the Key/ASFS building switch...

[Anonymous]

Uh. Those kids actually walk to Tuckahoe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest problem for immersion is that the swap, as currently envisioned/planned, means that the immersion program will have to shrink. There are going to be a lot of kids who are interested in immersion who won't be able to get a spot. That may not be as important to some, but its a real cost to the school system as a whole.

They aren’t attracting enough native spanish speakers to meet the 50/50 ratio; most of the kids clamoring for a spot at Key immersion are coming from So Arlington, and are white MC families escaping from their neighborhood school not actively seeking Immersion in truth.

You are correct, int hat that its possible that in a different location there will be less demand for immersion. But its hard to know that until its too late.

Its still hard for me to understand why its so important that the current Key building be converted to a neighborhood school. Its housed Key for over 25 years. Every person who lives nearby has known that its not a standard neighborhood school (though until recently close-by neighbors could get into Key by right).

Because none of the history matters to the current population needs. APS needs neighborhood seats, and because of budget constraints needs to do it in a transit-efficient way. Making Key a neighborhood school helps with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swap in 2020. The rest of us can't take a whole additional year of these temper tantrums.

Seriously! I don’t even understand while aps felt the need to publish the memos that prompted this thread! Let’s just accept this and move on, I’m really sick of neighborhoods being pitted against one another. Though I guess in this case it’s different people in the same neighborhood.

oh I'm really glad they published it. It laid out a rational coherent explanation for why they are planning the swap. It had a lot of information to counter the disinformation that I'm sure they knew was coming. It provides a counter to the 'lyon village is rich and has to much sway with the staff' rhetoric we are hearing. It showed transparency. I actually can't imagine how it would be better if they hadn't published it.

It's going to be nothing but a headache for the next three years-- the whole "this keeps most of the ASFS together" line that APS is feeding everyone is such a misnomer. There are already more students currently attending ASFS than the Key building can hold after you take out the two classrooms needed to try and recreate the science lab. That doesn't include all the current Key folks who will stay at the current building (b/c they can walk/familiarity, etc.) regardless of which program is there. More importantly, the 200 Lyon Village kids who currently go to Taylor are within 1/2 mile with no major streets to cross-- APS cannot justify bussing those kids to Taylor when they can easily walk to the Key building. So what does this mean? It means that the "new" ASFS at the Key building will be nothing more than Lyon Village's neighborhood school -- and many of the fringe folks (who believe this swap was their savoir) will still be bussed to Taylor and Long Branch. And why move the "whole program" before the boundary change-- all that is going to do is royally piss off the over 1/3 ASFS population that has to move to the Key building in 2020 and then move to their new "neighborhood" school in 2021. So again, great for Lyon Village but sucky for everyone else.

Is there a law requiring they go to the nearest walkable school? If Key is the closest school to Rosslyn, and it essentially filled by all the PUs Eastof Taylor LV, why do they have to move the Taylor PUs to Key, with the result of busing lower income Rosslyn students on the longest bus ride in the county? Why are you assuming they are doing that, when soon their will be huge excess capacity in the NW of the county?

Currently there are several PUs within Nottingham walk zone that bus across Sycamore to attend tuckahoe. Not very different than current Taylor Lyon Village PUs remaining at Taylor

yep - overlapping walk zones = prime spots for option schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swap in 2020. The rest of us can't take a whole additional year of these temper tantrums.

Seriously! I don’t even understand while aps felt the need to publish the memos that prompted this thread! Let’s just accept this and move on, I’m really sick of neighborhoods being pitted against one another. Though I guess in this case it’s different people in the same neighborhood.

oh I'm really glad they published it. It laid out a rational coherent explanation for why they are planning the swap. It had a lot of information to counter the disinformation that I'm sure they knew was coming. It provides a counter to the 'lyon village is rich and has to much sway with the staff' rhetoric we are hearing. It showed transparency. I actually can't imagine how it would be better if they hadn't published it.

