Arlington school boundary petition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i know i will get flamed for this question, but why do we need two spanish immersion schools in the county?

Because the demand is there... Both schools are full, and last I heard it is difficult to get into Claremont. Don't know, if that is true for Key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My suggestion is the county look to acquire the land that is currently used as the Red Top Cab lot (13th Street North and Hudson Street) and build a new neighborhood school for Lion Village/Clarendon/Orange Line area.

How many acres is that? And how many acres does an elementary or middle school need?

There's some land on the island between Lee Highway and Old Dominion; there's an old house there but a lot of open space. When I drive by I wonder if the county could buy it and build a school there. But I don't know if that's practical. I am pretty sure it's bigger than the Red Top Cab lot, though.

[Anonymous]

Mario's Pizza on Wilson isn't very good any more. Maybe they can tear it down and build a school there. Or maybe the county can exercise eminent domain over some of the acres of parking lots in Ballston. Either way, they need to build up, not out. Arlington wanted an urban future so people should get ready to have urban schools, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i know i will get flamed for this question, but why do we need two spanish immersion schools in the county?

Because the demand is there... Both schools are full, and last I heard it is difficult to get into Claremont. Don't know, if that is true for Key.

Because of the huge Hispanic population. My guess is it is less of a burden on the other schools to teach kids with Spanish as primary language (and parents) in this environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My suggestion is the county look to acquire the land that is currently used as the Red Top Cab lot (13th Street North and Hudson Street) and build a new neighborhood school for Lion Village/Clarendon/Orange Line area.

How many acres is that? And how many acres does an elementary or middle school need?

There's some land on the island between Lee Highway and Old Dominion; there's an old house there but a lot of open space. When I drive by I wonder if the county could buy it and build a school there. But I don't know if that's practical. I am pretty sure it's bigger than the Red Top Cab lot, though.

That is an extremely tiny lot for an elem. school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i know i will get flamed for this question, but why do we need two spanish immersion schools in the county?

Because the demand is there... Both schools are full, and last I heard it is difficult to get into Claremont. Don't know, if that is true for Key.

Serious question: Who's trying to get in? People for whom Spanish is a first language, or English-speaking families looking to broaden language capabilities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i know i will get flamed for this question, but why do we need two spanish immersion schools in the county?

Because the demand is there... Both schools are full, and last I heard it is difficult to get into Claremont. Don't know, if that is true for Key.

Serious question: Who's trying to get in? People for whom Spanish is a first language, or English-speaking families looking to broaden language capabilities?

Both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i know i will get flamed for this question, but why do we need two spanish immersion schools in the county?

Because the demand is there... Both schools are full, and last I heard it is difficult to get into Claremont. Don't know, if that is true for Key.

One alternative for Abindgon is Claremont so many parents who are in that boundary choose Claremont because they can. They could probably ditch the Spanish immersion and parents would still select as it has higher test scores than Abingdon.

[Anonymous]

Sure that my Fairlington neighbors who chose Claremont would NOT have chosen it but for the Spanish immersion. There's like 20-30 kids getting on the bus every morning for Claremont - and the bus stop is basically in front of Abingdon. We would have chosen Abingdon over Claremont if we didn't get into ATS. The Abingdon principal is awesome.

[Anonymous]

You know what is annoying about all you people who are so obsessed with school boundaries? You all share the same disease of "someone else's kid" should suffer.

YOUR child must not have to ride a bus. YOUR child must not have to switch to a less desirable school. YOUR child must not in any way be inconvenienced or made to feel bad in any way whatsoever because your child could not possibly handle not having the ideal educational environment at every moment of his or her life..

But someone else's kid having to switch schools or ride the bus or lose a program? No problem. That just "makes sense."

And obviously if someone else advocates for his or her child, that person is just throwing his money and power and influence around.

The other thing that is annoying about all of you is that you think you are urban planners. Yeah, just build a school where Red Top cab is located. Easy peasy. It's not like there is already a business there or anything.

No matter how you slice it, someone is going to be unhappy. You guys need to all stop thinking this all matters so damn much. Your kids are tougher than you think. They will not wilt and die if you don't manage to fashion a learning environment perfectly tailored to their needs. In fact, a little hardship might be good for your soft kids. It might teach them something about resilience and grit and determination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know what is annoying about all you people who are so obsessed with school boundaries? You all share the same disease of "someone else's kid" should suffer.

YOUR child must not have to ride a bus. YOUR child must not have to switch to a less desirable school. YOUR child must not in any way be inconvenienced or made to feel bad in any way whatsoever because your child could not possibly handle not having the ideal educational environment at every moment of his or her life..

But someone else's kid having to switch schools or ride the bus or lose a program? No problem. That just "makes sense."

And obviously if someone else advocates for his or her child, that person is just throwing his money and power and influence around.

The other thing that is annoying about all of you is that you think you are urban planners. Yeah, just build a school where Red Top cab is located. Easy peasy. It's not like there is already a business there or anything.

No matter how you slice it, someone is going to be unhappy. You guys need to all stop thinking this all matters so damn much. Your kids are tougher than you think. They will not wilt and die if you don't manage to fashion a learning environment perfectly tailored to their needs. In fact, a little hardship might be good for your soft kids. It might teach them something about resilience and grit and determination.

Lady, do you seriously no how fricking small the Red Top site is? There is no way an elementary school, even a very tiny one could fit there.

