APS Free and Reduced Meals - New Report

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Here we go again with the HB bashing. We get it. Your kid didn’t get in and you’re jealous. I’ll bet your kid doesn’t qualify for reduced price meals either.

DP. I agree with the PPP. Option programs should be balanced. They can be controlled with admissions policies requiring it. But they won't do it.

HB’s program was not designed to serve an economically diverse population per se. Its program is designed for students with a certain learning style, and it’s self selecting. The selection process already attempts to arrive at socioeconomic diversity by allocating slots among the various elementary schools fairly and equitably, but it can’t force poor kids to apply.

I don't know how you can look at this application data and say people are self-selecting for learning style: https://www.apsva.us/school-options/school-transfer-data/secondary-options-transfers-application-data-school-year-2022-23/

There are 443 applicants for 73 offered seats in the 6th grade entry year. If it was about learning style we would be more concerned that 83% of the people who think they need that environment can't get it. We would have a process where there is some kind of recommendation and application materials showing suitability. Everyone know that HB Woodlawn is no longer about self selecting for leaning style.

Who said anything about “needing” HB’s learning style? There’s a difference between need and want.

There are plenty of students who decided against HB because they want certain sports or electives. Arlington needs more, not fewer, high school seats. HB needs to stay an option high school. If anything, it should drop middle school students and open up more high school seats.

[Anonymous]

Arlington parents have been whining about the public school system for decades. What’s that saying “nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded?” That applies to all of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington parents have been whining about the public school system for decades. What’s that saying “nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded?” That applies to all of you.

I doubt this is what people have been whining about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’ll find the same disparity in every one of the larger public school systems in the DMV, including DC itself. It’s because schools are largely neighborhood based. Nothing unique about Arlington.

The elementary schools are neighborhood based. They need to do away with the option schools and figure out a better way to do the middle and high school boundaries.

What do option schools have to do with middle and high school boundaries? I'm only aware of them being relevant to Spanish immersion, where N. Arlington kids from Escuela Key can stay in immersion at Gunston and Wakefield. If anything that would help improve the balance.

There are elementary option schools. There shouldn’t be option schools in a public school system. The resources should be used to make sure the neighborhood schools offer a more equal experience.

Just my opinion.

Do Key or Claremont get more resources per student than other schools? I don't think so. Option schools just reflect that not all students need exactly the same thing. I have one kid in immersion and another at the neighborhood school because immersion wouldn't have been a good fit for them.

What do you mean by “more resources per student?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington parents have been whining about the public school system for decades. What’s that saying “nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded?” That applies to all of you.

I doubt this is what people have been whining about.

I had kids in the system from the late 1980s through the entire first decade of the 2000s. Believe me, it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’ll find the same disparity in every one of the larger public school systems in the DMV, including DC itself. It’s because schools are largely neighborhood based. Nothing unique about Arlington.

The elementary schools are neighborhood based. They need to do away with the option schools and figure out a better way to do the middle and high school boundaries.

What do option schools have to do with middle and high school boundaries? I'm only aware of them being relevant to Spanish immersion, where N. Arlington kids from Escuela Key can stay in immersion at Gunston and Wakefield. If anything that would help improve the balance.

There are elementary option schools. There shouldn’t be option schools in a public school system. The resources should be used to make sure the neighborhood schools offer a more equal experience.

Just my opinion.

Abolishing option schools would have a minimal effect on the percentages. Nothing would change at Tuckahoe on the one end or Carlin Springs on the other. The only way you could achieve an "equal experience" is forced busing of low income kids into high income schools and vice versa. Or building a lot of low income housing in high income areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Yeah that seems like the easiest thing to fix. They could easily allocate more HB seats to the high FARMS schools and earmark those seats for FARMS kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Yeah that seems like the easiest thing to fix. They could easily allocate more HB seats to the high FARMS schools and earmark those seats for FARMS kids

No, they couldn’t. It’s likely illegal. The system was sued in the past for trying to weigh the lottery.

There’s another way: outreach, outreach, outreach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS has posted this year's free and reduced meals report: https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/FREE-REDUCED-OCTOBER-31-2022.pdf

This is the first time these numbers have been reported since 2019, so we are seeing the impact of the school moves, pandemic changes, etc. Barrett, Barcroft, and Drew are all significantly higher.

