APS middle school boundary process

[Anonymous]

South Arlington parent here with a kid who is zoned for Kenmore in the next couple years. If APS will allow it, I will happily take my kid to any school but Kenmore. I don't need a bus. APS just doesn't allow it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For other readers that prioritize demographics (better distribution of FARM students), what do you think about 1F vs 1H?

H decreases Kenmore to 45%, but leaves Williamsburg with only 4%, while F increases Kenmore to 53%, but keeps Williamsburg and the new school at over 10%. Is it more important to keep all schools below 50%, or is it better to make sure there is at least a small percentage at each school? I'm drawn to 1H, but worry that Williamsburg will become disconnected from the rest of the country by having such a minuscule percentage. Which of these is a better first step? Does anyone see ways to improve 1F to get Kenmore below 50? (without just shifting to Jefferson)

Not looking for a pound of flesh.
As a south Arlington parent I would love to see the diversity map that sliced vertically but I’m not naive.
Schools at 50% are unacceptable.
I really don’t want to hear people whining about their walk zones.
Schools at 50% poverty are unacceptable.

Who are you to decide that 50% poverty schools are unacceptable? Poverty is concentrated in undesirable areas with lower rents -- a problem that Arlington itself created. Too bad, so sad. It's like saying kids in NW DC should be bused to SE public schools to balance things out.

I hope you get hit in the head with a brick today. Maybe it will knock some sense into you.

I see you have no response, because you know the comment is true. You chose to live in a low-rent undesirable area, hoping it would gentrify. Now you are angry that that wish isn't coming true. Oh well.

There are countless studies that say there is a tipping point in poverty. 50% is way over it. Of course you know that, it’s why you don’t want to send your kid to Kenmore. Too bad so sad. Sorry you couldn’t afford country club hills. Keep on strivin’!

Tipping point for what? And my kid is zoned for wburg in every scenario that I've seen, so not sure what you mean.

Student performance. You can also see it easily played out in our county. Kenmore is currently approx 50% poor. They have a GS 5 rating. TJ is currently 42 % with a GS score of 7.
You can say these scores don’t matter, but obviously they do. Just read these threads. Kenmore’s farm’s # going up will likely drop it to a 4. TJ at 45% or more and we’ll see it slide to a 5 or 6
And this affects middle class kids. When you start to Overwhelm a school, it effects all kids- not just those receiving free lunch.
Everyone can say 2-3 percent more farm’s kids don’t matter, but it does. Totally ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

[Anonymous]

I’m with pp. Mi Voz Cuenta. Sorry you don’t like it.

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This comment is misplaced. Mi Voz Cuenta was a group of APAH and VOICE fronted families from S. Arlington who were advocating FOR their continued segregation in S. Arlington. These are the Nancy Van Doren/Tania Talento devotees who want to keep all the poor immigrant families together in S. Arlington. Not the people advocating for appropriately dispersed affordable housing.
Felt the need to correct that.

[Anonymous]

^^^ but I should add they happily agreed to a last min plan, last go around with the HS boundary shift. So, I believe the above “ option Z” is a very real possibility.

[Anonymous]

PREDICTION:

11th hour option z will keep Swanson whiners ( I mean walkers) out of Kenmore.
some weird gerrymandering in the center of the county will have TJ and Kenmore farms rates both up 2-4 points, but not 7-10. Gunston stays over crowded.
Everyone else less crowded.


45 days later we find out all the numbers were off, and it is never made clear what those ramifications are.

[Anonymous]

I did not read through all of the previous posts, so I apologize in advance if I'm missing something, but for those who state that diversity is their main goal - do you think that bussing kids from one end of the county to the other, the result being only a slight change in diversity is more important than having kids bussed out of their neighborhoods and schools that they can walk to? It's fine if that is the thought, I'm just wondering if it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I’m with pp. Mi Voz Cuenta. Sorry you don’t like it.

----
This comment is misplaced. Mi Voz Cuenta was a group of APAH and VOICE fronted families from S. Arlington who were advocating FOR their continued segregation in S. Arlington. These are the Nancy Van Doren/Tania Talento devotees who want to keep all the poor immigrant families together in S. Arlington. Not the people advocating for appropriately dispersed affordable housing.
Felt the need to correct that.

Nothing needed to be corrected. Plenty of S Arlington residents don’t want CARD supporters pretending that they speak on behalf of all S Arlingtonians. Believe it or not, there are people throughout the county who value walkability. As much as some people love to spin it as a “racist” value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For other readers that prioritize demographics (better distribution of FARM students), what do you think about 1F vs 1H?

H decreases Kenmore to 45%, but leaves Williamsburg with only 4%, while F increases Kenmore to 53%, but keeps Williamsburg and the new school at over 10%. Is it more important to keep all schools below 50%, or is it better to make sure there is at least a small percentage at each school? I'm drawn to 1H, but worry that Williamsburg will become disconnected from the rest of the country by having such a minuscule percentage. Which of these is a better first step? Does anyone see ways to improve 1F to get Kenmore below 50? (without just shifting to Jefferson)

Not looking for a pound of flesh.
As a south Arlington parent I would love to see the diversity map that sliced vertically but I’m not naive.
Schools at 50% are unacceptable.
I really don’t want to hear people whining about their walk zones.
Schools at 50% poverty are unacceptable.

