Tuckahoe by the numbers - how can it stay a neighborhood school?

[Anonymous]

I dunno. Shouldn’t they consider some of that stuff? Isn’t it a bit suspicious they won’t tell us what they will move?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I dunno. Shouldn’t they consider some of that stuff? Isn’t it a bit suspicious they won’t tell us what they will move?

They have said that everything is on the table and that they will consider switching option and neighborhood schools. That’s as far as they’ve gotten; why do you think that they are hiding something?

[Anonymous]

Why are they soliciting input on factors? I thought they already had 6 factors they use. Why different from middle school thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree-but the existing families probably provide a good "sample" of future families.

I wonder if anyone is trying to engage the current preschool families? These are the families that will be the most impacted... they should all be informed and able to provide input.

APS doesn’t have the resources to do it. Hopefully word is spreading out from the schools. Our civic association actively is targeting parents of young children to get them engaged. Articles run regularly on ArlNow or in the Sun Gazette.

I’m a preschool parent, but zoned for Taylor. Not sure if my voice needs to be heard regarding western schools or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait until the survey results come out and it shows Tuckahoe families responded that the who NW quadrant is walkable. They are trying to game the system. My "friend" who lives over there answered the survey 10 times. There are no checks/balances with this survey, so the data is bunk.

Your "friend" is a moron who doesn't understand the point of the survery. It's not a yes/no vote that will decide which planning units are deemed to be part of the extended walk zone, it's just a way for residents to flag for APS which zones might be walkable and whether they'd need safety improvements anywhere to make them walkable. APS will then do its own walking review of those units to confirm whether they are, in fact, safely walkable, because APS isn't going to just take anonymous respondents' word for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree-but the existing families probably provide a good "sample" of future families.

I wonder if anyone is trying to engage the current preschool families? These are the families that will be the most impacted... they should all be informed and able to provide input.

APS doesn’t have the resources to do it. Hopefully word is spreading out from the schools. Our civic association actively is targeting parents of young children to get them engaged. Articles run regularly on ArlNow or in the Sun Gazette.

I’m a preschool parent, but zoned for Taylor. Not sure if my voice needs to be heard regarding western schools or not.

At this stage, with the surveys that are currently out, your voice only needs to be heard regarding your neighborhood or any others with which you have significant familiarity (e.g., you lived there until you recently moved; you walk through a particular planning unit regularly on your way somewhere else).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are they soliciting input on factors? I thought they already had 6 factors they use. Why different from middle school thing?

They do but one of those factors is proximity. Learning from the middle school process, APS is trying to get a sense from the community of what planning units are actually really walkable to different schools, and which would be walkable with certain improvements such as adding a crossing guard or a crosswalk or other safety measures. APS has maps but the staff doesn't know every single street and every single route in-person so they are trying to understand what communities might actually be walkable to various schools, that is in close-enough proximity.

Units may be walkable to more than one school, my own unit is actually in the walk zone of three elementary schools. This process right now is not determining the final boundaries, it is understanding what the landscape looks like, and if they find schools or regions that may have excess capacity while other parts of the county need more, then it helps them evaluate whether one option is to shuffle the location of the lottery or choice schools.

[Anonymous]

These Tuckahoe parents make me so embarrassed for Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These Tuckahoe parents make me so embarrassed for Arlington.

We are talking about the same PTA board that struggled to understand that kids with nut allergies can't eat nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These Tuckahoe parents make me so embarrassed for Arlington.

We are talking about the same PTA board that struggled to understand that kids with nut allergies can't eat nuts.

What? The current board? That is ridiculous. What happened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sigh...can the School Board just put Tuckahoe out of their misery? This diarrhea is killing me :

https://tuckahoe.apsva.us/weekly-update/

Because Tuckahoe is one of the Arlington elementary schools that could be changed to an option school site, this survey is important. Many believe the current list of considerations is inadequate. We offer some sample considerations below that you could cut and paste into the survey–include those you agree with.

Feel free to add your own, and to share the survey with others.

