Tuckahoe by the numbers - how can it stay a neighborhood school?

[Anonymous]

Can someone C&P the NextDoor post, excluding the author's name, of course? I can't believe they are advocating for the Nottingham PU to be "walkable" to Tuckahoe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let tuckahoe keep their neighbor school, and open it up to transfers.
The transfer pool should exclusively be open to free lunch eligible children who attend Barcroft, Randolph, Abingdon, or Drew.
That way they keep their school, and crowding is eased south of 50.
Also, some demographics get balanced in the process.

I don't think you're going to get many volunteers to transfer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone C&P the NextDoor post, excluding the author's name, of course? I can't believe they are advocating for the Nottingham PU to be "walkable" to Tuckahoe.

its super long, this is only part of it
HELP SAVE TUCKAHOE AS OUR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL!
APS is considering converting Tuckahoe to an “option” school – that is, Tuckahoe would no longer be our neighborhood elementary school starting in 2021. Current and future Tuckahoe students would have to attend another nearby school (not Tuckahoe). Decisions are being made NOW – we need your help to keep Tuckahoe as a neighborhood school!

If we do not act and Tuckahoe is selected as an option school, there will be several negative impacts to our community, such as:

Changing Tuckahoe to an option school could make Reed school overcrowded before it even opens;

If you bought your home due to the proximity to a fantastic neighborhood school, you will have to enter a lottery to attend that school with the option program to be chosen at a later date;

Your home value may decrease due to the loss of the walkable neighborhood school;
There will be increased car and bus traffic due to county-wide students coming to the option school, plus new buses for current walkers going to new schools, in an already congested area, sharing roads with Rt.66 commuters and O’Connell HS; and
Our community will be divided between, potentially, 4 elementary schools.

How you can help:

Complete the 2-question APS Walk Zone Survey by March 12th: Walk Zone Survey Link

· Question 1: please consider adding the following planning units: 17910, 16910, 16011, 16010, 16120, 16040, 17023, 17022, 17021 (each of these planning units has homes within ½ mile of Tuckahoe)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone C&P the NextDoor post, excluding the author's name, of course? I can't believe they are advocating for the Nottingham PU to be "walkable" to Tuckahoe.

I am neither a Nottingham nor Tuckahoe booster. If Nottingham were an option school that pu would partially be within the 1/2 mile walk zone to Tuckahoe.

[Anonymous]

I really can’t believe that they are advocating for PUs south of Lee Hwy to be considered walkable. That’s some desperation there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let tuckahoe keep their neighbor school, and open it up to transfers.
The transfer pool should exclusively be open to free lunch eligible children who attend Barcroft, Randolph, Abingdon, or Drew.
That way they keep their school, and crowding is eased south of 50.
Also, some demographics get balanced in the process.

I don't think you're going to get many volunteers to transfer.

+1. This suggestion is really tone deaf- and mildly racist. life is tough for the parents of FARMS Kids. Why on earth would they add to this toughness by attempting to get their kids to school on the other side of the county where they would be the only minority students. Currently minority students zoned to Tuckahoe transfer out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone C&P the NextDoor post, excluding the author's name, of course? I can't believe they are advocating for the Nottingham PU to be "walkable" to Tuckahoe.

its super long, this is only part of it
HELP SAVE TUCKAHOE AS OUR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL!
APS is considering converting Tuckahoe to an “option” school – that is, Tuckahoe would no longer be our neighborhood elementary school starting in 2021. Current and future Tuckahoe students would have to attend another nearby school (not Tuckahoe). Decisions are being made NOW – we need your help to keep Tuckahoe as a neighborhood school!

If we do not act and Tuckahoe is selected as an option school, there will be several negative impacts to our community, such as:

Changing Tuckahoe to an option school could make Reed school overcrowded before it even opens;

If you bought your home due to the proximity to a fantastic neighborhood school, you will have to enter a lottery to attend that school with the option program to be chosen at a later date;

Your home value may decrease due to the loss of the walkable neighborhood school;
There will be increased car and bus traffic due to county-wide students coming to the option school, plus new buses for current walkers going to new schools, in an already congested area, sharing roads with Rt.66 commuters and O’Connell HS; and
Our community will be divided between, potentially, 4 elementary schools.

