If ATS is so popular, why not create two of them?

[Anonymous]

They need to build another new elementary school anyway so when they do that, can't they just make it an ATS model school? In south Arlington so you get something more equitable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree w having more option schools. The answer is to follow the ATS model in neighborhood schools. We seem to be moving in opposite direction though w equity grading.

I guess I could never get a good feel for what "traditional" meant. I realize there's a heavy emphasis on reading and homework every day. And tucking in shirts (maybe that went away).

But I asked the principal at an info session (this was in 2018) and she gave me this line about the school having walls with doors. I was SO confused. My kid's neighborhood school has walls and doors?

I know the school culture is most likely a bit part of what makes kids successful. But if the ideas there are so well done, why aren't we doing it APS wide? What is the main difference between the way ATS does teaching and the rest of the county? I don't' want to hear it's kindergarten kids reading for 30 minutes a night. That's not a curriculum.

ATS holds all their students to a high standard of reading and reading is a true part of their culture. That's the difference.

Right, which it can ONLY do because it's an option school. So if it DOES NOT WORK for some children (say, those who struggle with reading!) they will not attend ATS, or they will be asked to leave.

That's EXACTLY why it can not be moved into every elementary school. The population self selects into children with certain skills and abilities very quickly.

Say what? Am I understanding your post correctly: ATS will kick students out if they are not performing on grade level?

Every poster here who said ATS holds its students to higher standards... I assumed on an attitude level? Kids literally get asked to leave if they struggle with reading? This is documented?

There was an article in Arlington magazine about ATS praising the way the then-principal would tell kids who weren't reading that they would have a very special job next year welcoming kids who were in kindergarten for the first time.

But maybe Holly Hawthorne is just another disgruntled non-ATS parent, lying about school policy

I don't think its the school policy, but I too have heard this from multiple parents (at multiple grade levels). If your kid is not keeping up, they encourage you to leave. My youngest is in fifth grade now, my eldest in college, and this is something I have heard over the years when we've met ATS families. The number of times I've heard it from families at ATS would lead me to believe its true.
For what its worth, I heard the same thing about Key -- if your child has a learning disability they encourage you to go back to your neighborhood school so as to not compound the issue. Not sure if there's truth there, other than I heard it from multiple families over the course of multiple years.

I don't know how it happens, could be that parents of students with disabilities don't enroll their children, could be that students with disabilities are counseled out. However, the APS data is pretty clear. For some reason ATS and Key are well below the county average and the other option schools are not. This is from the APS equity dashboard:

All APS elementary students with disabilities: 14.37%
ATS students with disabilities: 7.65%
Escuela Key students with disabilities: 9.72%
Campbell students with disabilities: 18.93%
Claremont students with disabilities: 13.28%
Montessori students with disabilities: 14.29%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree w having more option schools. The answer is to follow the ATS model in neighborhood schools. We seem to be moving in opposite direction though w equity grading.

I guess I could never get a good feel for what "traditional" meant. I realize there's a heavy emphasis on reading and homework every day. And tucking in shirts (maybe that went away).

But I asked the principal at an info session (this was in 2018) and she gave me this line about the school having walls with doors. I was SO confused. My kid's neighborhood school has walls and doors?

I know the school culture is most likely a bit part of what makes kids successful. But if the ideas there are so well done, why aren't we doing it APS wide? What is the main difference between the way ATS does teaching and the rest of the county? I don't' want to hear it's kindergarten kids reading for 30 minutes a night. That's not a curriculum.

ATS holds all their students to a high standard of reading and reading is a true part of their culture. That's the difference.

Right, which it can ONLY do because it's an option school. So if it DOES NOT WORK for some children (say, those who struggle with reading!) they will not attend ATS, or they will be asked to leave.

That's EXACTLY why it can not be moved into every elementary school. The population self selects into children with certain skills and abilities very quickly.

Say what? Am I understanding your post correctly: ATS will kick students out if they are not performing on grade level?

