APS - redistricting middle schools?

[Anonymous]

Somehow I might have totally missed this - are the lines for middle schools being redrawn to push kids from Swanson and Hamm to Williamsburg? Does someone have a link? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Process started last year and put on pause until next fall. Look on APS engage website.

There was a lot of fighting about where the middle school immersion program should go and the Hamm people had a meltdown over having to take a bus so the county stopped the process.

But yes the likelihood is some Swanson and Hamm kids will be sent to Williamsburg.

[Anonymous]

Another factor putting it on pause is they want to do high school boundaries at the same time and I think they wanted to see how the Nottingham as swing school issue would play out. If Nottingham had closed and the boundaries of nearby elementary schools needed to be redrawn they would have also wanted to line that up.

But Nottingham and all those schools are being left alone for now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Process started last year and put on pause until next fall. Look on APS engage website.

There was a lot of fighting about where the middle school immersion program should go and the Hamm people had a meltdown over having to take a bus so the county stopped the process.

But yes the likelihood is some Swanson and Hamm kids will be sent to Williamsburg.

This is OP - I knew about Nottingham, and I know about the immersion fight, and I knew about a lot of this - but where is the proposal to send non immersion kids from hamm and Swanson? That’s what was shocking to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Process started last year and put on pause until next fall. Look on APS engage website.

There was a lot of fighting about where the middle school immersion program should go and the Hamm people had a meltdown over having to take a bus so the county stopped the process.

But yes the likelihood is some Swanson and Hamm kids will be sent to Williamsburg.

That’s what I heard too. It will be comprehensive boundary changes at all school levels which were originally planned back in 2020 or 2021, but Covid ended those plans.

I’m just not sure if the process will begin this fall (2024) or next fall (2025).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Process started last year and put on pause until next fall. Look on APS engage website.

There was a lot of fighting about where the middle school immersion program should go and the Hamm people had a meltdown over having to take a bus so the county stopped the process.

But yes the likelihood is some Swanson and Hamm kids will be sent to Williamsburg.

No, it was put on hold because Gunston’s enrollment dropped by almost 100 students this year, meaning the entire reason to redraw the borders evaporated completely. But keep trash talking the Hamm community!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Process started last year and put on pause until next fall. Look on APS engage website.

There was a lot of fighting about where the middle school immersion program should go and the Hamm people had a meltdown over having to take a bus so the county stopped the process.

But yes the likelihood is some Swanson and Hamm kids will be sent to Williamsburg.

This is OP - I knew about Nottingham, and I know about the immersion fight, and I knew about a lot of this - but where is the proposal to send non immersion kids from hamm and Swanson? That’s what was shocking to me.

The proposed maps from this discussion are online. Why is it shocking? Williamsburg is seriously under enrolled and they need to put more kids there. The Hamm people really tried to pitch putting immersion in Williamsburg so they can keep going to Hamm but that would pretty much kill the immersion program. That’s about where APS halted the whole process.

They said they are going to pick it back up fall 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Process started last year and put on pause until next fall. Look on APS engage website.

There was a lot of fighting about where the middle school immersion program should go and the Hamm people had a meltdown over having to take a bus so the county stopped the process.

But yes the likelihood is some Swanson and Hamm kids will be sent to Williamsburg.

No, it was put on hold because Gunston’s enrollment dropped by almost 100 students this year, meaning the entire reason to redraw the borders evaporated completely. But keep trash talking the Hamm community!

More kids need to go to Williamsburg regardless. It is very under enrolled.

[Anonymous]

Agreed, but the only way to do it likely involves moving kids who might technically be in walk zones for Swanson or Hamm.

APS staff and board need to withstand the screaming and pressure from parents to do what’s best for the county overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Process started last year and put on pause until next fall. Look on APS engage website.

There was a lot of fighting about where the middle school immersion program should go and the Hamm people had a meltdown over having to take a bus so the county stopped the process.

But yes the likelihood is some Swanson and Hamm kids will be sent to Williamsburg.

