001All right. Hello and welcome to the HP Woodlon Secondary Program information session for the uh tonight. Uh my name is Casey Robinson. I'm the principal here at HP Woodlon and I'm joined by our two assistant principles, Kate Sesh and Graham McBride. Uh we're really glad that you are here or tuning in uh to learn a little bit more about HP Woodlon. Um all three of us are uh parents of Arlington Public Schools students and um one of the things we like to say is that uh HP Woodlon is just one of many great options um of all the schools we have here in APS. So you have no bad choices um as you're considering your different options. Um, we believe that all of our comprehensive high schools and middle schools offer great opportunities for our
002students and HP Woodlon is is one other alternative. And so you're here tonight to learn a little bit more about what makes HP Woodlon um different from the comprehensive middle and high schools. So our core philosophy is based on four different pillars and those four pillars are self-governance, self-directed learning, caring community and equity. Uh and we will spend a little bit of time tonight talking about what each of those um uh aspects of our philosophy um what they look like in practice here at HB Woodlon. So we'll go ahead and start with self-governance. So at HP Woodlon um we have a lot of opportunities for students to engage with their own personal free time and there are always adults around. There are adults to help um sometimes structure that time and there's other times where
003students are able to make their decision about where they'd like to spend their time, how they'd like to do that. Um and we really work with students. It's a gradual process from sixth grade through to 12th grade. Um to give them opportunities to really um have autonomy in deciding, you know, if you've got a we may have a 45minute block in the morning one morning where students can go see a teacher to get help and they have some agency in deciding this is the teacher I need to see at this point. This is the thing I should be working with. This is something that realistically I could get done at home and just decide how to structure their time. Um, and it creates some really nice spaces for kids to engage authentically with adults, not
004just in the classroom setting, but rather being able to seek out adults, you know, when they need them and ask the questions that are relevant to them and build that relationship. Um, additionally here, um, we use a town meeting system to create kind of rules, guidance, structures, uh, just to kind of help guide our program. And the town meeting is open to all students and staff and happens um, in our school library. And kids are welcome to come and attend. And there may be discussions that are around um some really, you know, maybe for the adults in the room, significant topics like homework and um kind of, you know, behavior expectations. And then there may be topics like should we have a mascot and what should that mascot be? And that changes from week to
005week. Um and any kid is welcome to come. No one needs to come, but it's an opportunity where if students have something they would like to voice, there's a space that exists for them to come and engage with it there. Uh, our second pillar is self-directed learning. And this is a real area of focus for all of our staff and our students. People are often asked questions about what does self-directed learning look like in practice. Uh, and our goal broadly is to give students more control over their education and their experience when they're here at school. Um and so we sort of in recent years have been working around a concept of making sure that students feel like they have autonomy that they can um show what they know in different ways and they can
006choose how to learn that material. um that they have a sense of belonging, that they know the purpose of the course, that they know that they belong in that classroom community, and that ultimately we're building them towards a feeling of competence uh in knowing that material. So, um, in an ideal world, students aren't just learning it to get the grade or to, um, to say that they did, but because we are by basing it in these ideas of autonomy and belonging and competence that students are are engaged in their learning in a way that is authentic. Um, so this looks really different obviously for a sixth grader, a ninth grader, and a 12th grader. And it is something that we try to scaffold. Um, and so we start in sixth grade. There is there is
007choice. So we're trying to say, okay, if you might learn this material best by reading, some kids might want to watch a video or listen to a podcast to get that same information. But we want students to be able to engage in depth in in various ideas, but using um modes and ways that work best for them. Um, and so [clears throat] that scaffolding changes as kids get older. The prompts and the ideas get broader. Um, so for example, our seniors are working on a concept project in English where they're taking roo the really broad ideas, big concepts, and figuring out what they want to write about. That doesn't look exactly the same in sixth grade, but we're building towards projects like that when students get older. Um we try to do some studentled workshops.