Every poster here who said ATS holds its students to higher standards... I assumed on an attitude level? Kids literally get asked to leave if they struggle with reading? This is documented?

There was an article in Arlington magazine about ATS praising the way the then-principal would tell kids who weren't reading that they would have a very special job next year welcoming kids who were in kindergarten for the first time.

But maybe Holly Hawthorne is just another disgruntled non-ATS parent, lying about school policy

I don't think its the school policy, but I too have heard this from multiple parents (at multiple grade levels). If your kid is not keeping up, they encourage you to leave. My youngest is in fifth grade now, my eldest in college, and this is something I have heard over the years when we've met ATS families. The number of times I've heard it from families at ATS would lead me to believe its true.
For what its worth, I heard the same thing about Key -- if your child has a learning disability they encourage you to go back to your neighborhood school so as to not compound the issue. Not sure if there's truth there, other than I heard it from multiple families over the course of multiple years.

I don't know how it happens, could be that parents of students with disabilities don't enroll their children, could be that students with disabilities are counseled out. However, the APS data is pretty clear. For some reason ATS and Key are well below the county average and the other option schools are not. This is from the APS equity dashboard:

All APS elementary students with disabilities: 14.37%
ATS students with disabilities: 7.65%
Escuela Key students with disabilities: 9.72%
Campbell students with disabilities: 18.93%
Claremont students with disabilities: 13.28%
Montessori students with disabilities: 14.29%

What you’ll notice though is the number of students with disabilities are more or less constant over the past three years (with a slight increase in 2021-2022). Unfortunately I can’t look further back. So no one is being counseled out. More likely than not parents of students with disabilities are less likely to apply to ATS for one reason or another. No one is counseled out of applying. It’s a lottery. There’s no interview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree w having more option schools. The answer is to follow the ATS model in neighborhood schools. We seem to be moving in opposite direction though w equity grading.

I guess I could never get a good feel for what "traditional" meant. I realize there's a heavy emphasis on reading and homework every day. And tucking in shirts (maybe that went away).

But I asked the principal at an info session (this was in 2018) and she gave me this line about the school having walls with doors. I was SO confused. My kid's neighborhood school has walls and doors?

I know the school culture is most likely a bit part of what makes kids successful. But if the ideas there are so well done, why aren't we doing it APS wide? What is the main difference between the way ATS does teaching and the rest of the county? I don't' want to hear it's kindergarten kids reading for 30 minutes a night. That's not a curriculum.

ATS holds all their students to a high standard of reading and reading is a true part of their culture. That's the difference.

Right, which it can ONLY do because it's an option school. So if it DOES NOT WORK for some children (say, those who struggle with reading!) they will not attend ATS, or they will be asked to leave.

That's EXACTLY why it can not be moved into every elementary school. The population self selects into children with certain skills and abilities very quickly.

Say what? Am I understanding your post correctly: ATS will kick students out if they are not performing on grade level?

Every poster here who said ATS holds its students to higher standards... I assumed on an attitude level? Kids literally get asked to leave if they struggle with reading? This is documented?

There was an article in Arlington magazine about ATS praising the way the then-principal would tell kids who weren't reading that they would have a very special job next year welcoming kids who were in kindergarten for the first time.

But maybe Holly Hawthorne is just another disgruntled non-ATS parent, lying about school policy

I don't think its the school policy, but I too have heard this from multiple parents (at multiple grade levels). If your kid is not keeping up, they encourage you to leave. My youngest is in fifth grade now, my eldest in college, and this is something I have heard over the years when we've met ATS families. The number of times I've heard it from families at ATS would lead me to believe its true.
For what its worth, I heard the same thing about Key -- if your child has a learning disability they encourage you to go back to your neighborhood school so as to not compound the issue. Not sure if there's truth there, other than I heard it from multiple families over the course of multiple years.

