APS Middle School Boundary Process

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are going to move immersion to WMS first, but waiting till budget fiasco calms down

The maps moving immersion to wms were very disruptive, are you sure?

Pretty sure PP is making things up. Things they might like to be true, but aren’t (currently).

APS has never suggested that they are even considering moving immersion to Williamsburg. It's a proposal invented by a few parents who dont want to be rezoned from Hamm to Williamsburg, like that's some sort of giant imposition.

Yes this. Moving to WMS and having the HS program at Wakefield makes no sense.

The strongest advocates for this were Hamm parents freaking out about being moved to WMS. They are very vocal on every thread about immersion, like they can will this insane plan into existence.

I don’t think there’s any discussion of needing to move Immersion, as Gunston’s population went down after the started the address verification process.

If there is no need to move immersion there is no need for new boundaries as no school is overcrowded.

How does Immersion at WMS and WHS make any difference? They are bused from all over the county no matter what.

As I recall, the planning department was let go due to the past boundary process that fizzled. I doubt anything new is on the horizon.

Boundaries are the third rail of policy making, and typically they only change when absolutely necessary. During Covid, APS backed out of planning for extensive high school boundary changes that would balanced the demographics of all three high schools.

Not saying they won’t happen, and they could, but APS would likely have to hire outside consultants to do the work now.

The former Planning team's musical chairs with the elementary schools a few years back was a disaster. Way more complicated - and expensive - than it needed to be. Instead of simply moving Key to the new Cardinal ES (one and done), the planning team aggressively pushed to disrupt three elementary schools - Key to ATS, ATS to McKinley, McKinley to Reed (now Cardinal), creating unnecessary community agitation and exposing the supine Board to political backlash.
I'm not surprised that the Board and Supt Duran don't want to tackle boundary changes anytime soon after that.

This is the last thing APS did that made any sense where they didn’t cave to whiny parents.

The reason why your suggestion of the “smart” plan is actually a dumb and clueless plan are not worth going into because you won’t listen anyway.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure the Superintendent announced a boundary process for ES and MS next school year. I haven't located that document on Board Docs, but if you look at the November 19, 2024 work session, there is a document on Boundaries and Options Programs. They are reviewing planning unit data now and the next steps say, "Establish 2025 Timeline for Boundary Review for Elementary and Middle Schools."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are going to move immersion to WMS first, but waiting till budget fiasco calms down

The maps moving immersion to wms were very disruptive, are you sure?

Pretty sure PP is making things up. Things they might like to be true, but aren’t (currently).

APS has never suggested that they are even considering moving immersion to Williamsburg. It's a proposal invented by a few parents who dont want to be rezoned from Hamm to Williamsburg, like that's some sort of giant imposition.

Yes this. Moving to WMS and having the HS program at Wakefield makes no sense.

The strongest advocates for this were Hamm parents freaking out about being moved to WMS. They are very vocal on every thread about immersion, like they can will this insane plan into existence.

I don’t think there’s any discussion of needing to move Immersion, as Gunston’s population went down after the started the address verification process.

If there is no need to move immersion there is no need for new boundaries as no school is overcrowded.

How does Immersion at WMS and WHS make any difference? They are bused from all over the county no matter what.

As I recall, the planning department was let go due to the past boundary process that fizzled. I doubt anything new is on the horizon.

Boundaries are the third rail of policy making, and typically they only change when absolutely necessary. During Covid, APS backed out of planning for extensive high school boundary changes that would balanced the demographics of all three high schools.

Not saying they won’t happen, and they could, but APS would likely have to hire outside consultants to do the work now.

Balancing for demographics is not happening in current climate. Lower cost, maximize walkers, reduce over crowding. There is zero political will for demographics, and will lose any and all court cases

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are going to move immersion to WMS first, but waiting till budget fiasco calms down

The maps moving immersion to wms were very disruptive, are you sure?

Pretty sure PP is making things up. Things they might like to be true, but aren’t (currently).

APS has never suggested that they are even considering moving immersion to Williamsburg. It's a proposal invented by a few parents who dont want to be rezoned from Hamm to Williamsburg, like that's some sort of giant imposition.

Yes this. Moving to WMS and having the HS program at Wakefield makes no sense.

The strongest advocates for this were Hamm parents freaking out about being moved to WMS. They are very vocal on every thread about immersion, like they can will this insane plan into existence.

I don’t think there’s any discussion of needing to move Immersion, as Gunston’s population went down after the started the address verification process.

The bolded is why the conversation ended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are going to move immersion to WMS first, but waiting till budget fiasco calms down

The maps moving immersion to wms were very disruptive, are you sure?

Pretty sure PP is making things up. Things they might like to be true, but aren’t (currently).

APS has never suggested that they are even considering moving immersion to Williamsburg. It's a proposal invented by a few parents who dont want to be rezoned from Hamm to Williamsburg, like that's some sort of giant imposition.

Yes this. Moving to WMS and having the HS program at Wakefield makes no sense.

