Overcrowding at Arlington Traditional School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Excellent report in the Arlington Connection about overcrowding at Arlington Traditional School (ATS). For 2018 they are projected to have utliization at 121% of capacity.

121%! For ATS!!! And yet the School Board wants to go from four relocatables on the ATS lot to twelve. Even though the whole point of the traditional education model is that you don't have ANY relocatables on the lot .

People cry about McKinley's victimhood, but they're only at 113%. Henry is at 150%. Science Focus is at 128%, with Claremont at 130%.

People have overstated how McKinley has been harmed while schools like Nottingham and Discovery benefited. Well, Nottingham and Discovery are bursting at the seams. As is Tuckahoe. Even Jamestown, which schools kids who live in the most expensive real estate in the County, winds up OVER capacity.

I'm glad the Connection has inserted actual facts into this debate

Funny you call it a "report." It was clearly written by ATS parents. Good try to make it seem like real journalism.

OP was in charge of typography and punctuation.

[Anonymous]

ATS should move. There are other facilities in the county they can go to.

Also, ATS can PLAN to take on these additional kids. They get notice of having to take on additional kids at least 6 months in advance. This gives them tiime to hire another teacher, time to rearrange the classroom, time to figure out how to move the grades around, etc.

Other schools get the extra kids whether they 'agree' to it or not. There are kids that move to a school zone in the middle of the summer, register and voila! The neighborhood school just took on another 10-20 students. ATS is IMMUNE to this, while the neighborhood school scrambles to find a place for these kids, hire another teacher (ha!) and get paperwork filled out.

ATS is a luxury in this county and the overcrowding is just now catching up. The school can't push back anymore. Move or get the trailers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ATS has 542 students. McK has 757. At least according to APS, ATS has 4 trailers, McK has 8. It's more than bursting at the seams and lost its field too, after years of construction. And didn't gain an extra music or art or gifted teacher to account for the extra enrollment. Those are facts too.

Ummmm...what field did they lose? They will lose some field if they get more trailers. The current location of the trailers was an unusable green space.

You do bring up a good question. How many art teachers and music teachers do most schools in APS get?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ATS has a huge lot with room for trailers. You should be asking for renovations to accommodate more kids in gym and lunch.

Looks like Campbell is going to be screwed with more trailers RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PLAY YARD. So much for sports at that school. At least ATS will still have a decent play space to run around without running into a building.

Yes, I really don't think people realize how small the lot at Campbell is- it's the smallest school building in the county and has very little field space to begin with. I don't know where they will fit 6 more trailers- 2 more maybe on the blacktop (which will then be completely covered.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ATS parent here.

And part of the reason McKinley is overcrowded is because planning units asked to stay there instead of being moved to less crowded schools up North.

Sorry ATS parent-- this is wrong too. Facts aren't really an ATS thing, I guess. There were two Tuckahoe planning units that wanted to move together in 2014. They were both originally scheduled to move to Nottingham. Nottingham said they didn't have room for both and lobbied the School Board to move one to McKinley instead. No planning units were ever scheduled to move from McKinley to schools further north in 2014.

I even thought they asked to go back to Tuckahoe and were told "no." ATS needs to realize it sounds like a bunch of entitled spoiled brats. And ones that are paying no attention to the bigger picture statements coming from APS. Option programs are growing. Period. Either ATS does that where it is (which of course they don't want) or they move to a bigger building (which they also don't want).

Right--this is BS. They (we) did not "ask to stay there".
Meanwhile-- if you're worried about ATS being crowded on the current site, would you support moving locations and going to Nottingham? I'm guessing...no.

[Anonymous]

Every school in the county is fighting being overcrowded. Why should ATS be any different? Much of the criticism of ATS comes off as sour grapes. "Oh, poor us. My kid didn't get into ATS so now we're going to trash the program at every opportunity."

Renovations were on the table at one point, and the school accepted the idea. And then APS didn't have the money, so they pulled the proposal to renovate.

If the program moves, it moves. But the community is coming out against being moved way over into a far corner of the county because it would adversely affect the kids from other parts of the county. For example, moving to Tuckahoe would really disadvantage the South Arlington kids whose parents can't get there easily.

My original point was that all the schools are not the same size, so they don't all have the same capacity. Adding trailers to a school does not necessarily add capacity. Anyone who fails to understand that might need a refresher course on math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Adding trailers to a school does not necessarily add capacity. Anyone who fails to understand that might need a refresher course on math.

Oh, ATS parents, never change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every school in the county is fighting being overcrowded. Why should ATS be any different? Much of the criticism of ATS comes off as sour grapes. "Oh, poor us. My kid didn't get into ATS so now we're going to trash the program at every opportunity."

Renovations were on the table at one point, and the school accepted the idea. And then APS didn't have the money, so they pulled the proposal to renovate.

If the program moves, it moves. But the community is coming out against being moved way over into a far corner of the county because it would adversely affect the kids from other parts of the county. For example, moving to Tuckahoe would really disadvantage the South Arlington kids whose parents can't get there easily.

My original point was that all the schools are not the same size, so they don't all have the same capacity. Adding trailers to a school does not necessarily add capacity. Anyone who fails to understand that might need a refresher course on math.

I'm looking at the Facilities Optimization Study right now, and it's showing that ATS can accommodate those 12 trailers and still have *tons* of open space. It further shows that, based on cafeteria capacity with a three-seating schedule, APS could accommodate up to 780 students. So don't sob that you can't possibly take more students, it's garbage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every school in the county is fighting being overcrowded. Why should ATS be any different? Much of the criticism of ATS comes off as sour grapes. "Oh, poor us. My kid didn't get into ATS so now we're going to trash the program at every opportunity."

