ACPS prohibits kids walking between high school campsuses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How are they going to stop the kids from walking through the Bermuda Triangle of Braddock/King/Seminary? They’re always walking back and forth. There are always kids hanging out underneath Safeway and in Bradlee.

If you really want to see some craziness, go through the Bermuda Triangle around 3:30 when the school bus corral runs through, as in literally one after another after another after another not stopping at stop signs or for lights. They just take over. Then you also have the kids playing frogged in the Bermuda Triangle traffic.

I stopped going to that Safeway during the day because sometimes there were close to a dozen kids loitering down there and walking between parked cars.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone share the logistics of kids moving between campuses? I think I understand enough of why ACPS decided to do it, but do kids have like 2 classes in one building and then 3 in another? Do they move at lunchtime? It seems like a waste of the school day and bus resources to be moving kids back and forth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone share the logistics of kids moving between campuses? I think I understand enough of why ACPS decided to do it, but do kids have like 2 classes in one building and then 3 in another? Do they move at lunchtime? It seems like a waste of the school day and bus resources to be moving kids back and forth.

Not from Alexandria but I know that intersection at King Street. It is a busy area. Why can’t ACPS just build a pedestrian bridge over Braddock Rd / Quaker Ln? Use some of the land behind the church and auto dealership for a fenced in pathway to the bridge. That would solve many if not most of the safety issues. And strategically place CCTV cameras around to prevent student misbehavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone share the logistics of kids moving between campuses? I think I understand enough of why ACPS decided to do it, but do kids have like 2 classes in one building and then 3 in another? Do they move at lunchtime? It seems like a waste of the school day and bus resources to be moving kids back and forth.

Not from Alexandria but I know that intersection at King Street. It is a busy area. Why can’t ACPS just build a pedestrian bridge over Braddock Rd / Quaker Ln? Use some of the land behind the church and auto dealership for a fenced in pathway to the bridge. That would solve many if not most of the safety issues. And strategically place CCTV cameras around to prevent student misbehavior.

If kids have no trouble meeting to brawl at a shopping center parking lot, imagine meeting in an area that can't be easily accessed if there is a mob of kids on top of a road with only two points of egress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone share the logistics of kids moving between campuses? I think I understand enough of why ACPS decided to do it, but do kids have like 2 classes in one building and then 3 in another? Do they move at lunchtime? It seems like a waste of the school day and bus resources to be moving kids back and forth.

Not from Alexandria but I know that intersection at King Street. It is a busy area. Why can’t ACPS just build a pedestrian bridge over Braddock Rd / Quaker Ln? Use some of the land behind the church and auto dealership for a fenced in pathway to the bridge. That would solve many if not most of the safety issues. And strategically place CCTV cameras around to prevent student misbehavior.

If kids have no trouble meeting to brawl at a shopping center parking lot, imagine meeting in an area that can't be easily accessed if there is a mob of kids on top of a road with only two points of egress.

I think the fencing and cameras would be deterrents to the shenanigans you’re alluding to, but I’m not a public safety expert. Bridges shouldn’t be controversial. Many public schools have pedestrian bridges over major roadways for exclusive student use without the security apparatus of cameras and gates. Some public schools in NYC have those. They are all over the LA freeways and other major roads. Anacostia HS has one over the adjacent freeway. I occasionally pass under the one over route 50 in Arlington. Are Alexandria kids somehow not as well behaved as kids in other urban and suburban areas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone share the logistics of kids moving between campuses? I think I understand enough of why ACPS decided to do it, but do kids have like 2 classes in one building and then 3 in another? Do they move at lunchtime? It seems like a waste of the school day and bus resources to be moving kids back and forth.

Not from Alexandria but I know that intersection at King Street. It is a busy area. Why can’t ACPS just build a pedestrian bridge over Braddock Rd / Quaker Ln? Use some of the land behind the church and auto dealership for a fenced in pathway to the bridge. That would solve many if not most of the safety issues. And strategically place CCTV cameras around to prevent student misbehavior.

If kids have no trouble meeting to brawl at a shopping center parking lot, imagine meeting in an area that can't be easily accessed if there is a mob of kids on top of a road with only two points of egress.

I think the fencing and cameras would be deterrents to the shenanigans you’re alluding to, but I’m not a public safety expert. Bridges shouldn’t be controversial. Many public schools have pedestrian bridges over major roadways for exclusive student use without the security apparatus of cameras and gates. Some public schools in NYC have those. They are all over the LA freeways and other major roads. Anacostia HS has one over the adjacent freeway. I occasionally pass under the one over route 50 in Arlington. Are Alexandria kids somehow not as well behaved as kids in other urban and suburban areas?

I live by this area and drive through it several times a day. There isn’t enough room to put a pedestrian bridge. Quaker isn’t wide enough. I’m glad the gigantic LA Freeway has them, and there are some over the Beltway, the WW Bridge, etc but it isn’t going to work behind the car dealership (there is an affordable housing development directly behind it, where are they supposed to go) across to EHS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone share the logistics of kids moving between campuses? I think I understand enough of why ACPS decided to do it, but do kids have like 2 classes in one building and then 3 in another? Do they move at lunchtime? It seems like a waste of the school day and bus resources to be moving kids back and forth.

Not from Alexandria but I know that intersection at King Street. It is a busy area. Why can’t ACPS just build a pedestrian bridge over Braddock Rd / Quaker Ln? Use some of the land behind the church and auto dealership for a fenced in pathway to the bridge. That would solve many if not most of the safety issues. And strategically place CCTV cameras around to prevent student misbehavior.

