Independence and self direction don't work in a huge school. |
They are complaining about the very foreseeable results of putting two middle schools too close to each other. Which is exactly what they wanted. |
Not at all. Someone is misreading, misunderstanding or intentionally misrepresenting Taylor parents’ advocacy. |
Not the PP, but why should anyone believe that NOW is the time that APS is getting it right when they’ve gotten it so very wrong every other time before when it comes to ES and MS locations/boundaries? Color me skeptical. |
Why in the world not? That’s essentially college. |
If they had Hamm in Rosslyn, we would have the same exact disruption and split schools all the same — just wouldn’t have the added advantage of walkability There aren’t any middle schools living in Rosslyn — they ALL have to be bused. No idea how that would have addressed any of current challenges? |
I think you're saying there are no middle schoolers living in the Heights walkzone - that's not true. The walkzone includes all Innovation zone and some of ASFS. If you filter the latest Planning Unit Level Data document they released this summer for Innovation it shows there are 209 students attending the planning unit middle school (ie Hamm). If you then filter for ASFS and then filter further for Lyon Village and Clarendon/Courthouse you find another 119 students for a total of approximately 328 potential walkzone students. It's a moot point because the building is not and probably should not become neighborhood because of the way it's built, but saying there are no walkable students is 100% false. |
Adults go to college. Children in middle and high school go to HB. See the difference? |
There is no way that the Heights would work for a neighborhood middle school. We covered that pages ago. I am not sure the site could even have even worked even ore building but it certainly won’t work now as it’s built. It’s a cool building but it has its challenges and Taylor parents would revolt. Also you don’t just kick out the HB and Shrivet kids every few years ad whims change. They had to move once from their longtime home. That’s enough. |
How convenient that HB pedagogy is need a small school. |
. You are being sarcastic right? I mean, that is the definition of a big school. You have to be independent and you have to have self direction or you get lost. It’s the focus on you at HB as a small school, teaching you to be independent that people want, not the actual independence required at W&L and YHS. |
You realize of course that is exactly what they are proposing to do right now to the Taylor kids at DHMS? Not a winner argument. |
HB used to be used as an outlet for specific kinds of kids, identified by teachers and parents — but mostly teachers when parents weren’t so involved. It worked as an amazing outlet for kids who were really smart but struggled in a traditional classroom setting. And the students were sort of similar in the respect — lot of dsylexia, pot smoking, artsy types. Unfortunately, it also meant it was really really white. And rightly APS fixed that with the lottery system. The result though is that it’s not a “type” of kid who gets sent there anymore, just parents who think smaller is better (which in education it often is). Meaning that a consistent pedagogy is really not realistic with a bunch of random HS kids with different expectations/needs/abilities. I can’t believe we still let it happen in light of the sheer numbers at the other HS. |
The lottery has been around for years. Before that it was first come first served which resulted in parents queuing several days in the early 1990s to get their kids on the list. That is why they introduced the lottery. There are some kids who might be placed there for special reasons, but that is not the majority. |
Agreed about timeline. Are you disagreeing with what I said? Or do you just not know back that far? I’m very curious about the kids “placed there for special reasons.” New idea to me that there is a lottery workaround. Fascinating, please explosive. |