In other Yorktown news....

http://wjla.com/news/local/yorktown-high-school-teacher-charged-with-indecent-exposure-at-tysons-sports-club

Anonymous wrote:This thread was heavily redacted, and some pertinent parts of this discussion were lost.
The op is wondering about catholic school, so it's less of an issue about Ivy acceptance.
However, if you are hell bent on an IVY, I would say northern va publics are not the best choice. I am not criticizing the quality of education. I do believe you can get a good public education here in almost any school, regardless of test scores, and over crowded lunch rooms.
The issue you will run into is area privates with large pools of legacies, and strong connections between school counselors and the admittance staff of top schools.
Your public HS guidance counselor is not likely as well connected and is responsible for too many kids.
The DC area has so many successful, well educated people.

To the contrary, NoVa publics are a good choice if you are aiming for an Ivy, but you need to attend TJHSST, not Yorktown or a parochial school (unless you're a top athlete).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bear in mind that it's becoming more difficult to transfer into W/L for IB. There was a lottery last year and our neighbor's child didn't get in. It's not something that you can just do, as some of the posts here make it seem.

Right! This is one of the reasons that the SB needs to be called out on the assumption that the transfers OUT of Yorktown will re-balance when they just screwed up. It ain't gonna happen.

To PP's observation, it's ridiculous that people get rezoned out of W-L to Yorktown, and then end up at a school with fewer academic options and only a crap-shot at getting IB if they want it.

APS isn't run professionally. Time to bring in new management.

This thread was heavily redacted, and some pertinent parts of this discussion were lost.
The op is wondering about catholic school, so it's less of an issue about Ivy acceptance.
However, if you are hell bent on an IVY, I would say northern va publics are not the best choice. I am not criticizing the quality of education. I do believe you can get a good public education here in almost any school, regardless of test scores, and over crowded lunch rooms.
The issue you will run into is area privates with large pools of legacies, and strong connections between school counselors and the admittance staff of top schools.
Your public HS guidance counselor is not likely as well connected and is responsible for too many kids.
The DC area has so many successful, well educated people.

Anonymous wrote:Bear in mind that it's becoming more difficult to transfer into W/L for IB. There was a lottery last year and our neighbor's child didn't get in. It's not something that you can just do, as some of the posts here make it seem.

Right! This is one of the reasons that the SB needs to be called out on the assumption that the transfers OUT of Yorktown will re-balance when they just screwed up. It ain't gonna happen.

It's part of what I'm NOT liking about APS. Some choice, some programs, but not enough for all that might be interested. It just seems to be a brain drain from Wakefield, making that school almost entirely underachieving and poor. It skims some of the most interesting and unique from Yorktown, leaving it almost entirely wealthy, homogenized, and boring. Then you have WL which kinda gets to have everything... but space.
Why can't we just have three well rounded schools?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yorktown parent here. My impression of the school is neutral but I don't see significant issues due to overcrowding in the near future. My kids really felt overcrowding in PE and at lunch in elementary school and gym, particularly at Williamsburg during the construction of Discovery.

I do find that kids at Yorktown are very conformist and don't want to seen as trying too hard (being a "try hard" is the ultimate social disgrace). My kids certainly do not receive much individual attention from their teachers. Also, you see the more intellectual kids going to Jefferson and the nerdier kids (I mean it in a good way as kids who are less conformist) transfer to W&L for IB.

I had looked into O'Connell but I did not see/feel much difference between the teaching and students there versus Yorktown.

I think this conformist thing is intensely common.

That's exactly what you'd expect to happen at a high-income school when you have an outflow of bright and/or quirky students to TJ, HB and W-L, and aren't getting an inflow of similar kids.

Bear in mind that it's becoming more difficult to transfer into W/L for IB. There was a lottery last year and our neighbor's child didn't get in. It's not something that you can just do, as some of the posts here make it seem.

Anonymous wrote:Yorktown parent here. My impression of the school is neutral but I don't see significant issues due to overcrowding in the near future. My kids really felt overcrowding in PE and at lunch in elementary school and gym, particularly at Williamsburg during the construction of Discovery.

I do find that kids at Yorktown are very conformist and don't want to seen as trying too hard (being a "try hard" is the ultimate social disgrace). My kids certainly do not receive much individual attention from their teachers. Also, you see the more intellectual kids going to Jefferson and the nerdier kids (I mean it in a good way as kids who are less conformist) transfer to W&L for IB.

I had looked into O'Connell but I did not see/feel much difference between the teaching and students there versus Yorktown.

I think this conformist thing is intensely common.

I was in this dilemma last year and chose private over Yorktown. I have one other child already in APS high schools but he will graduate next year. I still have younger ones that I haven't decided about yet.

The cost of privates are a killer when you think about the fact that we pay a lot to live in Arlington, largely due to the reputation of the schools.

I don't know which schools you are considering but I will say that the social aspect is much different than it was for my older child. The kids from the private are so scattered about that there is no impromptu hanging out type of stuff that I think can be important in high school.

You also don't really get to know many of the other parents as well as you might if you were at a "neighborhood" school.

I don't know if your kid is an athlete but sports at the privates are a lot different, as well.

APS peaked years ago. It's on a downward trajectory now, with those without kids pointing a giant middle finger at families with children. And within APS W-L will always be the favorite child.

Anonymous wrote:Also, after all the redrawing of boundary brew haha, turns out Yorktown will be significantly more crowded than the other schools in 2020.
Projections must be really hard. We don't excel at it in arlington.

Indeed. APS Staff f'd up again. They claim that 600 kids will transfer out, but that doesn't make sense. There is a limit of 70 per grade for IB, so that's just 280. The other 320 are supposed to come from HB and Arl. Tech transfers. Not a chance! Arl. Tech isn't going to draw many kids from Yorktown. Also, those kids are still competing for sports with the kids in Yorktown b/c they play on the team of their home school, not their transfer school. *sigh* I wish I could afford private.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interested in this too as YHS seems to be heading toward overcrowding. WMS has been mostly good for our student, but seems to give very little individual attention. Lunchroom is a zoo!

Also curious to know what privates OP applied to?

Is OP around? I asked this question. What privates are you comparing Yorktown to?

OP here. All Catholic one's.

So which way are you leaning based on this discussion and your own research?

OP - leaning toward private. The fact that the privates only have so many seats and don't keep jamming kids in is a factor. Do I see that much of a difference between Catholic private and public in terms of quality of education? No. I like the religious aspect of the school (we're Catholic) but that one factor would not sway it. I'd say it's multiple factors piling up. We have a couple months to decide.

Anonymous wrote:Yorktown parent here. My impression of the school is neutral but I don't see significant issues due to overcrowding in the near future. My kids really felt overcrowding in PE and at lunch in elementary school and gym, particularly at Williamsburg during the construction of Discovery.

I do find that kids at Yorktown are very conformist and don't want to seen as trying too hard (being a "try hard" is the ultimate social disgrace). My kids certainly do not receive much individual attention from their teachers. Also, you see the more intellectual kids going to Jefferson and the nerdier kids (I mean it in a good way as kids who are less conformist) transfer to W&L for IB.

I had looked into O'Connell but I did not see/feel much difference between the teaching and students there versus Yorktown.

Are you factoring in the kids moving from W-L when assessing future overcrowding?

Also, after all the redrawing of boundary brew haha, turns out Yorktown will be significantly more crowded than the other schools in 2020.
Projections must be really hard. We don't excel at it in arlington.