Sure- easy peasy . I actually do know how big it is because we walk by it everyday on our way to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what is annoying about all you people who are so obsessed with school boundaries? You all share the same disease of "someone else's kid" should suffer.

YOUR child must not have to ride a bus. YOUR child must not have to switch to a less desirable school. YOUR child must not in any way be inconvenienced or made to feel bad in any way whatsoever because your child could not possibly handle not having the ideal educational environment at every moment of his or her life..

But someone else's kid having to switch schools or ride the bus or lose a program? No problem. That just "makes sense."

And obviously if someone else advocates for his or her child, that person is just throwing his money and power and influence around.

The other thing that is annoying about all of you is that you think you are urban planners. Yeah, just build a school where Red Top cab is located. Easy peasy. It's not like there is already a business there or anything.

No matter how you slice it, someone is going to be unhappy. You guys need to all stop thinking this all matters so damn much. Your kids are tougher than you think. They will not wilt and die if you don't manage to fashion a learning environment perfectly tailored to their needs. In fact, a little hardship might be good for your soft kids. It might teach them something about resilience and grit and determination.

Lady, do you seriously no how fricking small the Red Top site is? There is no way an elementary school, even a very tiny one could fit there.

Sure- easy peasy . I actually do know how big it is because we walk by it everyday on our way to school.

I know it should have been 'know' not 'no' so don't get up my ass with that crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know what is annoying about all you people who are so obsessed with school boundaries? You all share the same disease of "someone else's kid" should suffer.

YOUR child must not have to ride a bus. YOUR child must not have to switch to a less desirable school. YOUR child must not in any way be inconvenienced or made to feel bad in any way whatsoever because your child could not possibly handle not having the ideal educational environment at every moment of his or her life..

But someone else's kid having to switch schools or ride the bus or lose a program? No problem. That just "makes sense."

And obviously if someone else advocates for his or her child, that person is just throwing his money and power and influence around.

The other thing that is annoying about all of you is that you think you are urban planners. Yeah, just build a school where Red Top cab is located. Easy peasy. It's not like there is already a business there or anything.

No matter how you slice it, someone is going to be unhappy. You guys need to all stop thinking this all matters so damn much. Your kids are tougher than you think. They will not wilt and die if you don't manage to fashion a learning environment perfectly tailored to their needs. In fact, a little hardship might be good for your soft kids. It might teach them something about resilience and grit and determination.

I am so sorry to have annoyed you! Now that I know it bothers you, I will definitely stop taking an interest and being involved in the discussion about things that pertain to my children's education. Your opinion is so important and I'm very grateful that you shared. Please let me know if you find anything else annoying so I can make sure nobody ever does it again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so sorry to have annoyed you! Now that I know it bothers you, I will definitely stop taking an interest and being involved in the discussion about things that pertain to my children's education. Your opinion is so important and I'm very grateful that you shared. Please let me know if you find anything else annoying so I can make sure nobody ever does it again.

I'm not the PP you responded to, but it's been amazing to me how over the top some parents have been. I've been to a lot of the meetings and followed listserve discussions here and on MONA. Many parents have preferences and have articulated reasons for moving or not moving particular planning units. Others have been far more dramatic, I literally have heard parents loudly say "You are destoying neighborhoods and ripping apart communities!" I've heard people ask if their 2yr olds can be grandfathered. Personally, I feel like that level of histrionics is uncalled for. I live in a boundary neighborhood and we aren't destroyed by having kids in the neighborhood at two different schools.

IMO we should all take an interest in our childrens' education, but the attitudes of some parents during this process have actually been really shocking to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am so sorry to have annoyed you! Now that I know it bothers you, I will definitely stop taking an interest and being involved in the discussion about things that pertain to my children's education. Your opinion is so important and I'm very grateful that you shared. Please let me know if you find anything else annoying so I can make sure nobody ever does it again.

I'm not the PP you responded to, but it's been amazing to me how over the top some parents have been. I've been to a lot of the meetings and followed listserve discussions here and on MONA. Many parents have preferences and have articulated reasons for moving or not moving particular planning units. Others have been far more dramatic, I literally have heard parents loudly say "You are destoying neighborhoods and ripping apart communities!" I've heard people ask if their 2yr olds can be grandfathered. Personally, I feel like that level of histrionics is uncalled for. I live in a boundary neighborhood and we aren't destroyed by having kids in the neighborhood at two different schools.

IMO we should all take an interest in our childrens' education, but the attitudes of some parents during this process have actually been really shocking to me.

Agreed. I have been shocked by the targeting. The surge in school populations have been due to all of the families that have moved in over the last 5 years. READ: WE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CURRENT BOUNDARIES/PLANNING UNITS BECAUSE MOST OF US JUST GOT HERE. Yet, there is hatred and evilness literally spewed on forums and websites about my neighborhood and home school. WTF? Mentally ill much?

There also seems to be a serious uptick in people thinking it is is their right to be allowed to attend any school in Arlington. I don
t like my schol--how do I get into a different one without buying a house in the zone, etc. That takes a lot of frickin' entitlement to request such special treatment. I also see a lack of foresight on many parents that knew that was the school when their kids were infants, but now don't want them to go there.

I do get the frustration of people living next to a school and bused elsewhere, that I get, I totally get. The rest--not so much. And- the attack on a different neighborhood instead of just going to the county and saying 'hey we as a group feel we should stay at X school' makes much more sense to me than an elaborate plan to uproot an entire different school. Let APS figure out how to make that happen. The petition is the request---not your solutions.