APS: Jamestown, Discovery, Nottingham& McKinley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not great diversity at the schools you listed.

How is that relevant to anything? They are excellent schools. What a weird post.

It’s relevant to future success.

How so?

How are you defining "diversity?" And why do you think it's important? This is not something most people care about when looking at school quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ATS poster (one of them) here - we do know some kids with ADHD who are doing ok here. I also know a few kids whose parents transferred them out (some to private, some back to their home school) because it wasn't a good fit. I know one of those cases was due to special needs. My daughter has some executive processing issues and 3 of her 4 teachers have been very good with her. We did have one year that wasn't great in that sense - the teacher wasn't a good fit - so we just kind of grinned and bore it and this year has been much better. I feel like that could probably happen anywhere.

I'm the pp you're responding to. The feedback we got at the time was that if he had a diagnosed condition warranting an IEP or 504, then ATS would provide accommodations and he'd be fine. Without a diagnosis and plan, though, we were told we would struggle to get ATS teachers to agree to certain accommodations because they're otherwise not compatible with the ATS philosophy. At Nottingham, all five of the teachers we've had so far have been more than willing to make informal accommodations (flexible seating and other classroom adjustments, homework adjustments, etc.), and even though he now has the diagnosis, there's been no need for us to seek a 504 (he wouldn't qualify for an IEP) because the teachers are willing to do everything we ask for without the paperwork. Next year we may reconsider the 504 so that it's in place going into middle school, but not because of any elementary school experiences.

If others have had a different experience with ATS, that would be valuable to know.

As a parent of a MS child, I would strongly urge you to get your 504 plan in place prior to getting to WMS. It's much harder to get the informal kind of accommodations you mention whey they're going to seven different classes in a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ATS poster (one of them) here - we do know some kids with ADHD who are doing ok here. I also know a few kids whose parents transferred them out (some to private, some back to their home school) because it wasn't a good fit. I know one of those cases was due to special needs. My daughter has some executive processing issues and 3 of her 4 teachers have been very good with her. We did have one year that wasn't great in that sense - the teacher wasn't a good fit - so we just kind of grinned and bore it and this year has been much better. I feel like that could probably happen anywhere.

I'm the pp you're responding to. The feedback we got at the time was that if he had a diagnosed condition warranting an IEP or 504, then ATS would provide accommodations and he'd be fine. Without a diagnosis and plan, though, we were told we would struggle to get ATS teachers to agree to certain accommodations because they're otherwise not compatible with the ATS philosophy. At Nottingham, all five of the teachers we've had so far have been more than willing to make informal accommodations (flexible seating and other classroom adjustments, homework adjustments, etc.), and even though he now has the diagnosis, there's been no need for us to seek a 504 (he wouldn't qualify for an IEP) because the teachers are willing to do everything we ask for without the paperwork. Next year we may reconsider the 504 so that it's in place going into middle school, but not because of any elementary school experiences.

If others have had a different experience with ATS, that would be valuable to know.

As a parent of a MS child, I would strongly urge you to get your 504 plan in place prior to getting to WMS. It's much harder to get the informal kind of accommodations you mention whey they're going to seven different classes in a day.

That's what I've heard. Our plan is to do it in fifth grade, is there any benefit to doing it this year instead (4th) if we're not having any issues now?

[Anonymous]

white, whiter, whitest & still white

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We love Nottingham. I highly doubt you would be rezoned for Jamestown from Tuckahoe. Are you South of Lee Highway or closer to Sycamore?

As a Mom with young children at Nottingham, I cannot say enough how grateful I am to the foresighted parents who were at Nottingham before us. Thank goodness they convinced APS staff to push Tuckahoe and Glebe planning units to McKinley rather than cascading up to Discovery and us. We have a wonderful, SAFE school community. The G&T teacher takes the time to work with my children, and the school does everything it can to help my kids learn (no kid starts lunch before 11:00 or after 1:00).

We’re not at Discovery, but friends are and it’s BY FAR better than McKinley or Tuckahoe. Really, after ATS, Nottingham, Discovery and maybe Jamestown are the best elementary schools in APS—credit to those up here who went before us and navigated the pre-Vihstadt People’s Republic of Arlington.