It's going to be nothing but a headache for the next three years-- the whole "this keeps most of the ASFS together" line that APS is feeding everyone is such a misnomer. There are already more students currently attending ASFS than the Key building can hold after you take out the two classrooms needed to try and recreate the science lab. That doesn't include all the current Key folks who will stay at the current building (b/c they can walk/familiarity, etc.) regardless of which program is there. More importantly, the 200 Lyon Village kids who currently go to Taylor are within 1/2 mile with no major streets to cross-- APS cannot justify bussing those kids to Taylor when they can easily walk to the Key building. So what does this mean? It means that the "new" ASFS at the Key building will be nothing more than Lyon Village's neighborhood school -- and many of the fringe folks (who believe this swap was their savoir) will still be bussed to Taylor and Long Branch. And why move the "whole program" before the boundary change-- all that is going to do is royally piss off the over 1/3 ASFS population that has to move to the Key building in 2020 and then move to their new "neighborhood" school in 2021. So again, great for Lyon Village but sucky for everyone else.

Is there a law requiring they go to the nearest walkable school? If Key is the closest school to Rosslyn, and it essentially filled by all the PUs Eastof Taylor LV, why do they have to move the Taylor PUs to Key, with the result of busing lower income Rosslyn students on the longest bus ride in the county? Why are you assuming they are doing that, when soon their will be huge excess capacity in the NW of the county?

Currently there are several PUs within Nottingham walk zone that bus across Sycamore to attend tuckahoe. Not very different than current Taylor Lyon Village PUs remaining at Taylor

yep - overlapping walk zones = prime spots for option schools

*yawn*

Might want to save the scare mongering for when we're actually to that phase in the process. Nottingham isn't going to come out to bat for you today over something that may never be put on the table again.

[Anonymous]

APS needs neighborhood seats, and because of budget constraints needs to do it in a transit-efficient way

Why does it need neighborhood seats, as opposed to other seats. As has been pointed out many times, "seats" are "seats," regardless of whether they are filled in an option program versus a neighborhood program. Obviously, an option program which does not fill its assigned seats is a problem, but none of the current APS option programs have this issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest problem for immersion is that the swap, as currently envisioned/planned, means that the immersion program will have to shrink. There are going to be a lot of kids who are interested in immersion who won't be able to get a spot. That may not be as important to some, but its a real cost to the school system as a whole.

They aren’t attracting enough native spanish speakers to meet the 50/50 ratio; most of the kids clamoring for a spot at Key immersion are coming from So Arlington, and are white MC families escaping from their neighborhood school not actively seeking Immersion in truth.

You are correct, int hat that its possible that in a different location there will be less demand for immersion. But its hard to know that until its too late.

Its still hard for me to understand why its so important that the current Key building be converted to a neighborhood school. Its housed Key for over 25 years. Every person who lives nearby has known that its not a standard neighborhood school (though until recently close-by neighbors could get into Key by right).

Because none of the history matters to the current population needs. APS needs neighborhood seats, and because of budget constraints needs to do it in a transit-efficient way. Making Key a neighborhood school helps with that.

Disagree. History absolutely matters. Careful attention paid over years and years is what creates great schools. This does not happen quickly or by chance. All schools and staff are not interchangeable as APS likes to claim and PP is correct. Every person who lives near by Key always knew that was not a neighborhood school when they bought their homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

APS needs neighborhood seats, and because of budget constraints needs to do it in a transit-efficient way

Why does it need neighborhood seats, as opposed to other seats. As has been pointed out many times, "seats" are "seats," regardless of whether they are filled in an option program versus a neighborhood program. Obviously, an option program which does not fill its assigned seats is a problem, but none of the current APS option programs have this issue.

