APS/SA boundary redrawing - meeting tonight

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To PP who corrected me on Montessori 2/3: thank you for info. We also are afraid of efforts, direct or inadvertent, to strangle Montessori. Killing it in the crib of Henry would be very convenient (although not painless in that there would still be a few hundred kids to redirect).
Still, the school boards before O'Grady joined were amazingly ignorant of the program - I don't mean they were insufficient cheerleaders, I mean they seemed to know nothing. And yet the program is one of the most successful in closing skills gap, diversity, etc. Also the oldest. Now, we wonder why there is a sudden registration issue dramatically under-filling slots? And why in the plan for Henry is it being capped at 400-something with no growth. Every other school, and especially choices, are expected to be 700ish and grow with school growth. If APS doesn't intend to try to kill it, they should know they are raising fears unnecessarily.

I know people have asked o'Grady about it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To PP who corrected me on Montessori 2/3: thank you for info. We also are afraid of efforts, direct or inadvertent, to strangle Montessori. Killing it in the crib of Henry would be very convenient (although not painless in that there would still be a few hundred kids to redirect).
Still, the school boards before O'Grady joined were amazingly ignorant of the program - I don't mean they were insufficient cheerleaders, I mean they seemed to know nothing. And yet the program is one of the most successful in closing skills gap, diversity, etc. Also the oldest. Now, we wonder why there is a sudden registration issue dramatically under-filling slots? And why in the plan for Henry is it being capped at 400-something with no growth. Every other school, and especially choices, are expected to be 700ish and grow with school growth. If APS doesn't intend to try to kill it, they should know they are raising fears unnecessarily.

I'm that PP. I'm also a Montessori parent though frankly I"m just not very involved (no PTA, don't go to many Montessori-centric events). But, I don't know about some of the above. I did go to the Montessori meeting last winter at Henry and I left with the understanding that Montessori in fact will be growing just like all the other elementaries. They certainly aren't taking those trailers away anytime soon. Seems much more likely that APS just bungled process and numbers vs. any type of master plan.

All that said, the plans for use of the Career Center site are nuts and I do expect Montessori to move again within 5-8 years to make room for whatever the HS program will eventually be.

[Anonymous]

Longtime Arlington parent here who would love to see Montessori killed. After pre K it is subsidizing alternative ed for UMC parents. Not remotely addressing achievement gap. They dress themselves in Maria Montessori’s halo but spare us. That said, they are a bunch of tiger moms who have entrenched themselves in the AC/DC hypocrisy. They will niever die.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Longtime Arlington parent here who would love to see Montessori killed. After pre K it is subsidizing alternative ed for UMC parents. Not remotely addressing achievement gap. They dress themselves in Maria Montessori’s halo but spare us. That said, they are a bunch of tiger moms who have entrenched themselves in the AC/DC hypocrisy. They will niever die.

That's silly. the single biggest factor in the achievement gap is not poor kids falling behind, its rich kids pulling away from everyone else. In fact, poor kids are doing better than ever before. Check out Sean Reardon's work on this issue. If you're truly concerned about the achievement gap, you wouldn't be liking on montessori, you'd be pushing for integrated schools so that poor kids had access to the enormous pta budgets that subsidize enrichment activities and opportunities for rich kids. It's these "investments" that fuel he achievement gap. Whatever it's faults, montessori is almost certainly more integrated than most NA schools, and students of all backgrounds benefit from active parents.

[Anonymous]

It’s a county wide problem. Moving Columbus Heights, killing Montessori.... bandaid triage. APS will always says all schools are good schools. Disparage Montessori and disparage Columbia Heights but without North Arlington nothing is ever going to change. North Arlington might support the Drew boosters but they are not and have not been willing to take actual action to live thier supposed truths. They want other kids to go to Drew and Randolph, not theirs. The County created this mess, housing policy created this mess, not a few parents or an individual school program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Longtime Arlington parent here who would love to see Montessori killed. After pre K it is subsidizing alternative ed for UMC parents. Not remotely addressing achievement gap. They dress themselves in Maria Montessori’s halo but spare us. That said, they are a bunch of tiger moms who have entrenched themselves in the AC/DC hypocrisy. They will niever die.

Look, if they would take a larger share of students who actually qualify for fr/l, I am fine with them continuing. I have a real problem with any "option" schoool that is not actually an option for the kids who are most disadvantaged and have the most to gain from a quality pre-K experience and an integrated ES. Don't kill it, fight to make it fair and equitable and accessible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longtime Arlington parent here who would love to see Montessori killed. After pre K it is subsidizing alternative ed for UMC parents. Not remotely addressing achievement gap. They dress themselves in Maria Montessori’s halo but spare us. That said, they are a bunch of tiger moms who have entrenched themselves in the AC/DC hypocrisy. They will niever die.