Can you elaborate?

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much for the responses. ATS discussion is pretty interesting as well. Re diversity, I figured none of them would be diverse As a minority this may become an issue as the kids get older but we plan to keep them connected to their roots and people that live in Arlington tend to be quite open minded no matter what their background is.

[Anonymous]

Op - Ignore the Nottingham troll. It’s a tired, old shtick and people don’t fall for it anymore. Expect to see the troll anytime crowding at McKinley is mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op - Ignore the Nottingham troll. It’s a tired, old shtick and people don’t fall for it anymore. Expect to see the troll anytime crowding at McKinley is mentioned.

Will do! But I'm confused over the background story/history.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op - Ignore the Nottingham troll. It’s a tired, old shtick and people don’t fall for it anymore. Expect to see the troll anytime crowding at McKinley is mentioned.

Will do! But I'm confused over the background story/history.

A short version is that when APS was doing some last minute boundary refinements and had the option to move some planning units out of Nottingham and to other schools, including McKinley, the Nottingham community rallied hard and successfully pushed all the units away. The McKinley community tried to point out to APS that the forecasting numbers they were using were wrong and they were going to drastically overcrowd McK, but APS listened to the louder voices and used their own forecasting numbers. Fast-forward two years, APS admits they made a mistake and their math was wrong. One of the Nottingham parents who was most vocal has privately apologized to some McKinley parents, and McKinley is drastically overcrowded while there is space at both Nottingham and Discovery.

The good news for OP's family with young kids is that in 2021 when her little one is in school the opening of Reed will hopefully provide relief to all the schools in the area, including McKinley, so this will be ancient history.

[Anonymous]

re: Diversity: no, the schools OP mentioned aren't diverse, because that part of the county is pretty wealthy and pretty white. See the other (29-page) discussions on this board for more talk about that particular subject. Diversity was one of the reasons we chose ATS over Nottingham - I did think there was some value in my daughter going to a school where the kids were not all white (or Asian or mixed Asian/White) and rich. I love that our school's international night has up to 40 different tables representing the different nationalities of our kids.

If you're looking for diversity, go toward the middle of the county - Barrett, Ashlawn, Long Branch, ATS all have more, in part because there's more multifamily residences and better public transportation. (I also know some parents of minority kids who very specifically opted out of schools that were 97% white because they didn't want their kids to be "the only" black/asian/hispanic kid in a classroom.) Two South Arlington schools - Oakridge and Henry - currently have a real mix of kids, but not sure what will happen in the rezoning.

re: gifted services at ATS - daughter was assessed in first grade (Reading/Math) and then reassessed in second (all 4 subjects). I can't really get a good handle on what the Gifted program does, exactly, and my daughter says she doesn't see the specialist much. She's been challenged, regardless, and the work has been differentiated in her classrooms. But if she were exceptionally gifted and I wanted her more challenged, we'd probably have to consider other schools outside of APS. Fairfax may do a better job, with the AAP centers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op - Ignore the Nottingham troll. It’s a tired, old shtick and people don’t fall for it anymore. Expect to see the troll anytime crowding at McKinley is mentioned.

Will do! But I'm confused over the background story/history.

A short version is that when APS was doing some last minute boundary refinements and had the option to move some planning units out of Nottingham and to other schools, including McKinley, the Nottingham community rallied hard and successfully pushed all the units away. The McKinley community tried to point out to APS that the forecasting numbers they were using were wrong and they were going to drastically overcrowd McK, but APS listened to the louder voices and used their own forecasting numbers. Fast-forward two years, APS admits they made a mistake and their math was wrong. One of the Nottingham parents who was most vocal has privately apologized to some McKinley parents, and McKinley is drastically overcrowded while there is space at both Nottingham and Discovery.

The good news for OP's family with young kids is that in 2021 when her little one is in school the opening of Reed will hopefully provide relief to all the schools in the area, including McKinley, so this will be ancient history.

Why would she apologize for winning ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op - Ignore the Nottingham troll. It’s a tired, old shtick and people don’t fall for it anymore. Expect to see the troll anytime crowding at McKinley is mentioned.