SURVEY LINK: https://survey.k12insight.com/survey.aspx?k=SsSRTVsYWQsPsPsP&lang=0&data=#

SUGGESTED CONSIDERATIONS:

APS should clearly explain the goal behind moving an option school before the community can evaluate the criteria. If the goal is to create seats in a particular part of the County, then APS should consider which option program to move before it dissolves a neighborhood school. APS should decide where they need the seats first.
APS can’t evaluate the impact on teaching and learning without first deciding what option program it will move. APS should address what program it wants to move before determining the site.
APS should consider the impact on all walkers when deciding whether to move a school. It is wrong and unfair to ignore walkers just because they live in a planning unit that might overlap with another school.
APS should consider the crucial need for neighborhood seats in areas that County staff are planning for multi-unit development, especially given that school by school projections are frequently wrong and APS is aware it must revise its planning factor for apt buildings, condos and townhouses (more families raising kids in apartments and condos).-APS should consider impact of option location on the APS policy requiring equal and equitable access to all option programs countywide.
APS should consider centrality of option location to ensure option program can serve students countywide.-APS should consider transfer reports to understand potential enrollment consequences in neighborhood schools around county if option program is moved. Moving an option program across the county will likely cause enrollment problems in other neighborhood schools if students do not apply to that program in the same numbers they have historically because they don’t want lengthy travel times.
APS should consider the impact on non-walkers in the neighborhood school community APS is looking to dissolve.
APS should consider safety associated with high traffic volume and congestion in siting an option school.-APS should consider the cost of relocating an option program and moving a neighborhood elementary school out of a building.
APS should consider enrollment impact on schools surrounding the neighborhood school being dissolved.-APS should consider transportation times associated with option program moves.
It is not clear what is a “cross-county transportation route” is and what it means to have “access” to it. It is difficult to understand how this criteria would apply. Every school in Arlington is near a major road.

Can the PTA use APS resources to push a position? They have a few pages just about this change?

https://tuckahoe.apsva.us/aps-survey-information-please-read-take-surveys/

Crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.

.

.

.

To add to this, there are additional developments in the works in the Key zone, both market rate and affordable housing. This one was just approved last week:

https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/board-commits-7-9-million-affordable-housing-loan-to-queens-court-south/
"The 249 new affordable units will include studio, one, two and three-bedroom units, and more than half of them will be family sized." Assuming each family sized unit has 1+ kid, that's a lot of kids coming in all at once.

If you chose an option school, that's great! You need to take the inconveniences that come with that. Your wishes are not more important than providing a neighborhood school in reasonable proximity to where people live.

+10000

I think option schools should get a priority, as they affect a much bigger segment of the population across the county. Parents in n'hood schools don't care about anything but their own interests.

[Anonymous]

Why are APS resources and the Tuckahoe website being used to lobby for options that aren't inclusive of all APS students? It looks like APS the SB and Tuckahoe administration are endorsing the non-inclusive views of the Tuckahoe PTA.

Can the PTA use APS resources to push a position? They have a few pages just about this change?

https://tuckahoe.apsva.us/aps-survey-information-please-read-take-surveys/

Crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are APS resources and the Tuckahoe website being used to lobby for options that aren't inclusive of all APS students? It looks like APS the SB and Tuckahoe administration are endorsing the non-inclusive views of the Tuckahoe PTA.

Can the PTA use APS resources to push a position? They have a few pages just about this change?

https://tuckahoe.apsva.us/aps-survey-information-please-read-take-surveys/

Crazy.

Send a letter to APS and the Tuckahoe principal about it. They are lobbying for a position that isn't even in the best interest of all the families in their boundary. It's pretty disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Tuckahoe should form a second PTA. One PTA that represents the close walkers and another PTA for those who can't wait to go to Reed, McKinley and Nottingham. By the numbers the Tuckahoe walkers are in the minority. What about a PTA recall...is that even possible?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are APS resources and the Tuckahoe website being used to lobby for options that aren't inclusive of all APS students? It looks like APS the SB and Tuckahoe administration are endorsing the non-inclusive views of the Tuckahoe PTA.

Can the PTA use APS resources to push a position? They have a few pages just about this change?

https://tuckahoe.apsva.us/aps-survey-information-please-read-take-surveys/

Crazy.

Send a letter to APS and the Tuckahoe principal about it. They are lobbying for a position that isn't even in the best interest of all the families in their boundary. It's pretty disgusting.