APS - questions about Key / ASFS building swap

[Anonymous]

If you want change, email [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As far as walking to asfs, there are a lot of concerns with crossing kirkwood to widen its walk zone. Currently only a handful of kids walk to school, mostly from the Clarendon area. Those parents who walk regularly have expressed deep concerns about people regularly crossing kirkwood— it’s objectuvely not a safe road to cross and little can be done short of adding a traffic light. The county has to do a traffic study before doing something like that, so any traffic mitigation’s would be a few years off. There’s a bunch of extra concerns like the back stairs would need to be widened and a handicap ramp added, which is difficult since the county does not own the land directly next to the stairs (it’s someone’s house on either side). They likely will expand the walk zone to include part of Lyon village, but I really hope it doesn’t result in someone being hit by a car.

I agree Kirkwood is a tough street to cross. However, a crossing guard at the crosswalk at the bottom of the stairs would adequately deal with this problem. I don't see any reason why the stairs would have to be widened. I can't see any practical way to add a handicap ramp to get up that hill. Even if you did, it would be so steep as to be essentially unusable. If that is a requirement, then the project wouldn't work. I don't think that the ADA or common decency would require a ramp there. In any event, there is already a sidewalk which runs up 14th St. which could be used if necessary.

I agree except that I don’t think Kirkwood is difficult to cross and my family does it routinely.

[Anonymous]

I agree Kirkwood is a tough street to cross. However, a crossing guard at the crosswalk at the bottom of the stairs would adequately deal with this problem. I don't see any reason why the stairs would have to be widened. I can't see any practical way to add a handicap ramp to get up that hill. Even if you did, it would be so steep as to be essentially unusable. If that is a requirement, then the project wouldn't work. I don't think that the ADA or common decency would require a ramp there. In any event, there is already a sidewalk which runs up 14th St. which could be used if necessary.

I agree except that I don’t think Kirkwood is difficult to cross and my family does it routinely.

What I meant was that there are times (particularly around rush hour (i.e. when school is getting ready to start) when there is steady traffic on Kirkwood (i.e. 10-15 cars in a row), which would make it hard for kids to cross. But a crossing guard would mitigate that problem.

[Anonymous]

I may be wrong- but I actually don't think ASFS and Key will swap- although I think it is being actively considered. I really think they will both become neighborhood schools. That quadrant is where seats are needed the most. There is no land in that quadrant. The only way they are going to get seats there is by either 1)drawing funny neighborhood boundaries or 2)moving Key.

I don't think they will just swap b/c ultimately it will not help the seat problem.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't be shocked if they left Key where it is. Its obviously a very popular program right now, and its not clear how much less bussing you get if you make it a neighbothood school and have kids who currently walk to immersion have to be bussed elsewhere for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I may be wrong- but I actually don't think ASFS and Key will swap- although I think it is being actively considered. I really think they will both become neighborhood schools. That quadrant is where seats are needed the most. There is no land in that quadrant. The only way they are going to get seats there is by either 1)drawing funny neighborhood boundaries or 2)moving Key.

I don't think they will just swap b/c ultimately it will not help the seat problem.

Where would immersion go if Key became a neighborhood school and ASFS stayed one as well? Key has over 700 students. Many of the ES aren’t big enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't be shocked if they left Key where it is. Its obviously a very popular program right now, and its not clear how much less bussing you get if you make it a neighbothood school and have kids who currently walk to immersion have to be bussed elsewhere for it.

It’s not very popular to the kids who live in its boundary. And they removed the neighborhood presence so the number of walkers will plummet. Are you even aware of what they have done?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I may be wrong- but I actually don't think ASFS and Key will swap- although I think it is being actively considered. I really think they will both become neighborhood schools. That quadrant is where seats are needed the most. There is no land in that quadrant. The only way they are going to get seats there is by either 1)drawing funny neighborhood boundaries or 2)moving Key.

I don't think they will just swap b/c ultimately it will not help the seat problem.

Where would immersion go if Key became a neighborhood school and ASFS stayed one as well? Key has over 700 students. Many of the ES aren’t big enough.

