APS Closing Nottingham

[Anonymous]

APS pushed an update through their “Engage” emails. Not sure where it’s posted.

[Anonymous]

It's so stereotypical of APS to propose closing a school to create a swing space only to then realize that they don't actually need a swing space. Whoever is leading this effort in APS really should be let go. It's embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's so stereotypical of APS to propose closing a school to create a swing space only to then realize that they don't actually need a swing space. Whoever is leading this effort in APS really should be let go. It's embarrassing.

Honestly I think this was a Board direction- to find a swing space before even deciding if they needed one. A needless waste of time for sure, but staff could have done better carrying out this stupid and needless assignment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's so stereotypical of APS to propose closing a school to create a swing space only to then realize that they don't actually need a swing space. Whoever is leading this effort in APS really should be let go. It's embarrassing.

+1 so much energy wasted just to end up where they should have started. Identify the projects you want to do and then decide if swing space needed.

Duran is the one who said he wanted swing space identified. So APS staff did what he asked. Now they have another embarrassment to walk back from

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Canceled! Nottingham will NOT be used as swing space. What a waste of everyone’s time. And needlessly worried families and staff. At least APS realized the error of their plan.

Source?

https://www.gazetteleader.com/arlington/news/school-board-under-fire-nixes-plan-for-nottingham-elementary-7733043

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's so stereotypical of APS to propose closing a school to create a swing space only to then realize that they don't actually need a swing space. Whoever is leading this effort in APS really should be let go. It's embarrassing.

This was such a circus and so poorly handled. What a waste of everyone's time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah. But it needs to come closer than that to filling the space. They aren’t even close to capacity. That’s just silly. They need to close it or do a major boundary shift.

You don’t close schools because they are under enrolled. That’s not what the CIP is about - it’s about whether there needs to be a swing space and if Nottingham is the right spot for swing space.

If it isn’t, sure do a boundary shift. They aren’t closing the school just for the sake of closing it.

Um, actually, schools do get closed for under-enrollment. That's precisely how we ended up with some of the County community centers.

All the "experts" that live in Arlington now somehow fail to acknowledge this fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so stereotypical of APS to propose closing a school to create a swing space only to then realize that they don't actually need a swing space. Whoever is leading this effort in APS really should be let go. It's embarrassing.

This was such a circus and so poorly handled. What a waste of everyone's time.

Reminds me of Missing Middle. What a fiasco. Arlington is like a well-meaning but completely disorganized neighbor. You generally like them, but you don’t want to get too involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so stereotypical of APS to propose closing a school to create a swing space only to then realize that they don't actually need a swing space. Whoever is leading this effort in APS really should be let go. It's embarrassing.

This was such a circus and so poorly handled. What a waste of everyone's time.

Reminds me of Missing Middle. What a fiasco. Arlington is like a well-meaning but completely disorganized neighbor. You generally like them, but you don’t want to get too involved.

Throw Langston Blvd plan in there as well. There is an attitude of our elected officials that they can do whatever they want, constituents and logic be damned. And as we’ve seen on this thread, a large proportion of people think these same officials can do no wrong and whatever they say must be right. It’s a weird, cultish, mindset that exists when the political landscape becomes a monoculture.

/soapbox

[Anonymous]

I think this was still a good discussion about low enrollment at Nottingham and where it could lead. Either APS will redraw district lines so that other schools aren't carrying so much weight compared to Nottingham or ... Nottingham could be on the chopping block again down the line to close for real, not just on a temporary basis. 50 kids per grade for half the school is a bit nutso, so you either balance that or find some other solution. Moreover, if Nottingham parents down own and learn from their past selfishness and mistakes in dealing with redistricting and other issues that put them at odds with parents from neighboring schools -- and stop trying to foist the bad thing off on a neighboring school and otherwise completely alienate non-Nottingham parents -- they will continue to find themselves completely alone when APS looks to make changes they don't want at Nottingham.

Take it as a lesson and learn from it, Nottingham, or we'll be back here again in a little while. Remember when APS wanted to make you a choice school, and you pointed a finger elsewhere? That bad thing went away but then this new bad, worse thing replaced it, with you potentially disappearing and becoming a swing space. You've escaped that too, but this is APS, so expect the next bad thing to be worse. Be warned and do better!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this was still a good discussion about low enrollment at Nottingham and where it could lead. Either APS will redraw district lines so that other schools aren't carrying so much weight compared to Nottingham or ... Nottingham could be on the chopping block again down the line to close for real, not just on a temporary basis. 50 kids per grade for half the school is a bit nutso, so you either balance that or find some other solution. Moreover, if Nottingham parents down own and learn from their past selfishness and mistakes in dealing with redistricting and other issues that put them at odds with parents from neighboring schools -- and stop trying to foist the bad thing off on a neighboring school and otherwise completely alienate non-Nottingham parents -- they will continue to find themselves completely alone when APS looks to make changes they don't want at Nottingham.

