Immersion program may leave gunston

[Anonymous]

More than half of the immersion population lives in bounds for Gunston, especially the majority of Spanish speakers. It makes zero sense to bus them across the county to WMS.

All the folks talking about moving Immersion to WMS are just disgruntled Taylor parents who don't want their kids moved to WMS, even though they were 100% fine with WMS before Hamm opened. Perhaps move Immersion to Hamm and bump those Taylor students to WMS as is currently planned. That would leave the Kenmore boundary intact and Hamm is closer to transit than WMS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More than half of the immersion population lives in bounds for Gunston, especially the majority of Spanish speakers. It makes zero sense to bus them across the county to WMS.

All the folks talking about moving Immersion to WMS are just disgruntled Taylor parents who don't want their kids moved to WMS, even though they were 100% fine with WMS before Hamm opened. Perhaps move Immersion to Hamm and bump those Taylor students to WMS as is currently planned. That would leave the Kenmore boundary intact and Hamm is closer to transit than WMS.

Is there any published information on the current demographics (FARMS in particular) of the middle school Immersion program by itself? The current FARMS rates for Key and Claremont are 32.63% and 27.64%, respectively, so the inbound population from Claremont specifically is actually lower FARMS than Gunston as a whole by almost 10%.

Just as an FYI - in the case of APS Immersion Spanish speaker does NOT equal low income. In some cases, yes, but in others not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long until they just nix the entire immersion program past elementary.

Nix it there too

Agreed at this point I hope they remove the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long until they just nix the entire immersion program past elementary.

Nix it there too

Why would they do this? It’s a very popular program with a lot of educational benefits?

It doesn’t really benefit APS as a whole and numbers greatly drop off once middle school hits. We should be doing what is best for APS not a select group of families. Option schools in general should be reevaluated in APS.

[Anonymous]

Has there been any actual updates from APS on this situation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long until they just nix the entire immersion program past elementary.

Nix it there too

Why would they do this? It’s a very popular program with a lot of educational benefits?

It doesn’t really benefit APS as a whole and numbers greatly drop off once middle school hits. We should be doing what is best for APS not a select group of families. Option schools in general should be reevaluated in APS.

Immersion isn't any more of a select group than is attending Jamestown, Discovery or Taylor. All those kids have the economic means to buy in bounds. At least immersion kids have a lottery chance regardless of their background or economic means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long until they just nix the entire immersion program past elementary.

Nix it there too

Why would they do this? It’s a very popular program with a lot of educational benefits?

It doesn’t really benefit APS as a whole and numbers greatly drop off once middle school hits. We should be doing what is best for APS not a select group of families. Option schools in general should be reevaluated in APS.

Immersion isn't any more of a select group than is attending Jamestown, Discovery or Taylor. All those kids have the economic means to buy in bounds. At least immersion kids have a lottery chance regardless of their background or economic means.

None of those schools you mentioned offer immersion Spanish instruction. If what you are implying is that immersion offers a better level of instruction or better group of peers, I don’t know what to say to that other than work on fixing the neighborhood schools. It doesn’t assuage my conscience to have APS filled with the haves, the have nots, and the have nots who got lucky in the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More than half of the immersion population lives in bounds for Gunston, especially the majority of Spanish speakers. It makes zero sense to bus them across the county to WMS.

All the folks talking about moving Immersion to WMS are just disgruntled Taylor parents who don't want their kids moved to WMS, even though they were 100% fine with WMS before Hamm opened. Perhaps move Immersion to Hamm and bump those Taylor students to WMS as is currently planned. That would leave the Kenmore boundary intact and Hamm is closer to transit than WMS.

That IS a better idea than moving it to WMS! But Kenmore is still better-suited/accessible for more native Spanish-speaking families, and also still more geographically accessible. But if we were doing ranked choice voting, I'd put yours as my #2!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More than half of the immersion population lives in bounds for Gunston, especially the majority of Spanish speakers. It makes zero sense to bus them across the county to WMS.

All the folks talking about moving Immersion to WMS are just disgruntled Taylor parents who don't want their kids moved to WMS, even though they were 100% fine with WMS before Hamm opened. Perhaps move Immersion to Hamm and bump those Taylor students to WMS as is currently planned. That would leave the Kenmore boundary intact and Hamm is closer to transit than WMS.

Is there any published information on the current demographics (FARMS in particular) of the middle school Immersion program by itself? The current FARMS rates for Key and Claremont are 32.63% and 27.64%, respectively, so the inbound population from Claremont specifically is actually lower FARMS than Gunston as a whole by almost 10%.

Just as an FYI - in the case of APS Immersion Spanish speaker does NOT equal low income. In some cases, yes, but in others not so much.

Gunston is twice the size of Claremont and the immersion program is only about 20% (I'm guessing) of Gunston. It's next to Oakridge, which is not a high FRM area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More than half of the immersion population lives in bounds for Gunston, especially the majority of Spanish speakers. It makes zero sense to bus them across the county to WMS.

All the folks talking about moving Immersion to WMS are just disgruntled Taylor parents who don't want their kids moved to WMS, even though they were 100% fine with WMS before Hamm opened. Perhaps move Immersion to Hamm and bump those Taylor students to WMS as is currently planned. That would leave the Kenmore boundary intact and Hamm is closer to transit than WMS.

