ATS vs Cardinal (what do parents think?)

[Anonymous]

Go with ATS, you can always go back if you don’t like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take the spot at ATS. Really great focus on creating a school community, great counselors to support kids, along with unparalleled academic achievement in APS for all subgroups.

It's the APS private school, with all the affluence benefits of choosing the right sorority/fraternity. Which is why it is particularly attractive to better off North Arl. But that is still entirely different than whether it's the right fit for a kid who has at least social awkwardness ... unless you're claiming ATS bubble people are just better humans, including taking in society's weirdos.

What a silly and inaccurate assertion. ATS is 37% economically disadvantaged, 37.3% English learners and only 34.3% white.

By comparison, Cardinal, OPs neighborhood school, is 6.2% economically disadvantaged, 4.5% English learners, and 76.1% white.

Tuckahoe, another North Arlington school is 2.3% economically disadvantaged, 6.6% English learners, and 73.5% white.

Taylor, another North Arlington School, is 8.2% economically disadvantaged, 8.7% English learners and 64.2% white.

So no, ATS is not the affluent, private like school that PP is imaging. That is more Jamestown, Tuckahoe, Nottingham, Cardinal, Discovery and Taylor. ATS is probably comparable to Glebe and Arlington Science Focus which are both diverse schools with a significant percentage of economically disadvantaged students.

OP I would try ATS. If you don’t like it you can always go back to Cardinal.

Wrong statistics. I'm talking about where the kids come from, and which families are pushing to get into into ATS. That is data that APS doesn't get to decide, like FRL makeup of a choice program. Unfortunately only APS really knows which neighborhoods push hardest/most for entry. But I'll just point out the genesis of this thread is ATS v. Cardinal...not Randolph, Barcroft, Drew, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take the spot at ATS. Really great focus on creating a school community, great counselors to support kids, along with unparalleled academic achievement in APS for all subgroups.

It's the APS private school, with all the affluence benefits of choosing the right sorority/fraternity. Which is why it is particularly attractive to better off North Arl. But that is still entirely different than whether it's the right fit for a kid who has at least social awkwardness ... unless you're claiming ATS bubble people are just better humans, including taking in society's weirdos.

What a silly and inaccurate assertion. ATS is 37% economically disadvantaged, 37.3% English learners and only 34.3% white.

By comparison, Cardinal, OPs neighborhood school, is 6.2% economically disadvantaged, 4.5% English learners, and 76.1% white.

Tuckahoe, another North Arlington school is 2.3% economically disadvantaged, 6.6% English learners, and 73.5% white.

Taylor, another North Arlington School, is 8.2% economically disadvantaged, 8.7% English learners and 64.2% white.

So no, ATS is not the affluent, private like school that PP is imaging. That is more Jamestown, Tuckahoe, Nottingham, Cardinal, Discovery and Taylor. ATS is probably comparable to Glebe and Arlington Science Focus which are both diverse schools with a significant percentage of economically disadvantaged students.

OP I would try ATS. If you don’t like it you can always go back to Cardinal.

Wrong statistics. I'm talking about where the kids come from, and which families are pushing to get into into ATS. That is data that APS doesn't get to decide, like FRL makeup of a choice program. Unfortunately only APS really knows which neighborhoods push hardest/most for entry. But I'll just point out the genesis of this thread is ATS v. Cardinal...not Randolph, Barcroft, Drew, etc.

What are you trying to say? The post I’m responding to literally says the following: “ It's the APS private school, with all the affluence benefits of choosing the right sorority/fraternity. Which is why it is particularly attractive to better off North Arl.” As a result, I compared it to affluent north Arlington schools including Cardinal which is OP’s neighborhood school. My point was that ATS’ statistics do not match those of the affluent north Arlington schools. It is significantly more diverse and has a significantly higher number of economically disadvantaged and ESL students so clearly it attractive to those families. Please do share the “right statistics” since apparently the data I’m looking at, which is posted on every school’s website is the “wrong statistics.” Please provide alternative data to support your assertion that ATS is like a private school that is attractive to the affluent families of North Arlington. The majority of the families I know in that affluent corner of Arlington are happy with their neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take the spot at ATS. Really great focus on creating a school community, great counselors to support kids, along with unparalleled academic achievement in APS for all subgroups.