If kids have no trouble meeting to brawl at a shopping center parking lot, imagine meeting in an area that can't be easily accessed if there is a mob of kids on top of a road with only two points of egress.

I think the fencing and cameras would be deterrents to the shenanigans you’re alluding to, but I’m not a public safety expert. Bridges shouldn’t be controversial. Many public schools have pedestrian bridges over major roadways for exclusive student use without the security apparatus of cameras and gates. Some public schools in NYC have those. They are all over the LA freeways and other major roads. Anacostia HS has one over the adjacent freeway. I occasionally pass under the one over route 50 in Arlington. Are Alexandria kids somehow not as well behaved as kids in other urban and suburban areas?

If you don't remember, one kid stabbed another while there was a police presence and other students were there and other kids were filming. CCTV doesn't work for morons and criminals. The fencing would create a natural "Octagon" for kids to throw down in.

"Commonwealth’s Attorney’s David Lord and Meredith Burke said that Mejia, a high school senior due to graduate within days, was outnumbered and fighting defensively at the Bradlee Shopping Center. They published into evidence multiple videos of the fight taken from a Alexandria Police Department dashcam, security cameras and videos from phones recovered by police. One security video shows Mejia Hernandez arriving to the parking lot in his car, parking, and then joining a group of students near a bus stop outside the Bradlee Shopping Center McDonald’s."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone share the logistics of kids moving between campuses? I think I understand enough of why ACPS decided to do it, but do kids have like 2 classes in one building and then 3 in another? Do they move at lunchtime? It seems like a waste of the school day and bus resources to be moving kids back and forth.

40% of kids apparently have at least one transfer between buildings on an A or B day.
Ours fortunately does not.
But it is a mess. One that’s been in the works for years.

Still good teachers and the chance to get a good high school education here. But yes, the kids go through a lot to get that.

[Anonymous]

If kids in the Bronx or South Central can walk between campuses or from neighborhoods to/from schools, I find it shocking that Alexandrians can’t. DCPS even has open campus at the high schools and while there are occasional incidents, you never hear about them.

Perhaps ACPS should’ve just built another separate high school with a 3,000 student max capacity if a substantial minority of the students are so violent and unruly, as reported by other commenters here. I’m sure that’s been talked about ad nauseum.

Or maybe the new building could become a lower school campus for grades 9-10. (Of course that would likely waste the money and effort put into the current model.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If kids in the Bronx or South Central can walk between campuses or from neighborhoods to/from schools, I find it shocking that Alexandrians can’t. DCPS even has open campus at the high schools and while there are occasional incidents, you never hear about them.

Perhaps ACPS should’ve just built another separate high school with a 3,000 student max capacity if a substantial minority of the students are so violent and unruly, as reported by other commenters here. I’m sure that’s been talked about ad nauseum.

Or maybe the new building could become a lower school campus for grades 9-10. (Of course that would likely waste the money and effort put into the current model.)

I'm not sure how facetious your comments are and for which of your statements. Did you ever visit the Bradlee McDonald's before or after the stabbing? I was there regularly with my kids until we stopped going. Some days it was similar to the opening scene of the movie "Lean on Me" when "Welcome to the Jungle" is playing. Literally people cursing and shouting the n-word across the restaurant, which was standing room only with dozens of kids. Some pushing and groveling going on as well. And it seemed like a fair number of kids were just hanging out and not ordering anything. Management is surely some of the blame for the brawl because customers did complain about the loitering and general chaos. Now it's 100x better with the visible police presence but kids are still getting in trouble in the Bradlee parking lot occasionally. And kids are loitering in the Safeway parking lot now and their management isn't doing anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If kids in the Bronx or South Central can walk between campuses or from neighborhoods to/from schools, I find it shocking that Alexandrians can’t. DCPS even has open campus at the high schools and while there are occasional incidents, you never hear about them.

Perhaps ACPS should’ve just built another separate high school with a 3,000 student max capacity if a substantial minority of the students are so violent and unruly, as reported by other commenters here. I’m sure that’s been talked about ad nauseum.

Or maybe the new building could become a lower school campus for grades 9-10. (Of course that would likely waste the money and effort put into the current model.)

Minnie Howard was a lower school campus (9th grade) before they rebuilt it.

[Anonymous]

https://actheogony.com/8080/news/transportation-issues-plague-school-year

Absolutely bananas. What a colossal waste of students time. 1,600 student commuting between campuses everyday.

[Anonymous]

The ACPS school board is even more contemptuous of the West End now than in the past. If the HS is split into two schools, one building each, then all the Vo Tech classes, all the alternative non-Ac programs, NONE of the Honors and AP classes, will be placed in the West End building. That is a 100% guarantee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://actheogony.com/8080/news/transportation-issues-plague-school-year

Absolutely bananas. What a colossal waste of students time. 1,600 student commuting between campuses everyday.

This is what ACPS would rather have because of the myopic view that more than one high school will be inherently racist. It doesn’t matter how big and dysfunctional ACHS gets, we are stuck with one high school for eternity here.

I still can’t believe they didn’t plan for a second high school with Landmark Mall redevelopment. Such a missed opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Is it just me, or could all of this be solved with a crossing guard?

Maybe two crossing guards?

At the most, two guards and occasional PD help with traffic?