My impression re ATS in the past reflects this.
I don't know about Key; however, an immersion program is different from ATS. I have known families with children at Claremont who were behind in reading and ultimately left, "transferring" back to their neighborhood school. It isn't uncommon for kids learning in a bilingual program to be behind in reading. They decided that the bilingual program wasn't meeting their kids' needs. I don't know that Claremont "encouraged" them to leave. I'm just saying that the anecdotes you've heard from Key might need to be taken with a grain of salt.

So let's take the anecdotes about Key with a grain of salt but let's not take the anecdotes about ATS with a grain of salt? LOL

My Claremont anecdotes are direct knowledge. My impressions re ATS is through parents at ATS but not parents whose children directly experienced it. Hence, "my impression re ATS" and "I don't know about Key."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fine, we're taking away your neighborhood school and putting in a school that your kid won't be able to attend because they didn't win the lottery. Happy now?

Or you do win the lottery, but your kid isn't reading at the end of kindergarten. Not reading before 7 is developmentally appropriate, but ATS says your kid has to repeat K. Happy now?

Yes, very happy.

Disagree totally with the premise that not reading at all before 7 is “developmentally appropriate”. Please cite published peer-reviewed study with a large sample size and good statistical controls.

But Finland does it!!!

DP. Finland doesn't start formal education until age 7; but that's irrelevant of the developmental appropriateness of reading. I'm betting a lot of kids are already reading or starting to read before they enter Finland's public schools.

That's great. Finland and the US aren't comparable. Here are a few facts:

1) Finnish families care a lot about education. Most Finnish kids are reading by the time they start school.
2) Finnish parents are able to spend time with their kids. They have lots of parental leave and jobs are more flexible. They work less hours
3) Poverty is less of a problem in Finland than it is in the US
4) The Finnish population is less diverse. There is a smaller immigrant population.

All of the above makes education in Finland very different than education in the US.

All of which is irrelevant to whether or not reading before age 7 is "developmentally appropriate."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fine, we're taking away your neighborhood school and putting in a school that your kid won't be able to attend because they didn't win the lottery. Happy now?

Or you do win the lottery, but your kid isn't reading at the end of kindergarten. Not reading before 7 is developmentally appropriate, but ATS says your kid has to repeat K. Happy now?

Yes, very happy.

Disagree totally with the premise that not reading at all before 7 is “developmentally appropriate”. Please cite published peer-reviewed study with a large sample size and good statistical controls.

But Finland does it!!!

DP. Finland doesn't start formal education until age 7; but that's irrelevant of the developmental appropriateness of reading. I'm betting a lot of kids are already reading or starting to read before they enter Finland's public schools.

That's great. Finland and the US aren't comparable. Here are a few facts:

1) Finnish families care a lot about education. Most Finnish kids are reading by the time they start school.
2) Finnish parents are able to spend time with their kids. They have lots of parental leave and jobs are more flexible. They work less hours
3) Poverty is less of a problem in Finland than it is in the US
4) The Finnish population is less diverse. There is a smaller immigrant population.

All of the above makes education in Finland very different than education in the US.

All of which is irrelevant to whether or not reading before age 7 is "developmentally appropriate."

Many children have no trouble reading before 7. There’s a range of normal. (Similar to learning to walk. Many babies walk well before their first birthday, yet it doesn’t mean there’s a problem if they don’t walk until 15 months…)

And regarding Finland, the attitude toward education is completely different. A teacher was interviewed, asking if he treats his immigrant students with more compassion than the others. His answer was no. That it would do them a disservice by expecting less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree w having more option schools. The answer is to follow the ATS model in neighborhood schools. We seem to be moving in opposite direction though w equity grading.

I guess I could never get a good feel for what "traditional" meant. I realize there's a heavy emphasis on reading and homework every day. And tucking in shirts (maybe that went away).

But I asked the principal at an info session (this was in 2018) and she gave me this line about the school having walls with doors. I was SO confused. My kid's neighborhood school has walls and doors?

