APS Middle School Boundaries?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ APS is pausing the 2023 Middle School Boundary Process and the Proposal to Relocate the Spanish Immersion Program until Fall 2024.” In email now.

Wasn’t this announced like three days ago is there something new?

THey didn't announce it 3 days ago it just appeared in the slides and the board presentation. I think they waited until today to send the email.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is the slide deck for the upcoming meeting:
https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/arlington/Board.nsf/files/CVTRSN6F3A6D/$file/Work%20Session%20MS%20Boundaries.pdf

Using the myopic vision board to guide policy is unwise. Will likely be discarded over the year to set a new set of criteria that benefit all students not just the members of the vision board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the slide deck for the upcoming meeting:
https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/arlington/Board.nsf/files/CVTRSN6F3A6D/$file/Work%20Session%20MS%20Boundaries.pdf

Using the myopic vision board to guide policy is unwise. Will likely be discarded over the year to set a new set of criteria that benefit all students not just the members of the vision board.

I want to believe that they did come to recognize that fact. The lack of explanation for immersion-to-Kenmore beyond “it’s what this random visioning committee said to do!” must have been pretty embarrassing to defend publicly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the slide deck for the upcoming meeting:
https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/arlington/Board.nsf/files/CVTRSN6F3A6D/$file/Work%20Session%20MS%20Boundaries.pdf

Using the myopic vision board to guide policy is unwise. Will likely be discarded over the year to set a new set of criteria that benefit all students not just the members of the vision board.

I want to believe that they did come to recognize that fact. The lack of explanation for immersion-to-Kenmore beyond “it’s what this random visioning committee said to do!” must have been pretty embarrassing to defend publicly.

Maybe not yet since it’s still in the slides… was there discussion because I would love to know why options get the most prime real estate.

[Anonymous]

These pathways are so bogus. IB? Really? How many kids will get to transfer to TJ for that pathway. This is just stupid. And if kids want to take spots at WL for OB, they have to do the full diploma. With the long waitlist they need to start sending kids back to their home schools when they are clearly only doing partial IB.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]These pathways are so bogus. IB? Really? How many kids will get to transfer to TJ for that pathway. This is just stupid. And if kids want to take spots at WL for OB, they have to do the full diploma. With the long waitlist they need to start sending kids back to their home schools when they are clearly only doing partial IB. [/quote]

Sorry, no. Your school has the seats thanks to the addition and the others do not. They even took neighborhood transfers this year, so good luck getting rid of kids.

Parents: Kids can go to WL without doing IB because they don’t have space for them at Wakefield.

[Anonymous]

For every kid they kick back to their home school they can take another freshman from the IB waitlist. Expand the boundaries. Fill up the school. I don’t care. But stop this ruse that we are somehow creating an IB pathway when one MS offers it and there aren’t 100 spots at TJ for transfers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For every kid they kick back to their home school they can take another freshman from the IB waitlist. Expand the boundaries. Fill up the school. I don’t care. But stop this ruse that we are somehow creating an IB pathway when one MS offers it and there aren’t 100 spots at TJ for transfers.

All of the options and MS pathways/focus are a waste of resources.

They should just focus on strong fundamentals in elem and middle school, with an honors option in middle school (they just started this).

Kids can explore IB AP dance in high school where it’s universally available.

I would even get rid of middle school sports — it’s limited capacity so ends up just for kids who played travel since they were 6. No need to support their athletic career, their parents have already invested heavily. I think lots of intramurals and athletics during the day would be better for getting all students fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every kid they kick back to their home school they can take another freshman from the IB waitlist. Expand the boundaries. Fill up the school. I don’t care. But stop this ruse that we are somehow creating an IB pathway when one MS offers it and there aren’t 100 spots at TJ for transfers.

All of the options and MS pathways/focus are a waste of resources.

They should just focus on strong fundamentals in elem and middle school, with an honors option in middle school (they just started this).

Kids can explore IB AP dance in high school where it’s universally available.

I would even get rid of middle school sports — it’s limited capacity so ends up just for kids who played travel since they were 6. No need to support their athletic career, their parents have already invested heavily. I think lots of intramurals and athletics during the day would be better for getting all students fit.

Can you run for school board?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every kid they kick back to their home school they can take another freshman from the IB waitlist. Expand the boundaries. Fill up the school. I don’t care. But stop this ruse that we are somehow creating an IB pathway when one MS offers it and there aren’t 100 spots at TJ for transfers.

All of the options and MS pathways/focus are a waste of resources.

They should just focus on strong fundamentals in elem and middle school, with an honors option in middle school (they just started this).

Kids can explore IB AP dance in high school where it’s universally available.

I would even get rid of middle school sports — it’s limited capacity so ends up just for kids who played travel since they were 6. No need to support their athletic career, their parents have already invested heavily. I think lots of intramurals and athletics during the day would be better for getting all students fit.

Can you run for school board?

