school board work session on enrollment and transfers in options schools(and also a new high school)

[Anonymous]

ASFS #s may go up if less people in the Key/ASFS zone are allowed to pick Key - if they need to lottery in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Key is ES, though. How many ES kids are getting to/from school by metro? They certainly are not traveling alone.

They are not alone. I see kids get off the metro and the bus all the time.
We can't discount the number of lower income families who go to Key. It is much higher than ASF. Remember Key pulls from North and South Arlington. For some of these families school bus times may not work. I get that the times aren't ideal for everyone but lower income families are less likely to have cars and/or work hour flexibility. Being able to use public transportation is a big plus.

ASF being less than a mile from 2 metro stations is not the same as Key being 2-3 blocks from the metro and several bus lines.

We are walkers to Key and I metro to work so I see a fair share of kids who commute using public transportation. With their parents of course.
Stats on this would be helpful as this is just my personal observation over 3 years.

For the PP who asked about transfer out stats, I don't think these exist. The current zone is Key/ASF you go to one or the other. You don't have to opt out of Key to go to ASF.

The stats do exist in the transfer report. http://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Transfer-Report-2015-16.pdf

The Key zone sent 462 students to ASFS during the 2015-16 school year. Of these transfers, of these transfers, 113 were of "disadvantaged" status. Key, on the other hand, had 282 in zone students attend (673 total minus 391 transfers in). Of the 391 transfers into Key, 110 were disadvantaged. Key is sending as many disadvantaged kids to ASFS as are coming in with transfers. I get that you want to keep your walkable Key with your preferred program. I want to have a walkable Key as a normal neighborhood school. These are our respective biases and I think both positions are understandable. The numbers appear to show that there are more in the Key zone that want a more mainstream curriculum than those who want immersion as indicated by the 462 transferring to ASFS vs the 282 staying at Key.

Yes, but there are also plenty more "disadvantaged" status kids coming to Key from other neighborhoods, and they are the ones who need the close-in bus and Metro access (walking 3 blocks with elementary school kids is quite different than walking 'less than a mile').

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Key is ES, though. How many ES kids are getting to/from school by metro? They certainly are not traveling alone.

They are not alone. I see kids get off the metro and the bus all the time.
We can't discount the number of lower income families who go to Key. It is much higher than ASF. Remember Key pulls from North and South Arlington. For some of these families school bus times may not work. I get that the times aren't ideal for everyone but lower income families are less likely to have cars and/or work hour flexibility. Being able to use public transportation is a big plus.

ASF being less than a mile from 2 metro stations is not the same as Key being 2-3 blocks from the metro and several bus lines.

We are walkers to Key and I metro to work so I see a fair share of kids who commute using public transportation. With their parents of course.
Stats on this would be helpful as this is just my personal observation over 3 years.

For the PP who asked about transfer out stats, I don't think these exist. The current zone is Key/ASF you go to one or the other. You don't have to opt out of Key to go to ASF.

The stats do exist in the transfer report. http://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Transfer-Report-2015-16.pdf

The Key zone sent 462 students to ASFS during the 2015-16 school year. Of these transfers, of these transfers, 113 were of "disadvantaged" status. Key, on the other hand, had 282 in zone students attend (673 total minus 391 transfers in). Of the 391 transfers into Key, 110 were disadvantaged. Key is sending as many disadvantaged kids to ASFS as are coming in with transfers. I get that you want to keep your walkable Key with your preferred program. I want to have a walkable Key as a normal neighborhood school. These are our respective biases and I think both positions are understandable. The numbers appear to show that there are more in the Key zone that want a more mainstream curriculum than those who want immersion as indicated by the 462 transferring to ASFS vs the 282 staying at Key.

Yes, but there are also plenty more "disadvantaged" status kids coming to Key from other neighborhoods, and they are the ones who need the close-in bus and Metro access (walking 3 blocks with elementary school kids is quite different than walking 'less than a mile').

There are 110 disadvantaged status kids transferring in from other neighborhoods. These are the kids that you are saying need the metro and buses, right? There are 113 Key zone disadvantaged kids kids transferring to ASFS who presumably would not only benefit from proximity to the metro and buses, but also additional proximity to the school. The rest of the disadvantaged status kids at Key are in zone (181 out of 291 total). Some portion of those kids are there specifically for the immersion program and would follow it to another building. Some other portion of those kids are going to Key because it is close and convenient. These are the only numbers I can't quantify. The rest are in the report.

Honestly, it sounds like you are mostly interested in preserving your status quo, which does sound awesome! Walking to school drop off and then hopping on the metro to work would be great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Key is ES, though. How many ES kids are getting to/from school by metro? They certainly are not traveling alone.

