The Arts and IB at W and L

My son would like to participate in IB and is a talented musician. Please don't make kids choose between being well rounded and the IB program.

It's not just arts - all sorts of electives can be an important part of a well rounded education. The two year TOK gets in the way of that.

Arlington HS has one of the states finest music The change that is being proposed will make a significant negative impact on the school’s music program. If you value maintaining one of the state’s premier music programs you will reconsider making is change.

Arlington’s music programs are already weak. The one ensemble that can come close to competing with the programs in Fairfax is the W-L symphonic band. This short-sighted proposal could destroy it.

When I was in high school, I was fortunate to have the ability to take the highest academic level classes my school offered while still participating in band every semester. It is no exaggeration to say that the creative outlet, sense of community, and ability to learn and grow as a person that band provided me changed my life for the better. I only hope that all students in our community are afforded the same opportunity.

Forcing students to choose between an IB Diploma and a commitment to music education will be detrimental to students as well as to both programs. Any change in the TOK requirement should be accompanied simultaneously by accommodations that enable students to continue in school-based music programs all four years.

W-L students should not have to choose between music and the benefits of the IB program. Please reconsider this decision!

Our kids need the arts, now more than ever.

How can you possibly think that an arts background is unnecessary for future leaders to be effective and happy humans? Please make a wise decision that allows IB students to continue to achieve at high levels in the arts.

As a Foreign Service kid who spent five years in overseas IB schools, my daughter arrived at Washington Liberty very excited to enroll in the full IB program. She is a straight A student but has now shifted her plan to complete only partial IB for one reason: her love of singing and the inability to continue Chorus past her sophomore year with the full IB program. I urge you to find a way to allow students to pursue both musical arts within the IB program asap, or to accommodate students in chorus and band who are otherwise excellent candidates for full IB.

Delay the expansion of the Theory of Knowledge (TOK). Direct involvement in the performing arts has been shown to provide students with socio-emotional skills such as helping them explore their emotions, build confidence and self-esteem, and form community identity. How can W-L then, in the same month that APS is touting “Arlington Public Schools has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation,” hinder or prevent IB students from participating in these same programs? Why would W-L have students, already in a high-stress academic program, turn away from classes that provide the benefits of SEL extensively promoted by the County? For our family, music education in both middle and high school has provided a safe place to explore identity, a midday break to physically move around the classroom, stress relief, an afterschool activity, and – most importantly – friendships beyond the AP/IB academic bubble. Delay the expansion of the Theory of Knowledge to two years until the performing arts can be incorporated into the International Baccalaureate Diploma program (IB) at Washington-Liberty High school.

The proposed curriculum change would weaken the IB program and weaken W-L's award-winning band program. My two children completed the full IB program while doing symphonic, marching, and jazz bands. The arts are an essential part of the high school experience and the IB program would be diminished without them.

Arts are an element of creating a well rounded student. Music has been shown to correlate to science and math learning. Do not shortchange Arlington's youth by forcing them to decide between the arts and IB. The two should go have in hand.

Band is too important to the community of children to drop. There are other options such as an evening or zero period class. Frankly mind-boggling this wasn't considered (done) first. This not only impacts students in HS but will impact colleges as most students will not then restart their musical journey. I played in HS and continued througj college and the sense of community helped me tremendously in both. And music had nothing to do with my degree.

This decision not only hampers the ability of students to participate in their chosen musical activities, it imperils students’ important academic and social networks. The value of music education in these students’ lives goes beyond mere participation in band, orchestra, and choir. Additionally, this severely hampers those students who would have otherwise gone on to a career in the performing arts, of which Arlington has many prominent alumni. As a former Arlington music educator and a current music professor and coordinator of music education at a Virginia college, I am appalled by this potential plan by APS and urge the administration to reconsider. Dr. Brian Coffill, DMA Director of Instrumental Ensembles Assistant Professor of Music Randolph-Macon College

Forcing kids to choose between IB and the arts and music program is insane. I seriously doubt the competency of whomever made this decision. More kids should be encouraged to participate in these programs.

Music students ARE our top academic students. They need to have access to performing arts classes!

Offer TOK after-school so that students can stay enrolled in their music classes.

The IB program needs to incorporate the music department so that full IB musicians can continue without a cost of IB requirements. It was incredibly frustrating to hear from our counsleor that it was nearly impossible to do both full IB and music. My child had to give up being in the highest level music class sr year due to IB requirements. This doesn’t make much sense.

The music program at W-L is amazing. Both IB and music should co-exist.