Renovations were on the table at one point, and the school accepted the idea. And then APS didn't have the money, so they pulled the proposal to renovate.

If the program moves, it moves. But the community is coming out against being moved way over into a far corner of the county because it would adversely affect the kids from other parts of the county. For example, moving to Tuckahoe would really disadvantage the South Arlington kids whose parents can't get there easily.

My original point was that all the schools are not the same size, so they don't all have the same capacity. Adding trailers to a school does not necessarily add capacity. Anyone who fails to understand that might need a refresher course on math.

But ATS opposed any move. How about Carlin Springs? Or another school in S. Arlington where MORE kids from S. Arlington could attend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Excellent report in the Arlington Connection about overcrowding at Arlington Traditional School (ATS). For 2018 they are projected to have utliization at 121% of capacity.

121%! For ATS!!! And yet the School Board wants to go from four relocatables on the ATS lot to twelve. Even though the whole point of the traditional education model is that you don't have ANY relocatables on the lot .

People cry about McKinley's victimhood, but they're only at 113%. Henry is at 150%. Science Focus is at 128%, with Claremont at 130%.

People have overstated how McKinley has been harmed while schools like Nottingham and Discovery benefited. Well, Nottingham and Discovery are bursting at the seams. As is Tuckahoe. Even Jamestown, which schools kids who live in the most expensive real estate in the County, winds up OVER capacity.

I'm glad the Connection has inserted actual facts into this debate

ATS is a choice school . You don't have to choose it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Excellent report in the Arlington Connection about overcrowding at Arlington Traditional School (ATS). For 2018 they are projected to have utliization at 121% of capacity.

121%! For ATS!!! And yet the School Board wants to go from four relocatables on the ATS lot to twelve. Even though the whole point of the traditional education model is that you don't have ANY relocatables on the lot .

People cry about McKinley's victimhood, but they're only at 113%. Henry is at 150%. Science Focus is at 128%, with Claremont at 130%.

People have overstated how McKinley has been harmed while schools like Nottingham and Discovery benefited. Well, Nottingham and Discovery are bursting at the seams. As is Tuckahoe. Even Jamestown, which schools kids who live in the most expensive real estate in the County, winds up OVER capacity.

I'm glad the Connection has inserted actual facts into this debate

ATS is a choice school . You don't have to choose it.

Exactly. And the neighborhood schools have been able to work being much more overcrowded. If the ATS program doesn't unless it is at some perfect capacity, it should cease to exist. We don't have the luxury in the current and future growth environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Excellent report in the Arlington Connection about overcrowding at Arlington Traditional School (ATS). For 2018 they are projected to have utliization at 121% of capacity.

121%! For ATS!!! And yet the School Board wants to go from four relocatables on the ATS lot to twelve. Even though the whole point of the traditional education model is that you don't have ANY relocatables on the lot .

People cry about McKinley's victimhood, but they're only at 113%. Henry is at 150%. Science Focus is at 128%, with Claremont at 130%.

People have overstated how McKinley has been harmed while schools like Nottingham and Discovery benefited. Well, Nottingham and Discovery are bursting at the seams. As is Tuckahoe. Even Jamestown, which schools kids who live in the most expensive real estate in the County, winds up OVER capacity.

I'm glad the Connection has inserted actual facts into this debate

ATS is a choice school . You don't have to choose it.

Exactly. And the neighborhood schools have been able to work being much more overcrowded. If the ATS program doesn't unless it is at some perfect capacity, it should cease to exist. We don't have the luxury in the current and future growth environment.

This exact same dialogue and rationale should apply to HB Woodlawn, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Excellent report in the Arlington Connection about overcrowding at Arlington Traditional School (ATS). For 2018 they are projected to have utliization at 121% of capacity.

121%! For ATS!!! And yet the School Board wants to go from four relocatables on the ATS lot to twelve. Even though the whole point of the traditional education model is that you don't have ANY relocatables on the lot .

People cry about McKinley's victimhood, but they're only at 113%. Henry is at 150%. Science Focus is at 128%, with Claremont at 130%.

People have overstated how McKinley has been harmed while schools like Nottingham and Discovery benefited. Well, Nottingham and Discovery are bursting at the seams. As is Tuckahoe. Even Jamestown, which schools kids who live in the most expensive real estate in the County, winds up OVER capacity.

I'm glad the Connection has inserted actual facts into this debate

So the wealthiest kids should not be forced to endure crowding??? And where do you get the notion Discovery is bursting at the seams?! You have clearly been living in your ATS bubble way too long and are so out of touch with reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ATS has a huge lot with room for trailers. You should be asking for renovations to accommodate more kids in gym and lunch.

Looks like Campbell is going to be screwed with more trailers RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PLAY YARD. So much for sports at that school. At least ATS will still have a decent play space to run around without running into a building.

Campbell could significantly increase its capacity for K-5 program by relocating preschool classrooms elsewhere. (Yes, I know - "where? all the schools are crowded!") It's time APS either builds pre-K centers to serve the whole system, or just make 1 or 2 preschool classes a permanent part of every school - with perhaps an extra one in each choice school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ATS has 542 students. McK has 757. At least according to APS, ATS has 4 trailers, McK has 8. It's more than bursting at the seams and lost its field too, after years of construction. And didn't gain an extra music or art or gifted teacher to account for the extra enrollment. Those are facts too.

McKinley has 800 students. Not sure about that 757.