It's the APS private school, with all the affluence benefits of choosing the right sorority/fraternity. Which is why it is particularly attractive to better off North Arl. But that is still entirely different than whether it's the right fit for a kid who has at least social awkwardness ... unless you're claiming ATS bubble people are just better humans, including taking in society's weirdos.

What a silly and inaccurate assertion. ATS is 37% economically disadvantaged, 37.3% English learners and only 34.3% white.

By comparison, Cardinal, OPs neighborhood school, is 6.2% economically disadvantaged, 4.5% English learners, and 76.1% white.

Tuckahoe, another North Arlington school is 2.3% economically disadvantaged, 6.6% English learners, and 73.5% white.

Taylor, another North Arlington School, is 8.2% economically disadvantaged, 8.7% English learners and 64.2% white.

So no, ATS is not the affluent, private like school that PP is imaging. That is more Jamestown, Tuckahoe, Nottingham, Cardinal, Discovery and Taylor. ATS is probably comparable to Glebe and Arlington Science Focus which are both diverse schools with a significant percentage of economically disadvantaged students.

OP I would try ATS. If you don’t like it you can always go back to Cardinal.

Wrong statistics. I'm talking about where the kids come from, and which families are pushing to get into into ATS. That is data that APS doesn't get to decide, like FRL makeup of a choice program. Unfortunately only APS really knows which neighborhoods push hardest/most for entry. But I'll just point out the genesis of this thread is ATS v. Cardinal...not Randolph, Barcroft, Drew, etc.

No one is going to ask whether they should go to ATS vs. Randolph, Barcroft, Drew, etc. The answer is obviously yes.

We actually do know which neighborhood schools the students come from, it's in the pupil transfer report, page 4. https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2023/07/2021-2022_APS-Transfer-Report.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take the spot at ATS. Really great focus on creating a school community, great counselors to support kids, along with unparalleled academic achievement in APS for all subgroups.

It's the APS private school, with all the affluence benefits of choosing the right sorority/fraternity. Which is why it is particularly attractive to better off North Arl. But that is still entirely different than whether it's the right fit for a kid who has at least social awkwardness ... unless you're claiming ATS bubble people are just better humans, including taking in society's weirdos.

What a silly and inaccurate assertion. ATS is 37% economically disadvantaged, 37.3% English learners and only 34.3% white.

By comparison, Cardinal, OPs neighborhood school, is 6.2% economically disadvantaged, 4.5% English learners, and 76.1% white.

Tuckahoe, another North Arlington school is 2.3% economically disadvantaged, 6.6% English learners, and 73.5% white.

Taylor, another North Arlington School, is 8.2% economically disadvantaged, 8.7% English learners and 64.2% white.

So no, ATS is not the affluent, private like school that PP is imaging. That is more Jamestown, Tuckahoe, Nottingham, Cardinal, Discovery and Taylor. ATS is probably comparable to Glebe and Arlington Science Focus which are both diverse schools with a significant percentage of economically disadvantaged students.

OP I would try ATS. If you don’t like it you can always go back to Cardinal.

Wrong statistics. I'm talking about where the kids come from, and which families are pushing to get into into ATS. That is data that APS doesn't get to decide, like FRL makeup of a choice program. Unfortunately only APS really knows which neighborhoods push hardest/most for entry. But I'll just point out the genesis of this thread is ATS v. Cardinal...not Randolph, Barcroft, Drew, etc.

No one is going to ask whether they should go to ATS vs. Randolph, Barcroft, Drew, etc. The answer is obviously yes.

We actually do know which neighborhood schools the students come from, it's in the pupil transfer report, page 4. https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2023/07/2021-2022_APS-Transfer-Report.pdf

Thanks PP for this. As I suspected, previous PP doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Seems like the bulk of ATS students come from South Arlington schools or schools with a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students. So previous PP is incorrect when saying that ATS “is particularly attractive to better off North Arl.“The outlier here seems to be Cardinal, followed with a huge gap by Tuckahoe. With Cardinal it’s completely understandable. My kids go to ATS. The families I know from Cardinal told me that they applied to ATS due to the boundary process. Some didn’t know where they would be zoned for and some wanted to stick to the McKinley building (now ATS) since it’s in their neighborhood. People like previous PP seem to have a chip on their shoulder when it comes to ATS. Not sure what their problem is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would not hesitate for a minute, take the spot at ATS. And if you were signed up for Extended Day already at your neighborhood school, that should transfer over. At least that’s what happened to us when we were offered a spot last year for first grade at ATS.