I was with you til the sports. Why doesn’t your argument apply to high school? I see tons of kids at the basketball games, for example. It’s fun for more than just the players. Plus, I don’t see how athletics is any less valuable than all the other afterschool activities that are offered (and any of which are limited by space, eg, maker space).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's refresh everyone on what a neighborhood-school is supposed to be about. We are all supposed to live near each other and its supposed to be a community. If I am in a PU that gets bused to TJ I don't want to now get bused to freaking Williamsburg and not be with any people near me just so some N Arlington jerks can still walk to school.

I'm sure that's just a rumor but it's freaking outrageous.

Yeah it is hard for kids to remain friends with other kids who live close by when they go to different schools. This would be awful.

The community is defined by the boundaries drawn by by APS. Your neighbors would still go to the same school, unless you happen to be right on a boundary. And boundaries have to be somewhere. It's not really a change from the status quo. It's just a question of what methodology and inputs APS uses to decide the boundary map.

When boundaries are not contiguous there is no community. Sorry but some bused island over by TJ or Kenmore is not going to be part of the school community no matter how you spin it.

That's crazy. Option schools have plenty of community. And MS and HS boundaries are already large. APS has already said it won't create small islands of PUs. Trying to preserve walk zones shouldn't do anything crazy.

It's very different than when the kids all live in the same area. By middle school they can all walk to see each other etc. In elementary you're talking about easy drives and play dates. I'm not saying it's not community, but it's not the same feel at all. Had kids do both.

Okay, so they will ride the bus home with a huge population of kids and then walk to see each other. It’s no different than current middle schools where a friend could live on one end of boundary and the other — they would be bused and still far from each other. Nothing changes for bused students except destination.

You really can't see how bused kids on the outer rings of a boundary but still contiguous would be having a different experience if they are bused to a school and don't live near their classmates. Your suggestion is they should just be friends with the kids on the bus with them. So basically the school will have 2 groups...the walkers and the busers. Keep in mind in most of these schools the busers will be the minority. But that's okay for them is what you're saying. No big deal.

Have you ever been to middle school?
Have you ever had a friend who didn't live in your neighborhood?
Just how much do you think friends have to get together outside of school and their extracurricular activities anyway?

I have children in middle school. My kids do have time to get together outside of school and they walk and ride bikes to see friends. They live outside of our very immediate neighborhood but their close enough to get to.

If they bus kids from by Hamm to WMS, thats 3 miles away. How is that not also destroying community? It’s not a neighborhood over, kids will be spread 5 miles apart. It’s no different than the walkable islands, except the walkable islands plan would minimize buses to the greatest degree possible.

So the kids in Rosslyn (who go to hamm) already have a multimile bus ride to school. Everyone who gets a bus to middle school is at least a mile away. The kids in hamm’s walk zone all go to Yorktown, which is just as far away as wms. I get that it sucks if you bought your house intending to walk, but getting a bus to middle school is really no big deal. My kids friends at hamm are all over the place from right by the school to way over in river place in Rosslyn. Very little of that is really bikeable since it involves going along busy streets. They get where they need to go or a parent drives them. For all required school events a bus is provided or teachers explicitly find people transportation. It’s not a big deal. This whole thread really makes me question if the “hamm posters” even have kids at the school or have kids that are old enough to be in middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These pathways are so bogus. IB? Really? How many kids will get to transfer to TJ for that pathway. This is just stupid. And if kids want to take spots at WL for OB, they have to do the full diploma. With the long waitlist they need to start sending kids back to their home schools when they are clearly only doing partial IB.

Agreed!
1. distinct pathways beginning in 6th grade is dumb. We shouldn't be pigeon-holing 11 year olds into specific paths.
2. if you're going to do something like this, every middle school should have its "pathway" and that focus be for the entire school. Immersion is clearly not taking up an entire middle school; but IB does at Jefferson.
3. These "enticements" DO NOT WORK for balancing enrollment.
4. Only 4 pathways are indicated. We have 6 middle schools. So what are the other 2 middle schools going to offer?
5. HBW's "program" description is absolutely awful. Especially the caring community part - implying care and community are not part of any other middle school.
6. How about just a good ol' fashioned emphasis on a rigorous well-rounded education for every student, allowing every student to develop and learn their special interests and talents and giving them opportunities to explore them via extracurriculars and electives in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every kid they kick back to their home school they can take another freshman from the IB waitlist. Expand the boundaries. Fill up the school. I don’t care. But stop this ruse that we are somehow creating an IB pathway when one MS offers it and there aren’t 100 spots at TJ for transfers.

All of the options and MS pathways/focus are a waste of resources.

They should just focus on strong fundamentals in elem and middle school, with an honors option in middle school (they just started this).

Kids can explore IB AP dance in high school where it’s universally available.

I would even get rid of middle school sports — it’s limited capacity so ends up just for kids who played travel since they were 6. No need to support their athletic career, their parents have already invested heavily. I think lots of intramurals and athletics during the day would be better for getting all students fit.