I know the school culture is most likely a bit part of what makes kids successful. But if the ideas there are so well done, why aren't we doing it APS wide? What is the main difference between the way ATS does teaching and the rest of the county? I don't' want to hear it's kindergarten kids reading for 30 minutes a night. That's not a curriculum.

ATS holds all their students to a high standard of reading and reading is a true part of their culture. That's the difference.

Right, which it can ONLY do because it's an option school. So if it DOES NOT WORK for some children (say, those who struggle with reading!) they will not attend ATS, or they will be asked to leave.

That's EXACTLY why it can not be moved into every elementary school. The population self selects into children with certain skills and abilities very quickly.

Say what? Am I understanding your post correctly: ATS will kick students out if they are not performing on grade level?

Every poster here who said ATS holds its students to higher standards... I assumed on an attitude level? Kids literally get asked to leave if they struggle with reading? This is documented?

There was an article in Arlington magazine about ATS praising the way the then-principal would tell kids who weren't reading that they would have a very special job next year welcoming kids who were in kindergarten for the first time.

But maybe Holly Hawthorne is just another disgruntled non-ATS parent, lying about school policy

I don't think its the school policy, but I too have heard this from multiple parents (at multiple grade levels). If your kid is not keeping up, they encourage you to leave. My youngest is in fifth grade now, my eldest in college, and this is something I have heard over the years when we've met ATS families. The number of times I've heard it from families at ATS would lead me to believe its true.
For what its worth, I heard the same thing about Key -- if your child has a learning disability they encourage you to go back to your neighborhood school so as to not compound the issue. Not sure if there's truth there, other than I heard it from multiple families over the course of multiple years.

I don't know how it happens, could be that parents of students with disabilities don't enroll their children, could be that students with disabilities are counseled out. However, the APS data is pretty clear. For some reason ATS and Key are well below the county average and the other option schools are not. This is from the APS equity dashboard:

All APS elementary students with disabilities: 14.37%
ATS students with disabilities: 7.65%
Escuela Key students with disabilities: 9.72%
Campbell students with disabilities: 18.93%
Claremont students with disabilities: 13.28%
Montessori students with disabilities: 14.29%

What you’ll notice though is the number of students with disabilities are more or less constant over the past three years (with a slight increase in 2021-2022). Unfortunately I can’t look further back. So no one is being counseled out. More likely than not parents of students with disabilities are less likely to apply to ATS for one reason or another. No one is counseled out of applying. It’s a lottery. There’s no interview.

The lack of an interview is irrelevant. The “counseling” happens a quarter or two after the kid starts. Or later, but most often on the sooner end. Lots of my students have gone to ATS, only to return 6-12 months later with that report from families.

—teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree w having more option schools. The answer is to follow the ATS model in neighborhood schools. We seem to be moving in opposite direction though w equity grading.

I guess I could never get a good feel for what "traditional" meant. I realize there's a heavy emphasis on reading and homework every day. And tucking in shirts (maybe that went away).

But I asked the principal at an info session (this was in 2018) and she gave me this line about the school having walls with doors. I was SO confused. My kid's neighborhood school has walls and doors?

I know the school culture is most likely a bit part of what makes kids successful. But if the ideas there are so well done, why aren't we doing it APS wide? What is the main difference between the way ATS does teaching and the rest of the county? I don't' want to hear it's kindergarten kids reading for 30 minutes a night. That's not a curriculum.

ATS holds all their students to a high standard of reading and reading is a true part of their culture. That's the difference.

Right, which it can ONLY do because it's an option school. So if it DOES NOT WORK for some children (say, those who struggle with reading!) they will not attend ATS, or they will be asked to leave.

That's EXACTLY why it can not be moved into every elementary school. The population self selects into children with certain skills and abilities very quickly.

Say what? Am I understanding your post correctly: ATS will kick students out if they are not performing on grade level?

