APS 4th HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe it has already been decided. I base this on what school board members have said during SB meetings in the past. Although she is retired now, Emma Violand-Sanchez said the new school would be at the Ed Center and others have said the same. Most "options" have already been decided, it seems. Then the SB goes thru the fake listening and feedback process. They may have a survey that is so poorly constructed that it will ensure that the SB can point to it and defend its decision. If enough people freak out, they may be force to amend their decision - but that does not happen too often. Its sad.

The area around W-L is already a zoo. This will just make that worse. And will this even be a real high school with its own sports teams and after-school activities? They are keen to suggest this will be a new 1300-student community school, but it's not clear who it would appeal to. My kid might like to do IB, but not if she's being warehoused in the Ed Center and can no longer do track, etc.

The options laid out in the most recent deck make it clear that if they go with the Ed Center site then it will not be a community school but a combination of a "9th grade academy" and expansion of IB for W-L. So, basically it's just making W-L ridiculously large.

The other two options (which I hope are still really under consideration!) are a community school at Kenmore or at the Career Center. Both of those at least have the room to expand into an actual full-sized HS as capacity grows (assuming anything at the Career Center can also take advantage of the Patrick Henry site). At 1300 kids, I would think you aren't going to be fielding a football team but could do other sports, music, etc.

[Anonymous]

The options laid out in the most recent deck make it clear that if they go with the Ed Center site then it will not be a community school but a combination of a "9th grade academy" and expansion of IB for W-L. So, basically it's just making W-L ridiculously large.

This is a simply horrible idea. 9th graders should be in high schools where they have access to advanced math, advanced foreign language classes and orchestra/band, and be able to try out for HS sports teams. Having them all together in an academy without access to the above options is not good for their college prospects. Do not allow this to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've written this before, and I think it really sums it up for you new comers...

They don't care. Their house was 165k in 1982, and it's been paid off for years. They got theirs, and they intend to keep getting it. They of course had the benefit of sending their kids to traditional high schools. Your kids can do shifts and learn online. They had the benefit of sfh neighborhoods, but now they want to rent out accessory dwellings for in-home help. Is that going to unleash a complete shit show of illegal rentals and boarding houses into our formally sleepy neighborhoods? Yes, but too bad. They need to age in place. Oh, property taxes are too high now, so they won't be paying those either. Oh you need that rec center for schools? Fuck you youngster! I've got ma Jong on Tuesday over there.

I have seen and appreciated your posts before. Keep 'em coming. I've only been here for three years, but certainly my observations about boomers in other contexts (including my own parents and ILs) are consistent with this. But it has been eye-opening to see it in action, on this board and in community meetings. We of course moved here for the schools, like many others.

[Anonymous]

Exactly - the Ed Center will be an annex to W-L, with no additional field space or common spaces available. Squeezing 1300 classroom seats onto that tiny parcel will not allow for the construction of spaces like a cafeteria, auditorium, etc. I was told this directly by a School Board member, who then tried to backtrack. W-L will be an ant farm and the new building will need to be a high rise.

The other two options are much better: 1) a neighborhood school built next to / attached to Kenmore middle school. This site is 32 acres (same as Wakefield). The new building could be a smaller (1300 seat) high school until a site is acquired to build a new middle school (i.e. the VHC/Carlin Springs site), then the high school could take over both HS and MS buildings and be the same size as W-L, Wakefield, Yorktown.

2) The Career Center site is only 12 acres, including Patrick Henry, so it is less viable as a comprehensive high school (and you have to account for the 800+ kids the School Board is already planning to put in Arlington Tech). You would also need to find a different home for Montessori than the Patrick Henry building. But perhaps it could work - build a new Montessori school at the Ed Center location and give the whole Career Center/Henry site to high school seats, perhaps?

The only way the School Board will consider either of these options will be if many, many people push for it. Please submit your comments via the [e-mail] email address and plan to attend the March 30 (Wakefield) or April 4 (Yorktown) community meetings. This process is being rushed and this may be the last chance for meaningful input.

From the FAC February meeting (the FAC did a study on possible high school locations):
http://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/FAC_1300-Analysis_Final_20170214.pdf

http://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/FAC-Final-1300-Seat-Scenario-Report-.pdf

[Anonymous]

I don't think the Career Center option is a good one.
The Career Center currently serves a lot of students.
Arlington Tech is building out there.
There is a proposal to make Henry K-8 for Montessori.
The parcel is small, so adding a 'neighborhood' high school there would never be equitable to the other high schools in terms of field access, swimming pool, etc.
The only parcel that could really accommodate a 'comprehensive' 'neighborhood' high school is Kenmore. Building the 1300 seats at Kenmore provides the most flexibility if we later need to expand it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I don't think the Career Center option is a good one.
The Career Center currently serves a lot of students.
Arlington Tech is building out there.
There is a proposal to make Henry K-8 for Montessori.
The parcel is small, so adding a 'neighborhood' high school there would never be equitable to the other high schools in terms of field access, swimming pool, etc.
The only parcel that could really accommodate a 'comprehensive' 'neighborhood' high school is Kenmore. Building the 1300 seats at Kenmore provides the most flexibility if we later need to expand it.