Yes. Absolutely yes.
I really don't agree that IB AP dance is universally available in high school, however. And I don't get your animosity toward middle school sports, unless you're bitter about your kid not being a travel athlete and getting the spot they wanted on the middle school team they wanted. I would like to see more opportunities in ms, though, such as non-competitive intramurals or non-competitive just among APS middle schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every kid they kick back to their home school they can take another freshman from the IB waitlist. Expand the boundaries. Fill up the school. I don’t care. But stop this ruse that we are somehow creating an IB pathway when one MS offers it and there aren’t 100 spots at TJ for transfers.

All of the options and MS pathways/focus are a waste of resources.

They should just focus on strong fundamentals in elem and middle school, with an honors option in middle school (they just started this).

Kids can explore IB AP dance in high school where it’s universally available.

I would even get rid of middle school sports — it’s limited capacity so ends up just for kids who played travel since they were 6. No need to support their athletic career, their parents have already invested heavily. I think lots of intramurals and athletics during the day would be better for getting all students fit.

Can you run for school board?

I was with you til the sports. Why doesn’t your argument apply to high school? I see tons of kids at the basketball games, for example. It’s fun for more than just the players. Plus, I don’t see how athletics is any less valuable than all the other afterschool activities that are offered (and any of which are limited by space, eg, maker space).

I know my limits. Cutting high school sports and the pathways to college that provides is a non-starter, know your audience.

Only athletics have literal cut sports -- every other after school sport etc simply expands participation and shares resources (so in your example maybe they will get the maker space only once a week rather than three times a week). Middle school sports cuts people for ability, when most ability has been goosed by parents paying for travel/training for years. If you read again, I did say athletics was important, but I recommend a more inclusive implementation that benefits more students and promotes fitness for the entire student body not just those whose parents had foresight to pay for travel basketball and tennis lessons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's refresh everyone on what a neighborhood-school is supposed to be about. We are all supposed to live near each other and its supposed to be a community. If I am in a PU that gets bused to TJ I don't want to now get bused to freaking Williamsburg and not be with any people near me just so some N Arlington jerks can still walk to school.

I'm sure that's just a rumor but it's freaking outrageous.

Yeah it is hard for kids to remain friends with other kids who live close by when they go to different schools. This would be awful.

The community is defined by the boundaries drawn by by APS. Your neighbors would still go to the same school, unless you happen to be right on a boundary. And boundaries have to be somewhere. It's not really a change from the status quo. It's just a question of what methodology and inputs APS uses to decide the boundary map.

When boundaries are not contiguous there is no community. Sorry but some bused island over by TJ or Kenmore is not going to be part of the school community no matter how you spin it.

That's crazy. Option schools have plenty of community. And MS and HS boundaries are already large. APS has already said it won't create small islands of PUs. Trying to preserve walk zones shouldn't do anything crazy.

It's very different than when the kids all live in the same area. By middle school they can all walk to see each other etc. In elementary you're talking about easy drives and play dates. I'm not saying it's not community, but it's not the same feel at all. Had kids do both.

Okay, so they will ride the bus home with a huge population of kids and then walk to see each other. It’s no different than current middle schools where a friend could live on one end of boundary and the other — they would be bused and still far from each other. Nothing changes for bused students except destination.

You really can't see how bused kids on the outer rings of a boundary but still contiguous would be having a different experience if they are bused to a school and don't live near their classmates. Your suggestion is they should just be friends with the kids on the bus with them. So basically the school will have 2 groups...the walkers and the busers. Keep in mind in most of these schools the busers will be the minority. But that's okay for them is what you're saying. No big deal.

Have you ever been to middle school?
Have you ever had a friend who didn't live in your neighborhood?
Just how much do you think friends have to get together outside of school and their extracurricular activities anyway?

I have children in middle school. My kids do have time to get together outside of school and they walk and ride bikes to see friends. They live outside of our very immediate neighborhood but their close enough to get to.

If they bus kids from by Hamm to WMS, thats 3 miles away. How is that not also destroying community? It’s not a neighborhood over, kids will be spread 5 miles apart. It’s no different than the walkable islands, except the walkable islands plan would minimize buses to the greatest degree possible.

So the kids in Rosslyn (who go to hamm) already have a multimile bus ride to school. Everyone who gets a bus to middle school is at least a mile away. The kids in hamm’s walk zone all go to Yorktown, which is just as far away as wms. I get that it sucks if you bought your house intending to walk, but getting a bus to middle school is really no big deal. My kids friends at hamm are all over the place from right by the school to way over in river place in Rosslyn. Very little of that is really bikeable since it involves going along busy streets. They get where they need to go or a parent drives them. For all required school events a bus is provided or teachers explicitly find people transportation. It’s not a big deal. This whole thread really makes me question if the “hamm posters” even have kids at the school or have kids that are old enough to be in middle school.

I largely agree, riding a bus can be a very reasonable experience, and most bus rides are fairly long such that the "community as part of school" doesn't make sense -- but the neighborhood community should be a thing, its not like option or private school where all kids go to different schools.

My argument largely is that by prioritizing walk zones for all schools, and making a bus PU somewhat of a fungible token to be assigned here or there, you ulitimately will minimize the number of buses and drivers needed overall. If you bus kids to one school, and then displace and bus the kids who are walkable to that same school but send to another school, you have already doubled your needed buses.