How was the transition going into first grade? We just got offered a spot at ATS for first grade and are considering it!

[Anonymous]

North Arlington family here. We opted out of our neighborhood school for ATS. Many families went neighborhood over option in our zone because they are in walking distance through neighborhoods and that was most important to them.

[Anonymous]

I feel like somebody's bating me today...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take the spot at ATS. Really great focus on creating a school community, great counselors to support kids, along with unparalleled academic achievement in APS for all subgroups.

It's the APS private school, with all the affluence benefits of choosing the right sorority/fraternity. Which is why it is particularly attractive to better off North Arl. But that is still entirely different than whether it's the right fit for a kid who has at least social awkwardness ... unless you're claiming ATS bubble people are just better humans, including taking in society's weirdos.

What a silly and inaccurate assertion. ATS is 37% economically disadvantaged, 37.3% English learners and only 34.3% white.

By comparison, Cardinal, OPs neighborhood school, is 6.2% economically disadvantaged, 4.5% English learners, and 76.1% white.

Tuckahoe, another North Arlington school is 2.3% economically disadvantaged, 6.6% English learners, and 73.5% white.

Taylor, another North Arlington School, is 8.2% economically disadvantaged, 8.7% English learners and 64.2% white.

So no, ATS is not the affluent, private like school that PP is imaging. That is more Jamestown, Tuckahoe, Nottingham, Cardinal, Discovery and Taylor. ATS is probably comparable to Glebe and Arlington Science Focus which are both diverse schools with a significant percentage of economically disadvantaged students.

OP I would try ATS. If you don’t like it you can always go back to Cardinal.

Wrong statistics. I'm talking about where the kids come from, and which families are pushing to get into into ATS. That is data that APS doesn't get to decide, like FRL makeup of a choice program. Unfortunately only APS really knows which neighborhoods push hardest/most for entry. But I'll just point out the genesis of this thread is ATS v. Cardinal...not Randolph, Barcroft, Drew, etc.

No one is going to ask whether they should go to ATS vs. Randolph, Barcroft, Drew, etc. The answer is obviously yes.

We actually do know which neighborhood schools the students come from, it's in the pupil transfer report, page 4. https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2023/07/2021-2022_APS-Transfer-Report.pdf

Thanks PP for this. As I suspected, previous PP doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Seems like the bulk of ATS students come from South Arlington schools or schools with a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students. So previous PP is incorrect when saying that ATS “is particularly attractive to better off North Arl.“The outlier here seems to be Cardinal, followed with a huge gap by Tuckahoe. With Cardinal it’s completely understandable. My kids go to ATS. The families I know from Cardinal told me that they applied to ATS due to the boundary process. Some didn’t know where they would be zoned for and some wanted to stick to the McKinley building (now ATS) since it’s in their neighborhood. People like previous PP seem to have a chip on their shoulder when it comes to ATS. Not sure what their problem is.

DP. Serious question: how do you know the bulk of ATS students come from South Arlington? Is that public data?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take the spot at ATS. Really great focus on creating a school community, great counselors to support kids, along with unparalleled academic achievement in APS for all subgroups.

It's the APS private school, with all the affluence benefits of choosing the right sorority/fraternity. Which is why it is particularly attractive to better off North Arl. But that is still entirely different than whether it's the right fit for a kid who has at least social awkwardness ... unless you're claiming ATS bubble people are just better humans, including taking in society's weirdos.

What a silly and inaccurate assertion. ATS is 37% economically disadvantaged, 37.3% English learners and only 34.3% white.

By comparison, Cardinal, OPs neighborhood school, is 6.2% economically disadvantaged, 4.5% English learners, and 76.1% white.

Tuckahoe, another North Arlington school is 2.3% economically disadvantaged, 6.6% English learners, and 73.5% white.

Taylor, another North Arlington School, is 8.2% economically disadvantaged, 8.7% English learners and 64.2% white.

So no, ATS is not the affluent, private like school that PP is imaging. That is more Jamestown, Tuckahoe, Nottingham, Cardinal, Discovery and Taylor. ATS is probably comparable to Glebe and Arlington Science Focus which are both diverse schools with a significant percentage of economically disadvantaged students.

OP I would try ATS. If you don’t like it you can always go back to Cardinal.