It’s a choice program. Simply shrink it for the upcoming years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I may be wrong- but I actually don't think ASFS and Key will swap- although I think it is being actively considered. I really think they will both become neighborhood schools. That quadrant is where seats are needed the most. There is no land in that quadrant. The only way they are going to get seats there is by either 1)drawing funny neighborhood boundaries or 2)moving Key.

I don't think they will just swap b/c ultimately it will not help the seat problem.

Where would immersion go if Key became a neighborhood school and ASFS stayed one as well? Key has over 700 students. Many of the ES aren’t big enough.

It’s a choice program. Simply shrink it for the upcoming years.

But APS has already passed its plan to grow the option programs. They don’t have any intention of shrinking them, particularly immersion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I may be wrong- but I actually don't think ASFS and Key will swap- although I think it is being actively considered. I really think they will both become neighborhood schools. That quadrant is where seats are needed the most. There is no land in that quadrant. The only way they are going to get seats there is by either 1)drawing funny neighborhood boundaries or 2)moving Key.

I don't think they will just swap b/c ultimately it will not help the seat problem.

This. the fundamental problem is more students then seats after the lottery change at key. Right now in bounds make up about half the population, but will likely drop to 1/12 all things being equal. That’s about 300 more kids in the shared zone to seat.

It needs to move where there are seats, leave both schools as neighborhoods schools.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think the two schools will swap locations because I just don’t see the current ASFS building as a good location for an immersion ES. If immersion requires 50% native speakers to be successful I question whether you’d get that number at that location. It’s not particularly accessible by public transportation with the metro at least half a mile away and the only major bus lines are 3-4 blocks awayalong Lee Highway and Washington Blvd and are designed to take people in and out of DC.

[Anonymous]

I would be thrilled if the current Key location turned into a regular neighborhood school. I don’t see that happening, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As far as walking to asfs, there are a lot of concerns with crossing kirkwood to widen its walk zone. Currently only a handful of kids walk to school, mostly from the Clarendon area. Those parents who walk regularly have expressed deep concerns about people regularly crossing kirkwood— it’s objectuvely not a safe road to cross and little can be done short of adding a traffic light. The county has to do a traffic study before doing something like that, so any traffic mitigation’s would be a few years off. There’s a bunch of extra concerns like the back stairs would need to be widened and a handicap ramp added, which is difficult since the county does not own the land directly next to the stairs (it’s someone’s house on either side). They likely will expand the walk zone to include part of Lyon village, but I really hope it doesn’t result in someone being hit by a car.

I agree Kirkwood is a tough street to cross. However, a crossing guard at the crosswalk at the bottom of the stairs would adequately deal with this problem. I don't see any reason why the stairs would have to be widened. I can't see any practical way to add a handicap ramp to get up that hill. Even if you did, it would be so steep as to be essentially unusable. If that is a requirement, then the project wouldn't work. I don't think that the ADA or common decency would require a ramp there. In any event, there is already a sidewalk which runs up 14th St. which could be used if necessary.

The side walk on 14th street doesn’t go all the way to kirkwood. It ends about half a block before. There isn’t a crosswalk at 13th, which has a contiguous sidewalk. So unless you widen the stairs and add a ramp, no way you can force people to cross kirkwood to widen the walk zone.

[Anonymous]

There is a sidewalk up 14th St. all the way to Kirkwood; its on the south side of 14th St.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There is a sidewalk up 14th St. all the way to Kirkwood; its on the south side of 14th St.

I’ll double check when I walk to school tomorrow but I’m pretty sure you are wrong. 14th streets side walk on the south is cracked and has tree roots pulling up on one side, and then has half a block where it doesn’t exist. On the side closer to the school, it doesn’t go all the way to kirkwood. That and that hill is is really steep. There needs to be a ramp added to the stairs for handicapped parents and parents with small children/strollers, or you can’t expand the walk zone past kirkwood. Either that or set up a crosswalk with a light at 13th street.
It’s a safety issue— you might be ok crossing it but think about literally hundreds of kids doing it on a daily basis. Someone is going to get hurt. And then people will point to this and say that aps put us in this position by saying if you inflate your walker numbers you will get to keep your school.