Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

W-L is growing to 2700. That’s the capacity APS planned for with the addition. Sports teams are easier to make at W-L vs Yorktown but still competitive within the district and occasionally region and state depending on the sport. There are also plenty of no cut varsity sports and new ones like ultimate frisbee. Crew (rowing) at W-L is still no cut. Same with wrestling, track, swim / dive, etc. Obviously basketball, softball, baseball, etc will always have cuts. In sum, I wouldn’t worry about sports access.

Hopefully spots on highly desired teams will grow with the size of the student body. Big high schools where I grew up had Varsity, JV, sophomore, and freshman basketball teams. Good freshman and sophomores could play up, but it did create more spots for more kids to play.

Not happening. There isn’t enough field/gym space as it is.

That’s not true. There’s plenty field space on site. Both directly adjacent to the school and across the street at Quincy which is APS owned. And the new W-L addition included a new small gym space and a new, much larger weight room. W-L’s gym is one of the largest in Northern Virginia, which is why the VHSL often hosts regional athletic games there. Same with the school stadium— it’s one of the largest in Northern Virginia.

Yorktown is the only school that really has a field space shortage given its size and cramped site.

I can see that the Yorktown field space availability is an issue, but W-L's really isn't that much better. You would think that there's plenty of field space just looking at the facilities, but it really isn't true. In the spring, the boys and girls soccer and lacrosse teams all share the turf field and the auxiliary (grass) field. This means practice times are staggered throughout the season. Once in the season, the turf field is not available on game nights. Combine that with the fact that the county ALSO uses the fields for rec and sports programming and it becomes problematic. I'm sure YHS has the same problem.

It would be great if the APS high schools could create freshman teams for boys/girls soccer (the teams are extremely competitive) but I can't see that happening with the larger county-wide demand for space.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

W-L is growing to 2700. That’s the capacity APS planned for with the addition. Sports teams are easier to make at W-L vs Yorktown but still competitive within the district and occasionally region and state depending on the sport. There are also plenty of no cut varsity sports and new ones like ultimate frisbee. Crew (rowing) at W-L is still no cut. Same with wrestling, track, swim / dive, etc. Obviously basketball, softball, baseball, etc will always have cuts. In sum, I wouldn’t worry about sports access.

Hopefully spots on highly desired teams will grow with the size of the student body. Big high schools where I grew up had Varsity, JV, sophomore, and freshman basketball teams. Good freshman and sophomores could play up, but it did create more spots for more kids to play.

Not happening. There isn’t enough field/gym space as it is.

That’s not true. There’s plenty field space on site. Both directly adjacent to the school and across the street at Quincy which is APS owned. And the new W-L addition included a new small gym space and a new, much larger weight room. W-L’s gym is one of the largest in Northern Virginia, which is why the VHSL often hosts regional athletic games there. Same with the school stadium— it’s one of the largest in Northern Virginia.

Yorktown is the only school that really has a field space shortage given its size and cramped site.

You do not know what you are talking about. Why do the current basketball teams practice off site half the time? There is no way W&L has space for FOUR baseball teams. It doesn’t have practice space for two. It has one field. The just goes on and on. The gym/field space in N Arlington is in incredibly high demand and they won’t be upping teams simply because the school got bigger.

Even in FCPS or MCPS at larger schools, there are no multiple baseball or softball fields. Typically large high schools have a football stadium, a practice field, a baseball and a softball diamond, tennis courts, and possibly one or more additional practice fields or diamonds if the school is adjacent to a park. If you don’t believe this, Google Earth will show what other large or larger high schools like Oakton, Chantilly, etc have in terms of fields.

Same applies to gyms. Schools either have an additional full size auxiliary gym, like at Wakefield, or a large super-sized gym that can be subdivided like at W-L, the usual approach for the larger high schools.

