Is ATS worth the lifestyle hassle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think APS relies too much on ipads or are you just listening to what folks say? My kids are both in ES and they maybe use the ipad for 10 minutes out of their day. MAYBE 20 minute at max. I sometimes think APS' use of ipads is overstated. Yes they have 1:1 but that doesn't mean kids are on ipads all day long.

Agree. My 3rd grader comes home with the ipad at 90%.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. OP. Spouse really like ATS. Older child moving to middle next year. Less iPad this year than last but still a lot every day (an hour+). And we see that they’re just not getting challenged and too often bored. Younger child already showing aptitude that makes us nervous about staying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP. Spouse really like ATS. Older child moving to middle next year. Less iPad this year than last but still a lot every day (an hour+). And we see that they’re just not getting challenged and too often bored. Younger child already showing aptitude that makes us nervous about staying.

In upper grades my ATS student has been given lots of challenge and extension work. He reports that there are some days they don't use the Ipad at all. We had a bad experience in our neighborhood school and the move was worth it, even though we are about as far from ATS as you can be.

[Anonymous]

We are so thankful that we didn't get into the lottery schools that we applied to. Going to the neighborhood school was the best thing socially. My kid made all kinds of neighborhood friends during those years and they are still friends today. Now that my kids are in high school, I don't think elementary school education is that big of a deal. All of the Arlington schools are good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are so thankful that we didn't get into the lottery schools that we applied to. Going to the neighborhood school was the best thing socially. My kid made all kinds of neighborhood friends during those years and they are still friends today. Now that my kids are in high school, I don't think elementary school education is that big of a deal. All of the Arlington schools are good.

Did your kids have multiple classmates eloping and throwing chairs? Anyone curse out the teacher on a regular basis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are so thankful that we didn't get into the lottery schools that we applied to. Going to the neighborhood school was the best thing socially. My kid made all kinds of neighborhood friends during those years and they are still friends today. Now that my kids are in high school, I don't think elementary school education is that big of a deal. All of the Arlington schools are good.

Did your kids have multiple classmates eloping and throwing chairs? Anyone curse out the teacher on a regular basis?

Kids are eloping?? Where are they going to elope? Who is marrying an elementary kid? I’ve heard things like this happen in VA, but surprised it’s happening in Arlington!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are so thankful that we didn't get into the lottery schools that we applied to. Going to the neighborhood school was the best thing socially. My kid made all kinds of neighborhood friends during those years and they are still friends today. Now that my kids are in high school, I don't think elementary school education is that big of a deal. All of the Arlington schools are good.

Did your kids have multiple classmates eloping and throwing chairs? Anyone curse out the teacher on a regular basis?

Kids are eloping?? Where are they going to elope? Who is marrying an elementary kid? I’ve heard things like this happen in VA, but surprised it’s happening in Arlington!

No, leaving the classroom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child got into ATS. Our neighborhood school is a title one school and we never expected to get off the wait list. I know from the other thread that ATS is also very diverse which we want and like about our school.

We’re torn because we like our neighborhood school but we know ATS has a great reputation. Our child is pretty advanced already and we’re worried about them getting bored. APS is relying way too much on iPads. Not sure what it’s like at ATS but we hope they are more challenging (more “traditional?”).

But we both work full time and it will be hard to make the trek to pick up every day (bus home is not an option for us).

Really feeling torn about chasing something better, leaving a great school community, making our lives harder, but want to make sure our kid has their needs met too.

I don't think ATS is going to be the solution to that, certainly not in the long term. ATS students don't outperform other APS students by the time high school rolls around; they do fine, but not better.

[Anonymous]

A kid did elope from ATS before covid. They were being bullied by some kids and not treated well by a pe teacher apparently.

We moved from a neighborhood school that was terrible and ATS has been a total turnaround for our family.

I did want to report that my child did Lexia and a math game on IPad daily this year but I got the impression it was an APS wide mandate. (I asked).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A kid did elope from ATS before covid. They were being bullied by some kids and not treated well by a pe teacher apparently.

We moved from a neighborhood school that was terrible and ATS has been a total turnaround for our family.

I did want to report that my child did Lexia and a math game on IPad daily this year but I got the impression it was an APS wide mandate. (I asked).

ATS is the perfect school for those not too keen on the iPads. What’s unique about ATS is that it always bucks the latest educational trends or fads. It was created as a response to parent outcry over the open classroom movement in the 70s when physical walls were removed between the classrooms for a more communal learning arrangement.

[Anonymous]

South Arlington/Title 1 neighborhood school. My kid uses an ipad for worksheets in the morning, Lexia, and dreambox. It's less than an hour a day. There's tons of direct instruction, reading books, and writing. If ipads use is a primary motivation, I'd talk to your school, because it really varies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A kid did elope from ATS before covid. They were being bullied by some kids and not treated well by a pe teacher apparently.

We moved from a neighborhood school that was terrible and ATS has been a total turnaround for our family.

I did want to report that my child did Lexia and a math game on IPad daily this year but I got the impression it was an APS wide mandate. (I asked).

ATS is the perfect school for those not too keen on the iPads. What’s unique about ATS is that it always bucks the latest educational trends or fads. It was created as a response to parent outcry over the open classroom movement in the 70s when physical walls were removed between the classrooms for a more communal learning arrangement.

Except it doesn't really. They follow the same curriculum as the other schools. They went down the Lucy Calkins rabbit hole same as everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A kid did elope from ATS before covid. They were being bullied by some kids and not treated well by a pe teacher apparently.

We moved from a neighborhood school that was terrible and ATS has been a total turnaround for our family.

I did want to report that my child did Lexia and a math game on IPad daily this year but I got the impression it was an APS wide mandate. (I asked).

The ipad is not automatically evil either. The use of Reflex to memorize math facts is fabulous. A genuine improvement on the old ways of memorizing them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A kid did elope from ATS before covid. They were being bullied by some kids and not treated well by a pe teacher apparently.

We moved from a neighborhood school that was terrible and ATS has been a total turnaround for our family.

I did want to report that my child did Lexia and a math game on IPad daily this year but I got the impression it was an APS wide mandate. (I asked).

Was the math game Reflex? If so, it's fantastic. It's equivalent to spending 5-10 minutes on multiplication flash cards, but better. I'm very anti-screen, but it's one of the best programs I've seen. Each kid has to get a "green light" and then is done for the day. The program repeats facts that you get wrong, circling back, until you know every fact very quickly. It really is a fantastic way to get fast at your multiplication and division facts. Hopefully they use it at ATS too.

I hate Lexia. It's super slow and not time effective, even if people swear the content is good.

[Anonymous]

Curious OP, where in Arlington do you live?
My family is in S. Arlington and we are at ATS. Sometimes we use the bus in the morning, but not always. Our DS is in extended day at ATS and we really do not find the drive from S. Arlington to ATS for pick up overly cumbersome. It's about a 10-15 minute drive most days. We were initially at a neighborhood school and after the start of K were given a spot at ATS. We were on the fence because of the location, but, ultimately are very grateful for the opportunity and having some extra time in the car at the end of the day for us is a small price to pay to be at ATS.