Reason to transfer school in APS?

[Anonymous]

Of course they would allow transfers into a school (that happens to the be newest and, supposedly, the nicest) in the richest neighborhood when there are schools with much less affluent neighborhoods that are bursting at the seams. They have to cover their behinds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course they would allow transfers into a school (that happens to the be newest and, supposedly, the nicest) in the richest neighborhood when there are schools with much less affluent neighborhoods that are bursting at the seams. They have to cover their behinds.

Exactly.

We'll see if this enough for people. I still don't understand how a new elementary school
in the south solves performance issues. Do we think that addressing the over crowding will be enough?

[Anonymous]

I am glad all the positive responses, but I guess I was just worried what would happen if Barcroft filled up with kids who were ESL and English speakers ended up in the minority. I think immersion sounds great (thanks for all the positive stories), but what happens if there are so many ESL kids that the teacher spends time working on ESL and not teaching? Does that happen?

We love it here and we want to be with the people here, but not if we will be at a disadvantage.

[Anonymous]

The scenario you suggest seems a little unlikely. It might be that your school may not be majority white, so your kid might be in the minority. If that bothers you, then there is not much to say - go move to a majority white area, but be honest with yourself about why you are bothered. Just being in the racial or ethnic minority does not mean that the classroom teachers will ignore your kid and focus only on ESL kids. First, not all Hispanic kids require ESL services - many are already fluent in English. Second, as a general matter, ESL has special instructors. At least at our school where there are ESL kids, they have specialist instructors who work with them in a pull out situations and/or as assistants in the classroom. The classroom teachers teach the same curriculum as teachers all over the district at the same pace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The scenario you suggest seems a little unlikely. It might be that your school may not be majority white, so your kid might be in the minority. If that bothers you, then there is not much to say - go move to a majority white area, but be honest with yourself about why you are bothered. Just being in the racial or ethnic minority does not mean that the classroom teachers will ignore your kid and focus only on ESL kids. First, not all Hispanic kids require ESL services - many are already fluent in English. Second, as a general matter, ESL has special instructors. At least at our school where there are ESL kids, they have specialist instructors who work with them in a pull out situations and/or as assistants in the classroom. The classroom teachers teach the same curriculum as teachers all over the district at the same pace.

NP HERE- I really want this to be true. Could you please tell me what school you are at? We are looking at our local neighborhood school, and no we don't care about being an ethnic minority and I hadn't really considered that they would turn my school into an immersion. That's not really how immersion works. However, I don't see how - if more than half the class is esl ( which are the stats we're looking at) they are going to pull kids out. How does that work?
I know the teachers are great in Arlington, and the curriculum is the same. No expense is spared. I get all that.
Then I read about test scores at a school like carlin springs and see the esl/farms/minority student performance went up this year. Which is awesome and something to be proud of... Until you hear the scores of non disadvantaged kids went down... So, net gain for the school because the poverty rate is so high. But the parents most likely to post here have some legitimate reasons to be concerned.
Test scores aren't everything certainly, but you have to wonder what you kid's classroom experience is going to be, and if they aren't really getting what they need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am glad all the positive responses, but I guess I was just worried what would happen if Barcroft filled up with kids who were ESL and English speakers ended up in the minority. I think immersion sounds great (thanks for all the positive stories), but what happens if there are so many ESL kids that the teacher spends time working on ESL and not teaching? Does that happen?

We love it here and we want to be with the people here, but not if we will be at a disadvantage.

What happens is your kids will either go to a school with lots of ESOL kids or you will pony up the extra cash to move to a neighborhood with schools more to your liking, and then you get called names for it by people who will think your move was racially motivated. Do you not understand why homes cost more in North Arlington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am glad all the positive responses, but I guess I was just worried what would happen if Barcroft filled up with kids who were ESL and English speakers ended up in the minority. I think immersion sounds great (thanks for all the positive stories), but what happens if there are so many ESL kids that the teacher spends time working on ESL and not teaching? Does that happen?

We love it here and we want to be with the people here, but not if we will be at a disadvantage.

What happens is your kids will either go to a school with lots of ESOL kids or you will pony up the extra cash to move to a neighborhood with schools more to your liking, and then you get called names for it by people who will think your move was racially motivated. Do you not understand why homes cost more in North Arlington?

But isn't that being racially motivated?

[Anonymous]

I have no qualms being in the minority ethnically, since we are a family of minorities. The majority group of which I speak is English speakers. My main concern is how the curriculum is taught, if so many kids are learning English (coming from any language). Will everything be focused on that and not teaching other things? If not, then I am glad I asked, because I know there's nothing to worry about. I know that there is a lot of nuance here to explain, but its not about race, but about how well Barcroft will serve my child.

