School Uniforms ACPS

[Anonymous]

Not disagreeing with your point about this being too large a number of students at a school who are not proficient in math and reading. Brooks would need to help 16 economically disadvantaged students to pass the math SOL for the rate to improve to 50 percent. Cora Kelly's denominator is larger and guessing they would need to help more students pass even though they are already at 42 percent. Just noting that other schools have a steeper hill to climb than Brooks even if they appear to have a better pass rate.

The ACPS idashboard does not seem to provide the basic student population breakdown that it used to. Could be because the website is being revamped. In any case, the idashboard has been replaced by an equity dashboard, which uses metrics that would be difficult for a lay person to interpret.

Anyone know where to obtain current data?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are at one such school in Alexandria and the principal is pushing uniforms heavily this year. It’s causing a lot of anxiety for my autistic sensory sensitive kiddo. I wish they’d just drop it if it isn’t required or enforceable. I don’t even understand how it’s equitable since poor families have to buy them, maintain/replace them, and wash them. Where is it stated that it’s optional?

Google and you’ll find that it’s supposed to be voluntary and very relaxed (though individual principals may need to be educated on these standards). Some of the reasoning comes down to First Amendment rights to freedom of expression. A few examples.

https://alexandriapublic.ic-board.com/attachments/cf727f07-7dd1-462c-b19f-893460058be9.pdf

https://ja.acps.k12.va.us/about-achs/school-policies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are at one such school in Alexandria and the principal is pushing uniforms heavily this year. It’s causing a lot of anxiety for my autistic sensory sensitive kiddo. I wish they’d just drop it if it isn’t required or enforceable. I don’t even understand how it’s equitable since poor families have to buy them, maintain/replace them, and wash them. Where is it stated that it’s optional?

Google and you’ll find that it’s supposed to be voluntary and very relaxed (though individual principals may need to be educated on these standards). Some of the reasoning comes down to First Amendment rights to freedom of expression. A few examples.

https://alexandriapublic.ic-board.com/attachments/cf727f07-7dd1-462c-b19f-893460058be9.pdf

https://ja.acps.k12.va.us/about-achs/school-policies

Also want to add that students need to be accommodated for disability, religion, etc. Your child cannot be forever to wear a uniform in public school.

[Anonymous]

*forced

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI - the numbers at Brooks weren't much better pre-pandemic.

According to ACPS' numbers there were 340 kids enrolled at Books last school year. 28.4% are classified as economically disadvantaged so about 98 kids. 62 kids of those kids aren't proficient in reading and 65 aren't proficient in math. I don't think that is acceptable to fail that many kids at just one school.

Please don't make excuses for ACPS. It allows them to fail the most vulnerable kids with no questions asked.

Everyone I know makes excuses. “It’s Like This Everywhere” is their favorite tune.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I could be wrong but I think the uniforms at Brooks (former Maury) and LCTA were instituted by the principals there. That may be the variable.

More concerning is why LCTA is allowed to be the only elem school that uses the Core Knowledge while others don’t. Is an issue of equity that no one I’ve ever broached the subject with is interested in discussing.

Maury is a shadowed of what it was under Jackson's leadership. That guy Powell undid every success she created.

Way to get in your digs at every opportunity. My kid is thriving at Brooks (Maury), and so are the many other Brooks students that we know. Yes, we loved Mrs. Jackson when our older kid was there, but our younger child has had a great experience so far. We were fine with uniforms, but kiddo much prefers to choose her own outfits.

That's great that your kid is thriving and so are the ones you know. But that isn't what other kids are experiencing at the school so please be respectful of that. Some people aren't just satisfied if their kid is doing great and would like to see all kids thrive.

Last school year, only 37% of economically disadvantaged kids were proficient in reading. 33% were proficient in math. 29% in science.

Those numbers are not that much outside the norm. Shockingly - ACPS has been preaching equity and has been focusing on low performing kids long enough that the low performing kids my kid went to school with in K are now low performing seniors. In other words, don’t expect much to change in the next decade. Oh btw they started talking about bldg a new high school when our kid was in K and now they are a senior so you can see how incredibly slowly things change 😊

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I could be wrong but I think the uniforms at Brooks (former Maury) and LCTA were instituted by the principals there. That may be the variable.

More concerning is why LCTA is allowed to be the only elem school that uses the Core Knowledge while others don’t. Is an issue of equity that no one I’ve ever broached the subject with is interested in discussing.

Maury is a shadowed of what it was under Jackson's leadership. That guy Powell undid every success she created.

Way to get in your digs at every opportunity. My kid is thriving at Brooks (Maury), and so are the many other Brooks students that we know. Yes, we loved Mrs. Jackson when our older kid was there, but our younger child has had a great experience so far. We were fine with uniforms, but kiddo much prefers to choose her own outfits.

