Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^really?!?!!! Have you seen Swanson?!!! Talk about run-down and smelly. It makes the current HB look like m-fuckin' Trump palace.

I blame the County, I blame the school board, and the sheer number of pairs of siblings in the last 4 years I know personally who both "won" the lottery--I cannot buy with the sheer number of kids that applied in those zones those families just keep getting the golden ticket--I also place blame at HB. I hope these families start playing Powerball. Christ.

Btw--the ones I know weren't wait-listed. All the siblings got the immediate acceptance.

One year 23 of 45 new admissions were siblings.

I have no idea how many of the 75 current lottery are siblings. If you only have 3-7 spots in your zone and they really are saving sibling preference--it could mean the entire lottery for your zone has been reduced to 1-2 spots (or even none) which of course is illegal and against stayed APS policy on admission.

Where can this information be found?

HB admits twins and other multiples as a unit (as one lottery spot) but otherwise there is no sibling preference. Why on earth do people think the administration would lie about that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^really?!?!!! Have you seen Swanson?!!! Talk about run-down and smelly. It makes the current HB look like m-fuckin' Trump palace.

I blame the County, I blame the school board, and the sheer number of pairs of siblings in the last 4 years I know personally who both "won" the lottery--I cannot buy with the sheer number of kids that applied in those zones those families just keep getting the golden ticket--I also place blame at HB. I hope these families start playing Powerball. Christ.

Btw--the ones I know weren't wait-listed. All the siblings got the immediate acceptance.

One year 23 of 45 new admissions were siblings.

I have no idea how many of the 75 current lottery are siblings. If you only have 3-7 spots in your zone and they really are saving sibling preference--it could mean the entire lottery for your zone has been reduced to 1-2 spots (or even none) which of course is illegal and against stayed APS policy on admission.

I am an HB parent. Honestly, the HB experience is not something the HB community wants to delve into with others. The school is so very good. The classes are small. Students have opportunities that they do not offer at other schools. (Specialty programs after testing is done). We don't want everyone to know about these things. We don't want anyone to think that the costs of educating our kids are any different than the rest of the county. If everyone knew how different it was, they would be pissed and would fight against HB.

Anonymous wrote:^^really?!?!!! Have you seen Swanson?!!! Talk about run-down and smelly. It makes the current HB look like m-fuckin' Trump palace.

I blame the County, I blame the school board, and the sheer number of pairs of siblings in the last 4 years I know personally who both "won" the lottery--I cannot buy with the sheer number of kids that applied in those zones those families just keep getting the golden ticket--I also place blame at HB. I hope these families start playing Powerball. Christ.

Btw--the ones I know weren't wait-listed. All the siblings got the immediate acceptance.

^^really?!?!!! Have you seen Swanson?!!! Talk about run-down and smelly. It makes the current HB look like m-fuckin' Trump palace.

I blame the County, I blame the school board, and the sheer number of pairs of siblings in the last 4 years I know personally who both "won" the lottery--I cannot buy with the sheer number of kids that applied in those zones those families just keep getting the golden ticket--I also place blame at HB. I hope these families start playing Powerball. Christ.

I honestly do not believe the system is rigged. After more than a decade of submitting applications for different kids, I finally had one get into high school at HB this year. (Designated gifted, yes, but so are a huge number of kids in some subject by the end of middle school.) I am neither a politician nor a big donor. It's really just random. I too have heard many stories of siblings getting in that make the system sound suspicious, but there are even more stories (not repeated so much and not so memorable) of siblings not getting in, as well as of kids of HB employees not getting in. It is just not crazy that some siblings get in because it is not THAT unlikely to get in - I did the calculations for my n.arl. Elementary school about 10 years ago and back then (pre-surge) each kid had like a 10 percent chance of winning a slot on the first round. Now based on the numbers it looks like country wide the HB sixth grade is four percent of the countywide sixth grade population. The chances of getting there are a lot more than one in a million, and it would not be incredibly unlikely for two kids in a family to enroll there, especially considering that happy HB families are more likely to have sibs apply and that numerous kids turn down HB after winning a spot. I think our minds just tend to fixate on perceived patterns and invent stories to explain then. (I have read about reasearch on this although I cannot cite it right now).

Also I just don't believe that the administration is lying about this - They seem honest and I just don't see any motivation for them to lie. Why would they bend the rules for elementary principals? What do they care? Certainly the court decisions in the past made giving preference to diversity (apart from by neighborhood) illegal - why would they risk violating that?

