NW APS parents, can we talk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We can talk but as APS keeps changing the criteria and what it seems to want, I don’t know how effective any discussions would be.

We need to see what they come up with on April 30 and what this new questionnaire asks about. Frankly, having had my kids go through hellish overcrowding I want to make sure they share the love on that going forward. And I feel like they have to do something about schools that are under capacity. Yes, I’m talking about Jamestown. It was so underenrolled they had to under the cover of night move preschools programs there to make it look less ridiculous. It has a ton of land for trailers too.

How big are preschool classrooms? 24 or less? Does APS bus those preschoolers up to Jamestown...or are parents responsible for transportation?

Seems like Jamestown has become the latest Option Program in Arlington. Preschool Option for the rich North Arlingtons.

Google Virginia Preschool Initiative. There are income eligibility requirements to attend any of the VPI classrooms in elementary schools. Definitely not an option for “rich North Arlington’s.”

The Jamestown preschool is Montessori, not VPI, and is only open to families living in North Arlington.

Not true. 2/3 of the seats at all Montessori classes are reserved for low income.

One has nothing to do with the other. VPI and Montessori are two separate programs, and Jamestown has Montessori, not VPI. Further, if you go to the APS Montessori preschool site, you’ll see the list of which elementary school zones can apply to which Montessori sites, and all of the schools eligible for Jamestown’s Montessori are in North Arlington. Believe it or not, there are low-income families in North Arlington.

[Anonymous]

True. But they are not in country club hills. Move Montessori out of Jamestown. They are then way under capacity. Turn it option. No increase in bus costs. Keeps kids near walkable schools. Done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:True. But they are not in country club hills. Move Montessori out of Jamestown. They are then way under capacity. Turn it option. No increase in bus costs. Keeps kids near walkable schools. Done.

Love it! When you can’t fill a school without taking walkers from other schools? It screams option school to me. Bonus that it can take trailers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We can talk but as APS keeps changing the criteria and what it seems to want, I don’t know how effective any discussions would be.

We need to see what they come up with on April 30 and what this new questionnaire asks about. Frankly, having had my kids go through hellish overcrowding I want to make sure they share the love on that going forward. And I feel like they have to do something about schools that are under capacity. Yes, I’m talking about Jamestown. It was so underenrolled they had to under the cover of night move preschools programs there to make it look less ridiculous. It has a ton of land for trailers too.

How big are preschool classrooms? 24 or less? Does APS bus those preschoolers up to Jamestown...or are parents responsible for transportation?

Seems like Jamestown has become the latest Option Program in Arlington. Preschool Option for the rich North Arlingtons.

Google Virginia Preschool Initiative. There are income eligibility requirements to attend any of the VPI classrooms in elementary schools. Definitely not an option for “rich North Arlington’s.”

The Jamestown preschool is Montessori, not VPI, and is only open to families living in North Arlington.

Not true. 2/3 of the seats at all Montessori classes are reserved for low income.

One has nothing to do with the other. VPI and Montessori are two separate programs, and Jamestown has Montessori, not VPI. Further, if you go to the APS Montessori preschool site, you’ll see the list of which elementary school zones can apply to which Montessori sites, and all of the schools eligible for Jamestown’s Montessori are in North Arlington. Believe it or not, there are low-income families in North Arlington.

In Buckingham. And possibly in one or two buildings that feed to Glebe. They also aren't all that low income in the 2/3 group. Not eligible for fr/l, anyway. So while this isn't preschool for the very rich, it's also not the best use of space. Those preschool classrooms should be located closer to the students, especially since they're only there for preschool. If they made this a way to transfer in for ES, I might feel differently. I don't like the idea of a school being kept under capacity for K-5 permanently.

[Anonymous]

Especially the wealthiest, least walkable one.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of good arguments why Jamestown should be changed to option. It won't ever get to capacity b/c of where it is located and has space to grow.

