South Arlington elementary school boundary adjustments 2019
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Anonymous
+1 DP. I've been here for less time, but likewise am coming to understand the AH dynamics. I have a lot of disdain for the paper Dems with all the #resist fever, who trash "flyover" states or areas with Confederate monuments but don't notice the segregation in their own backyards. "We're not like them; we just *really* value walking." Oh, is that the explanation? Okay then. That said, I believe we're doing the right thing for our family by living in South Arl. My children will be fine academically and may even be better off for less competitive/striverish environments with a more diverse peer group. They are young, but I have a lot of concern over the stories out of WMS and YHS, such that Gunston and Wakefield look pretty darn appealing. We can afford North Arlington, we choose not to. It's not always easy to have confidence in our choices, and these threads always seem to devolve at some point into group therapy or SALA jokes, but we're planning to stick it out. |
Anonymous
They're not all increasingly poorest. As you said, some S Arlington schools are going to have fewer fr/l students. Randolph, because of its walk zone, is always going to be among the poorest schools. Barcroft and Carlin Spings have a good likelihood of staying about the same or decreasing slightly depending on what they decide to do with moving around option programs and where they send PU's that aren't in any effective walk zone. Drew and the other schools are similarly unclear. |
Anonymous
We are zoned Drew but go to Claremont. I don't know to be honest. I think the fact that they are actually going to focus on the traditional program now (since they have no other choice) is good because I do believe that is one of the reasons for issues they have been having. On a related note, the Drew student body has been very limited to neighborhood lower income kids. You change the student body you change the school. Rezoning is going to change the student body. There are a lot of young families in Nauck and since they won't have the guaranteed option of Claremont this year (and may not have the option of Hoffman Boston) I think there will be a movement to start sending the kids there. There is a lot of talk at the park about sending the kids to Drew, but I don't know if it will actually happen...it just seems that people want it to happen (so maybe a bit of a good sign). The school is very nice IMO, as are the grounds go. They also have a lot of activities and festivals. |
Anonymous
I mean there are a ton of kids in my S. Arlington neighborhood that have a very long bus ride every day to ATS. So I don't think people really care about the bus ride. They care about the school. |
Anonymous
Actually, not true. I am middle class and live in S. Arlington and didn't apply to option schools for reasons related to long bus ride and logistics for extended day pickup. This is also true for many kids who are low income and who would need extended day. It can be very hard for their families to come get them from extended day at a school across town. Many of these families have every parent working 2 or more jobs and some don't have cars. Also, at my child's school many kids arrive 20 minutes early for breakfast. I'm not sure how that works with buses. |
Anonymous
I don’t know but I’m in the same boat. Luckily I have a few years to wait it out and make the assessment when it’s time. |
Anonymous
I guess that’s the only way to do it - to force most of the choice options off the table. I assume Montessori will become really cutthroat, though, because some of those who will probably be rezoned are just across the Pike from the Henry site. |
Anonymous
I'll give that a go. Full disclosure, we are zoned for Drew but currently enrolled in Montessori. As I understand it, Drew's FARMs rate is around 55% currently. That should be an aggregated rate, i.e., taking into account the Montessori program, which is 2/3 low income. The Montessori program is far and away the biggest part of that school, about 450 out of 600 kids, give or take. So, using the above assumptions, that means the neighborhood program should clock in at a much lower FARMs rate. (My math says 20%, but I acknowledge both that that seems optimistic knowing the neighborhood and that I'm bad at math.) I've posted this before, but I understand from working group materials that Drew is slated to receive kids currently zoned Henry and Oakridge, in addition to Randolph, Abingdon, and Hoffman-Boston. I'm not as familiar with the Oakridge PUs or what can be done there in light of "walkability" but I think influx from Oakridge is a positive. Same for Henry - I assume you're in the Glebe/Walter Reed/Pike triangle. So those numbers should help. Also, I understand that people will no longer be able to opt into Hoffman-Boston from the Drew zone, so those kids (and their parents who paid enough attention to education to choose Hoffman-Boston) will come to Drew. All of this seems favorable demographically. Also, the current Drew zone does not have committed AH that I'm aware of (correct me if I'm wrong). There are plenty of smaller SFH, undoubtedly many illegal rentals, and