South Arlington elementary school boundary adjustments 2019

[Anonymous]

So there is one IB choice option. I’m just not convinced this isn’t a possibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So there is one IB choice option. I’m just not convinced this isn’t a possibility.

It may be, longer term. But it's not going to happen now.

[Anonymous]

There's a work session scheduled tomorrow night for the elementary school boundary changes. This is our first chance to see the school boards general plans, right?

[Anonymous]

There is a powerpoint presentation from that work session online now.

I'm a new poster to this thread, and have read the previous posts. As a preface, our house is zoned for Drew, and that's fine. We've lived here for 6 years and while I'd have preferred to have sent our kid to Montessori at Drew, he probably wouldn't have gotten in anyway. He's in a private Montesori school now and it's becoming clear that APS Montessori only accepts a handful to none of those students as kindergartners or 1st graders. So Drew it is, for the time being.

I'm aware of how bad the graded program scores are at Drew, and so redrawing the boundaries can only improve a school that's had like, 5 principals in six years, one of them a drunk. I'm optimistic, in that regard. I'm not sure what the standards are, but it seems to me that absent an influx of MC students to fill the void left by Montessori leaving Drew, it could be in danger of losing accreditation? I mean, the scores must be truly atrocious, when you consider that the Montessori program is 2 or 3 times larger than the graded program and the combined scores are still the lowest in the county by large margin.

I'm curious where APS thinks it's going to find such MC families nearby that won't pitch a fit at the prospect of getting rezoned to the worst performing school in the county. The scores are not just bad relative to other Arlington elementaries; they are really bad, period.

I guess there's that triangle currently zoned to Henry that is bordered by Glebe, Walter Reed, and the Pike, which seems a likely candidate. Is that enough? I've also heard Abingdon and Oakridge. It seems to me that moving Oakridge students to Drew is probably the top priority, because of overcrowding. The cynic is me thinks what'll probably happen is that the SB will cave to MC and UMC Oakridge parents who don't want to roll the dice on Drew, and so will draw a boundary east of 395 to include basically rental housing, and no owner-occupied housing. I'm probably being too negative, but the Arlington Forest/Wakefield episode is a precedent.

What's the consensus here on Drew's future boundary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a powerpoint presentation from that work session online now.

I'm a new poster to this thread, and have read the previous posts. As a preface, our house is zoned for Drew, and that's fine. We've lived here for 6 years and while I'd have preferred to have sent our kid to Montessori at Drew, he probably wouldn't have gotten in anyway. He's in a private Montesori school now and it's becoming clear that APS Montessori only accepts a handful to none of those students as kindergartners or 1st graders. So Drew it is, for the time being.

I'm aware of how bad the graded program scores are at Drew, and so redrawing the boundaries can only improve a school that's had like, 5 principals in six years, one of them a drunk. I'm optimistic, in that regard. I'm not sure what the standards are, but it seems to me that absent an influx of MC students to fill the void left by Montessori leaving Drew, it could be in danger of losing accreditation? I mean, the scores must be truly atrocious, when you consider that the Montessori program is 2 or 3 times larger than the graded program and the combined scores are still the lowest in the county by large margin.

I'm curious where APS thinks it's going to find such MC families nearby that won't pitch a fit at the prospect of getting rezoned to the worst performing school in the county. The scores are not just bad relative to other Arlington elementaries; they are really bad, period.

I guess there's that triangle currently zoned to Henry that is bordered by Glebe, Walter Reed, and the Pike, which seems a likely candidate. Is that enough? I've also heard Abingdon and Oakridge. It seems to me that moving Oakridge students to Drew is probably the top priority, because of overcrowding. The cynic is me thinks what'll probably happen is that the SB will cave to MC and UMC Oakridge parents who don't want to roll the dice on Drew, and so will draw a boundary east of 395 to include basically rental housing, and no owner-occupied housing. I'm probably being too negative, but the Arlington Forest/Wakefield episode is a precedent.

What's the consensus here on Drew's future boundary?

My kids went to Drew for 10 years (we lived in boundary but they did Montessori) and my sense, from the kids they played with at extended day, is that a lot of the kids in the graded program lived in rental housing and moved frequently. My kids complained every year that their friends did not come back to school, and I think that contributes a lot to the low scores--if the teachers don't know anything about the kids they are teaching each year, they have to spend the first couple months each fall just figuring out their strengths and weaknesses or filling in gaps in their knowledge. You also can't build balanced classrooms they way they do in other schools, where the principals and teachers from each grade make sure there is a mix of kids with different personalities and strengths in each class. I would be very concerned that the SB would draw the new boundaries to include more rental housing--but I bet you're right and the easiest thing for them to do would be to pull Oakridge kids from the Drew side of 395, meaning all those apartments there at Glebe and 24th. Maybe those families are more stable and don't move frequently, but I think it would be better for the school if the boundary included more SFH like Douglas Park.