Who are you to decide that 50% poverty schools are unacceptable? Poverty is concentrated in undesirable areas with lower rents -- a problem that Arlington itself created. Too bad, so sad. It's like saying kids in NW DC should be bused to SE public schools to balance things out.

I hope you get hit in the head with a brick today. Maybe it will knock some sense into you.

I see you have no response, because you know the comment is true. You chose to live in a low-rent undesirable area, hoping it would gentrify. Now you are angry that that wish isn't coming true. Oh well.

Who posts these things?

I chose to live in the fifth wealthiest county in the US, which has a single unified school system, and I (like every other household) am no more than 20 minutes from any school in the county.

They can fix the boundaries or the school enrollment policies to have the demographics of each school more closely resemble the demographics of the countywide student population. It doesn't have to have anything to do with real estate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not read through all of the previous posts, so I apologize in advance if I'm missing something, but for those who state that diversity is their main goal - do you think that bussing kids from one end of the county to the other, the result being only a slight change in diversity is more important than having kids bussed out of their neighborhoods and schools that they can walk to? It's fine if that is the thought, I'm just wondering if it is.

Over a third of kids are bussed already due to choice schools, including lots of kids who presumably could be walking to neighborhood schools. Arlingtonians are fine with bussing kids all over the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not read through all of the previous posts, so I apologize in advance if I'm missing something, but for those who state that diversity is their main goal - do you think that bussing kids from one end of the county to the other, the result being only a slight change in diversity is more important than having kids bussed out of their neighborhoods and schools that they can walk to? It's fine if that is the thought, I'm just wondering if it is.

The prior pages have some nuance to these positions that might be worth reading, but in a nutshell: it depends. As with anything else, the intensity of a preference varies by person along with what they're willing to give up and/or demand to get it. I personally don't think there's much support anywhere for busing kids from "one end of the county to the other" and there certainly aren't any such proposals on the table. The proposal that is on the table is taking some number of Swanson walkers and putting them on a bus to Kenmore. I personally would vote to make that trade in exchange for a change in diversity numbers. You characterize it as "slight" but to me it looks more like a 9% point swing, if compared to option F, another one folks have brought up for discussion. To me, that is a significant change in diversity. However, I don't have kids at either Kenmore or Swanson, so I'm neither sacrificing nor gaining anything. Perhaps that makes me looking out for the good of the county as a whole; perhaps it makes me pie-in-the-sky imposing "social experiments" on others.

Rhetoric is often not useful when discussing these issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:South Arlington parent here with a kid who is zoned for Kenmore in the next couple years. If APS will allow it, I will happily take my kid to any school but Kenmore. I don't need a bus. APS just doesn't allow it.

Why? If you are using GS scores or other people's stories, that's silly. If you have a prior experience with the school, that would be different. PP who sends her child to Kenmore instead of Williamsburg here. Kenmore teachers have been supremely responsive, DD seems to be happy and has made some new friends, and she's enjoying her small classes. So far, admittedly only a month in, I've been very impressed

[Anonymous]

15:05 here, also had this wonderful message the day after BTS night from one of the Kenmore teachers:

"It was so nice to meet so many of you last night. 56 families shared their contact information with me last night and I believe that is the most since I have been at Kenmore. I woke up this morning inspired to do my best to teach your children. Thank you for trusting me with them."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not read through all of the previous posts, so I apologize in advance if I'm missing something, but for those who state that diversity is their main goal - do you think that bussing kids from one end of the county to the other, the result being only a slight change in diversity is more important than having kids bussed out of their neighborhoods and schools that they can walk to? It's fine if that is the thought, I'm just wondering if it is.

Over a third of kids are bussed already due to choice schools, including lots of kids who presumably could be walking to neighborhood schools. Arlingtonians are fine with bussing kids all over the county.

Really? Greater than 33% of APS students go to a choice school???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:South Arlington parent here with a kid who is zoned for Kenmore in the next couple years. If APS will allow it, I will happily take my kid to any school but Kenmore. I don't need a bus. APS just doesn't allow it.

Why? If you are using GS scores or other people's stories, that's silly. If you have a prior experience with the school, that would be different. PP who sends her child to Kenmore instead of Williamsburg here. Kenmore teachers have been supremely responsive, DD seems to be happy and has made some new friends, and she's enjoying her small classes. So far, admittedly only a month in, I've been very impressed

Curious if you don't take much shrift in scores or other parents persepctive why you made the effort to go to kenmore? Why not just go to neighborhood school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not read through all of the previous posts, so I apologize in advance if I'm missing something, but for those who state that diversity is their main goal - do you think that bussing kids from one end of the county to the other, the result being only a slight change in diversity is more important than having kids bussed out of their neighborhoods and schools that they can walk to? It's fine if that is the thought, I'm just wondering if it is.

Over a third of kids are bussed already due to choice schools, including lots of kids who presumably could be walking to neighborhood schools. Arlingtonians are fine with bussing kids all over the county.

Really? Greater than 33% of APS students go to a choice school???

I would guess at best 33% are bused. Walk zones and working parents are a huge population who can't take the bus.