Like I said, I am glad for the positive stories. But what prompted my concern were all the posters from other threads going on about how there are so many ESL students and the numbers of students suddenly jumping at schools. I just want to know and be prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no qualms being in the minority ethnically, since we are a family of minorities. The majority group of which I speak is English speakers. My main concern is how the curriculum is taught, if so many kids are learning English (coming from any language). Will everything be focused on that and not teaching other things? If not, then I am glad I asked, because I know there's nothing to worry about. I know that there is a lot of nuance here to explain, but its not about race, but about how well Barcroft will serve my child.

Like I said, I am glad for the positive stories. But what prompted my concern were all the posters from other threads going on about how there are so many ESL students and the numbers of students suddenly jumping at schools. I just want to know and be prepared.

You absolutely should be interested and concerned about this. There is a crazy amount of social engineering happening around your school and neighborhood. You need to be informed, and possibly get involved. There is a group trying to draw attention to this issue called CARD. You should look into it. They have a website cardarlington.com I believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am glad all the positive responses, but I guess I was just worried what would happen if Barcroft filled up with kids who were ESL and English speakers ended up in the minority. I think immersion sounds great (thanks for all the positive stories), but what happens if there are so many ESL kids that the teacher spends time working on ESL and not teaching? Does that happen?

We love it here and we want to be with the people here, but not if we will be at a disadvantage.

What happens is your kids will either go to a school with lots of ESOL kids or you will pony up the extra cash to move to a neighborhood with schools more to your liking, and then you get called names for it by people who will think your move was racially motivated. Do you not understand why homes cost more in North Arlington?

But isn't that being racially motivated?

Well that is the million dollar question, isn't it? Do you think there are any legitimate non racially motivated reasons a white family can have for moving from a primarily Hispanic school to a primarily white school? If so, please list those reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am glad all the positive responses, but I guess I was just worried what would happen if Barcroft filled up with kids who were ESL and English speakers ended up in the minority. I think immersion sounds great (thanks for all the positive stories), but what happens if there are so many ESL kids that the teacher spends time working on ESL and not teaching? Does that happen?

We love it here and we want to be with the people here, but not if we will be at a disadvantage.

What happens is your kids will either go to a school with lots of ESOL kids or you will pony up the extra cash to move to a neighborhood with schools more to your liking, and then you get called names for it by people who will think your move was racially motivated. Do you not understand why homes cost more in North Arlington?

But isn't that being racially motivated?

Well that is the million dollar question, isn't it? Do you think there are any legitimate non racially motivated reasons a white family can have for moving from a primarily Hispanic school to a primarily white school? If so, please list those reasons.

Dude- please read the above posts. The main reason people are concerned is how esol instruction impacts their kids class time. Not that complicated. Not that nefarious. Totally reasonable thing to consider and want specifics about.

[Anonymous]

There are reasons that are not racially motivated to want your first language English child to be in a school that doesn't need to devote vast amounts of resources to English learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are reasons that are not racially motivated to want your first language English child to be in a school that doesn't need to devote vast amounts of resources to English learning.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am glad all the positive responses, but I guess I was just worried what would happen if Barcroft filled up with kids who were ESL and English speakers ended up in the minority. I think immersion sounds great (thanks for all the positive stories), but what happens if there are so many ESL kids that the teacher spends time working on ESL and not teaching? Does that happen?

We love it here and we want to be with the people here, but not if we will be at a disadvantage.

What happens is your kids will either go to a school with lots of ESOL kids or you will pony up the extra cash to move to a neighborhood with schools more to your liking, and then you get called names for it by people who will think your move was racially motivated. Do you not understand why homes cost more in North Arlington?

But isn't that being racially motivated?

Well that is the million dollar question, isn't it? Do you think there are any legitimate non racially motivated reasons a white family can have for moving from a primarily Hispanic school to a primarily white school? If so, please list those reasons.

We aren't white. We moved here for diversity. But we do want a school that serves all. I don't know how else to explain that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course they would allow transfers into a school (that happens to the be newest and, supposedly, the nicest) in the richest neighborhood when there are schools with much less affluent neighborhoods that are bursting at the seams. They have to cover their behinds.

Discovery will be stunning in a couple weeks or so when it opens! I wonder if parents will be allowed on the indoor slide. The neighborhood really lucked out with what will be the nicest elementary school facility in the county.