Look, if they would take a larger share of students who actually qualify for fr/l, I am fine with them continuing. I have a real problem with any "option" schoool that is not actually an option for the kids who are most disadvantaged and have the most to gain from a quality pre-K experience and an integrated ES. Don't kill it, fight to make it fair and equitable and accessible.

What about HB Woodlawn or ATS? They are hardly more diverse than Yorktown HS. Should they be eliminated as well? Both of those schools are option programs with a lower farms rate than the county average. Let's see how montessori compares as a standalone program next year before we get out the ax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longtime Arlington parent here who would love to see Montessori killed. After pre K it is subsidizing alternative ed for UMC parents. Not remotely addressing achievement gap. They dress themselves in Maria Montessori’s halo but spare us. That said, they are a bunch of tiger moms who have entrenched themselves in the AC/DC hypocrisy. They will niever die.

Look, if they would take a larger share of students who actually qualify for fr/l, I am fine with them continuing. I have a real problem with any "option" schoool that is not actually an option for the kids who are most disadvantaged and have the most to gain from a quality pre-K experience and an integrated ES. Don't kill it, fight to make it fair and equitable and accessible.

What about HB Woodlawn or ATS? They are hardly more diverse than Yorktown HS. Should they be eliminated as well? Both of those schools are option programs with a lower farms rate than the county average. Let's see how montessori compares as a standalone program next year before we get out the ax.

Whattaboutism knows no bounds, huh? I have a problem with HB, but they aren't responsible if kids don't apply. I suspect their new location will result in a better sampling of diversity. As for ATS, get with the times. They have 26.3% of students receiving fr/l benefits, which is within 5 percentage points of the countywide average.

It would appear that when Montessori is disaggregated from Drew, it will have fewer than 10% of qualifying students, perhaps fewer. And since the only way to get into ES is to be in the Pre-K program, which requires a fee from ALL, I know the reason. There is a literal economic barrier to the program that does not exist an any of the other option programs. Fix it and I will shut up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a county wide problem. Moving Columbus Heights, killing Montessori.... bandaid triage. APS will always says all schools are good schools. Disparage Montessori and disparage Columbia Heights but without North Arlington nothing is ever going to change. North Arlington might support the Drew boosters but they are not and have not been willing to take actual action to live thier supposed truths. They want other kids to go to Drew and Randolph, not theirs. The County created this mess, housing policy created this mess, not a few parents or an individual school program.

You're right about housing policy, a little wrong about needing north Arlington. All that's really needed is to scrap the pike neighborhoods plan, which is simply a plan to keep the pike poor. Period. Without it, Barcroft would be a construction site for luxury town homes like those in shirlington crest. I don't think NA is necessary. I think our leaders are at fault, most of whom are childless NA residents who feel none of the negative externalities of their housing policies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longtime Arlington parent here who would love to see Montessori killed. After pre K it is subsidizing alternative ed for UMC parents. Not remotely addressing achievement gap. They dress themselves in Maria Montessori’s halo but spare us. That said, they are a bunch of tiger moms who have entrenched themselves in the AC/DC hypocrisy. They will niever die.

Look, if they would take a larger share of students who actually qualify for fr/l, I am fine with them continuing. I have a real problem with any "option" schoool that is not actually an option for the kids who are most disadvantaged and have the most to gain from a quality pre-K experience and an integrated ES. Don't kill it, fight to make it fair and equitable and accessible.

What about HB Woodlawn or ATS? They are hardly more diverse than Yorktown HS. Should they be eliminated as well? Both of those schools are option programs with a lower farms rate than the county average. Let's see how montessori compares as a standalone program next year before we get out the ax.

Whattaboutism knows no bounds, huh? I have a problem with HB, but they aren't responsible if kids don't apply. I suspect their new location will result in a better sampling of diversity. As for ATS, get with the times. They have 26.3% of students receiving fr/l benefits, which is within 5 percentage points of the countywide average.

It would appear that when Montessori is disaggregated from Drew, it will have fewer than 10% of qualifying students, perhaps fewer. And since the only way to get into ES is to be in the Pre-K program, which requires a fee from ALL, I know the reason. There is a literal economic barrier to the program that does not exist an any of the other option programs. Fix it and I will shut up.

Care to share your disaggregated numbers? I haven't seen those before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longtime Arlington parent here who would love to see Montessori killed. After pre K it is subsidizing alternative ed for UMC parents. Not remotely addressing achievement gap. They dress themselves in Maria Montessori’s halo but spare us. That said, they are a bunch of tiger moms who have entrenched themselves in the AC/DC hypocrisy. They will niever die.