Take it as a lesson and learn from it, Nottingham, or we'll be back here again in a little while. Remember when APS wanted to make you a choice school, and you pointed a finger elsewhere? That bad thing went away but then this new bad, worse thing replaced it, with you potentially disappearing and becoming a swing space. You've escaped that too, but this is APS, so expect the next bad thing to be worse. Be warned and do better!

Do better? What on earth are you talking about? Yes, APS should do better. They mismanaged everything about this process.

APS will redraw boundaries for fall of 2026 and north Arlington schools will be rebalanced. Nottingham’s enrollment will go up.

You say the next plan will be worse - not sure anything can be worse than planning to close a neighborhood school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so stereotypical of APS to propose closing a school to create a swing space only to then realize that they don't actually need a swing space. Whoever is leading this effort in APS really should be let go. It's embarrassing.

This was such a circus and so poorly handled. What a waste of everyone's time.

What isn’t these days? What is APS doing that isn’t off the rails?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this was still a good discussion about low enrollment at Nottingham and where it could lead. Either APS will redraw district lines so that other schools aren't carrying so much weight compared to Nottingham or ... Nottingham could be on the chopping block again down the line to close for real, not just on a temporary basis. 50 kids per grade for half the school is a bit nutso, so you either balance that or find some other solution. Moreover, if Nottingham parents down own and learn from their past selfishness and mistakes in dealing with redistricting and other issues that put them at odds with parents from neighboring schools -- and stop trying to foist the bad thing off on a neighboring school and otherwise completely alienate non-Nottingham parents -- they will continue to find themselves completely alone when APS looks to make changes they don't want at Nottingham.

Take it as a lesson and learn from it, Nottingham, or we'll be back here again in a little while. Remember when APS wanted to make you a choice school, and you pointed a finger elsewhere? That bad thing went away but then this new bad, worse thing replaced it, with you potentially disappearing and becoming a swing space. You've escaped that too, but this is APS, so expect the next bad thing to be worse. Be warned and do better!

Do better? What on earth are you talking about? Yes, APS should do better. They mismanaged everything about this process.

APS will redraw boundaries for fall of 2026 and north Arlington schools will be rebalanced. Nottingham’s enrollment will go up.

You say the next plan will be worse - not sure anything can be worse than planning to close a neighborhood school?

If you can't imagine anything worse than planning to close an underenrolled neighborhood school, then (here's a shocker), you are extremely privileged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this was still a good discussion about low enrollment at Nottingham and where it could lead. Either APS will redraw district lines so that other schools aren't carrying so much weight compared to Nottingham or ... Nottingham could be on the chopping block again down the line to close for real, not just on a temporary basis. 50 kids per grade for half the school is a bit nutso, so you either balance that or find some other solution. Moreover, if Nottingham parents down own and learn from their past selfishness and mistakes in dealing with redistricting and other issues that put them at odds with parents from neighboring schools -- and stop trying to foist the bad thing off on a neighboring school and otherwise completely alienate non-Nottingham parents -- they will continue to find themselves completely alone when APS looks to make changes they don't want at Nottingham.

Take it as a lesson and learn from it, Nottingham, or we'll be back here again in a little while. Remember when APS wanted to make you a choice school, and you pointed a finger elsewhere? That bad thing went away but then this new bad, worse thing replaced it, with you potentially disappearing and becoming a swing space. You've escaped that too, but this is APS, so expect the next bad thing to be worse. Be warned and do better!

Do better? What on earth are you talking about? Yes, APS should do better. They mismanaged everything about this process.

APS will redraw boundaries for fall of 2026 and north Arlington schools will be rebalanced. Nottingham’s enrollment will go up.

You say the next plan will be worse - not sure anything can be worse than planning to close a neighborhood school?

If you can't imagine anything worse than planning to close an underenrolled neighborhood school, then (here's a shocker), you are extremely privileged.

Anything worse that could happen to the school as a result of actions by APS? Please enlighten me.

[Anonymous]

HOW COULD IT POSSIBLY BE WORSE THAN THIS??? Easy:
Increasing class sizes unnecessarily.
Spending money the county doesn't have on projects or staff/staff privileges it doesn't need.
Marginalizing underprivileged kids through perpetuation of old racial or socio-economic discrimination within the school system.
Failing to track, predict, and appropriately plan for changing enrollment populations.
Failing to put appropriate school safety measures into place.
There's plenty more! I'm sure I missed really easy ones.

While this particular swing space project offended you, it came from a good place of trying to save money and resources in a county that is running out of both. If you can't see that there are worse projects for APS to get behind, that don't really benefit anyone in the community beyond special interests, or that actually endanger kids, then where on earth have you been?