They are not alone. I see kids get off the metro and the bus all the time.
We can't discount the number of lower income families who go to Key. It is much higher than ASF. Remember Key pulls from North and South Arlington. For some of these families school bus times may not work. I get that the times aren't ideal for everyone but lower income families are less likely to have cars and/or work hour flexibility. Being able to use public transportation is a big plus.

ASF being less than a mile from 2 metro stations is not the same as Key being 2-3 blocks from the metro and several bus lines.

We are walkers to Key and I metro to work so I see a fair share of kids who commute using public transportation. With their parents of course.
Stats on this would be helpful as this is just my personal observation over 3 years.

For the PP who asked about transfer out stats, I don't think these exist. The current zone is Key/ASF you go to one or the other. You don't have to opt out of Key to go to ASF.

The stats do exist in the transfer report. http://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Transfer-Report-2015-16.pdf

The Key zone sent 462 students to ASFS during the 2015-16 school year. Of these transfers, of these transfers, 113 were of "disadvantaged" status. Key, on the other hand, had 282 in zone students attend (673 total minus 391 transfers in). Of the 391 transfers into Key, 110 were disadvantaged. Key is sending as many disadvantaged kids to ASFS as are coming in with transfers. I get that you want to keep your walkable Key with your preferred program. I want to have a walkable Key as a normal neighborhood school. These are our respective biases and I think both positions are understandable. The numbers appear to show that there are more in the Key zone that want a more mainstream curriculum than those who want immersion as indicated by the 462 transferring to ASFS vs the 282 staying at Key.

Yes, but there are also plenty more "disadvantaged" status kids coming to Key from other neighborhoods, and they are the ones who need the close-in bus and Metro access (walking 3 blocks with elementary school kids is quite different than walking 'less than a mile').

There are 110 disadvantaged status kids transferring in from other neighborhoods. These are the kids that you are saying need the metro and buses, right? There are 113 Key zone disadvantaged kids kids transferring to ASFS who presumably would not only benefit from proximity to the metro and buses, but also additional proximity to the school. The rest of the disadvantaged status kids at Key are in zone (181 out of 291 total). Some portion of those kids are there specifically for the immersion program and would follow it to another building. Some other portion of those kids are going to Key because it is close and convenient. These are the only numbers I can't quantify. The rest are in the report.

Honestly, it sounds like you are mostly interested in preserving your status quo, which does sound awesome! Walking to school drop off and then hopping on the metro to work would be great!

Lucky for them, it is a status quo that seems to be working just fine. There is a gorgeous school down the block to me that is a choice school. It's big and would be a great facility for my kid... but it's already taken. It's the kind of thing you eventually come to terms with. Bigger problem = high school seats and figuring out how (or if) to integrate additional choice options into the system.

[Anonymous]

So if my kid goes to Claremont, under the new plan he would then have the option to go to Willamsburg and then Yorktown? That sounds like a win for me. Unless, I do not understand the chart at all, which is possible!

[Anonymous]

I don't understand this Key vs. ASFS argument. Why would it be a good idea to have the programs swap similarly sized buildings? That's silly and wasteful. The ASFS building is better set up to transition to a STEAM neighborhood school, given the investment in the science labs that have already been made. Why would you want this? Presumably, you are upset that your neighborhood school will be further away from you. But what of the kids who live closer to ASFS now and could be zoned there? This is probably something they'd like. I have seen many parents on here saying that it should be a neighborhood school because then they could have a walkable school. I think there could be walkers to either school, probably of equal numbers, once they reconfigure the boundaries. To have the established programs swap school buildings would seem to be be wasteful and without sufficient reason. Are you worried that you wouldn't end up zoned for ASFS? Is that what this about? Trying to understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this Key vs. ASFS argument. Why would it be a good idea to have the programs swap similarly sized buildings? That's silly and wasteful. The ASFS building is better set up to transition to a STEAM neighborhood school, given the investment in the science labs that have already been made. Why would you want this? Presumably, you are upset that your neighborhood school will be further away from you. But what of the kids who live closer to ASFS now and could be zoned there? This is probably something they'd like. I have seen many parents on here saying that it should be a neighborhood school because then they could have a walkable school. I think there could be walkers to either school, probably of equal numbers, once they reconfigure the boundaries. To have the established programs swap school buildings would seem to be be wasteful and without sufficient reason. Are you worried that you wouldn't end up zoned for ASFS? Is that what this about? Trying to understand.

I'm not necessarily pushing for this but....there is no nearby neighborhood ES from Rosslyn to Courthouse. Making the Key School location a neighborhood school would better distribute ESs around the county.