The strongest advocates for this were Hamm parents freaking out about being moved to WMS. They are very vocal on every thread about immersion, like they can will this insane plan into existence.

I don’t think there’s any discussion of needing to move Immersion, as Gunston’s population went down after the started the address verification process.

The bolded is why the conversation ended.

Now if they would just do strict address verification every year, or even every other year, all of APS’. budget shortfalls would be solved as well!

[Anonymous]

I just want to know why they only offered 10 6th grade slots for voluntary transfer to Williamsburg this year (24-25) when they had 68 applicants!!!!

Boundary changes are such a cluster that you’d think they could fully expand voluntary transfers before going that route. For Hamm, they had 74 6th grade applicants and only 25 slots. Kenmore even had a waitlist!

Pretty sure transfer applicants have to provide their own transportation too, so there would be no increased bus costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just want to know why they only offered 10 6th grade slots for voluntary transfer to Williamsburg this year (24-25) when they had 68 applicants!!!!

Boundary changes are such a cluster that you’d think they could fully expand voluntary transfers before going that route. For Hamm, they had 74 6th grade applicants and only 25 slots. Kenmore even had a waitlist!

Pretty sure transfer applicants have to provide their own transportation too, so there would be no increased bus costs.

I thought WMS was the only MS accepting neighborhood transfers this year. When did they open it up for Hamm & Kenmore.

Agree about address verification— it seemed to solve a lot of problems. I don’t know if it’s related, but YHS & WHS now have almost exactly the same number of students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are going to move immersion to WMS first, but waiting till budget fiasco calms down

The maps moving immersion to wms were very disruptive, are you sure?

Pretty sure PP is making things up. Things they might like to be true, but aren’t (currently).

APS has never suggested that they are even considering moving immersion to Williamsburg. It's a proposal invented by a few parents who dont want to be rezoned from Hamm to Williamsburg, like that's some sort of giant imposition.

Yes this. Moving to WMS and having the HS program at Wakefield makes no sense.

The strongest advocates for this were Hamm parents freaking out about being moved to WMS. They are very vocal on every thread about immersion, like they can will this insane plan into existence.

I don’t think there’s any discussion of needing to move Immersion, as Gunston’s population went down after the started the address verification process.

The bolded is why the conversation ended.

Now if they would just do strict address verification every year, or even every other year, all of APS’. budget shortfalls would be solved as well!

+1 Gunston is back to slightly over capacity, they need to keep checking at multiple grades

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just want to know why they only offered 10 6th grade slots for voluntary transfer to Williamsburg this year (24-25) when they had 68 applicants!!!!

Boundary changes are such a cluster that you’d think they could fully expand voluntary transfers before going that route. For Hamm, they had 74 6th grade applicants and only 25 slots. Kenmore even had a waitlist!

Pretty sure transfer applicants have to provide their own transportation too, so there would be no increased bus costs.

I thought WMS was the only MS accepting neighborhood transfers this year. When did they open it up for Hamm & Kenmore.

Agree about address verification— it seemed to solve a lot of problems. I don’t know if it’s related, but YHS & WHS now have almost exactly the same number of students.

I took the transfer data from the website

https://www.apsva.us/school-transfer-data/

Scroll down to 2024-2025 and Middle School Transfer Data.

For 2025-2026 it looks like they’ve increased the 6th grade slots at Williamsburg to 40, and they don’t have Hamm or Kenmore options.

Seems like a good tool that they can tweak every year to fill space, and there’s obviously demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are going to move immersion to WMS first, but waiting till budget fiasco calms down

The maps moving immersion to wms were very disruptive, are you sure?

Pretty sure PP is making things up. Things they might like to be true, but aren’t (currently).

APS has never suggested that they are even considering moving immersion to Williamsburg. It's a proposal invented by a few parents who dont want to be rezoned from Hamm to Williamsburg, like that's some sort of giant imposition.

Yes this. Moving to WMS and having the HS program at Wakefield makes no sense.

The strongest advocates for this were Hamm parents freaking out about being moved to WMS. They are very vocal on every thread about immersion, like they can will this insane plan into existence.

I don’t think there’s any discussion of needing to move Immersion, as Gunston’s population went down after the started the address verification process.

The bolded is why the conversation ended.

Lots of kids coming from Alexandria and DC to Arlington's best?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are going to move immersion to WMS first, but waiting till budget fiasco calms down

The maps moving immersion to wms were very disruptive, are you sure?

Pretty sure PP is making things up. Things they might like to be true, but aren’t (currently).

APS has never suggested that they are even considering moving immersion to Williamsburg. It's a proposal invented by a few parents who dont want to be rezoned from Hamm to Williamsburg, like that's some sort of giant imposition.

Yes this. Moving to WMS and having the HS program at Wakefield makes no sense.

The strongest advocates for this were Hamm parents freaking out about being moved to WMS. They are very vocal on every thread about immersion, like they can will this insane plan into existence.