How you can help:

Complete the 2-question APS Walk Zone Survey by March 12th: Walk Zone Survey Link

· Question 1: please consider adding the following planning units: 17910, 16910, 16011, 16010, 16120, 16040, 17023, 17022, 17021 (each of these planning units has homes within ½ mile of Tuckahoe)

I don't understand the argument about Reed being overcrowded when it opens. I've added up all the planning units and can't figure out how they get that from the math. I also think the Tuckahoe PTA should be talking to some of the preschool parents before they start making some of these demands. If you claim a unit is walkable, it means that APS is going to pull the bus for that unit. If I was a preschool parent in 16040 for example, I'd be pretty pissed to find out in two years that I am considered "walkable" to Tuckahoe and therefore need to cross both Lee Highway and Sycamore Street with my Kindergartener on foot to get to school. I'm guessing that those parents would be happier getting a bus to Reed or McKinley than they would be walking to Tuckahoe.

[Anonymous]

Have you seen the letter from the 5 civic associations around Reed? These powerful CAs are lobbying for everyone from 66 to Lee Hwy assigned to Reed. It will absolutely be overcapacity. Even before you make one of these schools an option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let tuckahoe keep their neighbor school, and open it up to transfers.
The transfer pool should exclusively be open to free lunch eligible children who attend Barcroft, Randolph, Abingdon, or Drew.
That way they keep their school, and crowding is eased south of 50.
Also, some demographics get balanced in the process.

I don't think you're going to get many volunteers to transfer.

+1. This suggestion is really tone deaf- and mildly racist. life is tough for the parents of FARMS Kids. Why on earth would they add to this toughness by attempting to get their kids to school on the other side of the county where they would be the only minority students. Currently minority students zoned to Tuckahoe transfer out.

#saveourwhiteschool

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen the letter from the 5 civic associations around Reed? These powerful CAs are lobbying for everyone from 66 to Lee Hwy assigned to Reed. It will absolutely be overcapacity. Even before you make one of these schools an option.

Not that they all should be, but that they all could be. Reed could potentially fill every single seat with just walkers. Doesn’t mean it will, but it is in a very dense, highly walkable location. Unlike Tuckahoe.

The Tuckahoe community and AEFC civic association are not serving all of their members well. Some of those units begged to be arc seansonbecause they want to use the trail. Seems to me they would much prefer Reed or McKinely to Tuckahoe, but their desires aren’t being adequately represented by those leading the charge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen the letter from the 5 civic associations around Reed? These powerful CAs are lobbying for everyone from 66 to Lee Hwy assigned to Reed. It will absolutely be overcapacity. Even before you make one of these schools an option.

Not that they all should be, but that they all could be. Reed could potentially fill every single seat with just walkers. Doesn’t mean it will, but it is in a very dense, highly walkable location. Unlike Tuckahoe.

The Tuckahoe community and AEFC civic association are not serving all of their members well. Some of those units begged to be arc seansonbecause they want to use the trail. Seems to me they would much prefer Reed or McKinely to Tuckahoe, but their desires aren’t being adequately represented by those leading the charge.

Begged to be at Swanson


Damn iPhone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen the letter from the 5 civic associations around Reed? These powerful CAs are lobbying for everyone from 66 to Lee Hwy assigned to Reed. It will absolutely be overcapacity. Even before you make one of these schools an option.

Not that they all should be, but that they all could be. Reed could potentially fill every single seat with just walkers. Doesn’t mean it will, but it is in a very dense, highly walkable location. Unlike Tuckahoe.

The Tuckahoe community and AEFC civic association are not serving all of their members well. Some of those units begged to be arc seansonbecause they want to use the trail. Seems to me they would much prefer Reed or McKinely to Tuckahoe, but their desires aren’t being adequately represented by those leading the charge.