[Anonymous]

^ NP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So if my kid goes to Claremont, under the new plan he would then have the option to go to Willamsburg and then Yorktown? That sounds like a win for me. Unless, I do not understand the chart at all, which is possible!

We're in a similar situation and initially I had the same thought. The location of Gunston is far from our home and Williamsburg is very close. More than anything, though, I want the county to invest on making the program more robust - and maybe that involves adding a second middle school option and maybe it doesn't. The comments here about finding enough teachers and being able to implement two high-quality middle school programs at the same time make me worried. To me, the ideal solution would be to have one middle school immersion program that is more centrally located. If they're not prepared to implement two high quality middle school options, I would much rather my kids attend Gunston and deal with the extra distance than be forced to attend a more conveniently located watered down version of what is currently offered at Gunston.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So if my kid goes to Claremont, under the new plan he would then have the option to go to Willamsburg and then Yorktown? That sounds like a win for me. Unless, I do not understand the chart at all, which is possible!

We're in a similar situation and initially I had the same thought. The location of Gunston is far from our home and Williamsburg is very close. More than anything, though, I want the county to invest on making the program more robust - and maybe that involves adding a second middle school option and maybe it doesn't. The comments here about finding enough teachers and being able to implement two high-quality middle school programs at the same time make me worried. To me, the ideal solution would be to have one middle school immersion program that is more centrally located. If they're not prepared to implement two high quality middle school options, I would much rather my kids attend Gunston and deal with the extra distance than be forced to attend a more conveniently located watered down version of what is currently offered at Gunston.

Interesting and I can agree with that. Hopefully they know what they are doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this Key vs. ASFS argument. Why would it be a good idea to have the programs swap similarly sized buildings? That's silly and wasteful. The ASFS building is better set up to transition to a STEAM neighborhood school, given the investment in the science labs that have already been made. Why would you want this? Presumably, you are upset that your neighborhood school will be further away from you. But what of the kids who live closer to ASFS now and could be zoned there? This is probably something they'd like. I have seen many parents on here saying that it should be a neighborhood school because then they could have a walkable school. I think there could be walkers to either school, probably of equal numbers, once they reconfigure the boundaries. To have the established programs swap school buildings would seem to be be wasteful and without sufficient reason. Are you worried that you wouldn't end up zoned for ASFS? Is that what this about? Trying to understand.

It's strange that there is no walk zone for asfs-- all kids that live within 0.4 miles are zoned for Taylor. I am zoned for key and chose asfs, so I don't see any issue with the current arrangement. The people in the asfs neighborhood strongly disagree-- you talk to anyone in that neighborhood and they are pissed that they can't even lottery in anymore. So let's say asfs transitions to the neighborhood school, why are the kids in that neighborhood not zoned for it? So they redraw the lines, and either they put half of the key district somewhere else (longbranch? Jamestown?) because a significant amount of Taylor is now zoned for asfs or asfs gets three more planning units assigned to it. Either way it seems like the key district will get screwed. If they keep boundary lines the same, then it seems fine, but considering asfs was mentioned by name in the first community feedback meeting as an example of how options are bad and the current zoning is screwed up, I doubt that will happen.

[Anonymous]

^^ if boundaries stay the same, it is fine for you. I am not anywhere near Science Focus - but it seems crazy that someone that lives next door cannot attend this school. If it becomes a neighborhood school, boundaries should be redrawn. Maybe that will be an opportunity to fix all the bad boundary decisions they have made. Esp. regarding McKinley. Note - I am not a McKinley parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ if boundaries stay the same, it is fine for you. I am not anywhere near Science Focus - but it seems crazy that someone that lives next door cannot attend this school. If it becomes a neighborhood school, boundaries should be redrawn. Maybe that will be an opportunity to fix all the bad boundary decisions they have made. Esp. regarding McKinley. Note - I am not a McKinley parent.

Ha! Not if the Nottingham parents have anything to say about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Key is ES, though. How many ES kids are getting to/from school by metro? They certainly are not traveling alone.

They are not alone. I see kids get off the metro and the bus all the time.
We can't discount the number of lower income families who go to Key. It is much higher than ASF. Remember Key pulls from North and South Arlington. For some of these families school bus times may not work. I get that the times aren't ideal for everyone but lower income families are less likely to have cars and/or work hour flexibility. Being able to use public transportation is a big plus.

ASF being less than a mile from 2 metro stations is not the same as Key being 2-3 blocks from the metro and several bus lines.

We are walkers to Key and I metro to work so I see a fair share of kids who commute using public transportation. With their parents of course.
Stats on this would be helpful as this is just my personal observation over 3 years.

