H-B Woodlawn
Encyclopedia
The H-B Woodlawn Secondary 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 12, 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.
The H-B Woodlawn Program is often rated one of the most challenging high schools in the Washington, DC area.
. 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").
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 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.
HB Woodlawn is run on the belief that left with responsibilities, students will learn and get work done. They are given privedges such as a lot of freedoms. The school is run using Town Meeting, a way of voting by students and faculty and all others on how to run the school.
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
based on the liberal educational movements of the 1960s and 1970s. The school, which serves grades 6 through 12, is a part of the Arlington Public Schools
Arlington Public Schools
Arlington Public Schools is a public school division in Arlington County, Virginia. In 2010, there were 19,903 students, up from 18,715 a year earlier. In 2010, the students had come from more than 120 countries. There were 2,166 teachers....
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.
The H-B Woodlawn Program is often rated one of the most challenging high schools in the Washington, DC area.
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 educationAlternative education
Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, includes a number of approaches to teaching and learning other than mainstream or traditional education. Educational alternatives are often rooted in various philosophies that are fundamentally different...
. 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").
Special rankings
H-B Woodlawn enjoys high rankings both locally and nationally. H-B Woodlawn was rated 1st in the 2005 Challenge IndexChallenge Index
The Challenge Index is a method for the statistical ranking of top public high schools in the United States by Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews...
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 2006 survey by Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
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.
Traditions
The school's motto is Verbum Sap Sat, short for the Latin Verbum sapienti sat est, meaning "A Word to the Wise is Sufficient."HB Woodlawn is run on the belief that left with responsibilities, students will learn and get work done. They are given privedges such as a lot of freedoms. The school is run using Town Meeting, a way of voting by students and faculty and all others on how to run the school.