That IS a better idea than moving it to WMS! But Kenmore is still better-suited/accessible for more native Spanish-speaking families, and also still more geographically accessible. But if we were doing ranked choice voting, I'd put yours as my #2!

If they went with Hamm, they'd need to switch the high school immersion tracking to WL. That should make sense as WL is projected to have more room than Wakefield, but immersion shouldn't be the only kids at Hamm tracking to Wakefield. That would be weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More than half of the immersion population lives in bounds for Gunston, especially the majority of Spanish speakers. It makes zero sense to bus them across the county to WMS.

All the folks talking about moving Immersion to WMS are just disgruntled Taylor parents who don't want their kids moved to WMS, even though they were 100% fine with WMS before Hamm opened. Perhaps move Immersion to Hamm and bump those Taylor students to WMS as is currently planned. That would leave the Kenmore boundary intact and Hamm is closer to transit than WMS.

That IS a better idea than moving it to WMS! But Kenmore is still better-suited/accessible for more native Spanish-speaking families, and also still more geographically accessible. But if we were doing ranked choice voting, I'd put yours as my #2!

If they went with Hamm, they'd need to switch the high school immersion tracking to WL. That should make sense as WL is projected to have more room than Wakefield, but immersion shouldn't be the only kids at Hamm tracking to Wakefield. That would be weird.

Wouldn't that fix two problems then since they already need to move kids from WHS to W-L?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More than half of the immersion population lives in bounds for Gunston, especially the majority of Spanish speakers. It makes zero sense to bus them across the county to WMS.

All the folks talking about moving Immersion to WMS are just disgruntled Taylor parents who don't want their kids moved to WMS, even though they were 100% fine with WMS before Hamm opened. Perhaps move Immersion to Hamm and bump those Taylor students to WMS as is currently planned. That would leave the Kenmore boundary intact and Hamm is closer to transit than WMS.

That IS a better idea than moving it to WMS! But Kenmore is still better-suited/accessible for more native Spanish-speaking families, and also still more geographically accessible. But if we were doing ranked choice voting, I'd put yours as my #2!

How much does geographic accessibility really matter for middle school? These aren't five year olds with extended day pickups. They are middle school students who can manage a bus ride and walking home from the bus stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long until they just nix the entire immersion program past elementary.

Nix it there too

Why would they do this? It’s a very popular program with a lot of educational benefits?

It doesn’t really benefit APS as a whole and numbers greatly drop off once middle school hits. We should be doing what is best for APS not a select group of families. Option schools in general should be reevaluated in APS.

Immersion isn't any more of a select group than is attending Jamestown, Discovery or Taylor. All those kids have the economic means to buy in bounds. At least immersion kids have a lottery chance regardless of their background or economic means.

None of those schools you mentioned offer immersion Spanish instruction. If what you are implying is that immersion offers a better level of instruction or better group of peers, I don’t know what to say to that other than work on fixing the neighborhood schools. It doesn’t assuage my conscience to have APS filled with the haves, the have nots, and the have nots who got lucky in the lottery.

No, it's just refuting the notion that immersion is some "select" group and should therefore be actively disfavored by APS to avoid creating an inequity. It's not. It's kids in public school. And it's no more a special interest group than the parents at Jamestown or Discovery. Those parents want what's best for their kids, as do the parents of those in Immersion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More than half of the immersion population lives in bounds for Gunston, especially the majority of Spanish speakers. It makes zero sense to bus them across the county to WMS.

All the folks talking about is moving Immersion to WMS are just disgruntled Taylor parents who don't want their kids moved to WMS, even though they were 100% fine with WMS before Hamm opened. Perhaps move Immersion to Hamm and bump those Taylor students to WMS as is currently planned. That would leave the Kenmore boundary intact and Hamm is closer to transit than WMS.

That IS a better idea than moving it to WMS! But Kenmore is still better-suited/accessible for more native Spanish-speaking families, and also still more geographically accessible. But if we were doing ranked choice voting, I'd put yours as my #2!

How much does geographic accessibility really matter for middle school? These aren't five year olds with extended day pickups. They are middle school students who can manage a bus ride and walking home from the bus stop.

It depends on your POV and personal goals. If you’re talking about inequality amongst APS schools the county is tiny and we should do full lottery for all schools. If you’re talking about moving an option program the distance is insurmountable and quite possibly racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More than half of the immersion population lives in bounds for Gunston, especially the majority of Spanish speakers. It makes zero sense to bus them across the county to WMS.

All the folks talking about moving Immersion to WMS are just disgruntled Taylor parents who don't want their kids moved to WMS, even though they were 100% fine with WMS before Hamm opened. Perhaps move Immersion to Hamm and bump those Taylor students to WMS as is currently planned. That would leave the Kenmore boundary intact and Hamm is closer to transit than WMS.

That IS a better idea than moving it to WMS! But Kenmore is still better-suited/accessible for more native Spanish-speaking families, and also still more geographically accessible. But if we were doing ranked choice voting, I'd put yours as my #2!

How much does geographic accessibility really matter for middle school? These aren't five year olds with extended day pickups. They are middle school students who can manage a bus ride and walking home from the bus stop.

Doesn't it matter a lot for kids who want to do sports or theater or other activities? Parents need to be able to pick kids up (a challenge for FARMs parents), or there needs to be good public transit.