I hope you're not a WL-er because it's really not fair for WL-ers to criticize YHS or WHS for being "smaller" when all of the high schools' main capacity is about the same, when all have hit enrollment exceeding that capacity, and when people push back like their lives depend on it if they might be districted away from WL. WL could have supported the Ed Center seats being something other than more WL seats - but it didn't really fight that. WL doesn't want to relinquish its access to IB; so why criticize students from other high schools wanting to access the limited IB seats available to non-WL students? WL students can pick and choose their IB courses. Transfers have to be full IB. It's WL that gets to have its cake and eat it, too. Not Yorktown...or Wakefield. |
What does diversity have to do with it? APS doesn't care that much about diversified schools. They pretended to for a while; but it's all about getting everyone to the closest schools and transportation now. |
They want to move the kids in the walkable zone to Innovation who are districted to ASFS to Innovation. There's your "equity" priority in action. |
Didn’t they already move those kids and effectively split Lyon Village? |
+1. The new narrative is that it’s better for all the FARMs kids to be together with their community. Makes it a lot more convenient politically, too. |
Construction of this size tends to shift the boundary for all community. There are other new buildings coming online nearby very soon (e.g. the gigantic apartment building in the landmark block) that is also technically in Innovation zone. There are other sorts of redevelopment plans in Rosslyn as well, if you take a look at the site plans. Perhaps everyone is underestimating how many children will be living in those market-rate apartments and condos, and the number of children from those high density buildings will be enough to balance out the FARM rate of the school. Perhaps not. |
+1. There are two 30+ story buildings planned for Rosslyn, the Courthouse Landmark building and the old Wendy’s lot across the street, and some other things in the pipes. Several memos have discussed needing to create 1400 elementary seats for Rosslyn with 2 elementary schools (it’s my understanding Innovation is one the schools, and the second school will be new. Where? Who knows.). The FARMS rate may go up at Innovation when Marbella comes online but hopefully market-rate housing will balance it out. I say “hopefully” because I think it’s better for everyone if a school has an enrollment that doesn’t skew too much towards any one demographic, rich or poor. |
I think they have gone with the neighborhood model at the elementary school level but the schools get more diverse as you move through. Yorktown will always be the least diverse high school due to Arlington County’s housing policies, but I don’t foresee a boundary change that lessens Yorktown’s diversity. |
There will be like zero kids from market rate Apartments, families w kids are not gonna choose to live in apartments anymore, only people who need that subsidy will be there |
People are raising kids in apartments and condos right now. They always have. The development in Rosslyn is just getting started and the goal isn’t to turn people off. It’s going to be totally different in a decade. |
There will be plenty of people who see forever priced out of Arlington that will choose to raise their kids in a market rate rental in Rosslyn with access to YHS or WL or whatever N Arlington schools you homeowners come on here to complain about. |
Before COVID sure. But those people aren’t commuting like before so will move further out |
Hard to tell, but my kid is starting Innovation K next year. Right now it looks like we’re going to get the benefit of the small school and be done or almost done with elementary by the time Marbella and other developments come online. Works for me! |
Now I do agree that more people will WFH in the future, but most jobs won’t be fully remote. And the younger people value walkable neighborhoods with amenities. The development might not be on the scale that the developers were hoping, but there’s still plenty of new things going in and APS is hopefully planning for it. |
My DS started K at Innovation this year. We moved to the neighborhood to be in the walk zone for a school that was just a block from Metro. The school is only about half capacity. We don't have accurate FARM statistics this year, but the racial demographics put this school on balance with Arlington as a whole. I am excited for more diversity from the new buildings, both market-rate and affordable. I expect that Innovation will remain under-enrolled for a few more years, unless the SB expands the boundary. |