Every poster here who said ATS holds its students to higher standards... I assumed on an attitude level? Kids literally get asked to leave if they struggle with reading? This is documented?

There was an article in Arlington magazine about ATS praising the way the then-principal would tell kids who weren't reading that they would have a very special job next year welcoming kids who were in kindergarten for the first time.

But maybe Holly Hawthorne is just another disgruntled non-ATS parent, lying about school policy

I don't think its the school policy, but I too have heard this from multiple parents (at multiple grade levels). If your kid is not keeping up, they encourage you to leave. My youngest is in fifth grade now, my eldest in college, and this is something I have heard over the years when we've met ATS families. The number of times I've heard it from families at ATS would lead me to believe its true.
For what its worth, I heard the same thing about Key -- if your child has a learning disability they encourage you to go back to your neighborhood school so as to not compound the issue. Not sure if there's truth there, other than I heard it from multiple families over the course of multiple years.

I don't know how it happens, could be that parents of students with disabilities don't enroll their children, could be that students with disabilities are counseled out. However, the APS data is pretty clear. For some reason ATS and Key are well below the county average and the other option schools are not. This is from the APS equity dashboard:

All APS elementary students with disabilities: 14.37%
ATS students with disabilities: 7.65%
Escuela Key students with disabilities: 9.72%
Campbell students with disabilities: 18.93%
Claremont students with disabilities: 13.28%
Montessori students with disabilities: 14.29%

What you’ll notice though is the number of students with disabilities are more or less constant over the past three years (with a slight increase in 2021-2022). Unfortunately I can’t look further back. So no one is being counseled out. More likely than not parents of students with disabilities are less likely to apply to ATS for one reason or another. No one is counseled out of applying. It’s a lottery. There’s no interview.

The lack of an interview is irrelevant. The “counseling” happens a quarter or two after the kid starts. Or later, but most often on the sooner end. Lots of my students have gone to ATS, only to return 6-12 months later with that report from families.

—teacher

Please stop making things up. Look at the data. The number of students with disabilities is relatively stable year after year. No one is being counseled to leave. If you have numbers to prove otherwise please present them.

[Anonymous]

NP here. I would suspect that part of why children with disabilities leave option schools it is because they have the choice to go to a neighborhood (or in a few cases, a private school). If you start at an APS neighborhood school you don't really have other options to go elsewhere aside from private, which not everyone can afford. I'd be very curious how many parents of kids with disabilities are happier with the neighborhood school vs. the option school, and what they attribute that to (one specific individual, school culture, etc.). IMO a large amount of a child's experience depends entirely on the individual teachers they interact with and it is VERY hard, if not impossible, to assess that BEFORE enrolling your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree w having more option schools. The answer is to follow the ATS model in neighborhood schools. We seem to be moving in opposite direction though w equity grading.

I guess I could never get a good feel for what "traditional" meant. I realize there's a heavy emphasis on reading and homework every day. And tucking in shirts (maybe that went away).

But I asked the principal at an info session (this was in 2018) and she gave me this line about the school having walls with doors. I was SO confused. My kid's neighborhood school has walls and doors?

I know the school culture is most likely a bit part of what makes kids successful. But if the ideas there are so well done, why aren't we doing it APS wide? What is the main difference between the way ATS does teaching and the rest of the county? I don't' want to hear it's kindergarten kids reading for 30 minutes a night. That's not a curriculum.

ATS holds all their students to a high standard of reading and reading is a true part of their culture. That's the difference.

Right, which it can ONLY do because it's an option school. So if it DOES NOT WORK for some children (say, those who struggle with reading!) they will not attend ATS, or they will be asked to leave.

That's EXACTLY why it can not be moved into every elementary school. The population self selects into children with certain skills and abilities very quickly.

Say what? Am I understanding your post correctly: ATS will kick students out if they are not performing on grade level?

Every poster here who said ATS holds its students to higher standards... I assumed on an attitude level? Kids literally get asked to leave if they struggle with reading? This is documented?