For the PP who asked about transfer out stats, I don't think these exist. The current zone is Key/ASF you go to one or the other. You don't have to opt out of Key to go to ASF.

The stats do exist in the transfer report. http://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Transfer-Report-2015-16.pdf

The Key zone sent 462 students to ASFS during the 2015-16 school year. Of these transfers, of these transfers, 113 were of "disadvantaged" status. Key, on the other hand, had 282 in zone students attend (673 total minus 391 transfers in). Of the 391 transfers into Key, 110 were disadvantaged. Key is sending as many disadvantaged kids to ASFS as are coming in with transfers. I get that you want to keep your walkable Key with your preferred program. I want to have a walkable Key as a normal neighborhood school. These are our respective biases and I think both positions are understandable. The numbers appear to show that there are more in the Key zone that want a more mainstream curriculum than those who want immersion as indicated by the 462 transferring to ASFS vs the 282 staying at Key.

Yes, but there are also plenty more "disadvantaged" status kids coming to Key from other neighborhoods, and they are the ones who need the close-in bus and Metro access (walking 3 blocks with elementary school kids is quite different than walking 'less than a mile').

There are 110 disadvantaged status kids transferring in from other neighborhoods. These are the kids that you are saying need the metro and buses, right? There are 113 Key zone disadvantaged kids kids transferring to ASFS who presumably would not only benefit from proximity to the metro and buses, but also additional proximity to the school. The rest of the disadvantaged status kids at Key are in zone (181 out of 291 total). Some portion of those kids are there specifically for the immersion program and would follow it to another building. Some other portion of those kids are going to Key because it is close and convenient. These are the only numbers I can't quantify. The rest are in the report.

Honestly, it sounds like you are mostly interested in preserving your status quo, which does sound awesome! Walking to school drop off and then hopping on the metro to work would be great!

No, I'm the person who posted the second time (about who needed the close-in bus and Metro access), and I don't benefit either way because my child past elementary school age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Key is ES, though. How many ES kids are getting to/from school by metro? They certainly are not traveling alone.

They are not alone. I see kids get off the metro and the bus all the time.
We can't discount the number of lower income families who go to Key. It is much higher than ASF. Remember Key pulls from North and South Arlington. For some of these families school bus times may not work. I get that the times aren't ideal for everyone but lower income families are less likely to have cars and/or work hour flexibility. Being able to use public transportation is a big plus.

ASF being less than a mile from 2 metro stations is not the same as Key being 2-3 blocks from the metro and several bus lines.

We are walkers to Key and I metro to work so I see a fair share of kids who commute using public transportation. With their parents of course.
Stats on this would be helpful as this is just my personal observation over 3 years.

For the PP who asked about transfer out stats, I don't think these exist. The current zone is Key/ASF you go to one or the other. You don't have to opt out of Key to go to ASF.

The stats do exist in the transfer report. http://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Transfer-Report-2015-16.pdf

The Key zone sent 462 students to ASFS during the 2015-16 school year. Of these transfers, of these transfers, 113 were of "disadvantaged" status. Key, on the other hand, had 282 in zone students attend (673 total minus 391 transfers in). Of the 391 transfers into Key, 110 were disadvantaged. Key is sending as many disadvantaged kids to ASFS as are coming in with transfers. I get that you want to keep your walkable Key with your preferred program. I want to have a walkable Key as a normal neighborhood school. These are our respective biases and I think both positions are understandable. The numbers appear to show that there are more in the Key zone that want a more mainstream curriculum than those who want immersion as indicated by the 462 transferring to ASFS vs the 282 staying at Key.

Yes, but there are also plenty more "disadvantaged" status kids coming to Key from other neighborhoods, and they are the ones who need the close-in bus and Metro access (walking 3 blocks with elementary school kids is quite different than walking 'less than a mile').

There are 110 disadvantaged status kids transferring in from other neighborhoods. These are the kids that you are saying need the metro and buses, right? There are 113 Key zone disadvantaged kids kids transferring to ASFS who presumably would not only benefit from proximity to the metro and buses, but also additional proximity to the school. The rest of the disadvantaged status kids at Key are in zone (181 out of 291 total). Some portion of those kids are there specifically for the immersion program and would follow it to another building. Some other portion of those kids are going to Key because it is close and convenient. These are the only numbers I can't quantify. The rest are in the report.

Honestly, it sounds like you are mostly interested in preserving your status quo, which does sound awesome! Walking to school drop off and then hopping on the metro to work would be great!

You are replying to me but I was not the most recent poster. There are a few folks replying here. And yes my status quo is great but that is not the only reason I think immersion should stay at Key.