Arlington VA Public Schools | The Truth About Schools in the DC Suburbs
Published 2022-09-14
Arlington County School System has 23 elementary schools, 6 middle schools, 4 high schools, 1 school that’s 6-12th grades, and several other programs. The student population speaks 90 different languages making this a melting pot representing 145 different nations. Arlington Public Schools boasts a 95% graduation rate. Niche.com says they are the #2 school district in Virginia.
According to the Superintendent, this year the district is 99% staffed, and teacher compensation was increased by 6.8% on average. Student enrollment is also up. They also have a new "Where’s The Bus" app so parents can track exactly where the bus is.
The county also grew very rapidly in the recent past so there were a lot of overcrowded schools. Boundary adjustments are still needed. High School overcrowding is being addressed, by adding on to Washington-Liberty, which will increase the enrollment to 3000+ students.
We discuss Arlington schools in terms of pyramids – which is, the high school they feed to. There are 3 in boundary / by-right high schools. Yorktown serves the northern part of Arlington. Washington-Liberty serves the southern part of North Arlington – so let’s call this central Arlington. And Wakefield serves South Arlington.
There are a few other programs which you can apply for. Arlington Tech is a career/technical school with a STEM focus. This is on the Arlington Career Center Campus which is home to a broad array of educational experiences. There are opportunities for dual enrollment with Northern Virginia Community College and career focused classes and industry certifications. HB Woodlawn is lottery based, and serves grades 6-12. Here, students have a lot of control over the school, and their own experiences.
This will be focused on the mainstream 3 public high schools which the majority of students will choose to attend.
Arlington Schools invested in new instruction materials, and there's 24/7 virtual tutoring available for older students to help connect the losses they had during the covid year(s.)
Overall, Arlington has been known to be anti-tracking, meaning, they don’t group students out according to abilities. There are talented and gifted programs but they seem to be dismantling them for the most part. Yorktown does offer AP classes as does Wakefield. Washington Liberty offers IB and AP classes.
The gifted students are supposed to get more challenging work from their teachers in elementary school, get some differentiated classes in middle school and then in high school move on to AP or IB classes. If you don’t like this, well, you should look at Fairfax County Schools then.
The general comments you will hear are that Yorktown can be more competitive and stressful since Northern Arlington is a more “affluent” area with most families living in single family homes. Washington-Liberty is a huge school because there’s much more population density in the central part of Arlington. Wakefield has a varied student population – with diverse socioeconomic statuses as South Arlington has many families for whom English may be a second language. Washington Liberty and Wakefield are both pretty inclusive and accepting of kids of all walks and types. Yorktown, not so much.
There are a lot of computer games, apps, and many parents don’t love the screens their kids are in front of, and this ramped up obviously during covid.
When compared to DC, Arlington County has better resources for those with learning disabilities compared to DC, but regardless, it can be hit or miss with some parents feeling they need to pull their children out in favor of private.
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All Comments (4)
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I’m Arlington born and raised Yorktown high school alum ( class of 2000). As I got older I realized the schools did a great job in preparing us for the world
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Omg I live in Arlington va and you have my name! What a coincidence lol
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Why should others have to pay for your foolish choices? Children are a choice, and educating, housing, feeding and clothing them is entirely the PARENTS obligation. It's unethical to foist the cost of your vanity choice onto others. The best schools are private schools, and always have been. It is a lie to say that, if there were only private schools, only the rich would be able to send their kids to school. Competition drives down cost and improves quality. Abolish the absurd and ineffective "public" schools, remove that tax burden from everyone, rich and poor. A camel is a horse designed by committee. Democracy cannot produce effective education, the proof is all around you. The odds of your kid being the next Einstein is minuscule, and not worth the tax cost of public schools, or the tax burden of subsiding children in any fashion. Cannibalism is not an ethical social model, but that is what taxes are: cannibalism, extortion.