008You can see some pictures here both of class time but also um some of the various activities that we do. Febfest which are studentled workshops. June time which are multi-day workshops that are cross-graded where students and staff get to share um different passions. Uh so all of this is embedded in this idea of self-directed learning >> for Karen community. Um, one of the hallmarks of the program here at HB Woodland is that we have a teacher advisory program. And so students are able to from starting in sixth grade, um, all the way through high school work with different adults, um, to kind of have a point person, a place where if they're struggling with something socially, something academically, um, where if they want guidance um, in terms of course planning, that that person would be
009their go-to. Um, and in sixth grade right now in our middle school grades, um, your teacher adviser is someone within your grade level team. As students move into high school, um, teacher advisories are grades 9 through 12 together. And, um, many different full-time staff members take on that capacity. Um, and work with students. And a nice piece of it here is the group is about 15 to 18 students. Um, and as students become seniors if they decide to apply to colleges, your teacher adviser will write the what is the guidance counselor letter of recommendation. And for some kids, um, they've been working with someone for four years. And so there's a lot to say about who students were when they were 14, 15 starting high school and where they are now at 18 heading out.
010Um, and it has a really nice um, it's a nice touch point for parents as well. Um, in addition, we are coll-located with another school program called the Shrivever program, which is a program for students with significant disabilities. And we do a lot of work with that program, through the Best Buddies program, through a partnership with Shrivever um activities, share um shared holiday celebration, shared um you know, different Friday activities that they put together. Um, and so the partnership has worked out really well for us to build a really strong community here. Uh and finally, our fourth pillar is our equity pill pillar. And the idea behind our equity pillar is not that it's um just festivals and um and activities. We think those are important too because we really do believe that representation matters
011and it's important that in a diverse community um all of our students feel seen and can and can feel that they come to school um and bring their whole selves to school. Um, and so as a part of that, we really try to engage in intentional conversations both as a staff and with our students around all different aspects of equity, whether that's race, ethnicity, gender, religion, neurodeiversity, um, sexual orientation, all of those things are conversations that we are having and we want to make sure that all of our students feel comfortable um, regardless of how they identify. um we really focus on how all of our differences and our assets um come together to make us part of a bigger community. Um this equity issue and pillar is also related to how we interact with
012each other um in person online um trying to make sure that all students are getting what they need for their social lives, for their emotional lives and for their academic lives. So, for a typical sixth grader, um, some of the things that we want to make sure that all students and families know when they're thinking about applying to HP Woodlon is that the vast majority of our students ride the bus. Our building is located in Roslin on Wilson Boulevard. Um, and we do provide bus transportation from all neighborhoods in Arlington, uh, using what are called hub stops. So, your bus stop might be, you know, a mile away. Um, but there is a hub stop in every neighborhood. So, um, most students arrive, come on the bus, come inside, and for sixth graders, they have
013their core classes in the morning. So, these are the same five core classes that are at all the comprehensive middle schools. So, science, math, social studies, English, and reading. Um, one difference is that we do not offer intensified classes here at HB Woodlon. Um, we do offer some differentiation for math. Um, but in terms of our other core classes, we do not offer intensified classes. So, all of our um other core classes through middle school are heterogeneously grouped. Um, after core classes, students will go to lunch. Uh lunch is very different here at HP Woodlon than it is at comprehensive middle schools. Uh we do have a cafeteria, but very few students eat in that cafeteria. We allow students to have um time to make a choice of where they want to eat um and
014what how they want to use that time. And so that's one of those places as Kate was talking about self-governance where kids start to practice making those choices about how to use their time. Um after lunch we have elective courses so that includes PE which is not an elective but falls sort of in that category. Um our sixth graders are able to take a introduction to a world language which would be Spanish, French or Latin. Um other virtual classes become um available later in middle school. Um and then they can choose from our other elective options. So those include drama, art, music, um as they get into seventh and eighth grade, robotics and programming, photography, and film. Uh so there's a lot of options, all of which are included on our program of studies on
015our website. So the afternoon for a sixth grader is typically their electives. All of our courses only meet four times per week. You'll see on the next slide. It doesn't mean there's a fifth day with no classes. Um it's just sort of an alternating block. Then we get back on the bus and kids head home. Uh we do start later. We start at 900 am. Um which is very different start time than the comprehensive middle schools which means that we don't end until 3:50 p.m. And the vast majority of students get back on the bus uh at that time. We don't have a lot of afterchool activities. Most of our clubs and other things are built into the school day. Uh so here's a copy of our schedule for this week. This year like I