100% agreement -- and I'm a current Nottingham parent. The vast majority of us are not jerks. It is a good, solid school and we are happy enough, but the gushing is ridiculous. I know families at all 4 schools and they're all happy and when Reed opens, people will be happy there, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op - Ignore the Nottingham troll. It’s a tired, old shtick and people don’t fall for it anymore. Expect to see the troll anytime crowding at McKinley is mentioned.

Will do! But I'm confused over the background story/history.

A short version is that when APS was doing some last minute boundary refinements and had the option to move some planning units out of Nottingham and to other schools, including McKinley, the Nottingham community rallied hard and successfully pushed all the units away. The McKinley community tried to point out to APS that the forecasting numbers they were using were wrong and they were going to drastically overcrowd McK, but APS listened to the louder voices and used their own forecasting numbers. Fast-forward two years, APS admits they made a mistake and their math was wrong. One of the Nottingham parents who was most vocal has privately apologized to some McKinley parents, and McKinley is drastically overcrowded while there is space at both Nottingham and Discovery.

The good news for OP's family with young kids is that in 2021 when her little one is in school the opening of Reed will hopefully provide relief to all the schools in the area, including McKinley, so this will be ancient history.

Why would she apologize for winning ?

Sounds like she has an actual conscience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:re: Diversity: no, the schools OP mentioned aren't diverse, because that part of the county is pretty wealthy and pretty white. See the other (29-page) discussions on this board for more talk about that particular subject. Diversity was one of the reasons we chose ATS over Nottingham - I did think there was some value in my daughter going to a school where the kids were not all white (or Asian or mixed Asian/White) and rich. I love that our school's international night has up to 40 different tables representing the different nationalities of our kids.

If you're looking for diversity, go toward the middle of the county - Barrett, Ashlawn, Long Branch, ATS all have more, in part because there's more multifamily residences and better public transportation. (I also know some parents of minority kids who very specifically opted out of schools that were 97% white because they didn't want their kids to be "the only" black/asian/hispanic kid in a classroom.) Two South Arlington schools - Oakridge and Henry - currently have a real mix of kids, but not sure what will happen in the rezoning.

re: gifted services at ATS - daughter was assessed in first grade (Reading/Math) and then reassessed in second (all 4 subjects). I can't really get a good handle on what the Gifted program does, exactly, and my daughter says she doesn't see the specialist much. She's been challenged, regardless, and the work has been differentiated in her classrooms. But if she were exceptionally gifted and I wanted her more challenged, we'd probably have to consider other schools outside of APS. Fairfax may do a better job, with the AAP centers.

Hmm... OP here. So ATS has students of different nationalities? I am foreign born. Got my citizenship two years ago. DH was born here but is bilingual and lived abroad for a bit. I didn’t realize that there were schools in Arlington with many kids of different nationalities. It makes me want to consider applying to ATS. The thing that I don’t like about it is the amount of homework. We want to teach DD our language and figured the best way to do so is to put her in an immersion aftercare program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op - Ignore the Nottingham troll. It’s a tired, old shtick and people don’t fall for it anymore. Expect to see the troll anytime crowding at McKinley is mentioned.

Will do! But I'm confused over the background story/history.

A short version is that when APS was doing some last minute boundary refinements and had the option to move some planning units out of Nottingham and to other schools, including McKinley, the Nottingham community rallied hard and successfully pushed all the units away. The McKinley community tried to point out to APS that the forecasting numbers they were using were wrong and they were going to drastically overcrowd McK, but APS listened to the louder voices and used their own forecasting numbers. Fast-forward two years, APS admits they made a mistake and their math was wrong. One of the Nottingham parents who was most vocal has privately apologized to some McKinley parents, and McKinley is drastically overcrowded while there is space at both Nottingham and Discovery.

The good news for OP's family with young kids is that in 2021 when her little one is in school the opening of Reed will hopefully provide relief to all the schools in the area, including McKinley, so this will be ancient history.

OP again. Thanks for the history! Looks like Reed willresolve the McKinley overcrowding issue. I feel lucky being surrounded by so many great schools