Also, in response to the bitterness of parents in overcrowded schools - I share your concerns. My kids have lived though those problems other years and/or at other schools. It sucks. But blaming HB for it doesn't really make sense. The building now is a rundown slum compared to other APS buildings. Nobody is taking anything away from kids at other schools. The per pupil expenditures are the same. I totally agree that the new HB building shouldn't be an overpriced showcase, but that budgetary decision came from some APS administrator, not HB. I see no need to blame HB kids for that.

Anonymous wrote:The county will not disclose the per pupil cost of HB Woodlawn. It is considered a "program" and the kids graduate from Yorktown. So any per pupil costs would be lumped in with Yorktown. So how much do you think it costs per kid to go there???? Many believe these choice programs are why the cost per pupil is so high in Arlington. Just try and ask - you will never get an answer.

And the kids in the over-crowded MS/HS get less of the "per pupil" allocated $. Nice.

The school system in this County is filled with lies, dishonesty and fake consultants to back up their lies...kind of like a Communist country. I am convinced this is their way to deal with over-crowding: make it so bad people leave.

The county will not disclose the per pupil cost of HB Woodlawn. It is considered a "program" and the kids graduate from Yorktown. So any per pupil costs would be lumped in with Yorktown. So how much do you think it costs per kid to go there???? Many believe these choice programs are why the cost per pupil is so high in Arlington. Just try and ask - you will never get an answer.

Anonymous wrote:Are those of us in the 27 trailers in a lot the faculty can no longer park in supposed to feel sorry that a middle school with 75 TOTAL kids might get a little bigger and a snowflake will lose her individualized attention? Really with this shit?

*Total 6th graders

Are those of us in the 27 trailers in a lot the faculty can no longer park in supposed to feel sorry that a middle school with 75 TOTAL kids might get a little bigger and a snowflake will lose her individualized attention? Really with this shit?

Anonymous wrote:HB has been an amazing experience for our family. It truly is like a private school (without the price tag). We feel so blessed that our children got in. Small classes, individual attention. One of my kids was not doing her homework - there was a meeting between the principal, the counselor and me and my husband. That would never happen at Swanson. She would have fallen through the cracks and not done very well. I want the school to continue as it is. If it gets larger, my kids will not get the individualized attention they have become accustomed to. They deserve it now. I am sorry for those that do not get in, but I sleep soundly at night anyway.

There are kids that are the epitome of the qualities HB says they want in the student body: self-directed, highly motivated, ..and yet losers like her daughter that needed a 3-way intervention just to do their own homework are taking up seats.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB has been an amazing experience for our family. It truly is like a private school (without the price tag). We feel so blessed that our children got in. Small classes, individual attention. One of my kids was not doing her homework - there was a meeting between the principal, the counselor and me and my husband. That would never happen at Swanson. She would have fallen through the cracks and not done very well. I want the school to continue as it is. If it gets larger, my kids will not get the individualized attention they have become accustomed to. They deserve it now. I am sorry for those that do not get in, but I sleep soundly at night anyway.

Troll score: 3/10

Probably a troll but isn't the underlining message true: that the families that have children there are of a small, more fortunate set while the majority who do not have children there may receive less?

And that she said kids (plural).

Hitting the Powerball more than once all the time in the HB lottery.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB has been an amazing experience for our family. It truly is like a private school (without the price tag). We feel so blessed that our children got in. Small classes, individual attention. One of my kids was not doing her homework - there was a meeting between the principal, the counselor and me and my husband. That would never happen at Swanson. She would have fallen through the cracks and not done very well. I want the school to continue as it is. If it gets larger, my kids will not get the individualized attention they have become accustomed to. They deserve it now. I am sorry for those that do not get in, but I sleep soundly at night anyway.

Troll score: 3/10

Probably a troll but isn't the underlining message true: that the families that have children there are of a small, more fortunate set while the majority who do not have children there may receive less?

Anonymous wrote:HB has been an amazing experience for our family. It truly is like a private school (without the price tag). We feel so blessed that our children got in. Small classes, individual attention. One of my kids was not doing her homework - there was a meeting between the principal, the counselor and me and my husband. That would never happen at Swanson. She would have fallen through the cracks and not done very well. I want the school to continue as it is. If it gets larger, my kids will not get the individualized attention they have become accustomed to. They deserve it now. I am sorry for those that do not get in, but I sleep soundly at night anyway.

Troll score: 3/10

HB has been an amazing experience for our family. It truly is like a private school (without the price tag). We feel so blessed that our children got in. Small classes, individual attention. One of my kids was not doing her homework - there was a meeting between the principal, the counselor and me and my husband. That would never happen at Swanson. She would have fallen through the cracks and not done very well. I want the school to continue as it is. If it gets larger, my kids will not get the individualized attention they have become accustomed to. They deserve it now. I am sorry for those that do not get in, but I sleep soundly at night anyway.