016said um we have these eyeblock times which are times where students can work to um visit with teachers, get remediation, get extension and other kinds of supports. You'll see our TA time built in there and our town meeting time. And you'll see how the blocks rotate through the week. So for ninth graders, um the differences kind of here is a lot of what Casey mentioned with the sixth grade schedule. Um again, the vast majority of nth grade students come on the school bus and use the hub stops to do that. And um that's always located kind of a community center or an elementary school or some space nearest to your home. Um our students just like they take at the comprehensive high schools take seven courses. That's a full course load for high school and
017APS. Um, in addition to that, the schedule we have includes eight blocks. And we call them blocks, but they're not blocks that are like, um, if you're coming from a comprehensive middle school, you're used to the hour and a half. They they This is just terminology that's lasted. Um, but it is a 48 minute period, but within that, students will take seven courses, and with their eighth period that they have on their schedule will become a free block. Um, and this is something that should your student um, receive a spot through the lottery, we will sit down and explain the whole system and the students understand it pretty quickly. For adults, it's always a little trickier, but we'll work with you so everyone knows where they need to be. Um, in terms of course offerings
018here, an important distinction like Casey was saying is we do not offer intensified courses in subject areas outside of math. And so for high school students coming in, um, their English course would be English 9, their biology course would be biology 9. Um and that is just we put everyone into those same classes and then the math placement um with is kind of structured through APS and how they determine where students would you know proceed into their next logical math class. Um an important thing that Casey brought up is that this school is a late start school and a late end school. And so I know for a lot of students coming out of middle school um families have built sports schedules and other outside activity schedules around what is a really early schedule in
019middle school. Um, and so it's just really important for your family to have a conversation now knowing that if school doesn't end until 3:50, realistically your student wouldn't be able to attend something that started at 2:30 or 2:45 like they would have coming out of a middle school. And so what does that mean in terms of those activities and those schedules and that's a really valuable conversation to have if they're thinking about HP Woodlon for the coming year. For our high school students, unlike our middle school students, they are able to play sports at their home high school if they want to. And with that, we are able to excuse they they take their free block as the last block of the day and can leave on a sports bus, which is an APS school
020bus transportation to their home high school where they can arrive in time for practice. So, in that case, they're able to get to APS events. Um, but if there's something happening outside of that, that's an important thing to just consider. Um, one other piece that's different for our ninth graders is that we do have an open campus with parent permission. So students are able to access some of the spaces around Roslin. Um probably the two most frequently used spots are the CVS right next door and the 7-Eleven. Um and kids may run out to get a drink um pick up a coffee, get some candy and come back. Um but that is something that looks a little different. And again, if your student um is offered a spot through the lottery, we'll explain kind of
021what that looks like and the practicalities of that on a day-to-day basis. >> So um a few other differences. So because of our schedule, we do offer very few afterchool activities. We do have um some plays that happen, um an active theater program, our musicals, um an ultimate frisbee team, but like I said, because we have one lunch, a lot of clubs meet during our school day at lunch or other times within the school day. Um Kate talked a little bit about sports at your home high school. Um, all high school students can play a sport at their home high school, but middle school students cannot play sports at their home middle school. So, everyone uh always thinks they'll be able to figure this out and um that is not possible. So, high school definitely
022yes. middle school, if it's really important to you to be on the um Gunston cheerleading team or the uh Swanson soccer team, that will not be possible um if you attend HBO Lawn for middle school. Um we have this uh slide here that says no continuous adult supervision. Um, and so this is just something that is cultural and um, something to think about in our in our school culture is that we have lots of adults here and there are lots of adults around. But as we were talking about with lunch, a group of students might decide to eat lunch at the bottom of the yellow stairwell and there's not necessarily an adult sitting with them at the bottom of the yellow stairwell. Um, and so they get a little bit of that autonomy and that