the older garden apartments, but I don't view those through the same lens as the CAFs that have gone up in, say, the Barcroft zone. I don't think they have the same effect of concentrating lower income families/students with limited hope for turnover. Anecdotally, in my immediate neighborhood there are at least a dozen kids currently under the age of 5 in UMC families, some of whom have already missed the boat on the lottery (some are not old enough yet), who will likely wind up at Drew. I doubt we're alone, given the relatively rampant house flipping in the area. Drew is getting focus from APS and pressure from the community. They have a new STEAM focus. Drew will be getting a new principal this year, a year ahead of the Montessori move, rather than continuing to share a principal. The teachers I've met at Drew are all great. Some are Montessori and will move, others are not and presumably will stay. We've been there 3 years now and I have yet to notice any significant teacher turnover issues (the assistant principal has turned over once during that time, she left to take a position with APS). My child has had the same teachers for art, Spanish, PE, and whatever they call the counselor's role when she does classroom things instead of counseling. The administrators are the same for the most part. We go to school events as allowed by the schedules of two working parents with relatively long hours and they seem well attended. Movie night each semester is packed. The book fair is a zoo. They do concerts and performances and plays. Drew's facilities are fine. I've personally been inside Henry, Campbell, Hoffman-Boston, and Jamestown and haven't seen material differences among them, inside or out. All that says, who knows. I can't explain why a school suddenly flourishes or why another seems to founder. I've posted this previously too, but when I moved here Hoffman-Boston was no great shakes and now it's pretty well-regarded. I don't know why, but I also don't see why Drew can't be that in another couple of years. I think the split program did the smaller neighborhood program a real disservice over the years. Having a cohesive school on its own is a step in the right direction. |
Anonymous
Our bus gets kids there early enough for breakfast. Okay, yes some people care about the bus ride, but I don't think it is every single parent (as made obvious by the 10 kids waiting for ATS in front of my house every morning). But I think folks are more inclined to complain about long bus rides if their kids are bused to a lower performing school than if they are bused to a higher performing one. |
Anonymous
Agreed. Also the key is the kids getting bused to ATS all CHOSE to do that (or their parents did) as opposed to being forced to take a bus when there is a school 3 blocks away. I hear what you are saying and obviously most families would be happier to bus to a higher-performing school than a lower-performing one. It's just sticky, because historically when busing was used to help desegregate it was chiildren of color and those with lesser resources that were forced to ride the bus. |
Anonymous
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@1040- your assumptions on what a neighborhood Drew FARMS rate will be are incorrect.
If you look at the transfer report- https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Transfer-Report-2016-17.pdf Drew has 78 kids who are economically disadvantaged transferring in for Montessori. It has 364 kids who are FARMS. That means that 80% of the current FARMS kids are neighborhood kids. Also - the 2/3 spots only applies to preschool, not elementary. And those 2/3 spots are reserved for people whose income for a family of 4 is below 88,240. In order to be FARMS- a family of 4 has to make less than 45,000. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/04/10/2017-07043/child-nutrition-programs-income-eligibility-guidelines |
Anonymous
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We're at Claremont now, and will be continuing on to Gunston & Wakefield. We're all very happy with the school and our kids seem to be thriving. Have talked with more than a few Gunston parents, and they all say very positive things about their school too. A couple neighbors teach at Abingdon and are happy there, and even if we didn't get into Claremont that would've been a perfectly acceptable n'hood school. We're comfortable with Wakefield as is, but our oldest is still 6 years from going there - so not going to make judgments on what that school will be like in 2024.
We meet families like ours every day, that are perfectly happy with where we live. That said, there are real problems in some S Arlington schools, and the CB is doing us no favors by cramming more and more AH on top of what's already here. |
Anonymous
That’s not their job. If you are concerned get involved and help make it a great school. |
Anonymous
I figured I had to be doing something wrong on that point. But some of those neighborhood FARMS kids must be Montessori kids as well. Drew doesn't have 286 kids in the neighborhood program in total. Whether they will go with the Montessori or stay put, who knows. |
Anonymous
No, kids who live in the neighborhood look like Montessori transfers in the report. |