H-B Woodlawn

The H-B Woodlawn Alternative Program, commonly referred to as H-B, is an alternative all-county public school located in Arlington County, Virginia, United States based on the liberal educational movements of the 1960s and 1970s. The school, which serves grades 6 through 54, is a part of the Arlington Public Schools district.

The current program is a combination of two earlier programs, Hoffman-Boston, a 7th through 9th grade school founded in 1972 and Woodlawn, a 10th through 12th grade program founded in 1971 by Ray Anderson, Jeffrey Kallen, Bill Hale, and others who felt a pressing need to provide a more individualized, caring environment to students.

H-B Woodlawn was dubbed "Hippie High" by the "Washington Post" because of its laid-back style and reputation for attracting liberal students in large numbers. The program is often ranked very high on lists of "best schools" because of the high percentage of students taking AP courses. The program is actually not a school as it is not "certified", but rather, students enrolled are actually members of their "home schools" in the county. The program currently houses almost 600 students in grades 6 through 12, including a group of young adult immigrants who take classes in the school through the HILT (High Intensity Language Training) program in their quest for high school diplomas or GEDs. The building also houses a small program for severely mentally disabled students, although this program is administered separately, and called "Stratford". The H-B Woodlawn Program is often rated one of the most challenging high schools in the Washington, DC area.

History

Two Schools Become One

The H-B Woodlawn Program was created in 1978 by the merger of the Hoffman Boston Program (H-B) (founded in 1972) and the Woodlawn Program (founded in 1971), junior high and high school programs respectively, which both embraced the idea of alternative education. Originally, Hoffman-Boston had some 180 students. Woodlawn had 90 students, grades 11 and 12, in its first year of operation, adding 10th grade and expanding to some 200 students the second year. Donald Brandewie was the founding principal of Hoffman-Boston and served for three years, after which Margery Edson became principal; Woodlawn, which was then a haven for "anti-establishment" types, had no principal; Ray Anderson served as Head Teacher and served as administrator for the program. After the election of several conservative school board members in 1976, a movement started in an attempt to close the two programs; the first step in this "process" was to be the combining of the two schools together, which was ordered in 1977 to take place in the fall of 1978. After a year of careful planning, discussion, and hard work by administration, staff, students, and alumni of the two programs, a comprehensive merger plan and combined philosophy was adopted, and this document served as the "blueprint" for the initial years of the combined program. The two schools joined in the former Stratford Junior High School building on Vacation Lane in the Fall of 1978, coincident with the Arlington Public Schools decision to move 9th grade students from Junior High to High School (Stratford Junior High School was the first racially integrated school in Arlington, bringing an end to "Massive Resistance"). [ [http://www.arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/learn/snapshots/urban_arlington_county.html Urban Arlington County, Arlington Historic Society] ]

Changes

Perhaps contrary to the hopes of those who hoped to see the programs closed, the combined program had many advantages, including better educational continuity and a broader range of teaching staff, and it became even more popular among parents and students than the original, separate programs had been. Eventually, it became a mainstay of the school system, and even the more conservative members of the school board grudging accepted the value of the program. Sixth graders were added in 1990 as the "Middle School Movement" picked up steam around the country. At this time, a "Middle School Program" was initiated to create more structure for the younger students.

Ray was continuously involved in the program from Woodlawn's initial planning and inception, first as head teacher at Woodlawn and then at H-B Woodlawn, and later as Principal upon Margery's retirement. Mary McBride became Head Teacher; Ray remained at H-B Woodlawn until his retirement in 2004 after 33 years of service to Arlington Schools. Ray was succeeded by Frank Haltiwanger, who has a long history of involvement with H-B Woodlawn, and Haltiwanger remains the current Principal of the school.

