8/27 APS Work Session—Elementary Boundaries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Final answer:

1) McKinely -> Reed some wiggle around borders for walk zone but mostly same students, admins, teachers

2) move ATS/IB to McKinely. Supersize it to 725 students since it works so well and is a high demand program.

3) Default ATS/IB lottery to include ALL APS students, offer them spots if they are selected. Parents no longer have to sign up lottery, they just decide when it matters.

4) move Key Immersion -> ATS site. Drop 50/50 requirement; it’s going to be the anchor that strangles them if they aren’t careful

I don’t hate #2. But O think the SB has visions of getting kids from S of 50 zones to Ashlawn and maybe even McK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Final answer:

1) McKinely -> Reed some wiggle around borders for walk zone but mostly same students, admins, teachers

2) move ATS/IB to McKinely. Supersize it to 725 students since it works so well and is a high demand program.

3) Default ATS/IB lottery to include ALL APS students, offer them spots if they are selected. Parents no longer have to sign up lottery, they just decide when it matters.

4) move Key Immersion -> ATS site. Drop 50/50 requirement; it’s going to be the anchor that strangles them if they aren’t careful

I had hoped that you would at least learn how to spell McKinley before your final post, but I welcome it regardless.

Sorry I’m depending on autocorrect here. Is it not named after the president? Who else is Siri spelling!

But regardless of spelling I hope you support spirit.

[Anonymous]

Can I ask why everyone is so hellbent on eliminating ATS? I don’t want to start another war about the lottery process, etc. I’m just confused that so many on this thread recommend eliminating it in favor of other option programs. Why should it be chopped instead of any other option program? It’s one of the most successful schools in the county. I agree that it’s formula should be replicated elsewhere so more people can benefit. Killing it outright has never made any sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask why everyone is so hellbent on eliminating ATS? I don’t want to start another war about the lottery process, etc. I’m just confused that so many on this thread recommend eliminating it in favor of other option programs. Why should it be chopped instead of any other option program? It’s one of the most successful schools in the county. I agree that it’s formula should be replicated elsewhere so more people can benefit. Killing it outright has never made any sense to me.

It’s not us. ATS is not in the IPP. The process occurred last year. As I understand it, every option school/program had to defend/justify its existence and demonstrate what made them special/different from neighborhood schools, other than a lottery. If the SB follows staff guidance, there won’t be ATS as it currently exists. Rather, there will be an IB option school. That’s what people are speculating about.

Just my personal opinion, but I think ATS has a clearly different/distinct culture, but not a distinct pedagogy. I think ATS will just be morphed into the IB school over time, as they train staff in IB practices. It will probably retain its culture if most staff stays and current ATS kids are “grandfathered” in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Final answer:

1) McKinely -> Reed some wiggle around borders for walk zone but mostly same students, admins, teachers

2) move ATS/IB to McKinely. Supersize it to 725 students since it works so well and is a high demand program.

3) Default ATS/IB lottery to include ALL APS students, offer them spots if they are selected. Parents no longer have to sign up lottery, they just decide when it matters.

4) move Key Immersion -> ATS site. Drop 50/50 requirement; it’s going to be the anchor that strangles them if they aren’t careful

I don’t hate #2. But O think the SB has visions of getting kids from S of 50 zones to Ashlawn and maybe even McK.

Cute. You think APS envisions something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask why everyone is so hellbent on eliminating ATS? I don’t want to start another war about the lottery process, etc. I’m just confused that so many on this thread recommend eliminating it in favor of other option programs. Why should it be chopped instead of any other option program? It’s one of the most successful schools in the county. I agree that it’s formula should be replicated elsewhere so more people can benefit. Killing it outright has never made any sense to me.

Because it no longer is significantly different from other schools. The original purpose of closed classrooms is no longer missing from all the other schools.

I do believe there is higher expectation - for every student - and more discipline. But those things should be implemented in every school in Arlington, thereby eliminating any remaining uniqueness of ATS except for the self-selecting status seeking enrollment. And, as "traditional" as I am, even I think some of the ATS stuff is too much. They put way too much pressure on the students, making them feel they've failed if they don't pass advance every SOL. They use fear tactics (in middle school....) needlessly and to the harm of some student's anxiety. The ATS approach does not suit many of our special ed/ELL students well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask why everyone is so hellbent on eliminating ATS? I don’t want to start another war about the lottery process, etc. I’m just confused that so many on this thread recommend eliminating it in favor of other option programs. Why should it be chopped instead of any other option program? It’s one of the most successful schools in the county. I agree that it’s formula should be replicated elsewhere so more people can benefit. Killing it outright has never made any sense to me.

Because it no longer is significantly different from other schools. The original purpose of closed classrooms is no longer missing from all the other schools.

I do believe there is higher expectation - for every student - and more discipline. But those things should be implemented in every school in Arlington, thereby eliminating any remaining uniqueness of ATS except for the self-selecting status seeking enrollment. And, as "traditional" as I am, even I think some of the ATS stuff is too much. They put way too much pressure on the students, making them feel they've failed if they don't pass advance every SOL. They use fear tactics (in middle school....) needlessly and to the harm of some student's anxiety. The ATS approach does not suit many of our special ed/ELL students well.