There was an article in Arlington magazine about ATS praising the way the then-principal would tell kids who weren't reading that they would have a very special job next year welcoming kids who were in kindergarten for the first time.

But maybe Holly Hawthorne is just another disgruntled non-ATS parent, lying about school policy

I don't think its the school policy, but I too have heard this from multiple parents (at multiple grade levels). If your kid is not keeping up, they encourage you to leave. My youngest is in fifth grade now, my eldest in college, and this is something I have heard over the years when we've met ATS families. The number of times I've heard it from families at ATS would lead me to believe its true.
For what its worth, I heard the same thing about Key -- if your child has a learning disability they encourage you to go back to your neighborhood school so as to not compound the issue. Not sure if there's truth there, other than I heard it from multiple families over the course of multiple years.

I don't know how it happens, could be that parents of students with disabilities don't enroll their children, could be that students with disabilities are counseled out. However, the APS data is pretty clear. For some reason ATS and Key are well below the county average and the other option schools are not. This is from the APS equity dashboard:

All APS elementary students with disabilities: 14.37%
ATS students with disabilities: 7.65%
Escuela Key students with disabilities: 9.72%
Campbell students with disabilities: 18.93%
Claremont students with disabilities: 13.28%
Montessori students with disabilities: 14.29%

What you’ll notice though is the number of students with disabilities are more or less constant over the past three years (with a slight increase in 2021-2022). Unfortunately I can’t look further back. So no one is being counseled out. More likely than not parents of students with disabilities are less likely to apply to ATS for one reason or another. No one is counseled out of applying. It’s a lottery. There’s no interview.

The lack of an interview is irrelevant. The “counseling” happens a quarter or two after the kid starts. Or later, but most often on the sooner end. Lots of my students have gone to ATS, only to return 6-12 months later with that report from families.

—teacher

Please stop making things up. Look at the data. The number of students with disabilities is relatively stable year after year. No one is being counseled to leave. If you have numbers to prove otherwise please present them.

A stable number of students with disabilities does not mean no one is encouraged to leave. Presumably new kids are diagnosed each year to replace those that left. The percentage of students with disabilities is more telling. Over time you would expect the percentage to move to the county average, and it has not.

Also, the total number of students at ATS has increased by 50 over the last 2 years, but the number of students with disabilities has gone from 59 (20-21) to 66 (21-22) to 51 (22-23). Why is that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree w having more option schools. The answer is to follow the ATS model in neighborhood schools. We seem to be moving in opposite direction though w equity grading.

I guess I could never get a good feel for what "traditional" meant. I realize there's a heavy emphasis on reading and homework every day. And tucking in shirts (maybe that went away).

But I asked the principal at an info session (this was in 2018) and she gave me this line about the school having walls with doors. I was SO confused. My kid's neighborhood school has walls and doors?

I know the school culture is most likely a bit part of what makes kids successful. But if the ideas there are so well done, why aren't we doing it APS wide? What is the main difference between the way ATS does teaching and the rest of the county? I don't' want to hear it's kindergarten kids reading for 30 minutes a night. That's not a curriculum.

ATS holds all their students to a high standard of reading and reading is a true part of their culture. That's the difference.

Right, which it can ONLY do because it's an option school. So if it DOES NOT WORK for some children (say, those who struggle with reading!) they will not attend ATS, or they will be asked to leave.

That's EXACTLY why it can not be moved into every elementary school. The population self selects into children with certain skills and abilities very quickly.

Say what? Am I understanding your post correctly: ATS will kick students out if they are not performing on grade level?

Every poster here who said ATS holds its students to higher standards... I assumed on an attitude level? Kids literally get asked to leave if they struggle with reading? This is documented?

There was an article in Arlington magazine about ATS praising the way the then-principal would tell kids who weren't reading that they would have a very special job next year welcoming kids who were in kindergarten for the first time.