I don’t think there’s any discussion of needing to move Immersion, as Gunston’s population went down after the started the address verification process.

The bolded is why the conversation ended.

Lots of kids coming from Alexandria and DC to Arlington's best?

Gunston was overcrowded before the address verification process. After, it wasn’t overcrowded anymore. That’s all I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are going to move immersion to WMS first, but waiting till budget fiasco calms down

The maps moving immersion to wms were very disruptive, are you sure?

Pretty sure PP is making things up. Things they might like to be true, but aren’t (currently).

APS has never suggested that they are even considering moving immersion to Williamsburg. It's a proposal invented by a few parents who dont want to be rezoned from Hamm to Williamsburg, like that's some sort of giant imposition.

Yes this. Moving to WMS and having the HS program at Wakefield makes no sense.

The strongest advocates for this were Hamm parents freaking out about being moved to WMS. They are very vocal on every thread about immersion, like they can will this insane plan into existence.

I don’t think there’s any discussion of needing to move Immersion, as Gunston’s population went down after the started the address verification process.

The bolded is why the conversation ended.

Lots of kids coming from Alexandria and DC to Arlington's best?

Gunston was overcrowded before the address verification process. After, it wasn’t overcrowded anymore. That’s all I know.

They published the number of how many children were disenrolled after not meeting residency requirements. I forgot the exact number, but remember it being significant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are going to move immersion to WMS first, but waiting till budget fiasco calms down

The maps moving immersion to wms were very disruptive, are you sure?

Pretty sure PP is making things up. Things they might like to be true, but aren’t (currently).

APS has never suggested that they are even considering moving immersion to Williamsburg. It's a proposal invented by a few parents who dont want to be rezoned from Hamm to Williamsburg, like that's some sort of giant imposition.

Yes this. Moving to WMS and having the HS program at Wakefield makes no sense.

The strongest advocates for this were Hamm parents freaking out about being moved to WMS. They are very vocal on every thread about immersion, like they can will this insane plan into existence.

I don’t think there’s any discussion of needing to move Immersion, as Gunston’s population went down after the started the address verification process.

The bolded is why the conversation ended.

Lots of kids coming from Alexandria and DC to Arlington's best?

Gunston was overcrowded before the address verification process. After, it wasn’t overcrowded anymore. That’s all I know.

They published the number of how many children were disenrolled after not meeting residency requirements. I forgot the exact number, but remember it being significant.

It was around 85, they are back up to a couple of kids over capacity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just want to know why they only offered 10 6th grade slots for voluntary transfer to Williamsburg this year (24-25) when they had 68 applicants!!!!

Boundary changes are such a cluster that you’d think they could fully expand voluntary transfers before going that route. For Hamm, they had 74 6th grade applicants and only 25 slots. Kenmore even had a waitlist!

Pretty sure transfer applicants have to provide their own transportation too, so there would be no increased bus costs.

I thought WMS was the only MS accepting neighborhood transfers this year. When did they open it up for Hamm & Kenmore.

Agree about address verification— it seemed to solve a lot of problems. I don’t know if it’s related, but YHS & WHS now have almost exactly the same number of students.

I took the transfer data from the website

https://www.apsva.us/school-transfer-data/

Scroll down to 2024-2025 and Middle School Transfer Data.

For 2025-2026 it looks like they’ve increased the 6th grade slots at Williamsburg to 40, and they don’t have Hamm or Kenmore options.

Seems like a good tool that they can tweak every year to fill space, and there’s obviously demand.

I agree. There seems to be plenty of demand for the voluntary transfers to WMS or Hamm. Hopefully APS can use that as a no-cost solution to avoid the disruption of a boundary process. The folks I know who used the option are really happy it was available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just want to know why they only offered 10 6th grade slots for voluntary transfer to Williamsburg this year (24-25) when they had 68 applicants!!!!

Boundary changes are such a cluster that you’d think they could fully expand voluntary transfers before going that route. For Hamm, they had 74 6th grade applicants and only 25 slots. Kenmore even had a waitlist!

Pretty sure transfer applicants have to provide their own transportation too, so there would be no increased bus costs.

I thought WMS was the only MS accepting neighborhood transfers this year. When did they open it up for Hamm & Kenmore.

Agree about address verification— it seemed to solve a lot of problems. I don’t know if it’s related, but YHS & WHS now have almost exactly the same number of students.

I took the transfer data from the website

https://www.apsva.us/school-transfer-data/

Scroll down to 2024-2025 and Middle School Transfer Data.

For 2025-2026 it looks like they’ve increased the 6th grade slots at Williamsburg to 40, and they don’t have Hamm or Kenmore options.

Seems like a good tool that they can tweak every year to fill space, and there’s obviously demand.

I agree. There seems to be plenty of demand for the voluntary transfers to WMS or Hamm. Hopefully APS can use that as a no-cost solution to avoid the disruption of a boundary process. The folks I know who used the option are really happy it was available.

I agree that address verification should happen at multiple grade levels. If not across APS, then at the schools that are over capacity.