[Anonymous]

Douglas Park needs to be redrawn to its own neighborhood school, Randolph. Randolph needs sfh’s just as much. Drew is hardly the only school with a demographic problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Douglas Park needs to be redrawn to its own neighborhood school, Randolph. Randolph needs sfh’s just as much. Drew is hardly the only school with a demographic problem.

Agree both schools could use a more varied SES mix, but I'd point out that for the last decade Drew's graded program's standards of learning test scores have range from 10-25 points below Randolph. It's almost a difference in kind, not degree.

https://www.arlnow.com/2014/03/25/sol-grades-at-drew-school-falling-behind/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a powerpoint presentation from that work session online now.

I'm a new poster to this thread, and have read the previous posts. As a preface, our house is zoned for Drew, and that's fine. We've lived here for 6 years and while I'd have preferred to have sent our kid to Montessori at Drew, he probably wouldn't have gotten in anyway. He's in a private Montesori school now and it's becoming clear that APS Montessori only accepts a handful to none of those students as kindergartners or 1st graders. So Drew it is, for the time being.

I'm aware of how bad the graded program scores are at Drew, and so redrawing the boundaries can only improve a school that's had like, 5 principals in six years, one of them a drunk. I'm optimistic, in that regard. I'm not sure what the standards are, but it seems to me that absent an influx of MC students to fill the void left by Montessori leaving Drew, it could be in danger of losing accreditation? I mean, the scores must be truly atrocious, when you consider that the Montessori program is 2 or 3 times larger than the graded program and the combined scores are still the lowest in the county by large margin.

I'm curious where APS thinks it's going to find such MC families nearby that won't pitch a fit at the prospect of getting rezoned to the worst performing school in the county. The scores are not just bad relative to other Arlington elementaries; they are really bad, period.

I guess there's that triangle currently zoned to Henry that is bordered by Glebe, Walter Reed, and the Pike, which seems a likely candidate. Is that enough? I've also heard Abingdon and Oakridge. It seems to me that moving Oakridge students to Drew is probably the top priority, because of overcrowding. The cynic is me thinks what'll probably happen is that the SB will cave to MC and UMC Oakridge parents who don't want to roll the dice on Drew, and so will draw a boundary east of 395 to include basically rental housing, and no owner-occupied housing. I'm probably being too negative, but the Arlington Forest/Wakefield episode is a precedent.

What's the consensus here on Drew's future boundary?

Good question. I’m in that triangle you referred to where everyone thinks we might be rezoned to Drew. However, I don’t think that alone is enough - there are still plenty of rental properties that seem somewhat transient.

Apparently the consensus is that Drew will be an entirely new school once the boundary change happens (new principal, lots of new staff, etc) so we shouldn’t focus on the current scores. At least that’s what a few of us have been told on this thread and others when we expressed concern over the stark contrast between current Henry/will-be Fleet and current Drew. I get the distinct feeling we’re not entitled to pitch a fit because we’re in S. Arlington and should have known better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Douglas Park needs to be redrawn to its own neighborhood school, Randolph. Randolph needs sfh’s just as much. Drew is hardly the only school with a demographic problem.

Agree both schools could use a more varied SES mix, but I'd point out that for the last decade Drew's graded program's standards of learning test scores have range from 10-25 points below Randolph. It's almost a difference in kind, not degree.

https://www.arlnow.com/2014/03/25/sol-grades-at-drew-school-falling-behind/

I think Drew needs to face their issues head on. Hiding it with more middle class kids was the problem to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a powerpoint presentation from that work session online now.

I'm a new poster to this thread, and have read the previous posts. As a preface, our house is zoned for Drew, and that's fine. We've lived here for 6 years and while I'd have preferred to have sent our kid to Montessori at Drew, he probably wouldn't have gotten in anyway. He's in a private Montesori school now and it's becoming clear that APS Montessori only accepts a handful to none of those students as kindergartners or 1st graders. So Drew it is, for the time being.

I'm aware of how bad the graded program scores are at Drew, and so redrawing the boundaries can only improve a school that's had like, 5 principals in six years, one of them a drunk. I'm optimistic, in that regard. I'm not sure what the standards are, but it seems to me that absent an influx of MC students to fill the void left by Montessori leaving Drew, it could be in danger of losing accreditation? I mean, the scores must be truly atrocious, when you consider that the Montessori program is 2 or 3 times larger than the graded program and the combined scores are still the lowest in the county by large margin.