But maybe Holly Hawthorne is just another disgruntled non-ATS parent, lying about school policy

I don't think its the school policy, but I too have heard this from multiple parents (at multiple grade levels). If your kid is not keeping up, they encourage you to leave. My youngest is in fifth grade now, my eldest in college, and this is something I have heard over the years when we've met ATS families. The number of times I've heard it from families at ATS would lead me to believe its true.
For what its worth, I heard the same thing about Key -- if your child has a learning disability they encourage you to go back to your neighborhood school so as to not compound the issue. Not sure if there's truth there, other than I heard it from multiple families over the course of multiple years.

I don't know how it happens, could be that parents of students with disabilities don't enroll their children, could be that students with disabilities are counseled out. However, the APS data is pretty clear. For some reason ATS and Key are well below the county average and the other option schools are not. This is from the APS equity dashboard:

All APS elementary students with disabilities: 14.37%
ATS students with disabilities: 7.65%
Escuela Key students with disabilities: 9.72%
Campbell students with disabilities: 18.93%
Claremont students with disabilities: 13.28%
Montessori students with disabilities: 14.29%

What you’ll notice though is the number of students with disabilities are more or less constant over the past three years (with a slight increase in 2021-2022). Unfortunately I can’t look further back. So no one is being counseled out. More likely than not parents of students with disabilities are less likely to apply to ATS for one reason or another. No one is counseled out of applying. It’s a lottery. There’s no interview.

The lack of an interview is irrelevant. The “counseling” happens a quarter or two after the kid starts. Or later, but most often on the sooner end. Lots of my students have gone to ATS, only to return 6-12 months later with that report from families.

—teacher

I work in APS SPED and have not encountered the same.

[Anonymous]

Every time there is a post about ATS a bunch of haters start posting criticisms of the school. What do they all have in common? They don’t have kids who go there. ATS is a good school and is recognized as such. It’s one of the best schools in the country and the top elementary school in Virginia. You can hate it all you want. It doesn’t change this fact. I’m a recent immigrant and my kids are at ATS. It is filled with Mongolians, Eritreans, Ethiopians and Moroccans among others. Most of us aren’t rich but we know a good school when we see one and word travels fast. I understand that many of you hate the academic focus, the homework, the behavioral expectations and the “strict” dress code (not strict enough for me. Many of us prefer uniforms). That’s fine. You have your neighborhood school go to. The rest of us however are dying to put our kids in a school where behavior and academics matter. How I wish there was an ATS equivalent for middle school. I would apply in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every time there is a post about ATS a bunch of haters start posting criticisms of the school. What do they all have in common? They don’t have kids who go there. ATS is a good school and is recognized as such. It’s one of the best schools in the country and the top elementary school in Virginia. You can hate it all you want. It doesn’t change this fact. I’m a recent immigrant and my kids are at ATS. It is filled with Mongolians, Eritreans, Ethiopians and Moroccans among others. Most of us aren’t rich but we know a good school when we see one and word travels fast. I understand that many of you hate the academic focus, the homework, the behavioral expectations and the “strict” dress code (not strict enough for me. Many of us prefer uniforms). That’s fine. You have your neighborhood school go to. The rest of us however are dying to put our kids in a school where behavior and academics matter. How I wish there was an ATS equivalent for middle school. I would apply in a heartbeat.

No one hates your school. Chill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every time there is a post about ATS a bunch of haters start posting criticisms of the school. What do they all have in common? They don’t have kids who go there. ATS is a good school and is recognized as such. It’s one of the best schools in the country and the top elementary school in Virginia. You can hate it all you want. It doesn’t change this fact. I’m a recent immigrant and my kids are at ATS. It is filled with Mongolians, Eritreans, Ethiopians and Moroccans among others. Most of us aren’t rich but we know a good school when we see one and word travels fast. I understand that many of you hate the academic focus, the homework, the behavioral expectations and the “strict” dress code (not strict enough for me. Many of us prefer uniforms). That’s fine. You have your neighborhood school go to. The rest of us however are dying to put our kids in a school where behavior and academics matter. How I wish there was an ATS equivalent for middle school. I would apply in a heartbeat.

