8/27 APS Work Session—Elementary Boundaries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can’t prioritize walkers and address either (1) the space problem or (2) the segregation problem in this county. So talk about walkers and bus costs all you want. The truth is kids are having to ride buses more and more any way you arrange it. But, glad to see Westover returning to the “we have so many walker argument.” The “We need the new school and we won’t give it to option a hook kids” argument was really over the top.

So Westover is zoned to Reed and Swanson, and its high school becomes Wakefield. Kids get a walkable school for K-8, Wakefield gets a more balanced demographic.

Yeah. Like that's ever going to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I, for one, am so hopeful that the deal Westover got from the SB 5 years ago gets blown up over this. It should. Conditions have changed drastically and that “promise” needs to be revisited. I agree that the second best option is to “Fleet” McKinley. Essentially give Reed to McKinley (still 100% walkable school) with a crossing guard at Washington Blvd) and make McKinley immersion. Reed draws from the East and south and fills with almost all walkers.

There is a high risk of not being able to fill 725 immersion seats at McKinley. Now, If APS was willing to change its foreign language approach it could be done. You do not need a 50/50 split for a language school. Have lots of friends whose kids are in French immersion without any other kids who are native French speakers.

They could move immersion to the ATS site and then move ATS to McKinley. It would let them expand the program substantially, which would be a good thing given the high demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I, for one, am so hopeful that the deal Westover got from the SB 5 years ago gets blownup over this. It should. Conditions have changed drastically and that “promise” needs to be revisited. I agree that the second best option is to “Fleet” McKinley. Essentially give Reed to McKinley (still 100% walkable school) with a crossing guard at Washington Blvd) and make McKinley immersion. Reed draws from the East and south and fills with almost all walkers.

There is a high risk of not being able to fill 725 immersion seats at McKinley. Now, If APS was willing to change its foreign language approach it could be done. You do not need a 50/50 split for a language school. Have lots of friends whose kids are in French immersion without any other kids who are native French speakers.

They could move immersion to the ATS site and then move ATS to McKinley. It would let them expand the program substantially, which would be a good thing given the high demand.

ATS will disappear, and there’s a decent chance that a second immersion school will as well, in favor of immersion classrooms in the south. If they keep the second immersion school odds are it moves south.

Where will an IB school go is the question we should be asking, because it’s what the school board is considering now.

[Anonymous]

Ats is the highest performing and highest demand school in the county. What makes anyone think the county will dissolve the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ats is the highest performing and highest demand school in the county. What makes anyone think the county will dissolve the program.

It does not appear anywhere in the IPP framework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I, for one, am so hopeful that the deal Westover got from the SB 5 years ago gets blown up over this. It should. Conditions have changed drastically and that “promise” needs to be revisited. I agree that the second best option is to “Fleet” McKinley. Essentially give Reed to McKinley (still 100% walkable school) with a crossing guard at Washington Blvd) and make McKinley immersion. Reed draws from the East and south and fills with almost all walkers.

There is a high risk of not being able to fill 725 immersion seats at McKinley. Now, If APS was willing to change its foreign language approach it could be done. You do not need a 50/50 split for a language school. Have lots of friends whose kids are in French immersion without any other kids who are native French speakers.

Cintia Johnson herself said last week that the integrity of the immersion program hinges on a 50/50 mix, putting those schools/classrooms where the Spanish speakers are as necessary. So our interim superintendent thinks immersion should move south and said as much in the same meeting where staff said to forget about the key/ASFS swap.

[Anonymous]

I wish APS would release a dataset so that interested parents could tinker with drawing boundaries. There are a lot of smart people in Arlington. It would be interesting to see actual data-based solutions from community members that create boundaries and show the demographics at schools. This is all interesting speculation, but without the data, none of us can really figure out what might work. I am confident better solutions exist, and I also think APS is undermanned right now to find them. Let the community work on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ats is the highest performing and highest demand school in the county. What makes anyone think the county will dissolve the program.

The only reason it performs so highly is that it has no deadweight. The only difference between it and a neighborhood school is the lottery ensures only motivated families attend. If it continues to exist it should grow to be at least as large as the largest neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ats is the highest performing and highest demand school in the county. What makes anyone think the county will dissolve the program.

It does not appear anywhere in the IPP framework.

Because they’re converting it to IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish APS would release a dataset so that interested parents could tinker with drawing boundaries. There are a lot of smart people in Arlington. It would be interesting to see actual data-based solutions from community members that create boundaries and show the demographics at schools. This is all interesting speculation, but without the data, none of us can really figure out what might work. I am confident better solutions exist, and I also think APS is undermanned right now to find them. Let the community work on this.

I think it would be an excellent project for grad students too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish APS would release a dataset so that interested parents could tinker with drawing boundaries. There are a lot of smart people in Arlington. It would be interesting to see actual data-based solutions from community members that create boundaries and show the demographics at schools. This is all interesting speculation, but without the data, none of us can really figure out what might work. I am confident better solutions exist, and I also think APS is undermanned right now to find them. Let the community work on this.

So they can end up with 137 competing proposals rather than two? Sure, that’ll work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ats is the highest performing and highest demand school in the county. What makes anyone think the county will dissolve the program.

The only reason it performs so highly is that it has no deadweight. The only difference between it and a neighborhood school is the lottery ensures only motivated families attend. If it continues to exist it should grow to be at least as large as the largest neighborhood school.

lmao my favorite thing about this thread is the constant repetition of the good things about ATS as the reasons it shouldn't exist.

[Anonymous]

Well people are right that ATS is not magic. It’s just a self selected student body. That’s true. It’s also why it can’t be replicated in a non lottery program. So basically it takes kids destined to succeed then claims credit for their scores. Keep it or don’t. But don’t kid yourself that it has some secret sauce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well people are right that ATS is not magic. It’s just a self selected student body. That’s true. It’s also why it can’t be replicated in a non lottery program. So basically it takes kids destined to succeed then claims credit for their scores. Keep it or don’t. But don’t kid yourself that it has some secret sauce.

You don’t know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well people are right that ATS is not magic. It’s just a self selected student body. That’s true. It’s also why it can’t be replicated in a non lottery program. So basically it takes kids destined to succeed then claims credit for their scores. Keep it or don’t. But don’t kid yourself that it has some secret sauce.

Blind lottery = "self selected"

My God this message board...