Look, if they would take a larger share of students who actually qualify for fr/l, I am fine with them continuing. I have a real problem with any "option" schoool that is not actually an option for the kids who are most disadvantaged and have the most to gain from a quality pre-K experience and an integrated ES. Don't kill it, fight to make it fair and equitable and accessible.

What about HB Woodlawn or ATS? They are hardly more diverse than Yorktown HS. Should they be eliminated as well? Both of those schools are option programs with a lower farms rate than the county average. Let's see how montessori compares as a standalone program next year before we get out the ax.

Whattaboutism knows no bounds, huh? I have a problem with HB, but they aren't responsible if kids don't apply. I suspect their new location will result in a better sampling of diversity. As for ATS, get with the times. They have 26.3% of students receiving fr/l benefits, which is within 5 percentage points of the countywide average.

It would appear that when Montessori is disaggregated from Drew, it will have fewer than 10% of qualifying students, perhaps fewer. And since the only way to get into ES is to be in the Pre-K program, which requires a fee from ALL, I know the reason. There is a literal economic barrier to the program that does not exist an any of the other option programs. Fix it and I will shut up.

You can estimate a FARMs percentage for the Montesorri program at Drew using the 2017 table on the statistics section of the APS website, along with the boundary proposal table that was published on Wednesday, which also references 2017 counts. There's a resident vs enrolled issue, but I don't think it matters much in this particular analysis.

There are about 700 students at Drew (graded and Montessori). That's from the farms table. We know from the boundary proposal that 85% of current graded program kids qualify, and that there are approximately 300 graded students (and therefore about 400 Mont. students.) So there are about 250 farms kids in the graded program, because 250 is about 85%.

We know from the farms table that there are 364 total kids at Drew who qualify for benefits. Since about 250 are in the graded portion, the remaining 110 or so are in the montessori portion. The montessori portion has 400 total students. 110 divided by 400 is 28%.

So in sum, it's likely that the true farms rate for montessori is between 20-30%. A lot better than the 10% that the PP claimed, an very close to the county average of 31%.

Curious if I've botched a calculation somewhere. The resident vs enrolled make precise percentages hard, but the estimate and range I've suggested seem fair.

Agree that for the poorest students, even the 200 bucks a year or whatever the fee is on the sliding scale should be eliminated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a county wide problem. Moving Columbus Heights, killing Montessori.... bandaid triage. APS will always says all schools are good schools. Disparage Montessori and disparage Columbia Heights but without North Arlington nothing is ever going to change. North Arlington might support the Drew boosters but they are not and have not been willing to take actual action to live thier supposed truths. They want other kids to go to Drew and Randolph, not theirs. The County created this mess, housing policy created this mess, not a few parents or an individual school program.

You're right about housing policy, a little wrong about needing north Arlington. All that's really needed is to scrap the pike neighborhoods plan, which is simply a plan to keep the pike poor. Period. Without it, Barcroft would be a construction site for luxury town homes like those in shirlington crest. I don't think NA is necessary. I think our leaders are at fault, most of whom are childless NA residents who feel none of the negative externalities of their housing policies.

+1,000

[Anonymous]

I think the damage is done with the Pike plan.
Yes, it should have been tossed with the street car. The trolley was the Lynch pin. Once it was removed the whole thing should have been trashed.
Also- lets be real about transfer of development rights. It’s not a real thing. I mean - it’s real, but it’s done with legislative swipe of a pen. It’s can be undone just as quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the damage is done with the Pike plan.
Yes, it should have been tossed with the street car. The trolley was the Lynch pin. Once it was removed the whole thing should have been trashed.
Also- lets be real about transfer of development rights. It’s not a real thing. I mean - it’s real, but it’s done with legislative swipe of a pen. It’s can be undone just as quickly.

Exactly. Instead of bussing, another way to break up poverty is to allow some of the Barcroft parcel for example, to be sold and gentrify, while placing AH on lee highway. The western pike is simply saturated at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AEM is a ridiculous bubble.
My family saw the writing on the wall and moved last year, but if we had stayed I’d be raising hell about those Henry PU’s. That area needs to be pushed to Drew. That boundary map is hilarious and predictable.
Arlington is so predictable.

You could actually be more effective having moved. Tell the SB why you moved. Tell them it matters!

I did! I got a lovely reply from Reid Goldstein. It was a very long and thoughtful response.

Thank you for doing so. Reid is the only truly sympathetic ear on this issue.