Question about re zoning elementary schools in S. Arlington

[Anonymous]

You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

But if you leave, no one holds the schools to account. The problems ignored because people will just leave. It seems odd to me because most of my neighbors have stayed. So go choice, but more are going to Randolph and Barcroft.

Demand more. You're already paying for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

But if you leave, no one holds the schools to account. The problems ignored because people will just leave. It seems odd to me because most of my neighbors have stayed. So go choice, but more are going to Randolph and Barcroft.

Demand more. You're already paying for it.

What, specifically, would you demand? Boundary changes that bring in a large UMC cohort is all that matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

But if you leave, no one holds the schools to account. The problems ignored because people will just leave. It seems odd to me because most of my neighbors have stayed. So go choice, but more are going to Randolph and Barcroft.

Demand more. You're already paying for it.

What, specifically, would you demand? Boundary changes that bring in a large UMC cohort is all that matters.

Or eliminate the option schools so people can't flee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

But if you leave, no one holds the schools to account. The problems ignored because people will just leave. It seems odd to me because most of my neighbors have stayed. So go choice, but more are going to Randolph and Barcroft.

Demand more. You're already paying for it.

What, specifically, would you demand? Boundary changes that bring in a large UMC cohort is all that matters.

Or eliminate the option schools so people can't flee.

Definitely not going to happen. And again, people can move somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

I’m not really sure why you would expect your kid to be behind in middle school. The way they drew boundaries, your kids elementary school would be moving entirely to the same middle school. The other students would only be kids from surrounding elementary schools (which according to this thread would also be bad and also behind). There are only two middle schools (kenmore and Jefferson) that combine north and south school, so I’m not sure how you could really be “behind” since lots of kids would be in the same boat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

But if you leave, no one holds the schools to account. The problems ignored because people will just leave. It seems odd to me because most of my neighbors have stayed. So go choice, but more are going to Randolph and Barcroft.

Demand more. You're already paying for it.

What, specifically, would you demand? Boundary changes that bring in a large UMC cohort is all that matters.

Or eliminate the option schools so people can't flee.

For the umpteenth time! You can't force people to attend a school! All schools are choice schools. Without option schools people will just move or go private. They already do!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

But if you leave, no one holds the schools to account. The problems ignored because people will just leave. It seems odd to me because most of my neighbors have stayed. So go choice, but more are going to Randolph and Barcroft.

Demand more. You're already paying for it.

What, specifically, would you demand? Boundary changes that bring in a large UMC cohort is all that matters.

Or eliminate the option schools so people can't flee.

For the umpteenth time! You can't force people to attend a school! All schools are choice schools. Without option schools people will just move or go private. They already do!

Yeah, glebe looks pretty good. Arlnow story just posted about how their PTA cleared $88k in one nights auction. What is that, the sum total of all pta funds raised in the neediest SA schools in the last five years? I can't imagine how much tuckahoe's or jamestown's auction raises.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

But if you leave, no one holds the schools to account. The problems ignored because people will just leave. It seems odd to me because most of my neighbors have stayed. So go choice, but more are going to Randolph and Barcroft.

Demand more. You're already paying for it.

What, specifically, would you demand? Boundary changes that bring in a large UMC cohort is all that matters.

Or eliminate the option schools so people can't flee.

For the umpteenth time! You can't force people to attend a school! All schools are choice schools. Without option schools people will just move or go private. They already do!

Yeah, glebe looks pretty good. Arlnow story just posted about how their PTA cleared $88k in one nights auction. What is that, the sum total of all pta funds raised in the neediest SA schools in the last five years? I can't imagine how much tuckahoe's or jamestown's auction raises.

One of the Jamestown moms told me that a doctor auctioned off cooking dinner (don't know how large a party it would be for) and it went for $6K. Crazy. Signed, mom in another N. Arlington elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah. Former SA parent at one of the schools mentioned. Now in NA. I spent innumerable hours meeting with classroom teacher, RTG, and principal attempting to get appropriate differentiation for my child. I can only imagine how much harder that is for a parent with an advanced child new to the country with language barriers. But i moved to NA and I have not been involved one bit. My child is challenged by the teachers and peers. Night and day. There are crazy helicopters in NA and SA. But this is not that.