Because we have a capacity program, and option schools exacerbate that rather than relieve it because APS can't (at least under the current system) control where the students at those option schools come from. APS cannot force students in overcrowded areas to go to option schools so it needs to provide an adequate number of neighborhood seats for everyone who wants them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest problem for immersion is that the swap, as currently envisioned/planned, means that the immersion program will have to shrink. There are going to be a lot of kids who are interested in immersion who won't be able to get a spot. That may not be as important to some, but its a real cost to the school system as a whole.

They aren’t attracting enough native spanish speakers to meet the 50/50 ratio; most of the kids clamoring for a spot at Key immersion are coming from So Arlington, and are white MC families escaping from their neighborhood school not actively seeking Immersion in truth.

You are correct, int hat that its possible that in a different location there will be less demand for immersion. But its hard to know that until its too late.

Its still hard for me to understand why its so important that the current Key building be converted to a neighborhood school. Its housed Key for over 25 years. Every person who lives nearby has known that its not a standard neighborhood school (though until recently close-by neighbors could get into Key by right).

Because none of the history matters to the current population needs. APS needs neighborhood seats, and because of budget constraints needs to do it in a transit-efficient way. Making Key a neighborhood school helps with that.

Disagree. History absolutely matters. Careful attention paid over years and years is what creates great schools. This does not happen quickly or by chance. All schools and staff are not interchangeable as APS likes to claim and PP is correct. Every person who lives near by Key always knew that was not a neighborhood school when they bought their homes.

You are conflating history and long-term planning. History is what it is, and future planning can't be constrained by decisions people made when circumstances were different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest problem for immersion is that the swap, as currently envisioned/planned, means that the immersion program will have to shrink. There are going to be a lot of kids who are interested in immersion who won't be able to get a spot. That may not be as important to some, but its a real cost to the school system as a whole.

They aren’t attracting enough native spanish speakers to meet the 50/50 ratio; most of the kids clamoring for a spot at Key immersion are coming from So Arlington, and are white MC families escaping from their neighborhood school not actively seeking Immersion in truth.

You are correct, int hat that its possible that in a different location there will be less demand for immersion. But its hard to know that until its too late.

Its still hard for me to understand why its so important that the current Key building be converted to a neighborhood school. Its housed Key for over 25 years. Every person who lives nearby has known that its not a standard neighborhood school (though until recently close-by neighbors could get into Key by right).

Because none of the history matters to the current population needs. APS needs neighborhood seats, and because of budget constraints needs to do it in a transit-efficient way. Making Key a neighborhood school helps with that.

Disagree. History absolutely matters. Careful attention paid over years and years is what creates great schools. This does not happen quickly or by chance. All schools and staff are not interchangeable as APS likes to claim and PP is correct. Every person who lives near by Key always knew that was not a neighborhood school when they bought their homes.

It was a neighborhood school that happened to be Spanish Immersion until this year. That's why it's called "Key Zone." Obviously this worked a lot better when less kids lived there and a higher percentage of them were Hispanic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest problem for immersion is that the swap, as currently envisioned/planned, means that the immersion program will have to shrink. There are going to be a lot of kids who are interested in immersion who won't be able to get a spot. That may not be as important to some, but its a real cost to the school system as a whole.

They aren’t attracting enough native spanish speakers to meet the 50/50 ratio; most of the kids clamoring for a spot at Key immersion are coming from So Arlington, and are white MC families escaping from their neighborhood school not actively seeking Immersion in truth.

You are correct, int hat that its possible that in a different location there will be less demand for immersion. But its hard to know that until its too late.

Its still hard for me to understand why its so important that the current Key building be converted to a neighborhood school. Its housed Key for over 25 years. Every person who lives nearby has known that its not a standard neighborhood school (though until recently close-by neighbors could get into Key by right).

Because none of the history matters to the current population needs. APS needs neighborhood seats, and because of budget constraints needs to do it in a transit-efficient way. Making Key a neighborhood school helps with that.

