Arlington Science Focus -- Admissions?

[Anonymous]

Campbell was moved out of Claremont. It happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now, buy into or at least rent in the KEY district. That gives you guaranteed admissions. They are supposedly some slots (if Key doesn't fill the grade) for Taylor or Jamestown, but those are like unicorns. Watch out, though. The SB might be making a lot of changes to that area.

The boundary for ASFS is about to be radically changed -- there is No way to know if you will be in bound (currently living near it is not in boundary for example).

There is a possibility that Key and ASFS will swap campuses since Key is becoming a pure lottery immersion, and then ASFS will be in boundary. Or they will redraw boundaries and some key parts will go elsewhere and some Taylor parts go to ASFS.

Buy a neighborhood you like, in a house you like near a few schools you are ok with. There are guarantees now. And watch the high school changes coming -- they could be disruptive.

While this may very well happen, it would somewhat surprise me considering how much money the ASFS PTA and parents have invested in the building and its outdoor space over the years for various science-related teaching tools, including raising at least $150,000 less than two years ago for the science lab called investigation station. Not saying Key, if the schools swap buildings, wouldn't benefit from all of this but it seems kind of crazy for ASFS to leave it all behind and have to start all over again without it.

I'm a former long time ASFS parent - do not move to a home just for this school. Not worth it.

Well, it is equipment in a publuc school, so it would be nice if others could have an opportunity to benefit from it. But I highly doubt this switch will happen. Both schools must probably feel like they are having the rug pulled out from under them.

Well, the school board should have done something years ago. You can't have two "choice" programs that are essentially neighborhood schools, and give both to the same neighborhood in perpetuity. That's just bad policy. I understand why they did it this way at first, when conditions were such that anyone could enroll just about anywhere due to low enrollment. But to let it go this long was just kicking the can down the road and leaving it to others to deal with.

I don't think the schools are going to swap places. But there will have to be boundary adjustments (there would be anyway when the new school comes online).

[Anonymous]

Honestly, it's not all it's cracked up to be. People treat it like it's a unicorn when, in fact, it's pretty meh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now, buy into or at least rent in the KEY district. That gives you guaranteed admissions. They are supposedly some slots (if Key doesn't fill the grade) for Taylor or Jamestown, but those are like unicorns. Watch out, though. The SB might be making a lot of changes to that area.

The boundary for ASFS is about to be radically changed -- there is No way to know if you will be in bound (currently living near it is not in boundary for example).

There is a possibility that Key and ASFS will swap campuses since Key is becoming a pure lottery immersion, and then ASFS will be in boundary. Or they will redraw boundaries and some key parts will go elsewhere and some Taylor parts go to ASFS.

Buy a neighborhood you like, in a house you like near a few schools you are ok with. There are guarantees now. And watch the high school changes coming -- they could be disruptive.

While this may very well happen, it would somewhat surprise me considering how much money the ASFS PTA and parents have invested in the building and its outdoor space over the years for various science-related teaching tools, including raising at least $150,000 less than two years ago for the science lab called investigation station. Not saying Key, if the schools swap buildings, wouldn't benefit from all of this but it seems kind of crazy for ASFS to leave it all behind and have to start all over again without it.

I'm a former long time ASFS parent - do not move to a home just for this school. Not worth it.

Well, it is equipment in a publuc school, so it would be nice if others could have an opportunity to benefit from it. But I highly doubt this switch will happen. Both schools must probably feel like they are having the rug pulled out from under them.

Well, the school board should have done something years ago. You can't have two "choice" programs that are essentially neighborhood schools, and give both to the same neighborhood in perpetuity. That's just bad policy. I understand why they did it this way at first, when conditions were such that anyone could enroll just about anywhere due to low enrollment. But to let it go this long was just kicking the can down the road and leaving it to others to deal with.

I don't think the schools are going to swap places. But there will have to be boundary adjustments (there would be anyway when the new school comes online).