[Anonymous]

As a south Arlington parent I really don’t much care which school they turn option. I stay home, so getting my kid up there for school is easy enough. If it keeps the lottery competition at bay, all the better. I just need a usable school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a south Arlington parent I really don’t much care which school they turn option. I stay home, so getting my kid up there for school is easy enough. If it keeps the lottery competition at bay, all the better. I just need a usable school.

That is very selfish.

And you’re admitting that most people prefer to go to a nearby school. You are really the exception.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a south Arlington parent I really don’t much care which school they turn option. I stay home, so getting my kid up there for school is easy enough. If it keeps the lottery competition at bay, all the better. I just need a usable school.

That is very selfish.

And you’re admitting that most people prefer to go to a nearby school. You are really the exception.

Meh. No more selfish than the odd numbered zipcodes have been for decades. I’ll take mine, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a south Arlington parent I really don’t much care which school they turn option. I stay home, so getting my kid up there for school is easy enough. If it keeps the lottery competition at bay, all the better. I just need a usable school.

That is very selfish.

And you’re admitting that most people prefer to go to a nearby school. You are really the exception.

Meh. No more selfish than the odd numbered zipcodes have been for decades. I’ll take mine, thanks.

So don’t b1tch about it 24x7 on DCUM then, ‘kay?

[Anonymous]

I’m not from nw Arlington (I live in Rosslyn), but one idea that was floated last spring was the idea of upper and lower elementary schools. I wonder if that might be a possible compromise. Keep the schools where they are, but have tuckahoe be the lower elementary and Nottingham be the upper elementary. Since there are a lot of overlap in the walk zones, this would allow for a lot of parents to walk at least part of the time their kids are in school, and you could have a courtesy bus between the two schools to help with logistics at drop off for people with multiple children. Have one big attendance zone so you’re not creating really creating wierd lines down the county to fill schools that are too close together. You could also have a joint pta so it still feels like a cohesive community.
Just a thought. My understanding is that the schools are within a mile of each other, which is why I think this is feasible.
You could have a similar pairing between Jamestown and discovery. Though maybe it makes more sense for Jamestown to be an option school.

[Anonymous]

How does upper/lower relieve overcrowding?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not from nw Arlington (I live in Rosslyn), but one idea that was floated last spring was the idea of upper and lower elementary schools. I wonder if that might be a possible compromise. Keep the schools where they are, but have tuckahoe be the lower elementary and Nottingham be the upper elementary. Since there are a lot of overlap in the walk zones, this would allow for a lot of parents to walk at least part of the time their kids are in school, and you could have a courtesy bus between the two schools to help with logistics at drop off for people with multiple children. Have one big attendance zone so you’re not creating really creating wierd lines down the county to fill schools that are too close together. You could also have a joint pta so it still feels like a cohesive community.
Just a thought. My understanding is that the schools are within a mile of each other, which is why I think this is feasible.
You could have a similar pairing between Jamestown and discovery. Though maybe it makes more sense for Jamestown to be an option school.

That is needlessly complicated and doesn't address any of the problems at hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:True. But they are not in country club hills. Move Montessori out of Jamestown. They are then way under capacity. Turn it option. No increase in bus costs. Keeps kids near walkable schools. Done.

Love it! When you can’t fill a school without taking walkers from other schools? It screams option school to me. Bonus that it can take trailers.

It would be perfect for a hybrid option school (which it it basically is now with the preschool). Let Jamestown walkers stay there and fill the rest with an option program. Since it is so popular among the Montessori believers maybe Montessori ES could be there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a south Arlington parent I really don’t much care which school they turn option. I stay home, so getting my kid up there for school is easy enough. If it keeps the lottery competition at bay, all the better. I just need a usable school.

That is very selfish.

And you’re admitting that most people prefer to go to a nearby school. You are really the exception.

Meh. No more selfish than the odd numbered zipcodes have been for decades. I’ll take mine, thanks.

So don’t b1tch about it 24x7 on DCUM then, ‘kay?

Ha! Why don’t you start another thread here wringing your hands about Nottingham, Jamestown, Tuckahoe, McKinley, ASF, Key.... you aholes
Couldn’t stfu if you tried. Just watching from the sidelines, It’s not even that entertaining anymore. Just draining.