Totally agree. Parents really need to unite and make their voices heard about the Kenmore site. There will be a lot of neighborhood push back about traffic but traffic is an issue anywhere in Arlington. Kenmore really is the best option on the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've written this before, and I think it really sums it up for you new comers...

They don't care. Their house was 165k in 1982, and it's been paid off for years. They got theirs, and they intend to keep getting it. They of course had the benefit of sending their kids to traditional high schools. Your kids can do shifts and learn online. They had the benefit of sfh neighborhoods, but now they want to rent out accessory dwellings for in-home help. Is that going to unleash a complete shit show of illegal rentals and boarding houses into our formally sleepy neighborhoods? Yes, but too bad. They need to age in place. Oh, property taxes are too high now, so they won't be paying those either. Oh you need that rec center for schools? Fuck you youngster! I've got ma Jong on Tuesday over there.

I have seen and appreciated your posts before. Keep 'em coming. I've only been here for three years, but certainly my observations about boomers in other contexts (including my own parents and ILs) are consistent with this. But it has been eye-opening to see it in action, on this board and in community meetings. We of course moved here for the schools, like many others.

How short sighted. They are destroying their retirement wealth by sabotaging the schools. Property values are going to drop from all this shenanigans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I don't think the Career Center option is a good one.
The Career Center currently serves a lot of students.
Arlington Tech is building out there.
There is a proposal to make Henry K-8 for Montessori.
The parcel is small, so adding a 'neighborhood' high school there would never be equitable to the other high schools in terms of field access, swimming pool, etc.
The only parcel that could really accommodate a 'comprehensive' 'neighborhood' high school is Kenmore. Building the 1300 seats at Kenmore provides the most flexibility if we later need to expand it.

Totally agree. Parents really need to unite and make their voices heard about the Kenmore site. There will be a lot of neighborhood push back about traffic but traffic is an issue anywhere in Arlington. Kenmore really is the best option on the table.

Can someone from MONA start a protest?

[Anonymous]

Each of the 3 options has problems, but I agree with many other posters here that Kenmore makes the most sense, notwithstanding the significant traffic issues along Carlin Springs Road.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree. Parents really need to unite and make their voices heard about the Kenmore site. There will be a lot of neighborhood push back about traffic but traffic is an issue anywhere in Arlington. Kenmore really is the best option on the table.

Wouldn't it make more sense to convert Kenmore into a high school and save the athletic fields? And find another space for a more urban middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Totally agree. Parents really need to unite and make their voices heard about the Kenmore site. There will be a lot of neighborhood push back about traffic but traffic is an issue anywhere in Arlington. Kenmore really is the best option on the table.

Wouldn't it make more sense to convert Kenmore into a high school and save the athletic fields? And find another space for a more urban middle school?

In the long-term, yes, but what they have approval/funding for right now is 1300 seats and that's what's needed (at minimum) in the near term. Waiting to build HS seats until they can acquire a site and build a MS would be a disaster. At least the Kenmore site puts them in a position to expand to a larger HS in one place once they can move the MS.

[Anonymous]

A PP said it best -- convince everyone you know to show up at the Democratic caucus in May and vote. Two candidates are challenging incumbent James Lander. Maura McMahon has publicly and repeatedly committed to the need for a 4th comprehensive HS. In the same way that part of the reason Trump one is that millions of people assumed Clinton would win and didn't bother to vote, you can't assume the right thing will happen if you don't vote.

[Anonymous]

Building at Kenmore shouldn't involve building on the athletic fields. The FAC report linked above discusses the current underutilization of the site. There was also some discussion of adding an access point from Route 50, but I don't know how feasible that it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A PP said it best -- convince everyone you know to show up at the Democratic caucus in May and vote. Two candidates are challenging incumbent James Lander. Maura McMahon has publicly and repeatedly committed to the need for a 4th comprehensive HS. In the same way that part of the reason Trump one is that millions of people assumed Clinton would win and didn't bother to vote, you can't assume the right thing will happen if you don't vote.

Won't the decision on the 4th school be made BEFORE the election?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A PP said it best -- convince everyone you know to show up at the Democratic caucus in May and vote. Two candidates are challenging incumbent James Lander. Maura McMahon has publicly and repeatedly committed to the need for a 4th comprehensive HS. In the same way that part of the reason Trump one is that millions of people assumed Clinton would win and didn't bother to vote, you can't assume the right thing will happen if you don't vote.

Won't the decision on the 4th school be made BEFORE the election?

Not before the caucus. If I'm reading the timeline correctly, the recommendation will be made in June, so if the incumbent is defeated in May, that's a message to the sitting members. I don't know if it will work, because I think they've already decided and this is all for show, but frankly, there are lots of reasons not to vote for the incumbent and there are two qualified challengers. And we should have been voting all along, in higher numbers that the old reliables. That's how this works. He who pays the piper calls the tune.

Also, it couldn't hurt to give feedback via engage. Seems like the Kenmore site is the least terrible, and most flexible for the future, because it is the largest.