The key/asfs zone wasn't supposed to have boundary changes. It's fine that they want to establish a walk zone and redistribute kids because of the policy change, but we shouldn't try to spin this as something that was well planned. If aps had been thinking straight, they wouldn't have located a niche program like immersion at the only elementary school located with neighborhood bounds to begin with. It would have been easier to have either originally placed the immersion program at the asfs building or drawn the key/asfs boundaries to include the neighborhood around asfs. Now twenty years later they are like "oh this isn't really fair", and it's like no shit really?

[Anonymous]

It's a good school. But don't get hooked on the idea of it as some unique STEM opportunity. It's not all that. It's a good school with a theme.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now, buy into or at least rent in the KEY district. That gives you guaranteed admissions. They are supposedly some slots (if Key doesn't fill the grade) for Taylor or Jamestown, but those are like unicorns. Watch out, though. The SB might be making a lot of changes to that area.

The boundary for ASFS is about to be radically changed -- there is No way to know if you will be in bound (currently living near it is not in boundary for example).

There is a possibility that Key and ASFS will swap campuses since Key is becoming a pure lottery immersion, and then ASFS will be in boundary. Or they will redraw boundaries and some key parts will go elsewhere and some Taylor parts go to ASFS.

Buy a neighborhood you like, in a house you like near a few schools you are ok with. There are guarantees now. And watch the high school changes coming -- they could be disruptive.

While this may very well happen, it would somewhat surprise me considering how much money the ASFS PTA and parents have invested in the building and its outdoor space over the years for various science-related teaching tools, including raising at least $150,000 less than two years ago for the science lab called investigation station. Not saying Key, if the schools swap buildings, wouldn't benefit from all of this but it seems kind of crazy for ASFS to leave it all behind and have to start all over again without it.

I'm a former long time ASFS parent - do not move to a home just for this school. Not worth it.

Well, it is equipment in a publuc school, so it would be nice if others could have an opportunity to benefit from it. But I highly doubt this switch will happen. Both schools must probably feel like they are having the rug pulled out from under them.

Well, the school board should have done something years ago. You can't have two "choice" programs that are essentially neighborhood schools, and give both to the same neighborhood in perpetuity. That's just bad policy. I understand why they did it this way at first, when conditions were such that anyone could enroll just about anywhere due to low enrollment. But to let it go this long was just kicking the can down the road and leaving it to others to deal with.

I don't think the schools are going to swap places. But there will have to be boundary adjustments (there would be anyway when the new school comes online).

The key/asfs zone wasn't supposed to have boundary changes. It's fine that they want to establish a walk zone and redistribute kids because of the policy change, but we shouldn't try to spin this as something that was well planned. If aps had been thinking straight, they wouldn't have located a niche program like immersion at the only elementary school located with neighborhood bounds to begin with. It would have been easier to have either originally placed the immersion program at the asfs building or drawn the key/asfs boundaries to include the neighborhood around asfs. Now twenty years later they are like "oh this isn't really fair", and it's like no shit really?

What's not fair? I have a very hard time seeing how Key will even reach 30 percent English speakers under the new proposal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a good school. But don't get hooked on the idea of it as some unique STEM opportunity. It's not all that. It's a good school with a theme.

You can say that a million times--and I get what your point is--and the majority of people will still not be convinced. There is a Pavlovian response, here, to hearing the word "science."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now, buy into or at least rent in the KEY district. That gives you guaranteed admissions. They are supposedly some slots (if Key doesn't fill the grade) for Taylor or Jamestown, but those are like unicorns. Watch out, though. The SB might be making a lot of changes to that area.

The boundary for ASFS is about to be radically changed -- there is No way to know if you will be in bound (currently living near it is not in boundary for example).

There is a possibility that Key and ASFS will swap campuses since Key is becoming a pure lottery immersion, and then ASFS will be in boundary. Or they will redraw boundaries and some key parts will go elsewhere and some Taylor parts go to ASFS.

Buy a neighborhood you like, in a house you like near a few schools you are ok with. There are guarantees now. And watch the high school changes coming -- they could be disruptive.

While this may very well happen, it would somewhat surprise me considering how much money the ASFS PTA and parents have invested in the building and its outdoor space over the years for various science-related teaching tools, including raising at least $150,000 less than two years ago for the science lab called investigation station. Not saying Key, if the schools swap buildings, wouldn't benefit from all of this but it seems kind of crazy for ASFS to leave it all behind and have to start all over again without it.