No, it was put on hold because Gunston’s enrollment dropped by almost 100 students this year, meaning the entire reason to redraw the borders evaporated completely. But keep trash talking the Hamm community!

What enrollment numbers are you looking at for Gunston? That’s not what is in their official stats.

It’s not trash talking. Hamm had signs everywhere. Keep Hamm walkable. Very vocal.

[Anonymous]

There is an old many page thread about this topic if you do a search.

Details the arduous voyage for Hamm kids to Williamsburg via bus and also much trashing of the immersion program and why if they can’t make it in Williamsburg it shouldn’t exist and also neighborhood schools are more important anyway.

It was vintage Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is an old many page thread about this topic if you do a search.

Details the arduous voyage for Hamm kids to Williamsburg via bus and also much trashing of the immersion program and why if they can’t make it in Williamsburg it shouldn’t exist and also neighborhood schools are more important anyway.

It was vintage Arlington.

Yup. It was also completely the wrong tact. I know lots of Swanson parents who are fighting to move to another middle school and would be happy to be rezoned. Latching into Immersion was just silly when there are other, better options. APS is just lousy at drawing sensible boundary maps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Process started last year and put on pause until next fall. Look on APS engage website.

There was a lot of fighting about where the middle school immersion program should go and the Hamm people had a meltdown over having to take a bus so the county stopped the process.

But yes the likelihood is some Swanson and Hamm kids will be sent to Williamsburg.

No, it was put on hold because Gunston’s enrollment dropped by almost 100 students this year, meaning the entire reason to redraw the borders evaporated completely. But keep trash talking the Hamm community!

What enrollment numbers are you looking at for Gunston? That’s not what is in their official stats.

It’s not trash talking. Hamm had signs everywhere. Keep Hamm walkable. Very vocal.

NP. After they forced 5th & 8th graders to verify their addresses, Gunston enrollment dropped to over being over capacity by 2 students. And it is also true that Hamm parents launched the “Keep Hamm Walkable” campaign.


https://www.arlnow.com/2023/09/28/aps-to-pause-middle-school-boundary-process-for-one-year/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Process started last year and put on pause until next fall. Look on APS engage website.

There was a lot of fighting about where the middle school immersion program should go and the Hamm people had a meltdown over having to take a bus so the county stopped the process.

But yes the likelihood is some Swanson and Hamm kids will be sent to Williamsburg.

That’s what I heard too. It will be comprehensive boundary changes at all school levels which were originally planned back in 2020 or 2021, but Covid ended those plans.

I’m just not sure if the process will begin this fall (2024) or next fall (2025).

They need to start it in fall of 2024. APS needs to close an elementary. Too expensive to run so many underenrolled elementary schools. Move kids around at MS and HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Process started last year and put on pause until next fall. Look on APS engage website.

There was a lot of fighting about where the middle school immersion program should go and the Hamm people had a meltdown over having to take a bus so the county stopped the process.

But yes the likelihood is some Swanson and Hamm kids will be sent to Williamsburg.

No, it was put on hold because Gunston’s enrollment dropped by almost 100 students this year, meaning the entire reason to redraw the borders evaporated completely. But keep trash talking the Hamm community!

What enrollment numbers are you looking at for Gunston? That’s not what is in their official stats.

It’s not trash talking. Hamm had signs everywhere. Keep Hamm walkable. Very vocal.

NP. After they forced 5th & 8th graders to verify their addresses, Gunston enrollment dropped to over being over capacity by 2 students. And it is also true that Hamm parents launched the “Keep Hamm Walkable” campaign.


https://www.arlnow.com/2023/09/28/aps-to-pause-middle-school-boundary-process-for-one-year/

Thanks for sharing I had not seen this.

I still don't see how it's okay to have some middle schools right at capacity (which I can tell you as a Swanson parent operating right at capacity still feels very crowded and involves trailers and barely any room at lunch and all those impacts) while Williamsburg sits half empty. They still need to make adjustments, which I guess this article acknowledged.

We have to be able to have hard conversations as a school system to do the right things sometimes.