Arlington Blvd is magic. Cross the golden road and all your child's problems disappear...

Or stay and have everyone assume because your kids first language is English and they were born here that they have no problems of consequence compared to their poorer immigrant classmates and "will be fine" and can be ignored.

Congrats. Now your poor child doesn't have to be ignored & victimized. Once the SA teachers got a look at your son's birth certificate, they knew it was ok to let him flounder in class. Being native born, they had no reason to care about his well being.

It's not about "floundering." SA neighborhood elementaries are specialist when it's comes to floundering. It's about accepting mediocrity from the most capable students in the class because ESL, SOL are simply a higher priority. No one will admits that publicly but it's just common sense and the experience of people who have moved bears it out.

So the "most capable" students are getting mediocre grades. But yet, you know - probably because your child was one of them - that they couldn't possibly just be mediocre students. No, there must be another reason. Oh yeah, it's those darn ESL kids: they're sapping all the teacher's attention, and now she doesn't have time to bring out the best in my budding genius.

Dp - you really don’t get it. Your kid will get high marks and fly like a super star... until middle. They’ll be the smartest kid in class. They will be unchallenged. And then you will be shocked at middle school.

Amazing how you know my kids better than me. Btw one is already in high school, two more in elementary. My DS wasn't the smartest kid in class, and middle school was just middle school. No great shocks there. But keep blaming other kids. Or the teachers. Or the schools. Or poor people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah. Former SA parent at one of the schools mentioned. Now in NA. I spent innumerable hours meeting with classroom teacher, RTG, and principal attempting to get appropriate differentiation for my child. I can only imagine how much harder that is for a parent with an advanced child new to the country with language barriers. But i moved to NA and I have not been involved one bit. My child is challenged by the teachers and peers. Night and day. There are crazy helicopters in NA and SA. But this is not that.

Arlington Blvd is magic. Cross the golden road and all your child's problems disappear...

Or stay and have everyone assume because your kids first language is English and they were born here that they have no problems of consequence compared to their poorer immigrant classmates and "will be fine" and can be ignored.

Congrats. Now your poor child doesn't have to be ignored & victimized. Once the SA teachers got a look at your son's birth certificate, they knew it was ok to let him flounder in class. Being native born, they had no reason to care about his well being.

It's not about "floundering." SA neighborhood elementaries are specialist when it's comes to floundering. It's about accepting mediocrity from the most capable students in the class because ESL, SOL are simply a higher priority. No one will admits that publicly but it's just common sense and the experience of people who have moved bears it out.

So the "most capable" students are getting mediocre grades. But yet, you know - probably because your child was one of them - that they couldn't possibly just be mediocre students. No, there must be another reason. Oh yeah, it's those darn ESL kids: they're sapping all the teacher's attention, and now she doesn't have time to bring out the best in my budding genius.

Dp - you really don’t get it. Your kid will get high marks and fly like a super star... until middle. They’ll be the smartest kid in class. They will be unchallenged. And then you will be shocked at middle school.

Amazing how you know my kids better than me. Btw one is already in high school, two more in elementary. My DS wasn't the smartest kid in class, and middle school was just middle school. No great shocks there. But keep blaming other kids. Or the teachers. Or the schools. Or poor people.

Good for you. Which schools did they attend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

But if you leave, no one holds the schools to account. The problems ignored because people will just leave. It seems odd to me because most of my neighbors have stayed. So go choice, but more are going to Randolph and Barcroft.

Demand more. You're already paying for it.

What, specifically, would you demand? Boundary changes that bring in a large UMC cohort is all that matters.

Or eliminate the option schools so people can't flee.

For the umpteenth time! You can't force people to attend a school! All schools are choice schools. Without option schools people will just move or go private. They already do!