I'm curious where APS thinks it's going to find such MC families nearby that won't pitch a fit at the prospect of getting rezoned to the worst performing school in the county. The scores are not just bad relative to other Arlington elementaries; they are really bad, period.

I guess there's that triangle currently zoned to Henry that is bordered by Glebe, Walter Reed, and the Pike, which seems a likely candidate. Is that enough? I've also heard Abingdon and Oakridge. It seems to me that moving Oakridge students to Drew is probably the top priority, because of overcrowding. The cynic is me thinks what'll probably happen is that the SB will cave to MC and UMC Oakridge parents who don't want to roll the dice on Drew, and so will draw a boundary east of 395 to include basically rental housing, and no owner-occupied housing. I'm probably being too negative, but the Arlington Forest/Wakefield episode is a precedent.

What's the consensus here on Drew's future boundary?

Good question. I’m in that triangle you referred to where everyone thinks we might be rezoned to Drew. However, I don’t think that alone is enough - there are still plenty of rental properties that seem somewhat transient.

Apparently the consensus is that Drew will be an entirely new school once the boundary change happens (new principal, lots of new staff, etc) so we shouldn’t focus on the current scores. At least that’s what a few of us have been told on this thread and others when we expressed concern over the stark contrast between current Henry/will-be Fleet and current Drew. I get the distinct feeling we’re not entitled to pitch a fit because we’re in S. Arlington and should have known better.

Which completely ignores the price mark up people paid for Henry. Your money only counts if it’s spent north of 50.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good question. I’m in that triangle you referred to where everyone thinks we might be rezoned to Drew. However, I don’t think that alone is enough - there are still plenty of rental properties that seem somewhat transient.

Apparently the consensus is that Drew will be an entirely new school once the boundary change happens (new principal, lots of new staff, etc) so we shouldn’t focus on the current scores. At least that’s what a few of us have been told on this thread and others when we expressed concern over the stark contrast between current Henry/will-be Fleet and current Drew. I get the distinct feeling we’re not entitled to pitch a fit because we’re in S. Arlington and should have known better.

Thanks for the response. It's a little disheartening to hear you've been told that/talked down to. Would you mind telling me who told you that? Five new principals in a row haven't changed Drew's graded program, and no other factor influences a school so much as it the socioeconomic status of it's students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hiding it with more middle class kids was the problem to begin with.

I really doubt it's the "school"; it's the student body is low-income.

Test scores basically reflect income, not instructional quality. If you want to "improve" a school, the main ways to do it are to 1.) change the student body, so that it includes higher income families; 2.) pursue an intensive, paternalistic curriculum that provides low-income children with a substitute for the intensive parental involvement typical of higher income households.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hiding it with more middle class kids was the problem to begin with.

I really doubt it's the "school"; it's the student body is low-income.

Test scores basically reflect income, not instructional quality. If you want to "improve" a school, the main ways to do it are to 1.) change the student body, so that it includes higher income families; 2.) pursue an intensive, paternalistic curriculum that provides low-income children with a substitute for the intensive parental involvement typical of higher income households.

Damn that's cold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Douglas Park needs to be redrawn to its own neighborhood school, Randolph. Randolph needs sfh’s just as much. Drew is hardly the only school with a demographic problem.

Agree both schools could use a more varied SES mix, but I'd point out that for the last decade Drew's graded program's standards of learning test scores have range from 10-25 points below Randolph. It's almost a difference in kind, not degree.

https://www.arlnow.com/2014/03/25/sol-grades-at-drew-school-falling-behind/

I think Drew needs to face their issues head on. Hiding it with more middle class kids was the problem to begin with.

The neighborhood students were in a segregated program, literally. So yes, the Montessori program was "hiding" the scores of the neighborhood program. A SES diverse school with a singular population wouldn't be able to "hide" their gaps so well.

I get that people who are currently zoned to a high-scoring school don't want to be zoned there, but don't pretend it's because you're concerned about the kids in the Drew Model school. I didn't like it when N Arlington families argued their housing values to avoid being rezoned. I don't like it when you do it either. It's not a good look. You bought a house, not a school.

[Anonymous]

I don’t care what you think it looks like, I care about my child’s education and elementary school experience. It’s not racist to not put other kids before your own or to not be a social justice Warrior. This idea that the M C in S Arlington cannot voice concern is disturbing.