Sure it would be nice to have three or four gyms and four or five baseball and softball fields, etc. But that’s not realistic, even for large high schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

W-L is growing to 2700. That’s the capacity APS planned for with the addition. Sports teams are easier to make at W-L vs Yorktown but still competitive within the district and occasionally region and state depending on the sport. There are also plenty of no cut varsity sports and new ones like ultimate frisbee. Crew (rowing) at W-L is still no cut. Same with wrestling, track, swim / dive, etc. Obviously basketball, softball, baseball, etc will always have cuts. In sum, I wouldn’t worry about sports access.

Hopefully spots on highly desired teams will grow with the size of the student body. Big high schools where I grew up had Varsity, JV, sophomore, and freshman basketball teams. Good freshman and sophomores could play up, but it did create more spots for more kids to play.

Not happening. There isn’t enough field/gym space as it is.

That’s not true. There’s plenty field space on site. Both directly adjacent to the school and across the street at Quincy which is APS owned. And the new W-L addition included a new small gym space and a new, much larger weight room. W-L’s gym is one of the largest in Northern Virginia, which is why the VHSL often hosts regional athletic games there. Same with the school stadium— it’s one of the largest in Northern Virginia.

Yorktown is the only school that really has a field space shortage given its size and cramped site.

You do not know what you are talking about. Why do the current basketball teams practice off site half the time? There is no way W&L has space for FOUR baseball teams. It doesn’t have practice space for two. It has one field. The just goes on and on. The gym/field space in N Arlington is in incredibly high demand and they won’t be upping teams simply because the school got bigger.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

W-L is growing to 2700. That’s the capacity APS planned for with the addition. Sports teams are easier to make at W-L vs Yorktown but still competitive within the district and occasionally region and state depending on the sport. There are also plenty of no cut varsity sports and new ones like ultimate frisbee. Crew (rowing) at W-L is still no cut. Same with wrestling, track, swim / dive, etc. Obviously basketball, softball, baseball, etc will always have cuts. In sum, I wouldn’t worry about sports access.

Hopefully spots on highly desired teams will grow with the size of the student body. Big high schools where I grew up had Varsity, JV, sophomore, and freshman basketball teams. Good freshman and sophomores could play up, but it did create more spots for more kids to play.

Not happening. There isn’t enough field/gym space as it is.

That’s not true. There’s plenty field space on site. Both directly adjacent to the school and across the street at Quincy which is APS owned. And the new W-L addition included a new small gym space and a new, much larger weight room. W-L’s gym is one of the largest in Northern Virginia, which is why the VHSL often hosts regional athletic games there. Same with the school stadium— it’s one of the largest in Northern Virginia.

Yorktown is the only school that really has a field space shortage given its size and cramped site.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

W-L is growing to 2700. That’s the capacity APS planned for with the addition. Sports teams are easier to make at W-L vs Yorktown but still competitive within the district and occasionally region and state depending on the sport. There are also plenty of no cut varsity sports and new ones like ultimate frisbee. Crew (rowing) at W-L is still no cut. Same with wrestling, track, swim / dive, etc. Obviously basketball, softball, baseball, etc will always have cuts. In sum, I wouldn’t worry about sports access.

Hopefully spots on highly desired teams will grow with the size of the student body. Big high schools where I grew up had Varsity, JV, sophomore, and freshman basketball teams. Good freshman and sophomores could play up, but it did create more spots for more kids to play.

Not happening. There isn’t enough field/gym space as it is.

For our family, IBD at W-L was worth it for the esprit de corps among student and teachers and the smaller classes, particularly for Higher Level languages and sciences. AP classes are bigger and students aren't as bonded as on the AP track.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that your kid has to start a language in 7th grade to even be considered eligible for IB (i.e. they need to be in level 2 of a language in 8th grade)? Or is pre-IB optional and you can choose IB later in high school so it doesn't matter? That seems insane to weed out that early. I don't see my kid going down this path, just curious.