In the early years of the programs, anyone in Arlington Public Schools who wished to attend would simply apply and usually got in; short waiting lists were common, and Woodlawn used a lottery for several years, but the majority of students who applied were eventually offered admission. After the schools combined, the popularity of the program increased in the 1980s, as test scores and college admission rates were often higher than that of the county average. A "first-come, first-serve" admission policy was then put in place, but this became problematic as parents began arrive early in the morning of registration to sign up their children. Finally in 1992, parents of prospective students camped out on the back lawn of the school for three days to ensure their children's admission. The lottery was subsequently reinstated. This, too, became a challenge, as the numbers of minorities dropped dramatically and the socio-economic balance of the school became skewed. A new lottery was developed in which minorities were double-weighted to ensure ethnic diversity in the program.

In 1997, the "weighted" lottery came under fire when several parents filed suit against Arlington Public Schools, stating that these affirmative action lotteries for The H-B Woodlawn Program and Page Elementary School (now known as Arlington Traditional) were, in fact, reverse discrimination. The case went through several courts, ending in the 3rd Circuit Court, where the school system lost its battle. The lotteries for both schools were "unweighted" and extra students were added to each program retroactively. Again, the ethnicity and socio-economic balance of the school began to be affected, and other attempts to create balance were proposed, including taking economic factors and/or home address into account for admission. All of these proposals were struck down by the courts. When Montgomery County Public Schools (a neighboring jurisdiction) lost a similar battle at the Supreme Court regarding the admission to their magnet schools, it was decided that further legal battles were not likely to succeed. A committee studying the issue came up with a solution, however. They proposed that the lottery slots be given out in proportion to the home elementary school populations. Each elementary school in the county would receive a percentage of slots based on the number of students they had. This admissions policy was not challenged legally, and resulted in a doubling of minorities in the first and second years of its use.

Admission to the H-B Woodlawn program remains controversial. Some feel that students applying to the program should pass some sort of test indicating their affinity for the school and its social system, while others maintain that the only way to keep the unique philosophy in place is to admit a wide range of individuals. In recent years, only one out of four students who apply is likely to get admitted through the lottery. This has created a large number of families who are unhappy that their child was not admitted.

According to a Washington Post transcript of a 2001 Q&A with then-Principal Ray Anderson, the student population was 55% female and 45% male students. This same year, the school's budget, based upon Arlington County's School Budget Planning Factors and tied to enrollment, was $3,735,466.00 for 607 students. The H-B Woodlawn Program, while not officially a "school", does not receive any special funds for operation, but, rather, gets the same "per student funding" that is received by all Arlington Public Schools.

The point of H-B was to allow teenagers a chance to learn about themselves and society. Typically, school teaches children/teenagers how to behave and how to advance to the next stage of life. Though H-B allowed students to navigate at their own pace this did not lead to a life of apathy. As a new generation of parents took the helm at H-B the character of the school changed. These parents want their children to attend the best colleges which is, supposedly, only possible with a typical education. The question no one is asking, at least not this way, is: do we allow students to shape their education or do we shape it for them?

Philosophy

H-B Woodlawn's educational philosophy is deeply rooted in the ideal of a democratic and representative society. There is a heavy emphasis on empowering students to take charge of themselves and their educational lives, to have a voice in their communities, and to be equal partners in each. There are ongoing efforts to imbue students with a sense of trust and respect, with the hope that the students will take this experience with them into their college and professional lives. In keeping with this notion, the H-B Woodlawn Program has several innovative features not present in other schools built during the education movements of the 1960s and 1970s, including:

* Town Meeting, a weekly legislative forum in which every student, teacher, staff member, parent or alumni who chooses to attend gets one vote. Town Meeting is the core government of the school, and has purview over everything except curriculum. Announcements, motions and discussions can have a wide range -- everything from approving budgets, teacher allocation and dances to issues surrounding the implementation of school board policies or scheduling. Town Meeting is almost always chaired by a student. During the Town Meeting, "Roberts Rules of Order" are followed, with only minor changes. The most significant change is that it is obligatory for at least one person to present a motion involving an upcoming school dance at each meeting. The votes of students, teachers, and anyone else in attendance are of equal value, meaning that a sixth grader has just as much say as their teacher.
* A teacher/advisor (TA) system where students choose their own "guidance counselors" from the faculty. Choosing a TA does not guarantee the student will get his or her desired TA, however. The school has no established "guidance department".
* Student representatives on all committees, including those that do the teacher hiring and the group who worked to plan a new music wing.
* Flexible instructional options, including independent studies and student-designed classes (which must fulfill the minimum state and local accreditation requirements).
* The school is known for its "Free Blocks", unstructured time which may be filled by extracurricular activities, sports, or just goofing off.