Disagree. History absolutely matters. Careful attention paid over years and years is what creates great schools. This does not happen quickly or by chance. All schools and staff are not interchangeable as APS likes to claim and PP is correct. Every person who lives near by Key always knew that was not a neighborhood school when they bought their homes.

When I bought my house two blocks from Nottingham, that school was under capacity by more than 100 students. That was the situation I knew when I bought it. Does that mean I have a reasonable expectation of the school remaining a hundred students under capacity today, regardless of what else is happening in the county? I suspect you think not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest problem for immersion is that the swap, as currently envisioned/planned, means that the immersion program will have to shrink. There are going to be a lot of kids who are interested in immersion who won't be able to get a spot. That may not be as important to some, but its a real cost to the school system as a whole.

They aren’t attracting enough native spanish speakers to meet the 50/50 ratio; most of the kids clamoring for a spot at Key immersion are coming from So Arlington, and are white MC families escaping from their neighborhood school not actively seeking Immersion in truth.

You are correct, int hat that its possible that in a different location there will be less demand for immersion. But its hard to know that until its too late.

Its still hard for me to understand why its so important that the current Key building be converted to a neighborhood school. Its housed Key for over 25 years. Every person who lives nearby has known that its not a standard neighborhood school (though until recently close-by neighbors could get into Key by right).

It has nothing to do with Key. It has to do with ASFS becoming a neighborhood school, but being located outside it’s neighborhood.

Honestly not sure why that is an issue, I know FCC has a school on land it rents from fairfax, so it’s not even in their school district.

So instead of just adjusting ASFS' current boundaries so that ASFS sits inside its boundaries, we have to move two schools??? And, we're still going to have to bus the Rosslyn kids (because they can't walk to Key due to the crossing of major streets) and, according to the PP, we're still going to have to bus half of Lyon Village to Taylor? But hey, at least those Lyon Village folks living near Key will get to walk. That will save APS tons of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh. Those kids actually walk to Tuckahoe.

Elementary kids cross Sycamore? Why all the angst about Kirkwood then, Sycamore is a much more major road.

[Anonymous]

Because we have a capacity program, and option schools exacerbate that rather than relieve it because APS can't (at least under the current system) control where the students at those option schools come from. APS cannot force students in overcrowded areas to go to option schools so it needs to provide an adequate number of neighborhood seats for everyone who wants them.

You are correct that APS cannot precisely determine where the kids who go to option schools comes from. But its also clear that APS also has a very difficult time controlling attendance by shifting of boundaries. Everytime they try to move boundaries, its an unbelievable amount of angst and agita on the part of both the community and the school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Because we have a capacity program, and option schools exacerbate that rather than relieve it because APS can't (at least under the current system) control where the students at those option schools come from. APS cannot force students in overcrowded areas to go to option schools so it needs to provide an adequate number of neighborhood seats for everyone who wants them.

You are correct that APS cannot precisely determine where the kids who go to option schools comes from. But its also clear that APS also has a very difficult time controlling attendance by shifting of boundaries. Everytime they try to move boundaries, its an unbelievable amount of angst and agita on the part of both the community and the school system.

The problem is they don’t shift boundary by a few PUs to adjust imbalances; they do radical boundary changes which basically riles up entire schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Because we have a capacity program, and option schools exacerbate that rather than relieve it because APS can't (at least under the current system) control where the students at those option schools come from. APS cannot force students in overcrowded areas to go to option schools so it needs to provide an adequate number of neighborhood seats for everyone who wants them.

You are correct that APS cannot precisely determine where the kids who go to option schools comes from. But its also clear that APS also has a very difficult time controlling attendance by shifting of boundaries. Everytime they try to move boundaries, its an unbelievable amount of angst and agita on the part of both the community and the school system.

The community's inability to manage its emotions in a healthy way should not be a reason for APS to decline to take needed action. We are not toddlers and we're not talking about whether mommy takes us to the playground when we're having a tough day.