Yes, that's in the listed requirements: https://wl.apsva.us/international-baccalaureate-program/application-information/

They also have to take ALL intensified classes in 9th and 10th grade + AP Government in 10th grade. So, even these "Pre-IB" years are a pretty hefty schedule.

fyi the AP Gov thing is because US Government is a state-required class but there isn't room for it in the IB 11th-12th schedule. I believe at the other HS's it's generally a seniors class.

PP here, thanks. That's kind of nuts. Definitely a very self-selecting pool of people if you need to know in 7th grade what path you're taking. And, yeah, I grew up in CA (years ago) and government and econ were senior year classes (semester each).

IBD is hardly nuts. The program started in the 60s in international schools around the world. These days, there are more than 3,000 IBD World Schools internationally.
School is hardly the only place teens can learn languages. Summer language immersion programs in this country and abroad can certainly help for families who can afford them and see their value, e.g. Concordia in MN. We like IBD partly because AP language exams are often too easy for students from bilingual families/backgrounds, like ours. Our kid easily scored a 5 on the AP exam in the language we speak, read and write at home in 9th grade. By contrast, IBD Higher Level language exams are pitched a couple years past AP. IBD studies embody the European approach to high school for the university bound, less emphasis on ECs than in this country, more emphasis on straightforward academics, particularly writing. Right, IB isn't for every high-performing American high school student.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

W-L is growing to 2700. That’s the capacity APS planned for with the addition. Sports teams are easier to make at W-L vs Yorktown but still competitive within the district and occasionally region and state depending on the sport. There are also plenty of no cut varsity sports and new ones like ultimate frisbee. Crew (rowing) at W-L is still no cut. Same with wrestling, track, swim / dive, etc. Obviously basketball, softball, baseball, etc will always have cuts. In sum, I wouldn’t worry about sports access.

Hopefully spots on highly desired teams will grow with the size of the student body. Big high schools where I grew up had Varsity, JV, sophomore, and freshman basketball teams. Good freshman and sophomores could play up, but it did create more spots for more kids to play.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

W-L is growing to 2700. That’s the capacity APS planned for with the addition. Sports teams are easier to make at W-L vs Yorktown but still competitive within the district and occasionally region and state depending on the sport. There are also plenty of no cut varsity sports and new ones like ultimate frisbee. Crew (rowing) at W-L is still no cut. Same with wrestling, track, swim / dive, etc. Obviously basketball, softball, baseball, etc will always have cuts. In sum, I wouldn’t worry about sports access.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

Why? Wakefield is not all that different size wise (relatively, I know I know) and the sports there are way easier than YHS or W&L. Sports nowadays seems more to be a function of parental money and time and access. Those things shrink as you move southward through the county.

You are talking 150 more kids per grade.

I still think you are wrong. Current enrollment (Jan 2024) has YHS @ 2126 and W&L at 2524 and yet the sports worlds are totally different. That’s more than 100 more per grade today and it hasn’t made a lick of difference.

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2024/01/U-MEM_281_Membership-Summary-All.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

Why? Wakefield is not all that different size wise (relatively, I know I know) and the sports there are way easier than YHS or W&L. Sports nowadays seems more to be a function of parental money and time and access. Those things shrink as you move southward through the county.

You have a point about athletics, but WHS has nowhere near 3,000 students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

Why? Wakefield is not all that different size wise (relatively, I know I know) and the sports there are way easier than YHS or W&L. Sports nowadays seems more to be a function of parental money and time and access. Those things shrink as you move southward through the county.

You are talking 150 more kids per grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

Why? Wakefield is not all that different size wise (relatively, I know I know) and the sports there are way easier than YHS or W&L. Sports nowadays seems more to be a function of parental money and time and access. Those things shrink as you move southward through the county.

Anonymous wrote:YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

As WL rises in size to 3000 students, will sport team access shrink?

As someone who lives in the Netherlands (Maastricht) and studied at the University of Amsterdam, I would caution that housing is not provided in most situations, and there is a serious housing crisis here. I was lucky to get accommodation through my scholarship back in the 90s, but it's something to be aware of when looking at your overseas options.