023trust to eat where they want and at the same time they have the responsibility of cleaning up when they're done or um treating each other nicely while they're sitting there at the bottom of the yellow stairwell. And so that no continuous adult supervision, you know, that's true really everywhere, but um we just want to make sure that's something that all families and students are comfortable with if they choose HP Woodlon. Uh Kate talked a little bit about off-campus privileges and again we would discuss that um in more detail if your student um gets in through the lottery. So a couple other differences we'll just show you. Um we've got two slides of just some things that kind of make HBON a unique experience for students. Um and so I talked a little bit about in
024high school the free blocks which is um when students have time to and I think it's very appropriate for high school age students to start to think about when you are faced with 48 minutes of unstructured time. What should you do? Um the temptation to go maybe take a walk, get a coffee, come back is there and that's totally fine. But if there's days when you know you have a lot happening in the evenings, maybe that time should be used to get some homework done or maybe to connect with a teacher who also is free at that time to get the help that you need. But there's this space for kids to start to make that decision themselves, which as they head out after high school to wherever they're going is what their life will
025be anyway. And to be able to do that in a safe space where there are adults around um I think is a really valuable growing experience for them as adolesccents. Um we have eyeblock time which is a time that meets um there's one long one and that's where students also for kids who are absent who need help um who maybe have missed a test. There's again a chance for them to have agency to say I know that I won't be there because I was out sick. I missed this math test. I'm going to arrange with my teacher to be at the testing center to take it during this time. And that time is built into the schedule where they can show up and take that. So that's another piece that where we work with them
026um to help them become more independent. Um so a few other things uh you saw on the previous slide just as an example of the students having more of a voice in what their education looks like. We do include students on our hiring committees. Um they are very involved. Uh both of these are examples from our town meeting. Um you know things like our dress code is really we don't have a dress code. Um we expect students to choose outfits that are school appropriate on their own and we give them that autonomy to do so uh when there's issues that might come up at town meeting. Um allocation is uh basically a process we go through. We try to be extremely transparent about why we're teaching what we're teaching who is teaching those classes and
027we engage our students in those conversations more broadly so they understand why the decisions are being made the way that they're being made. Uh so this is a picture of our building. Um we when uh HP Woodlon M and Shrivever moved to the Heights building uh which like I said is in Roslin. We moved here in September of 2019. Um we have a new field that was built. Um and uh the building is very different. It has seven stories. Uh so we are sort of um in a more urban setting here. Uh it is a beautiful building. Uh and now with our completed field, we have a lot of really nice outdoor space that has been a great addition over the last couple of years. Uh here's another picture uh sort of from an apartment
028building across the street. Uh and you'll be able to sort of see here that there's a lot of outdoor seating for lunch. Um, and we do have a field that is used heavily both for PE, um, at lunchtime for kids to play soccer and football, volleyball, other things that they want to do. Um, and you'll see sort of at the south end of this field, uh, is where the buses arrive. So, that's where students are brought into the school. So, these just give you a little bit of a sense, um, of where where we're located. uh just added this in. These are some activities and things that have happened or are happening this year. Uh just to give you a sense of the the variety of things that are um offered during the school day.
029So as we wrap up here, what we really encourage you to do um is to share this presentation with your student. Um, and you know, if you're thinking that um, this may be the right program for your student, gather information. Um, it's very likely you have a neighbor, a neighborhood friend, a sports friend, some connection in the community who has attended HB Woodland, does attend HB Woodland. And, you know, I always encourage students, particularly at the high school level, to have those conversations with their peers to understand what's different here than at Wakefield, W&L, or Yorktown. um what you know they see as pros, what they see as drawbacks, just so that there is a really robust conversation happening at your home. Um about what your student wants to do and how that would look.
030Um if your student is offered a spot through the lottery, we will coordinate a day for them to come spend the day and visit and experience the school kind of on a normal school day and we will have a follow-up parent meeting in person after those visits. um that's for sixth and for 9th and um share information and so that you understand kind of the logistics of the dayto-day and what that would look like if your student were to attend HB Woodlon um in place of their comprehensive school. >> All right. Well, thank you very much for uh attending this uh session and if you have questions, you are welcome to be in touch. Um, and as Kate said, if you um if your student is selected through the lottery, uh there will be an
031opportunity for parents and students to uh get more detailed information. So, um we look forward to uh meeting some of you uh and have a great evening. Thank you. >> Thank you.