Wrong statistics. I'm talking about where the kids come from, and which families are pushing to get into into ATS. That is data that APS doesn't get to decide, like FRL makeup of a choice program. Unfortunately only APS really knows which neighborhoods push hardest/most for entry. But I'll just point out the genesis of this thread is ATS v. Cardinal...not Randolph, Barcroft, Drew, etc.

No one is going to ask whether they should go to ATS vs. Randolph, Barcroft, Drew, etc. The answer is obviously yes.

We actually do know which neighborhood schools the students come from, it's in the pupil transfer report, page 4. https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2023/07/2021-2022_APS-Transfer-Report.pdf

Thanks PP for this. As I suspected, previous PP doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Seems like the bulk of ATS students come from South Arlington schools or schools with a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students. So previous PP is incorrect when saying that ATS “is particularly attractive to better off North Arl.“The outlier here seems to be Cardinal, followed with a huge gap by Tuckahoe. With Cardinal it’s completely understandable. My kids go to ATS. The families I know from Cardinal told me that they applied to ATS due to the boundary process. Some didn’t know where they would be zoned for and some wanted to stick to the McKinley building (now ATS) since it’s in their neighborhood. People like previous PP seem to have a chip on their shoulder when it comes to ATS. Not sure what their problem is.

DP. Serious question: how do you know the bulk of ATS students come from South Arlington? Is that public data?

It’s a link that PP sent. https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2023/07/2021-2022_APS-Transfer-Report.pdf Not sure how the numbers add up but if you look at the numbers on a school by school basis, you will notice that schools that are in South Arlington have more transfers per school to ATS than schools in North Arlington. The one exception seems to be Cardinal, followed not so closely by Tuckahoe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like somebody's bating me today...

Or could they be baiting you?
😀

Just kidding!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like somebody's bating me today...

Or could they be baiting you?
😀

Just kidding!

Ha! I graduated from Cardinal; didn't learn to spell.

[Anonymous]

Why all the tension around ATS? It seems like either people love it or they are bashing it. We have a rising kinder and we did try for the lottery but didn't get a slot. We were bummed however I still feel like it is a very good school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why all the tension around ATS? It seems like either people love it or they are bashing it. We have a rising kinder and we did try for the lottery but didn't get a slot. We were bummed however I still feel like it is a very good school.

The tension is either from people who:

(1) feel slighted that people applied to it and therefore dissed their neighborhood school. They feel like by choosing ATS, those people are saying that ATS is superior to the neighborhood school which they send their kid to
(2) they are angry that they didn't get in and therefore keep dissing the school to make themselves feel better
(3) they are annoyed by the claim that its is a superior school because of its stats. This makes them feel inadequate so they find a way to explain away why ATS is doing so well.
(4) ATS parents who keep hearing criticisms of ATS and their choice to put their kids there, so become overly defensive
(5) parents who truly dislike the "traditional" pedology. They feel the school caters to social conservatives and hate what they believe the school represents. They are ideologically opposed to the dress code for example, ideologically opposed to direct instruction (as opposed to progressive education) and directly opposed to behavioral standards (feel that children should be free to be who they are). These are the group of ATS haters that I have the most sympathy with. Because it is actually based on something. The rest really are jealous or misinformed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why all the tension around ATS? It seems like either people love it or they are bashing it. We have a rising kinder and we did try for the lottery but didn't get a slot. We were bummed however I still feel like it is a very good school.

The tension is either from people who:

(1) feel slighted that people applied to it and therefore dissed their neighborhood school. They feel like by choosing ATS, those people are saying that ATS is superior to the neighborhood school which they send their kid to
(2) they are angry that they didn't get in and therefore keep dissing the school to make themselves feel better
(3) they are annoyed by the claim that its is a superior school because of its stats. This makes them feel inadequate so they find a way to explain away why ATS is doing so well.
(4) ATS parents who keep hearing criticisms of ATS and their choice to put their kids there, so become overly defensive
(5) parents who truly dislike the "traditional" pedology. They feel the school caters to social conservatives and hate what they believe the school represents. They are ideologically opposed to the dress code for example, ideologically opposed to direct instruction (as opposed to progressive education) and directly opposed to behavioral standards (feel that children should be free to be who they are). These are the group of ATS haters that I have the most sympathy with. Because it is actually based on something. The rest really are jealous or misinformed.

I think you nailed it. We transferred in to ATS and I think you could have put me in to group 5, but my kid needed and thrived in that structure. At that point it was not about my educational philosophy anymore.