Thoughts on McKinley or Discovery?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no way that the ATS program will be eliminated. It has a powerful lobby and a truly formidable principal. Moreover, the School Board seems to hold ATS out as a flagship APS elementary school: economically diverse, racially diverse, with consistently high test scores. There aren't many APS elementary schools that fall into that category. I just don't see the School Board dissolving such a successful program.

Now, the school could certainly be moved. It's on a large plot of land in the center of the county and surrounded by overcrowded elementary schools (ATS is also overcrowded).

I very much doubt that it would ever be moved to the Madison site in far north Arlington. That would give the impression that the ATS program (which draws about equally from north and south Arlington) would now be disprportionately for north Arlington students. Randolph or Barcroft could conceivably work, because they are both near the center of the county. But the displaced kids from that school (Randolph or Barcroft) would need to go somewhere. We can't solve this capacity problem simply by moving programs and neighborhood schools to other, existing school buildings. We need to build new school sites. I wonder if the Walter Reed Community Center would ever be an option? If the County Board ever has the political will be turn a community center into a school (doubtful), Walter Reed seems like a better candidate than Madison.

No way the boomers give up Walter Reed.
No way.

I'm the PP you're quoting, and I think you're right.

I would love to know how much the existing community centers are used, and how they are used. Do they really need to sit on such large plots of land, or could the county offer the same programming in smaller/different facilities. I know that it will probably never happend, though!

Walter Reed was considered during the SAWG process. Honestly, it was exactly where we needed a new school, however, I think it's also one of the better utilized community centers. One of my kids had a couple clases there as toddler/preschooler and it was always full.

During the SAWG process we held a meeting on the site when a group of seniors showed up to protest. They shouted down speakers. That site is off the table permanently. Trust.

I do feel better knowing that it's well utilized. I happened to drive by Water Reed at midday yesterday, and I did notice that the parking lot was full. Madison, on the other hand, seems much less busy.

It's unfortunate the schools don't seem to have the same political clout as the seniors. That's something that we can all do our part to fix, if we make the effort.

[Anonymous]

This thread has been JACKED!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread has been JACKED!

By you? Pirates?

[Anonymous]

expect a clean up soon

[Anonymous]

Why not just lock it then? What do you want deleted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not just lock it then? What do you want deleted?

Was it when people started talking about issues in South Arlington? Not related to McKinley or Discovery, but I found them to be polite discussion.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Why not just lock it then? What do you want deleted?

This seems like the easiest course of action given that I don't really have any idea what people are talking about in this thread. I had to Google "ATS".