Nancy Van Doren just went off the deep end

[Anonymous]

Twins are treated as one for Option elementary schools because there is a sibling preference that would allow twins to game the system and get double the chance.

For secondary schools where there is no sibling preference, it makes no sense to have twins treated as one. It doesn't make things more fair (as it does at the ES level). It creates a special class exception for siblings in the same grade.

Nancy is very mistaken on this. This is not good policy.

[Anonymous]

This is the opposite of equity. WTF is wrong with the people coming up with these plans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Twins are treated as one for Option elementary schools because there is a sibling preference that would allow twins to game the system and get double the chance.

For secondary schools where there is no sibling preference, it makes no sense to have twins treated as one. It doesn't make things more fair (as it does at the ES level). It creates a special class exception for siblings in the same grade.

Nancy is very mistaken on this. This is not good policy.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AEM has lost a lot of credibility this week. First, someone from another town put Ste about the Lander thing to get the topic started. Ok. It was a big gaffe. She didn't stop there, though, calling out other Arl Dems by name asking if they will withdraw support. Later, she's outed as Ann on-APS stakeholder and a former Arl Dem insider.

Then, someone apparently brings up NVD's behavior and the mods immediately shut it down. The episode of nasty behavior wasn't gossip, it's public record. Are the mods just afraid of NVD?

In a word, yes. NVD is pretty scary. Once she knows you disagree with her, she seems to go out of her way to be nasty. She cares a lot about kids, but she needs to learn to listen and be open to other points if view. It seems like she also is bullying Tania Tallento, who needs to become her own woman.

Nancy cares about HER kids. She works on issues that have impacted HER own kids. Period.

[Anonymous]

Any update on this?
How are sibs treated now in ele? in secondary? What are the proposed changes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AEM has lost a lot of credibility this week. First, someone from another town put Ste about the Lander thing to get the topic started. Ok. It was a big gaffe. She didn't stop there, though, calling out other Arl Dems by name asking if they will withdraw support. Later, she's outed as Ann on-APS stakeholder and a former Arl Dem insider.

Then, someone apparently brings up NVD's behavior and the mods immediately shut it down. The episode of nasty behavior wasn't gossip, it's public record. Are the mods just afraid of NVD?

In a word, yes. NVD is pretty scary. Once she knows you disagree with her, she seems to go out of her way to be nasty. She cares a lot about kids, but she needs to learn to listen and be open to other points if view. It seems like she also is bullying Tania Tallento, who needs to become her own woman.

Nancy cares about HER kids. She works on issues that have impacted HER own kids. Period.

The mods on AEM like NVD. She is shilling for their interest. They don’t like RG. It’s pretty clear how it shakes down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any update on this?
How are sibs treated now in ele? in secondary? What are the proposed changes?

I would like to know, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any update on this?
How are sibs treated now in ele? in secondary? What are the proposed changes?

I would like to know, too.

I have a report on proposed changes. Private Message me if interested in receiving the documents detailing these OUTRAGEOUS proposals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any update on this?
How are sibs treated now in ele? in secondary? What are the proposed changes?

I would like to know, too.

I have a report on proposed changes. Private Message me if interested in receiving the documents detailing these OUTRAGEOUS proposals.

Why not post them here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any update on this?
How are sibs treated now in ele? in secondary? What are the proposed changes?

I would like to know, too.

I have a report on proposed changes. Private Message me if interested in receiving the documents detailing these OUTRAGEOUS proposals.

Why not post them here?

They just re-did the policy. Are you aging they are going to re-do it again? And what are the proposed changes? Eliminating all sibling preference? Or is it about HB and secondary programs?

[Anonymous]

No, they're not redoing them again, pp is stirring up drama. Or is late to the party and just learned about how sibling priority is being applied to the montessori program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, they're not redoing them again, pp is stirring up drama. Or is late to the party and just learned about how sibling priority is being applied to the montessori program.

I'm late to the party. How is sibling preference being applied differently at montessori relative to other options, and why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, they're not redoing them again, pp is stirring up drama. Or is late to the party and just learned about how sibling priority is being applied to the montessori program.

I'm late to the party. How is sibling preference being applied differently at montessori relative to other options, and why?

At the other APS elementary choice schools, priority is given to students who attend VPI preschool at the site and younger siblings of concurrently-enrolled students at the choice school. The remaining seats are filled via the lottery. This works because there are significantly fewer VPI students in the pre-K year at those schools than there are kindergarten seats, so there's room to take all of the siblings as well as the VPI students who wish to stay at the school and still have seats leftover for the lottery. This works because VPI students get priority only for the school where they attend VPI, so a student who goes to VPI at Claremont or Barrett doesn't get priority admission for ATS; only students who go to VPI at ATS get priority there.

Montessori is different because all of the students in the APS Montessori preschool program get elementary Montessri priority at Drew, regardless of whether they attend preschool Montessori at Drew or at one of the satellite sites. In past years, between attrition from the program at the elementary level and expansion elementary program size, they've been able to give elementary Montessori priority to APS Montessori preschool students and to siblings of concurrently-enrolled students. Children who attended Montessori preschool elsewhere also got lottery priority over children who had no prior Montessori experience, which meant there was a lot of room for people who sent their kids to private Montessori programs to get their oldest child lotteried into the APS Montessori elementary program and then get all of their younger children in via sibling preference.