I've been pleasantly surprised at how many immigrant families are at ATS. People think it's a "white-flight" school, but that's not the school enrollment at all. ATS has a majority minority study body. Anyone wanting a truly diverse school with high standards should check it out.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Disagree w having more option schools. The answer is to follow the ATS model in neighborhood schools. We seem to be moving in opposite direction though w equity grading.

I guess I could never get a good feel for what "traditional" meant. I realize there's a heavy emphasis on reading and homework every day. And tucking in shirts (maybe that went away).

But I asked the principal at an info session (this was in 2018) and she gave me this line about the school having walls with doors. I was SO confused. My kid's neighborhood school has walls and doors?

I know the school culture is most likely a bit part of what makes kids successful. But if the ideas there are so well done, why aren't we doing it APS wide? What is the main difference between the way ATS does teaching and the rest of the county? I don't' want to hear it's kindergarten kids reading for 30 minutes a night. That's not a curriculum.

ATS holds all their students to a high standard of reading and reading is a true part of their culture. That's the difference.

Right, which it can ONLY do because it's an option school. So if it DOES NOT WORK for some children (say, those who struggle with reading!) they will not attend ATS, or they will be asked to leave.

That's EXACTLY why it can not be moved into every elementary school. The population self selects into children with certain skills and abilities very quickly.

Say what? Am I understanding your post correctly: ATS will kick students out if they are not performing on grade level?

Every poster here who said ATS holds its students to higher standards... I assumed on an attitude level? Kids literally get asked to leave if they struggle with reading? This is documented?

There was an article in Arlington magazine about ATS praising the way the then-principal would tell kids who weren't reading that they would have a very special job next year welcoming kids who were in kindergarten for the first time.

But maybe Holly Hawthorne is just another disgruntled non-ATS parent, lying about school policy

I don't think its the school policy, but I too have heard this from multiple parents (at multiple grade levels). If your kid is not keeping up, they encourage you to leave. My youngest is in fifth grade now, my eldest in college, and this is something I have heard over the years when we've met ATS families. The number of times I've heard it from families at ATS would lead me to believe its true.
For what its worth, I heard the same thing about Key -- if your child has a learning disability they encourage you to go back to your neighborhood school so as to not compound the issue. Not sure if there's truth there, other than I heard it from multiple families over the course of multiple years.

I don't know how it happens, could be that parents of students with disabilities don't enroll their children, could be that students with disabilities are counseled out. However, the APS data is pretty clear. For some reason ATS and Key are well below the county average and the other option schools are not. This is from the APS equity dashboard:

All APS elementary students with disabilities: 14.37%
ATS students with disabilities: 7.65%
Escuela Key students with disabilities: 9.72%
Campbell students with disabilities: 18.93%
Claremont students with disabilities: 13.28%
Montessori students with disabilities: 14.29%

What you’ll notice though is the number of students with disabilities are more or less constant over the past three years (with a slight increase in 2021-2022). Unfortunately I can’t look further back. So no one is being counseled out. More likely than not parents of students with disabilities are less likely to apply to ATS for one reason or another. No one is counseled out of applying. It’s a lottery. There’s no interview.

The lack of an interview is irrelevant. The “counseling” happens a quarter or two after the kid starts. Or later, but most often on the sooner end. Lots of my students have gone to ATS, only to return 6-12 months later with that report from families.

—teacher

I find that hard to believe. APS SpEd goes out of their way to never ever ever suggest they can't meet a kids needs. Even though many many many times they are not meeting a kids needs. Lots of parents would love for APS to be more straightforward about "yeah you should get a tutor this summer " or whatever else is needed. It would be a huge liability if ATS is counseling SWDs out.