BARRETT 74.91%
RANDOLPH 74.88%
BARCROFT 74.84%
CARLIN SPRINGS 74.82%
DREW 74.78%
KENMORE 51.34%
HOFFMAN BOSTON 46.38%
CAMPBELL 45.65%
JEFFERSON 42.05%
ABINGDON 40.69%
WAKEFIELD 39.59%
GUNSTON 36.81%
INNOVATION 35.98%
ARL. TRADITIONAL 34.78%
ARLINGTON COMM 34.61%
ESCUELA KEY 32.63%
ALICE WEST FLEET 32.11%
LONG BRANCH 31.68%
OAKRIDGE 31.62%
CLAREMONT 27.64%
MONTESSORI 27.60%
WASHINGTON LIB 24.34%
DOROTHY HAMM 19.11%
SWANSON 17.56%
ASHLAWN 17.21%
SCIENCE FOCUS 14.78%
YORKTOWN 14.40%
GLEBE 13.04%
HB WOODLAWN 12.15%
TAYLOR 8.02%
CARDINAL 6.37%
NOTTINGHAM 4.63%
JAMESTOWN 4.57%
DISCOVERY 2.88%
TUCKAHOE 2.68%
WILLIAMSBURG 2.43%
TOTAL 30.13%

Glad HB is representative of the student population /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Here we go again with the HB bashing. We get it. Your kid didn’t get in and you’re jealous. I’ll bet your kid doesn’t qualify for reduced price meals either.

Stay klassy, HB mafia!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington parents have been whining about the public school system for decades. What’s that saying “nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded?” That applies to all of you.

I doubt this is what people have been whining about.

I had kids in the system from the late 1980s through the entire first decade of the 2000s. Believe me, it was.

These statistics are not reflective of your kids’ experience in ES in the 80s and 90s. The whole point of this thread is how the disparity has increased rapidly in some schools post-pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Yeah that seems like the easiest thing to fix. They could easily allocate more HB seats to the high FARMS schools and earmark those seats for FARMS kids

No, they couldn’t. It’s likely illegal. The system was sued in the past for trying to weigh the lottery.

There’s another way: outreach, outreach, outreach.

They raised the ATS rates by giving the VPN kids automatic spots. Is that really so different?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’ll find the same disparity in every one of the larger public school systems in the DMV, including DC itself. It’s because schools are largely neighborhood based. Nothing unique about Arlington.

The elementary schools are neighborhood based. They need to do away with the option schools and figure out a better way to do the middle and high school boundaries.

What do option schools have to do with middle and high school boundaries? I'm only aware of them being relevant to Spanish immersion, where N. Arlington kids from Escuela Key can stay in immersion at Gunston and Wakefield. If anything that would help improve the balance.

There are elementary option schools. There shouldn’t be option schools in a public school system. The resources should be used to make sure the neighborhood schools offer a more equal experience.

Just my opinion.

Do Key or Claremont get more resources per student than other schools? I don't think so. Option schools just reflect that not all students need exactly the same thing. I have one kid in immersion and another at the neighborhood school because immersion wouldn't have been a good fit for them.

What do you mean by “more resources per student?”

$$ per student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS has posted this year's free and reduced meals report: https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/FREE-REDUCED-OCTOBER-31-2022.pdf

This is the first time these numbers have been reported since 2019, so we are seeing the impact of the school moves, pandemic changes, etc. Barrett, Barcroft, and Drew are all significantly higher.

BARRETT 74.91%
RANDOLPH 74.88%
BARCROFT 74.84%
CARLIN SPRINGS 74.82%
DREW 74.78%
KENMORE 51.34%
HOFFMAN BOSTON 46.38%
CAMPBELL 45.65%
JEFFERSON 42.05%
ABINGDON 40.69%
WAKEFIELD 39.59%
GUNSTON 36.81%
INNOVATION 35.98%
ARL. TRADITIONAL 34.78%
ARLINGTON COMM 34.61%
ESCUELA KEY 32.63%
ALICE WEST FLEET 32.11%
LONG BRANCH 31.68%
OAKRIDGE 31.62%
CLAREMONT 27.64%
MONTESSORI 27.60%
WASHINGTON LIB 24.34%
DOROTHY HAMM 19.11%
SWANSON 17.56%
ASHLAWN 17.21%
SCIENCE FOCUS 14.78%
YORKTOWN 14.40%
GLEBE 13.04%
HB WOODLAWN 12.15%
TAYLOR 8.02%
CARDINAL 6.37%
NOTTINGHAM 4.63%
JAMESTOWN 4.57%
DISCOVERY 2.88%
TUCKAHOE 2.68%
WILLIAMSBURG 2.43%
TOTAL 30.13%

Glad HB is representative of the student population /s

The HB and Williamsburg statistics are scandalous. Williamsburg is a MIDDLE school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Here we go again with the HB bashing. We get it. Your kid didn’t get in and you’re jealous. I’ll bet your kid doesn’t qualify for reduced price meals either.

DP. Look around you at where that school is located and the resources it takes to run it. If the best you can come up with is “you’re jealous,” you need to take a moment and really reflect.

What does this mean? It's in the location nobody else wanted to send their kid to...