Now that the program will be moving to Henry the year after next, they're halting the growth of the Montessori elementary program because there isn't enough room at Henry to keep growing it the way it has. After the applications started coming in this past winter, they realized they had more applicants who qualified for priority enrollment either betweeen the APS preschool kids and the siblings than they had seats available. So they clarified the priority system so that priority goes first to students enrolled in the APS Montessori preschool program, and then to siblings who weren't in the APS preschool program (and they've done away with any preference for students who attended Montessori preschool elsewhere, they go into the general lottery pool with students who have no Montessori experience). The result this year was that only students who were in the APS preschool program were offered seats in the elementary program, and students who would have gotten in via sibling preference were waitlisted. Parents who were counting on getting their younger children into the elementary Montessori program via sibling preference are livid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, they're not redoing them again, pp is stirring up drama. Or is late to the party and just learned about how sibling priority is being applied to the montessori program.

I'm late to the party. How is sibling preference being applied differently at montessori relative to other options, and why?

At the other APS elementary choice schools, priority is given to students who attend VPI preschool at the site and younger siblings of concurrently-enrolled students at the choice school. The remaining seats are filled via the lottery. This works because there are significantly fewer VPI students in the pre-K year at those schools than there are kindergarten seats, so there's room to take all of the siblings as well as the VPI students who wish to stay at the school and still have seats leftover for the lottery. This works because VPI students get priority only for the school where they attend VPI, so a student who goes to VPI at Claremont or Barrett doesn't get priority admission for ATS; only students who go to VPI at ATS get priority there.

Montessori is different because all of the students in the APS Montessori preschool program get elementary Montessri priority at Drew, regardless of whether they attend preschool Montessori at Drew or at one of the satellite sites. In past years, between attrition from the program at the elementary level and expansion elementary program size, they've been able to give elementary Montessori priority to APS Montessori preschool students and to siblings of concurrently-enrolled students. Children who attended Montessori preschool elsewhere also got lottery priority over children who had no prior Montessori experience, which meant there was a lot of room for people who sent their kids to private Montessori programs to get their oldest child lotteried into the APS Montessori elementary program and then get all of their younger children in via sibling preference.

Now that the program will be moving to Henry the year after next, they're halting the growth of the Montessori elementary program because there isn't enough room at Henry to keep growing it the way it has. After the applications started coming in this past winter, they realized they had more applicants who qualified for priority enrollment either betweeen the APS preschool kids and the siblings than they had seats available. So they clarified the priority system so that priority goes first to students enrolled in the APS Montessori preschool program, and then to siblings who weren't in the APS preschool program (and they've done away with any preference for students who attended Montessori preschool elsewhere, they go into the general lottery pool with students who have no Montessori experience). The result this year was that only students who were in the APS preschool program were offered seats in the elementary program, and students who would have gotten in via sibling preference were waitlisted. Parents who were counting on getting their younger children into the elementary Montessori program via sibling preference are livid.

PP here. Thanks for the info. Sounds like "clarifying" actually meant changing the policy from what had been done in years past. My guess is the communications about it were also bungled, knowing APS. What's the difference between "private" Montessori and "public"/APS? I can't see any. Both require the family to pay some portion if not all of the tuition. It's all "private", but at least aps private gets guaranteed admission to Henry...until they demolish that building to build a 4th high school and have nowhere to put the montessori program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, they're not redoing them again, pp is stirring up drama. Or is late to the party and just learned about how sibling priority is being applied to the montessori program.

I'm late to the party. How is sibling preference being applied differently at montessori relative to other options, and why?

At the other APS elementary choice schools, priority is given to students who attend VPI preschool at the site and younger siblings of concurrently-enrolled students at the choice school. The remaining seats are filled via the lottery. This works because there are significantly fewer VPI students in the pre-K year at those schools than there are kindergarten seats, so there's room to take all of the siblings as well as the VPI students who wish to stay at the school and still have seats leftover for the lottery. This works because VPI students get priority only for the school where they attend VPI, so a student who goes to VPI at Claremont or Barrett doesn't get priority admission for ATS; only students who go to VPI at ATS get priority there.

Montessori is different because all of the students in the APS Montessori preschool program get elementary Montessri priority at Drew, regardless of whether they attend preschool Montessori at Drew or at one of the satellite sites. In past years, between attrition from the program at the elementary level and expansion elementary program size, they've been able to give elementary Montessori priority to APS Montessori preschool students and to siblings of concurrently-enrolled students. Children who attended Montessori preschool elsewhere also got lottery priority over children who had no prior Montessori experience, which meant there was a lot of room for people who sent their kids to private Montessori programs to get their oldest child lotteried into the APS Montessori elementary program and then get all of their younger children in via sibling preference.

Now that the program will be moving to Henry the year after next, they're halting the growth of the Montessori elementary program because there isn't enough room at Henry to keep growing it the way it has. After the applications started coming in this past winter, they realized they had more applicants who qualified for priority enrollment either betweeen the APS preschool kids and the siblings than they had seats available. So they clarified the priority system so that priority goes first to students enrolled in the APS Montessori preschool program, and then to siblings who weren't in the APS preschool program (and they've done away with any preference for students who attended Montessori preschool elsewhere, they go into the general lottery pool with students who have no Montessori experience). The result this year was that only students who were in the APS preschool program were offered seats in the elementary program, and students who would have gotten in via sibling preference were waitlisted. Parents who were counting on getting their younger children into the elementary Montessori program via sibling preference are livid.

But isn't this just a one year hiccup while they are still in the Drew building? When Montessori actually moves into Henry, there will be more Montessori ES seats. Unless they are moving a bunch of the satellite pre-K classes into Henry.