That's great that your kid is thriving and so are the ones you know. But that isn't what other kids are experiencing at the school so please be respectful of that. Some people aren't just satisfied if their kid is doing great and would like to see all kids thrive.

Last school year, only 37% of economically disadvantaged kids were proficient in reading. 33% were proficient in math. 29% in science.

Those numbers are not that much outside the norm. Shockingly - ACPS has been preaching equity and has been focusing on low performing kids long enough that the low performing kids my kid went to school with in K are now low performing seniors. In other words, don’t expect much to change in the next decade. Oh btw they started talking about bldg a new high school when our kid was in K and now they are a senior so you can see how incredibly slowly things change 😊

You're right of course (except for Lyles Crouch). George Mason was much lower (30% & 21%) and Mount Vernon was even lower than that (25%/20%).

You're right, change doesn't come to ACPS. Feel sorry for those people starting K who think the middle schools will be better by the time they get there or the high school will be better by the time they get there. They'll believe their neighbors who say "oh my kids are in honors/AP they NEVER see the violence" and think that attitude is acceptable and not racist at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I could be wrong but I think the uniforms at Brooks (former Maury) and LCTA were instituted by the principals there. That may be the variable.

More concerning is why LCTA is allowed to be the only elem school that uses the Core Knowledge while others don’t. Is an issue of equity that no one I’ve ever broached the subject with is interested in discussing.

Maury is a shadowed of what it was under Jackson's leadership. That guy Powell undid every success she created.

Way to get in your digs at every opportunity. My kid is thriving at Brooks (Maury), and so are the many other Brooks students that we know. Yes, we loved Mrs. Jackson when our older kid was there, but our younger child has had a great experience so far. We were fine with uniforms, but kiddo much prefers to choose her own outfits.

That's great that your kid is thriving and so are the ones you know. But that isn't what other kids are experiencing at the school so please be respectful of that. Some people aren't just satisfied if their kid is doing great and would like to see all kids thrive.

Last school year, only 37% of economically disadvantaged kids were proficient in reading. 33% were proficient in math. 29% in science.

Those numbers are not that much outside the norm. Shockingly - ACPS has been preaching equity and has been focusing on low performing kids long enough that the low performing kids my kid went to school with in K are now low performing seniors. In other words, don’t expect much to change in the next decade. Oh btw they started talking about bldg a new high school when our kid was in K and now they are a senior so you can see how incredibly slowly things change 😊

You're right of course (except for Lyles Crouch). George Mason was much lower (30% & 21%) and Mount Vernon was even lower than that (25%/20%).

You're right, change doesn't come to ACPS. Feel sorry for those people starting K who think the middle schools will be better by the time they get there or the high school will be better by the time they get there. They'll believe their neighbors who say "oh my kids are in honors/AP they NEVER see the violence" and think that attitude is acceptable and not racist at all.

You are right. I know first hand because we were one of those families. We eventually moved to Fairfax county.

[Anonymous]

I love how this post was about uniforms and turned into a conversation on principals, school performance, and equity.

[Anonymous]

We are at Brooks. My boys loved the uniforms and my husband and I felt they were super easy. We could get the uniforms at Target or Old Navy and if we wanted nicer polos J. Crew or Lands End when sales. We would gift our nice condition items to the uniform closet and we would take hand me downs from the uniform closet. It was available at all the back to school/open houses and PTA events. I understand that the principal is not a fan of uniforms and that the teachers say it is a clean laundry and financial situation with lower income kids. However, I was an administrator in public schools for years and I had never heard of any parents complain about the uniform. In fact they pushed for them. So I don't know if it is a NoVA thing to be against uniforms or what.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Public school uniforms are associated with schools for poors.

Even at privates they look ridiculous beyond elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school uniforms are associated with schools for poors.

Even at privates they look ridiculous beyond elementary.

ACPS only has uniforms at the elementary level (for schools that have them).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are at Brooks. My boys loved the uniforms and my husband and I felt they were super easy. We could get the uniforms at Target or Old Navy and if we wanted nicer polos J. Crew or Lands End when sales. We would gift our nice condition items to the uniform closet and we would take hand me downs from the uniform closet. It was available at all the back to school/open houses and PTA events. I understand that the principal is not a fan of uniforms and that the teachers say it is a clean laundry and financial situation with lower income kids. However, I was an administrator in public schools for years and I had never heard of any parents complain about the uniform. In fact they pushed for them. So I don't know if it is a NoVA thing to be against uniforms or what.

In the US most suburban districts never adopted uniforms. They only became a trend in urban public school districts in the 90s and 00s in the US and Quebec. Traditionally American public schools eschewed uniforms, just like most European countries, excluding the UK.