Examples of the program in action include a prolific student-run theatre program which produces 8 to 12 productions a year, and new classes, such as multivariable calculus.

Outside of the immediate academic environment, students often develop their own activities and school organizations. The yearbook, for example, is entirely student-run. The drama department also stages numerous plays each year, almost all of which are directed and produced by students. Other examples include prom, and some field trips. Students generally work on these activities during their Free Blocks or after school. Teachers usually intervene only if an intervention is needed. For example, because most of the students at H-B Woodlawn are not eighteen years old, for example, a teacher is still needed to purchase items for the prom, yearbook, etc.

The philosophy does not work for all students. Since "choice" and "freedom" are prized above all else, there are concerns that students will choose to take advantage of the free time rather than the educational opportunities. Since the environment is unstructured, it can be loud and distracting, and has been noted as a difficult place for some students to stay focused. Ultimately, a student's path is one of their own making, and they are free to follow whatever road they wish during their time at H-B Woodlawn.

Academics

H-B Woodlawn is consistently ranked among the best public high schools in the country, though this is due to the high number of AP tests students take each year.

H-B Woodlawn is not a school, but a program. Every class that a student takes does not go in their transcript at H-B, but at their home high school.

Because of the small size of the school and the approximately forty teachers at H-B, most classes tend to be small, usually around 20 to 25 students for each class, though there are usually fewer people per class in some electives, English, and social studies. The small number of students at H-B does have some negative effects, though. Because the school only has a budget allocated for forty full-time teaching positions, there are a limited number of electives. Electives include Art, Photography, Drama, Chorus, Band, Orchestra, Journalism, Creative Writing, and Computer Science. This is a relatively small selection considering the number of electives available at other High Schools in Arlington. To remedy this, students are allowed to take classes at their home high school if they wish, or can otherwise take them at Arlington County's Career Center, where students can take a variety of elective courses.

Academics at H-B tend to be focused on the student's desire to determine what they want to study, and as such students usually have a say in the direction of their courses. Going through the school, students will encounter numerous projects for each of their classes. Before students can graduate, they have a choice to do a senior project which can substitute for some of their classes or all of their classes depending on what the project is. Students usually conduct this project the last semester of their senior year and can spend time at school doing their senior project or do their senior project at home, not needing to go to the classes they are supplementing their senior project with.

In the second semester of their Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years, students participating in non-AP English and Social Studies participate in electives rather than their regular course. Students design these electives themselves and choose which ones to take. Any elective is possible as long as a teacher is willing to teach it and it fits into a general English or Social Studies theme.

At the end of the year, students in grades 7-11 select their own schedule for the next year. This is usually done in May and is known as "Arena Scheduling". At Arena Scheduling, a student is randomly assigned a number within their class, and this determines when they enter the gym to sign up for their classes. Because they are graduating sooner, and may have more pressing graduation requirements to fulfill, higher grades are admitted before the lower grades. Students are free to choose when or what their classes will be, subject to availability and the minimum diploma requirements, as opposed to school administrators determining when their class will be. This forces students to prioritize based on perceived popularity of classes and/or timeslots, personal necessity or wishes, and the constraints of fitting classes together in a workable schedule. Due to the small size of the school and restricted offerings, each student must make at least one (usually minor) sacrifice over the course of their education, and the experience of prioritization/compromise is believed to be helpful in future pursuits (such as choosing college courses).

ports

H-B Woodlawn has no official sports teams. In order to participate in a sport, students must do so at their home high school. There are buses to each high school at the end of the day to take students to their home high school in order to practice. However, an ultimate frisbee team does represent the school at several national competions, but is not sponsored by the county as a sport.

pecial Rankings

H-B Woodlawn enjoys high rankings both locally and nationally. H-B Woodlawn was rated 1st in the 2005 Challenge Index in the area. It received an Equity and Excellence rating of 82.7% that year. The average rating for all U.S. schools is 14.1%. In the [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12532678/site/newsweek/ 2006 survey] by Newsweek ranking high schools nation-wide, H-B Woodlawn ranked several slots down from where it had been in previous years - 13 (compared with number 5 in the 2005 survey).