That’s why there are choices. Some parents want that, and will be a PITA at other schools if they don’t get it. Montessori is great for the parents who DGAF (I know, my kids went there, they are anti-homework and anti-pressure to the point where I felt like my kids weren’t ready to deal with middle school.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask why everyone is so hellbent on eliminating ATS? I don’t want to start another war about the lottery process, etc. I’m just confused that so many on this thread recommend eliminating it in favor of other option programs. Why should it be chopped instead of any other option program? It’s one of the most successful schools in the county. I agree that it’s formula should be replicated elsewhere so more people can benefit. Killing it outright has never made any sense to me.

I have been commenting on the elimination of ats not because I want it to happen, but because the school board has not included it in their IPP. I don’t want to waste time speculating whether ATS will stay or move, and where, when it probably won’t exist in a few years. Who knows, maybe they’ll keep it, but that doesn’t appear to be the case based on published IPP materials or recent work sessions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask why everyone is so hellbent on eliminating ATS? I don’t want to start another war about the lottery process, etc. I’m just confused that so many on this thread recommend eliminating it in favor of other option programs. Why should it be chopped instead of any other option program? It’s one of the most successful schools in the county. I agree that it’s formula should be replicated elsewhere so more people can benefit. Killing it outright has never made any sense to me.

I have been commenting on the elimination of ats not because I want it to happen, but because the school board has not included it in their IPP. I don’t want to waste time speculating whether ATS will stay or move, and where, when it probably won’t exist in a few years. Who knows, maybe they’ll keep it, but that doesn’t appear to be the case based on published IPP materials or recent work sessions.

But it will be replaced by IB. They’re not reducing the number of option schools, just redesigning one of them. It will still need a home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask why everyone is so hellbent on eliminating ATS? I don’t want to start another war about the lottery process, etc. I’m just confused that so many on this thread recommend eliminating it in favor of other option programs. Why should it be chopped instead of any other option program? It’s one of the most successful schools in the county. I agree that it’s formula should be replicated elsewhere so more people can benefit. Killing it outright has never made any sense to me.

I have been commenting on the elimination of ats not because I want it to happen, but because the school board has not included it in their IPP. I don’t want to waste time speculating whether ATS will stay or move, and where, when it probably won’t exist in a few years. Who knows, maybe they’ll keep it, but that doesn’t appear to be the case based on published IPP materials or recent work sessions.

But it will be replaced by IB. They’re not reducing the number of option schools, just redesigning one of them. It will still need a home.

Yes, but IB is something totally different. The school would no longer be ATS.

On a related note for those who haven’t been following the IPP process closely, it’s pay attention time. The SB is working with recommendations and considering a lot of changes from pk to 12. They are not working piecemeal a la the failed Key/ASFS swap, but looking holistically at the entire system. There is the possibility that there will be upper and lower elementaries, preschool classes will be shuffled around, option programs will be moved, changed or eliminated, Arlington tech may morph into early college or something else, and all sorts of other fun stuff. There are a lot of big changes potentially coming our way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask why everyone is so hellbent on eliminating ATS? I don’t want to start another war about the lottery process, etc. I’m just confused that so many on this thread recommend eliminating it in favor of other option programs. Why should it be chopped instead of any other option program? It’s one of the most successful schools in the county. I agree that it’s formula should be replicated elsewhere so more people can benefit. Killing it outright has never made any sense to me.

I have been commenting on the elimination of ats not because I want it to happen, but because the school board has not included it in their IPP. I don’t want to waste time speculating whether ATS will stay or move, and where, when it probably won’t exist in a few years. Who knows, maybe they’ll keep it, but that doesn’t appear to be the case based on published IPP materials or recent work sessions.

But it will be replaced by IB. They’re not reducing the number of option schools, just redesigning one of them. It will still need a home.

Yes, but IB is something totally different. The school would no longer be ATS.

On a related note for those who haven’t been following the IPP process closely, it’s pay attention time. The SB is working with recommendations and considering a lot of changes from pk to 12. They are not working piecemeal a la the failed Key/ASFS swap, but looking holistically at the entire system. There is the possibility that there will be upper and lower elementaries, preschool classes will be shuffled around, option programs will be moved, changed or eliminated, Arlington tech may morph into early college or something else, and all sorts of other fun stuff. There are a lot of big changes potentially coming our way.

Good. APS needs a wholesale redesign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask why everyone is so hellbent on eliminating ATS? I don’t want to start another war about the lottery process, etc. I’m just confused that so many on this thread recommend eliminating it in favor of other option programs. Why should it be chopped instead of any other option program? It’s one of the most successful schools in the county. I agree that it’s formula should be replicated elsewhere so more people can benefit. Killing it outright has never made any sense to me.

