New Extended Day registration process (APS) - no longer first come first served

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's how it can be fair:
1. Automatically re-enroll and as parents, we have to OPT OUT. Why? people who use extended day are both working and don't have time for this re-registration each year.

2. McK did add capacity last time there was a waitlist.

WHY THE EFF does APS waste money on shit like double or triple bussing and random option programs but can't fill a basic need like taking care of kids who have parents who both work.

I swear to grass that if I had more tolerance for bullshit I would run for school board.

Because they aren’t babysitters. The kids and their care are your responsibility after school hours. Come on now. They don’t have to offer extended day at all.

What is this boogeyman “double and triple busing” (corrected your spelling) you keep ranting about?

[Anonymous]

There's a bus stop in McK's zone that has three buses. One goes to McK, one to ATS and another to ...the Montessori school. I suppose if one of the kids were in immersion, there could be a fourth bus.

It's great that you don't work and can fetch kids from the bus at 3:30 but this thread isn't about you is it?

[Anonymous]

The site crashes because you aren't guaranteed entry, and at the time registration opens you don't know for sure if your school will be one of the ones with a waitlist, so you have to be online just to make sure. McKinley STILL has kids on the aftercare waitlist for this school year.

Sure, agreed. It's not the school's job to provide childcare. But we also live in the real, non-family friendly real world. The market isn't there for 1hr babysitters in the morning, and the market is limited for babysitters for 1-2.5hrs in the afternoon. Teenagers have extracurriculars. College students have class. Teachers or student teachers are themselves still at their own schools.

In my vision of how it would work, once you register then yearly you have to confirm that you intend to return in, say, February. If you confirm, your slot for the follow-on year is guaranteed. If you don't confirm, your spot goes back into the pool of available spaces when registration opens in March. I will say that opening it at 8am has always sucked. 8am is working hours and it's working parents who need the extended day option!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a bus stop in McK's zone that has three buses. One goes to McK, one to ATS and another to ...the Montessori school. I suppose if one of the kids were in immersion, there could be a fourth bus.

It's great that you don't work and can fetch kids from the bus at 3:30 but this thread isn't about you is it?

At one point, and perhaps there still is, there is a bus stop that has two busses showing up both going to McK because there are so many kids in that neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The site crashes because you aren't guaranteed entry, and at the time registration opens you don't know for sure if your school will be one of the ones with a waitlist, so you have to be online just to make sure. McKinley STILL has kids on the aftercare waitlist for this school year.

Sure, agreed. It's not the school's job to provide childcare. But we also live in the real, non-family friendly real world. The market isn't there for 1hr babysitters in the morning, and the market is limited for babysitters for 1-2.5hrs in the afternoon. Teenagers have extracurriculars. College students have class. Teachers or student teachers are themselves still at their own schools.

In my vision of how it would work, once you register then yearly you have to confirm that you intend to return in, say, February. If you confirm, your slot for the follow-on year is guaranteed. If you don't confirm, your spot goes back into the pool of available spaces when registration opens in March. I will say that opening it at 8am has always sucked. 8am is working hours and it's working parents who need the extended day option!!!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's how it can be fair:
1. Automatically re-enroll and as parents, we have to OPT OUT. Why? people who use extended day are both working and don't have time for this re-registration each year.

2. McK did add capacity last time there was a waitlist.

WHY THE EFF does APS waste money on shit like double or triple bussing and random option programs but can't fill a basic need like taking care of kids who have parents who both work.

I swear to grass that if I had more tolerance for bullshit I would run for school board.

You have a 6 week window to re-register. This hardly seems like a huge imposition. I guess you could argue that already enrolled students could get some sort of priority, but please explain to me what's so difficult with a two parent working household filling out the application sometime between April 1st and May 15th AT YOUR LEISURE?

[Anonymous]

Last year and the year before, the site crashed, because of the incredible demand, which is the source of the "panic" they site. Yes, there's huge demand because they open an SINGLE WINDOW of registration time for an enormous student population. How about break it up by school and leave it as first come first served, and maybe incorporate the "re-enroll unless you opt out" as well, to further decrease stress on their crappy IT system.