There is some controversy in ranking H-B Woodlawn nationally at all as a "school." Students do not actually receive diplomas from H-B Woodlawn, but rather their home schools from around Arlington county.

Various Traditions

Since 1986, each graduating class has acquired a section of the walls to decorate with artwork, quotations, et cetera. Up until the graduating class of 1996, the chosen site of the decorated walls had been in the Cafeteria. Because of a lack of space, the class of 1997 and every class since then has had to decorate their wall either in a hallway or stairwell of the school.fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed

Because H-B Woodlawn is not actually a school, it has no formal graduation ceremony. Rather, there is an organized event at the end of the year when teachers, students, and parents gather together to meet for the last time. TAs and their advisees stand at the front of the ceremony telling stories about each student. Although each graduation class only contains around 70 students, the process can take upwards of four or five hours due to the length of each story. At the end of the ceremony, teachers gather at the front and sing the song "Good Riddance" by Green Day. This is a newer tradition and in past times, "Feet of a Dancer" by Maura O'Connell was sung. Before this, the song was "Teach Your Children" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, reflecting H-B's "hippie" roots.fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed

The school's motto is Verbum Sap Sat, short for the Latin "Verbum sapienti sat est", meaning "A Word to the Wise is Sufficient."fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed

The Turkey Bowl is held every Thanksgiving. It is a football game that takes place on the upper field between first the freshmen and sophomores and then the juniors and seniors of H-B. Fabi Bouthillette created the Turkey Bowl in 1998. The 7th and 8th graders play against each other in the chicken bowl, the day prior to the turkey bowl.fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed

Every year, before the Winter Break, a volleyball game is held between some teachers and students. Common teachers at this event are Randy McKnight, Mark Dodge, Ray Anderson, Frank Haltiwanger, Bill Van Evera, and Dave Soles.fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed

Joe King, a perennial student, has been attending the school since the Fall of '73 or '74. He has been claimed not to exist, yet he is known to receive mail, write articles in the paper, sign up for elective classes & committees, buy tickets to dances and add his name to some of the graduating Senior walls. The school's yearbook from '79-80 featured a center spread on Joe, his origins and antics, along with several shadowy photographs.fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed

Similarly, according to the Senior walls, one member of the class of '06 has graduated upwards of seven times.fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed

It is a tradition that every time the principal begins to speak, the students must interrupt him with applause. During his entire 33-year term as principal, Ray never managed to speak more than four consecutive words without being interrupted by applause. The current principal of the school, former assistant principal Frank Haltiwanger, holds a record of twelve consecutive words.fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed

In the current drama hall, there are two lockers that are connected to each other by a secret passageway. They have both been boarded up however, due to safety concerns.fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed

References

* [http://www.hbwoodlawn.org/profile.html hbwoodlawn.org - The Official Webpage pf HB Woodlawn] Retrieved April 4, 2007
* [http://www.hbwoodlawn.org/mergereport.html Report of the Hoffman-Boston--Woodlawn Merger Committee] . Retrieved April 4, 2007
* [http://www.hbwoodlawn.org/postarticle.pdf Farewell to hippie high] Horwitt, D. (2004, June 13). "The Washington Post". Retrieved April 4, 2007

External links

* [http://www.apsva.us/woodlawn/ The Official School Site]
* [http://www.hbwoodlawn.org/handbook/warning.html The H-B Woodlawn Underground Student Handbook]
* [http://www.yhbultimate.org YHB Ultimate Team]