous in APS if your student is capable and on that track. Intensified content is back in middle school. And if you want your kid pulled out for gifted services in APS, well we never did that so move to Fairfax and enjoy all that comes with that.

Many kids are still going public in Arlington and my genuine reaction is I'm glad for anyone to leave. More space for my kids and I hope it siphons off the more extreme wealth, which I don't want my kids around anyway.

Exactly. People misrepresenting probably don’t even have kids in APS.

Did you see the link I posted regarding writing at APS. We need to stop denying that there are issues. Most grads are unprepared for college. This is a country wide issue and Arlington is not immune.

I’m a DP and I read it. Thank you for posting this. I am grateful to hear these perspectives. It is beyond unacceptable that students are reporting [b]they were never assigned a research paper during their entire time at APS. To this day I can remember some of the research papers I was assigned in my (excellent) public high school. My first research paper was assigned in 5th grade. We had a unit on using the library for research and we all had to write a 2 page paper. I’m not sure if we should expect research papers from 5th graders, but by high school it should be standard for all English and History classes.

How in the world is this not happening? Is the student wrong?

That is BS. Kids do have research papers starting in ES.

APS kids do research *powerpoint presentations* in ES. They don't write research papers. If you want your kid to learn actual writing, you need to supplement during the summer. This doesn't change in middle school. Our oldest just finished Swanson, and he never wrote a research paper while he was there. His projects were mostly powerpoint presentations and posterboards. APS does not teach writing the way that most of us learned it. They deserve all the criticism they are getting right now about the writing instruction.

My kids did 5 paragraph research and informational essays in ES. And also made a research “book” when they were younger (for TOC, index, etc). Google slides for some research topic (science class), but not for a paper.

Is there room for improvement? Sure. Are they doing research papers and other writing? Yes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get super worked up about this. A bunch of things going on. A huge factor is Arlington is getting wealthier and wealthier. More people CAN afford private school than ever before. Covid, some left and won't ever come back. And yes, the equity dog whistle. [google]There is a lot of misrepresentation I see on this board about how there is no homework (not true), no one is allowed to fail any more (not true), everyone gets an A (not true), no rigorous content for more advanced students (not true), blah, blah. High school is plenty rigorous in APS if your student is capable and on that track. Intensified content is back in middle school. And if you want your kid pulled out for gifted services in APS, well we never did that so move to Fairfax and enjoy all that comes with that.

Many kids are still going public in Arlington and my genuine reaction is I'm glad for anyone to leave. More space for my kids and I hope it siphons off the more extreme wealth, which I don't want my kids around anyway.

Exactly. People misrepresenting probably don’t even have kids in APS.

Did you see the link I posted regarding writing at APS. We need to stop denying that there are issues. Most grads are unprepared for college. This is a country wide issue and Arlington is not immune.

I’m a DP and I read it. Thank you for posting this. I am grateful to hear these perspectives. It is beyond unacceptable that students are reporting [b]they were never assigned a research paper during their entire time at APS. To this day I can remember some of the research papers I was assigned in my (excellent) public high school. My first research paper was assigned in 5th grade. We had a unit on using the library for research and we all had to write a 2 page paper. I’m not sure if we should expect research papers from 5th graders, but by high school it should be standard for all English and History classes.

How in the world is this not happening? Is the student wrong?

That is BS. Kids do have research papers starting in ES.

APS kids do research *powerpoint presentations* in ES. They don't write research papers. If you want your kid to learn actual writing, you need to supplement during the summer. This doesn't change in middle school. Our oldest just finished Swanson, and he never wrote a research paper while he was there. His projects were mostly powerpoint presentations and posterboards. APS does not teach writing the way that most of us learned it. They deserve all the criticism they are getting right now about the writing instruction.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP about FCCPS... we know three families who moved out of Arlington for FCC because they wanted a smaller middle/high school experience and lower student teacher ratios. We just pulled our oldest from APS and put him in private for high school for the same reason. The teachers at our APS middle school were so hit or miss over his three years there, that we just didn't feel confident that he would be prepared for college coming out of the APS high schools.

Is their instruction better though when it comes to reading, writing and math? I love the IB curriculum for 11th and 12th grade but I am not a big fan of the elementary and middle school IB curriculum. It can be good if done right (especially the elementary school one). But a lot of times it isn’t. See this criticism here of the IB middle years curriculum. https://wrpvincent.com/why-i-am-not-a-fan-of-the-myp/

I am specifically asking because a friend of mine is looking to move her family to northern Virginia from NYC. Their daughter goes to a blue ribbon elementary school. They are interested in moving to Falls Church City, Arlington, or McLean. Anything else would be too far. When they came to visit, they fell in love with Falls Church City and they asked me about the schools. I told them what I knew. That families seem to be happy with the schools because the school system is small and less crowded. But I wasn’t sure about the academics. My assumption is that it’s good based on what I have heard. But when she asked me whether APS had a better reputation than FCCS I told her I don’t know. I told her that many parents are critical of APS because of declining standards but it good be because everyone wants the absolute best. Overall the schools are still good and wasn’t sure how they compare to Falls Church City.

PP here. I can't answer firsthand, but the families that I know who moved are very, very happy. The downside is that there are fewer houses for sale in FCC, and they tend to be pricier. Also, property taxes are higher in FCC-- but they pump a lot of that money back into the schools. Arlington Co has so many residents without kids who just kick and scream any time property taxes go up, so our school system seems to constantly be under budget pressures lately. Parents also seem to love the FCC superintendent, as opposed to Arlington where we just tend to get hand-me-downs assistant superintendents from Fairfax Co who just try to turn us into a mini FCPS. My sense is that FCC is able to be more responsive to issues that come up because they are smaller. I would choose FCC over APS today, although I think the systems were more similar 10 years ago when our oldest entered APS.