I don't have time for this. What a mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year and the year before, the site crashed, because of the incredible demand, which is the source of the "panic" they site. Yes, there's huge demand because they open an SINGLE WINDOW of registration time for an enormous student population. How about break it up by school and leave it as first come first served, and maybe incorporate the "re-enroll unless you opt out" as well, to further decrease stress on their crappy IT system.

I don't have time for this. What a mess.

As much as I support this proposal, it makes too much sense for the APS administration to consider They have proven time and time again, let's make everything a total cluster and then wonder why everyone is unhappy. Is there no one with any kids that works there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a bus stop in McK's zone that has three buses. One goes to McK, one to ATS and another to ...the Montessori school. I suppose if one of the kids were in immersion, there could be a fourth bus.

It's great that you don't work and can fetch kids from the bus at 3:30 but this thread isn't about you is it?

At one point, and perhaps there still is, there is a bus stop that has two busses showing up both going to McK because there are so many kids in that neighborhood.

Ha! I've been vindicated with my multi-bus ranting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year and the year before, the site crashed, because of the incredible demand, which is the source of the "panic" they site. Yes, there's huge demand because they open an SINGLE WINDOW of registration time for an enormous student population. How about break it up by school and leave it as first come first served, and maybe incorporate the "re-enroll unless you opt out" as well, to further decrease stress on their crappy IT system.

I don't have time for this. What a mess.

This is so logical. At McK a few years back it filled up in March so parents who didn't immediately re-enroll got waitlisted even before the end of the school year so before the K kids even registered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year and the year before, the site crashed, because of the incredible demand, which is the source of the "panic" they site. Yes, there's huge demand because they open an SINGLE WINDOW of registration time for an enormous student population. How about break it up by school and leave it as first come first served, and maybe incorporate the "re-enroll unless you opt out" as well, to further decrease stress on their crappy IT system.

I don't have time for this. What a mess.

This is so logical. At McK a few years back it filled up in March so parents who didn't immediately re-enroll got waitlisted even before the end of the school year so before the K kids even registered.

DS got waitlisted last year for McKinley even though I registered on "opening day" but later in evening after kids bedtime. I too was locked out in AM and could not take day off to wait in line. Apparently, if I had called the office to complain about system being down, the office would have taken my name to give me higher priority. Who knew.

This is especially difficult for those of us who are single parents or inflexible work hours/shifts or long commutes (ahem, lots of us) prohibiting flexible drop off and pick up.

[Anonymous]

I think if they publish the waitlist information, and answer how siblings work, people may freak out a little less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think if they publish the waitlist information, and answer how siblings work, people may freak out a little less.

Or more, depending on the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year and the year before, the site crashed, because of the incredible demand, which is the source of the "panic" they site. Yes, there's huge demand because they open an SINGLE WINDOW of registration time for an enormous student population. How about break it up by school and leave it as first come first served, and maybe incorporate the "re-enroll unless you opt out" as well, to further decrease stress on their crappy IT system.

I don't have time for this. What a mess.

This is so logical. At McK a few years back it filled up in March so parents who didn't immediately re-enroll got waitlisted even before the end of the school year so before the K kids even registered.

DS got waitlisted last year for McKinley even though I registered on "opening day" but later in evening after kids bedtime. I too was locked out in AM and could not take day off to wait in line. Apparently, if I had called the office to complain about system being down, the office would have taken my name to give me higher priority. Who knew.

This is especially difficult for those of us who are single parents or inflexible work hours/shifts or long commutes (ahem, lots of us) prohibiting flexible drop off and pick up.

This is also the year they expanded capacity. McK is beyond overcrowded if they can't serve the community's needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a bus stop in McK's zone that has three buses. One goes to McK, one to ATS and another to ...the Montessori school. I suppose if one of the kids were in immersion, there could be a fourth bus.

It's great that you don't work and can fetch kids from the bus at 3:30 but this thread isn't about you is it?

At one point, and perhaps there still is, there is a bus stop that has two busses showing up both going to McK because there are so many kids in that neighborhood.

Ha! I've been vindicated with my multi-bus ranting.

Ours has 4 elementary stops for a 4 street neighborhood. McK, Ashlawn, Montesorri, Claremont