I'm a former long time ASFS parent - do not move to a home just for this school. Not worth it.

This is just one parent's wishful thinking. They're not swapping buildings.

Not true-- it was brought up at a pta meeting as one of the options being considered. Since it's considered a neighborhood school now, moving it to a building in the actual neighborhood it's supposed to be serving makes sense. Especially since key is a larger building and could better accommodate the increased capacity of the neighborhood. Since the immersion program is an option program they could limit the size to fit within the asfs building.
There is also more space at key to grow as the number of kids in the neighborhood grows. The main thing is that the school would lose the science labs and outdoor space/gardens that have been added to help supplement the curriculum. There's a trade off because if they redraw the lines you lose a lot of the diversity that makes the school a great environment.

which PTA meeting was this said at?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What's not fair? I have a very hard time seeing how Key will even reach 30 percent English speakers under the new proposal.

you think English speaking kids won't elect immersion if its a lottery program? I don't understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's not fair? I have a very hard time seeing how Key will even reach 30 percent English speakers under the new proposal.

you think English speaking kids won't elect immersion if its a lottery program? I don't understand.

Make ASFS the neighborhood school for Cherrydale instead of putting those kids on a bus. Make Taylor the neighborhood school for Lyon Village. A lot of LV families will decide to send their kids to Key just to have a geographically convenient school, the way Ashlawn and McKinley-zoned families apply to ATS not because they are in love with the program but because dropoff is on the way to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's not fair? I have a very hard time seeing how Key will even reach 30 percent English speakers under the new proposal.

you think English speaking kids won't elect immersion if its a lottery program? I don't understand.

Not PP, but look at the proposed boundary changes for immersion (zone 1/2). It might change the demographics of who applies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's not fair? I have a very hard time seeing how Key will even reach 30 percent English speakers under the new proposal.

you think English speaking kids won't elect immersion if its a lottery program? I don't understand.

Make ASFS the neighborhood school for Cherrydale instead of putting those kids on a bus. Make Taylor the neighborhood school for Lyon Village. A lot of LV families will decide to send their kids to Key just to have a geographically convenient school, the way Ashlawn and McKinley-zoned families apply to ATS not because they are in love with the program but because dropoff is on the way to work.

What about all of those kids in Rosslyn and Courthouse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's not fair? I have a very hard time seeing how Key will even reach 30 percent English speakers under the new proposal.

you think English speaking kids won't elect immersion if its a lottery program? I don't understand.

Not PP, but look at the proposed boundary changes for immersion (zone 1/2). It might change the demographics of who applies.

Right now, Key benefits, mightily, from its shared boundary with asfs. The strong majority of white parents will not touch immersion with a 10 foot pole. Don't know why, but it is what it is. That said, some righteous folk in boundary believe in immersion and send the heir kids to Key. Losing that in boundary group ain't gonna be good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's not fair? I have a very hard time seeing how Key will even reach 30 percent English speakers under the new proposal.

you think English speaking kids won't elect immersion if its a lottery program? I don't understand.

Make ASFS the neighborhood school for Cherrydale instead of putting those kids on a bus. Make Taylor the neighborhood school for Lyon Village. A lot of LV families will decide to send their kids to Key just to have a geographically convenient school, the way Ashlawn and McKinley-zoned families apply to ATS not because they are in love with the program but because dropoff is on the way to work.

What about all of those kids in Rosslyn and Courthouse?

Dp. They should get asfs. Don't forget: very big influx of Nestle families will be in Arlington soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's not fair? I have a very hard time seeing how Key will even reach 30 percent English speakers under the new proposal.

you think English speaking kids won't elect immersion if its a lottery program? I don't understand.

Not PP, but look at the proposed boundary changes for immersion (zone 1/2). It might change the demographics of who applies.

Right now, Key benefits, mightily, from its shared boundary with asfs. The strong majority of white parents will not touch immersion with a 10 foot pole. Don't know why, but it is what it is. That said, some righteous folk in boundary believe in immersion and send the heir kids to Key. Losing that in boundary group ain't gonna be good.

^ their