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

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know when these changes would go into effect.

[Anonymous]

"The revised policy will be implemented in the 2018-19 school year."

The timeline says "Final policy published" on April 19; public hearing in May; School Board action in June.

https://www.apsva.us/transfer-policy-revisions/enrollment-faqs/

[Anonymous]

FYI, the second drafts of the proposals were published last night:

https://www.apsva.us/transfer-policy-revisions/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI, the second drafts of the proposals were published last night:

https://www.apsva.us/transfer-policy-revisions/

Thanks. I'm delighted to see that they fixed the twin policy!

[Anonymous]

^^ I agree. And I have twins.

[Anonymous]

"Once a transfer has been granted, enrollment will be continuous through the grade levels of that
school unless the school is involved in redistricting"


GOOD! I hope people take advantage of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Once a transfer has been granted, enrollment will be continuous through the grade levels of that
school unless the school is involved in redistricting"


GOOD! I hope people take advantage of this.

how is this different than before? Why wouldn't folks take advantage of this? Am I missing something?

[Anonymous]

Regarding effective date of the policy... if you watch the work session video (which I did), my impression is that the policy revisions go into effect in '18 but this East-West zone idea is not part of the transfer policy itself. Dr. Natress presented the framework to the SB within the context of the transfer discussion, because she wanted the School Board to understand the potential future restructuring ideas before they voted on the policy to make sure that it would fit with the new framework. I think the actual East-West implementation won't happen for a few more years-- at the very least, they need to get the new S. Arlington ES built and finish the expansion of Reed in Westover. So I think it is more likely a 2020 or 2021 roll-out. But let's be real here-- if they go with this plan, the entire County is going to have to go through a massive redistricting process for ES (and possibly HS too, if they build a 4th comprehensive high school). Unless you live in the walking zone to your neighborhood ES, I think there is a chance you will move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Once a transfer has been granted, enrollment will be continuous through the grade levels of that
school unless the school is involved in redistricting"


GOOD! I hope people take advantage of this.

how is this different than before? Why wouldn't folks take advantage of this? Am I missing something?

This isn't different than before. That text is part of the existing policy, not an edit. But from comments on DCUM it sounds like perhaps it was enforced inconsistently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding effective date of the policy... if you watch the work session video (which I did), my impression is that the policy revisions go into effect in '18 but this East-West zone idea is not part of the transfer policy itself. Dr. Natress presented the framework to the SB within the context of the transfer discussion, because she wanted the School Board to understand the potential future restructuring ideas before they voted on the policy to make sure that it would fit with the new framework. I think the actual East-West implementation won't happen for a few more years-- at the very least, they need to get the new S. Arlington ES built and finish the expansion of Reed in Westover. So I think it is more likely a 2020 or 2021 roll-out. But let's be real here-- if they go with this plan, the entire County is going to have to go through a massive redistricting process for ES (and possibly HS too, if they build a 4th comprehensive high school). Unless you live in the walking zone to your neighborhood ES, I think there is a chance you will move.

It's also clear in the markup of the policy that things like IB, Immersion, etc. are being shown as the exiting options available now but may at some point be split into zones based on demand/capacity.

[Anonymous]

In the proposal to make the new Reed an IB elementary, I am trying to understand where the demand for that is coming from. Is there a wait list for Randolph? Why create a new elementary choice program that no one is asking for, rather than duplicating / expanding Campbell, ATS, or Montessori, all of which have wait lists? Does anyone have any information where this is coming from? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

And, of course I note the huge neighborhood demand for a neighborhood elementary at Reed (which I think makes the most sense). But, if it is going to be choice - why IB? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Once a transfer has been granted, enrollment will be continuous through the grade levels of that
school unless the school is involved in redistricting"


GOOD! I hope people take advantage of this.

how is this different than before? Why wouldn't folks take advantage of this? Am I missing something?

This isn't different than before. That text is part of the existing policy, not an edit. But from comments on DCUM it sounds like perhaps it was enforced inconsistently.

This is a bit different than before. If you transferred into a lottery program, you were there for the duration. If you transferred to a neighborhood school, you had to apply each year. This happened when Discovery opened. Some non-grandfathered kids were allowed to transfer to stay at their old school. However, they had to apply each year to stay at their legacy school instead of going to Discovery, their neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And, of course I note the huge neighborhood demand for a neighborhood elementary at Reed (which I think makes the most sense). But, if it is going to be choice - why IB? Thanks.

There is not extra demand for IB. Randolph is underenrolled. There is a huge need for a neighborhood school, however.

[Anonymous]

My understanding is that the idea has more to do with providing continuity in educational options (i.e. i.b. technically available from k all the way through 12) than because of specific demand. Also, my understanding is that Montessori does not actually always have a waiting list and the program is already expanding--there will be more seats when they open at Henry. Randolph is under-enrolled because the demographic makeup and test scores scare people away--it's not that people don't want ib. (Although maybe they don't--I just don't think you can say they don't based off of Randolph's enrollment). Right now Campbell is only available for those in S. Arlington. It will now be available for the whole County. My impression is that some (not all) families use it to avoid Carlin Springs. Those in the Carlin Springs neighborhood will eventually be able to try to lottery into Reed (or maybe to Randolph before that is available).

While i.b. does not provide the expeditionary learning model and extra outdoor time that Campbell provides it does include an emphasis on developing inquiry-based learning, encouraging questions and deep engagement, community service, and portfolio projects.