I agree with this (although I didn't really believe the trail hoopla.) I also think that those who are jumping on the save Tuckahoe bandwagon have a misperception of what will happen if Tuckahoe is 'saved' as a neighborhood school. They are contemplating empty schools filled with preschoolers and mythical transfers.
What will in actuality happen is either 1) Nottingham goes choice or 2) some funky boundaries are drawn with Nottingham, Tuckahoe, and Reed all having narrow finger type boundaries reaching as far as they can East.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen the letter from the 5 civic associations around Reed? These powerful CAs are lobbying for everyone from 66 to Lee Hwy assigned to Reed. It will absolutely be overcapacity. Even before you make one of these schools an option.

OK, I am with one of those CAs, and you are mischaracterizing the letter. We endorsed the integrated design and said that the School Board should honor the BLPC charter to keep Reed a neighborhood school. We are well aware that there are six planning units in the area between Washington Blvd and 66 that are technically in the walk zone to both Reed and McKinley, but nobody is arguing that they should all go to Reed. We fully expect that some of them will remain at McKinley because we understand the math. The walk zone task forces of both buildings are talking to neighbors (and to each other) and trying to work that out. There is definitely a way to comfortably fit everyone into Reed and McKinley without relying on Tuckahoe. Reed will be 725 seats and McKinley is 685 seats- these are big buildings. Sorry, I know that isn't what you want to hear, but the math just doesn't come out in Tuckahoe's favor when you get into the weeds of it.

[Anonymous]

Sigh...can the School Board just put Tuckahoe out of their misery? This diarrhea is killing me :

https://tuckahoe.apsva.us/weekly-update/

Because Tuckahoe is one of the Arlington elementary schools that could be changed to an option school site, this survey is important. Many believe the current list of considerations is inadequate. We offer some sample considerations below that you could cut and paste into the survey–include those you agree with.

Feel free to add your own, and to share the survey with others.

SURVEY LINK: https://survey.k12insight.com/survey.aspx?k=SsSRTVsYWQsPsPsP&lang=0&data=#

SUGGESTED CONSIDERATIONS:

APS should clearly explain the goal behind moving an option school before the community can evaluate the criteria. If the goal is to create seats in a particular part of the County, then APS should consider which option program to move before it dissolves a neighborhood school. APS should decide where they need the seats first.
APS can’t evaluate the impact on teaching and learning without first deciding what option program it will move. APS should address what program it wants to move before determining the site.
APS should consider the impact on all walkers when deciding whether to move a school. It is wrong and unfair to ignore walkers just because they live in a planning unit that might overlap with another school.
APS should consider the crucial need for neighborhood seats in areas that County staff are planning for multi-unit development, especially given that school by school projections are frequently wrong and APS is aware it must revise its planning factor for apt buildings, condos and townhouses (more families raising kids in apartments and condos).-APS should consider impact of option location on the APS policy requiring equal and equitable access to all option programs countywide.
APS should consider centrality of option location to ensure option program can serve students countywide.-APS should consider transfer reports to understand potential enrollment consequences in neighborhood schools around county if option program is moved. Moving an option program across the county will likely cause enrollment problems in other neighborhood schools if students do not apply to that program in the same numbers they have historically because they don’t want lengthy travel times.
APS should consider the impact on non-walkers in the neighborhood school community APS is looking to dissolve.
APS should consider safety associated with high traffic volume and congestion in siting an option school.-APS should consider the cost of relocating an option program and moving a neighborhood elementary school out of a building.
APS should consider enrollment impact on schools surrounding the neighborhood school being dissolved.-APS should consider transportation times associated with option program moves.
It is not clear what is a “cross-county transportation route” is and what it means to have “access” to it. It is difficult to understand how this criteria would apply. Every school in Arlington is near a major road.

[Anonymous]

APS is such a joke. Love how official school web sites are used to promote advocacy for positions that surely will be ignored by people who have already made up their minds.