ATS Principal and Assistant Principal both left/leaving school.

[Anonymous]

When every other school is crowded but you protect ATS and HB for the sake of the program, it is wasteful and damaging to the rest of the system. If there are facets of the program that work, then apply them to all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When every other school is crowded but you protect ATS and HB for the sake of the program, it is wasteful and damaging to the rest of the system. If there are facets of the program that work, then apply them to all.

It's not like ATS is small, they have the same size classes as other schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you think it will change the school?

I fear somebody will come in who doesn't value the double-down on literacy or insisting that not only every child learn to read but that they can do so well into the SOL pass range. Or somebody who doesn't value some of the school traditions like the reading carnival, or the international night or the real no-bullying.

Don’t you mean - “I fear someone will come in and my kid will only get the regular run of the mill APS education and we might have to consider private school which will really cut into our vacation budget!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is going to do what they want to do. The surveys/meetings are all smokescreens.

I don’t know about that, ATS staff and families were able to get their start time moved to 7:50 by complaining.

Are you referring to the outcome of the Bell study?

Yes

More was at play (logistics, $) than complaining parents.

How was money involved?

Bus routes, bus staff, etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is going to do what they want to do. The surveys/meetings are all smokescreens.

I don’t know about that, ATS staff and families were able to get their start time moved to 7:50 by complaining.

Is that official? When was it announced?

4/27 superintendents weekly email to families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When every other school is crowded but you protect ATS and HB for the sake of the program, it is wasteful and damaging to the rest of the system. If there are facets of the program that work, then apply them to all.

It's not like ATS is small, they have the same size classes as other schools

Please they never are overcrowded with trailers and insufficient common space or lunch rooms.

Ironic they are now in McKinley which suffered sorely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When every other school is crowded but you protect ATS and HB for the sake of the program, it is wasteful and damaging to the rest of the system. If there are facets of the program that work, then apply them to all.

It's not like ATS is small, they have the same size classes as other schools

Please they never are overcrowded with trailers and insufficient common space or lunch rooms.

Ironic they are now in McKinley which suffered sorely.

At the old ATS building (now Key), they most definitely had trailers.

[Anonymous]

I’m still trying to understand exactly what ATS is and what makes it “traditional”. Shouldn’t all the schools be run that way (whatever that way is) if they get better results?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When every other school is crowded but you protect ATS and HB for the sake of the program, it is wasteful and damaging to the rest of the system. If there are facets of the program that work, then apply them to all.

It's not like ATS is small, they have the same size classes as other schools

Larger class sizes actually… there are 25 students in my daughter’s kindergarten class and there are 5 kindergarten classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you think it will change the school?

I fear somebody will come in who doesn't value the double-down on literacy or insisting that not only every child learn to read but that they can do so well into the SOL pass range. Or somebody who doesn't value some of the school traditions like the reading carnival, or the international night or the real no-bullying.

Don’t you mean - “I fear someone will come in and my kid will only get the regular run of the mill APS education and we might have to consider private school which will really cut into our vacation budget!”

What is wrong with you? You really have a lot of hatred bubbling inside of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m still trying to understand exactly what ATS is and what makes it “traditional”. Shouldn’t all the schools be run that way (whatever that way is) if they get better results?

Yes I never understood it either. The answers I got were "this school has walls and doors" which was directly from the principal's mouth. Um, all the schools I looked at had walls and doors in APS, so I'm not sure where this "wall-less" school is.

Parents seem to harp on the shirts being tucked in thing, but I saw plenty of children looking bedraggled just like every other elementary school. Also there is apparently assigned reading every day, but my school also asks us to read every day outside of school, so that hardly seems novel.

The main thing that turned me off was the vibe from the group of parents while touring the school. Oh my word, no thank you. It sealed the deal for me as not a good fit for our family after that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m still trying to understand exactly what ATS is and what makes it “traditional”. Shouldn’t all the schools be run that way (whatever that way is) if they get better results?

As a parent with two kids at ATS I agree. But other parents clearly hate ATS so ….

It is traditional because instead of inquiry based learning it uses the traditional form of instructional which is teacher guided instruction. So as to not waste precious time classrooms are self contained, meaning instead of the kids going to different classrooms, the teachers come to them. There is a dress code, homework and an expectation of excellence for each child. There is a lot of extra help for students who are below grade level. There’s a lot of emphasis on the basics (the three Rs). There is a lot of communication - parents get weekly progress reports about how their kids are doing…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m still trying to understand exactly what ATS is and what makes it “traditional”. Shouldn’t all the schools be run that way (whatever that way is) if they get better results?

Yes I never understood it either. The answers I got were "this school has walls and doors" which was directly from the principal's mouth. Um, all the schools I looked at had walls and doors in APS, so I'm not sure where this "wall-less" school is.

Parents seem to harp on the shirts being tucked in thing, but I saw plenty of children looking bedraggled just like every other elementary school. Also there is apparently assigned reading every day, but my school also asks us to read every day outside of school, so that hardly seems novel.

The main thing that turned me off was the vibe from the group of parents while touring the school. Oh my word, no thank you. It sealed the deal for me as not a good fit for our family after that.

No there is homework every day not just assigned reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m still trying to understand exactly what ATS is and what makes it “traditional”. Shouldn’t all the schools be run that way (whatever that way is) if they get better results?

As a parent with two kids at ATS I agree. But other parents clearly hate ATS so ….

It is traditional because instead of inquiry based learning it uses the traditional form of instructional which is teacher guided instruction. So as to not waste precious time classrooms are self contained, meaning instead of the kids going to different classrooms, the teachers come to them. There is a dress code, homework and an expectation of excellence for each child. There is a lot of extra help for students who are below grade level. There’s a lot of emphasis on the basics (the three Rs). There is a lot of communication - parents get weekly progress reports about how their kids are doing…

THIS should be happening at every APS elementary. I have no issues with ATS (except we couldn't get off the wait list) but with APS for not instituting good practcies at the other elementary schools. (Or is APS still hung up on "equity"?) For example, why was it so hard for parents to get "extra help" at McKinley or "weekly progress reports" rather than discovering your DC was doing poorly mid-way through the school year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m still trying to understand exactly what ATS is and what makes it “traditional”. Shouldn’t all the schools be run that way (whatever that way is) if they get better results?

As a parent with two kids at ATS I agree. But other parents clearly hate ATS so ….

It is traditional because instead of inquiry based learning it uses the traditional form of instructional which is teacher guided instruction. So as to not waste precious time classrooms are self contained, meaning instead of the kids going to different classrooms, the teachers come to them. There is a dress code, homework and an expectation of excellence for each child. There is a lot of extra help for students who are below grade level. There’s a lot of emphasis on the basics (the three Rs). There is a lot of communication - parents get weekly progress reports about how their kids are doing…

Interesting - thanks for summarizing. This is how I went to school and what I wanted for my kids. The inquiry based stuff makes sense to a certain extent but there seems potential for kids to get lost or not actually learn stuff. Fundamentals are important.