Sure, some people will do that. They'll enjoy their 2 hour commutes from Leesburg. There's an extreme shortage of reasonably priced homes with good commutes to downtown. Most of us want to see our children and not spend our lives in the car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

But if you leave, no one holds the schools to account. The problems ignored because people will just leave. It seems odd to me because most of my neighbors have stayed. So go choice, but more are going to Randolph and Barcroft.

Demand more. You're already paying for it.

What, specifically, would you demand? Boundary changes that bring in a large UMC cohort is all that matters.

Or eliminate the option schools so people can't flee.

For the umpteenth time! You can't force people to attend a school! All schools are choice schools. Without option schools people will just move or go private. They already do!

Sure, some people will do that. They'll enjoy their 2 hour commutes from Leesburg. There's an extreme shortage of reasonably priced homes with good commutes to downtown. Most of us want to see our children and not spend our lives in the car.

They don't need to move to Leesburg. They have enough equity to move to North Arlington, like their neighbors before them. Or, they are just plain wealthy enough not to need public schools. Have you not seen the price of real estate for anyone moving here now?

Just doing away with option schools won't make people put their kid in a school where they will be alone. Option schools are the most integrated schools in Arlington, and they are voluntarily integrated. You can't force integration (look at Alexandria). But you can encourage it, by making boundaries that reasonably prioritize demographic diversity and by strategically placing the option schools where diversity needs to be encouraged. People down here don't need or even expect schools that can raise $88,000 in one night. But they do expect their child not to be an extreme outlier. And while I personally don't think being an economic or racial/ethnic minority would be a socially or even academically detrimental experience for a white UMC kid, I also know that pretty much nobody else in my demographic feels the same way. Otherwise, we wouldn't have these intractably segregated schools in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

But if you leave, no one holds the schools to account. The problems ignored because people will just leave. It seems odd to me because most of my neighbors have stayed. So go choice, but more are going to Randolph and Barcroft.

Demand more. You're already paying for it.

What, specifically, would you demand? Boundary changes that bring in a large UMC cohort is all that matters.

Or eliminate the option schools so people can't flee.

For the umpteenth time! You can't force people to attend a school! All schools are choice schools. Without option schools people will just move or go private. They already do!

Sure, some people will do that. They'll enjoy their 2 hour commutes from Leesburg. There's an extreme shortage of reasonably priced homes with good commutes to downtown. Most of us want to see our children and not spend our lives in the car.

Or stay put and send their kids to private school ... the Alexandria-zation of South Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to run away. You can't fix it on the timetable that your kids are in elementary. It takes you til about grade 1 or 2 to realize that they are not getting what they need and then you only have 3 more years before they go to middle. So you leave.

But if you leave, no one holds the schools to account. The problems ignored because people will just leave. It seems odd to me because most of my neighbors have stayed. So go choice, but more are going to Randolph and Barcroft.

Demand more. You're already paying for it.

What, specifically, would you demand? Boundary changes that bring in a large UMC cohort is all that matters.

Or eliminate the option schools so people can't flee.

For the umpteenth time! You can't force people to attend a school! All schools are choice schools. Without option schools people will just move or go private. They already do!

Sure, some people will do that. They'll enjoy their 2 hour commutes from Leesburg. There's an extreme shortage of reasonably priced homes with good commutes to downtown. Most of us want to see our children and not spend our lives in the car.

And a lot of us understand that, even if our kids aren't experiencing the same fast-paced classrooms and group projects and putting on musical productions during elementary school, they are not forever doomed to failure and poverty. Kids from every elementary school go on to thrive in middle and high school on par with the kids who did experience all those things in elementary. Do I feel my kids missed out or could have had more exciting elementary experiences? to some extent, yes. Do my kids know any differently? No. And they get the same high SOL scores those more privileged kids in low-poverty schools get. But they aren't looking at a kid in the neighborhood park and asking him where he lives and goes to school because it's obvious by his skin color or speech that he doesn't go to theirs.