I have been commenting on the elimination of ats not because I want it to happen, but because the school board has not included it in their IPP. I don’t want to waste time speculating whether ATS will stay or move, and where, when it probably won’t exist in a few years. Who knows, maybe they’ll keep it, but that doesn’t appear to be the case based on published IPP materials or recent work sessions.

But it will be replaced by IB. They’re not reducing the number of option schools, just redesigning one of them. It will still need a home.

Yes, but IB is something totally different. The school would no longer be ATS.

On a related note for those who haven’t been following the IPP process closely, it’s pay attention time. The SB is working with recommendations and considering a lot of changes from pk to 12. They are not working piecemeal a la the failed Key/ASFS swap, but looking holistically at the entire system. There is the possibility that there will be upper and lower elementaries, preschool classes will be shuffled around, option programs will be moved, changed or eliminated, Arlington tech may morph into early college or something else, and all sorts of other fun stuff. There are a lot of big changes potentially coming our way.

I just watched the work session. LS was the only person making any of the suggestions that PP mentions above (upper/lower, etc). My favorite part of the session was when Reid asked her about the swap, and she said "The swap doesn't make sense." Lololol. If it doesn't make sense today, how did it make any sense a year ago when it was announced? I wish I could have seen PM's face when she said that.

[Anonymous]

Ats needs to inform everyone what exactly makes it so special. So far, I don’t see any difference between it and in other than the fact that ib is an accepted educational model. All neighborhood schools are traditional schools, with a teacher that teaches in a traditional classroom setting. Many of the neighborhood schools have an emphasis on reading and writing, and require both on a daily basis starting in kindergarten. My fifth grader at Asfs had thirty minutes reading, a writing assignment, and twenty minutes of math everyday for homework last year. Plus 20 min practice time for an instrument. Third grade wasn’t much less. So there isn’t a monopoly on homework, a lot of Aps schools have a lot of homework.

To the pp saying Arlington tech may morph into early college, I think you need to read the stuff around the ipp more. They think it’s already early college. The only change in the ipp was the idea that ats should evolve into an ib program, and grow to meet demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask why everyone is so hellbent on eliminating ATS? I don’t want to start another war about the lottery process, etc. I’m just confused that so many on this thread recommend eliminating it in favor of other option programs. Why should it be chopped instead of any other option program? It’s one of the most successful schools in the county. I agree that it’s formula should be replicated elsewhere so more people can benefit. Killing it outright has never made any sense to me.

I have been commenting on the elimination of ats not because I want it to happen, but because the school board has not included it in their IPP. I don’t want to waste time speculating whether ATS will stay or move, and where, when it probably won’t exist in a few years. Who knows, maybe they’ll keep it, but that doesn’t appear to be the case based on published IPP materials or recent work sessions.

But it will be replaced by IB. They’re not reducing the number of option schools, just redesigning one of them. It will still need a home.

Yes, but IB is something totally different. The school would no longer be ATS.

On a related note for those who haven’t been following the IPP process closely, it’s pay attention time. The SB is working with recommendations and considering a lot of changes from pk to 12. They are not working piecemeal a la the failed Key/ASFS swap, but looking holistically at the entire system. There is the possibility that there will be upper and lower elementaries, preschool classes will be shuffled around, option programs will be moved, changed or eliminated, Arlington tech may morph into early college or something else, and all sorts of other fun stuff. There are a lot of big changes potentially coming our way.

I just watched the work session. LS was the only person making any of the suggestions that PP mentions above (upper/lower, etc). My favorite part of the session was when Reid asked her about the swap, and she said "The swap doesn't make sense." Lololol. If it doesn't make sense today, how did it make any sense a year ago when it was announced? I wish I could have seen PM's face when she said that.

There are a lot of recommendations on the table that they barely touched on in this meeting.

Reid is the only one who consistently asks questions that outsiders must be wondering. He sees that the IPP is just this jello-like mass of recommendations that the SB is expected to nail down in some way that makes sense. The others are gleeful over the “smart,” undefined, changeable charge they have that isn’t really a charge at all. I foresee some SB/SB, SB/community clashes over the next year while they try to mold an overstuffed system into something shiny and new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ats needs to inform everyone what exactly makes it so special. So far, I don’t see any difference between it and in other than the fact that ib is an accepted educational model. All neighborhood schools are traditional schools, with a teacher that teaches in a traditional classroom setting. Many of the neighborhood schools have an emphasis on reading and writing, and require both on a daily basis starting in kindergarten. My fifth grader at Asfs had thirty minutes reading, a writing assignment, and twenty minutes of math everyday for homework last year. Plus 20 min practice time for an instrument. Third grade wasn’t much less. So there isn’t a monopoly on homework, a lot of Aps schools have a lot of homework.

To the pp saying Arlington tech may morph into early college, I think you need to read the stuff around the ipp more. They think it’s already early college. The only change in the ipp was the idea that ats should evolve into an ib program, and grow to meet demand.

There was a lot of talk in the late spring meeting about “early college” and the changes that they recommend for Arlington Tech. The recommendation was not to leave Arlington tech alone and just start calling it early college.