the Key/ASFS building switch...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here was the process: Last year, everyone at ASFS pretty much opposed getting rid of the Team boundaries knowing that it was going to create further capacity issues if the Key zone didn’t have both Key and ASFS to use as neighborhood schools. Then there was some “engagement” on the walk zones until April when APS came out and said Key should be a neighborhood school and ASFS an option. This “swap” idea came (according to Lisa Stengel) from a parent at ASFS who lives near Key and wanted ASFS in their neighborhood.The walkers around ASFS and the teachers/faculty lobbied otherwise and 3 weeks later, APS announces that both schools should be neighborhood schools. Now those living near Key and Rosslyn were up in arms because they didn’t want just any old neighborhood school in their neighborhood but they wanted the ASFS program/teachers, science lab, etc.

After a month of fighting, Murphy calls for a stand down and says moving Key would be tabled for now and basically, everyone just shut up and sit down. Then all summer APS posts updates that some ASFS’ boundaries might get changed in 2019 but by the end of July states definitively that all of ASFS’ boundaries would be changed in 2019; thus, supporting Murphy’s decree that no options would be moving and APS would have to figure out a way to draw new boundaries around ASFS (or just leave them alone and let ASFS sit outside its boundaries).

This “plan of action” was touted all through August by APS when they met with Key’s and ASFS’ principals. It wasn’t until 4 hours before Murphy’s August 28th announcement that APS gave the schools the heads up that everything they had been told over the summer was a lie and that they were swapping schools. And the reason? Not to fix capacity at either school, but to just let ASFS’ current community stick together (never mind they’ll all be in middle school in a few years, or that APS is still going to have to redraw boundaries around the new ASFS and kick more than just the transfers out).

So yeah, if that’s the amazing “process” by which APS operates, we should all feel good about the decisions they make and the community engagement that they do.

This is not what happened, at all. Just stop.

+1

Fiction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The claws come out...

Sent to LV listserve tonight.

“Lyon Village was extended an invitation from the president of Cherrydale Civic Association to attend a meeting on Sept. 24 to discuss the Key Elementary-Science Focus Building Swap.

However, the president of Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association reached out to me this morning and let me know that Lyon Village residents are not invited to attend this meeting because "[t]he subject meeting is Ballston-Virginia Square's regular monthly meeting and we invited Cherrydale residents to join us on for the school swap agenda item as we were already considering a possible joint response to the school board. It would be difficult to discuss and take action on a neighborhood position with members of the broader Arlington community there."

I apologize for the misunderstanding, but please do not plan to attend the meeting as the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association will be turning away uninvited guests. “

Wow, yet Cherrydale residents without students at ASFS had the gall to attend PTA meetings???

Uh, yeah, because PTA membership is open to everyone and Civic Associations are open to residents who live in a certain area. And note, it was the Cherrydale Civic Associaiton who ASKED Lyon Village to come and it was the Ballston-VA Square Civil Association who nixed Lyon Village’s attendance. Try to keep up.

Okay, whatevs. Tacky as hell.

So you would also agree that going to a Civic Association meeting when you are a non-resident would also be tacky as hell? Just trying to figure out why it's tacky for interested people to attend public meetings but not necessarily when interested folks attend private meeting?

If it’s a private meeting they shouldn’t hold it on public property.

Private groups reserve public space for meetings all the time. If I rent a room in a community center for my kindergarten Daisy troop to have a meeting, does that mean I have to let any creeper who likes to look at little girls attend? If my study group reserves a room at the library for a study session, do I have to let in the toddlers playing in the kids section?

[Anonymous]

There is no asfs program. It’s an elementary school with one hour of extra science a week.
Want to know what my kids did during that hour this week?
1 drew a picture of clouds and wrote a sentence about how cloud hold rain water.
The other measured pencils and toy cars using a ruler.
This is pretty demonstrative of what they do every week in science city.
Not really sure if that’s worth fighting for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no asfs program. It’s an elementary school with one hour of extra science a week.
Want to know what my kids did during that hour this week?
1 drew a picture of clouds and wrote a sentence about how cloud hold rain water.
The other measured pencils and toy cars using a ruler.
This is pretty demonstrative of what they do every week in science city.
Not really sure if that’s worth fighting for.

I real don’t understand it either. We will probably be moved to a new school in the 2020 process. That would be a bummer, but not something I’m going fight if it makes sense for the system. The tantrums going on here are ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no asfs program. It’s an elementary school with one hour of extra science a week.
Want to know what my kids did during that hour this week?
1 drew a picture of clouds and wrote a sentence about how cloud hold rain water.
The other measured pencils and toy cars using a ruler.
This is pretty demonstrative of what they do every week in science city.
Not really sure if that’s worth fighting for.

No one is really fighting for "science" program, most people are fighting not to be bused half-way across the county. That's the root of the Cherosslyn War -- Cherrydale wants a walkable at the expense of all the neighborhoods east of them, who have no neighborhood school at all. We really probably should just do long east-west boundaries, since that's how almost all NA elementary schools are configured anyways.

[Anonymous]

"The subject meeting is Ballston-Virginia Square's regular monthly meeting and we invited Cherrydale residents to join us on for the school swap agenda item as we were already considering a possible joint response to the school board."

I'll be interested to see what possible joint response they can come up with. I get why the Virginia Square residents would be interested in ASFS given that their current neighborhood school is Ashlawn. But the vast majority of Cherrydale goes to Taylor, including the part of Cherrydale that sits on the same side of Lee Highway as Taylor. Having a closer school that some of Cherrydale could walk to would theoretically be nice but I think most of Cherrydale is happy going to Taylor (and some live closer to Taylor).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no asfs program. It’s an elementary school with one hour of extra science a week.
Want to know what my kids did during that hour this week?
1 drew a picture of clouds and wrote a sentence about how cloud hold rain water.
The other measured pencils and toy cars using a ruler.
This is pretty demonstrative of what they do every week in science city.
Not really sure if that’s worth fighting for.

No one is really fighting for "science" program, most people are fighting not to be bused half-way across the county. That's the root of the Cherosslyn War -- Cherrydale wants a walkable at the expense of all the neighborhoods east of them, who have no neighborhood school at all. We really probably should just do long east-west boundaries, since that's how almost all NA elementary schools are configured anyways.

Not true-some of Cherrydale wants to walk to ASFS, but many are happy going to Taylor. And those that do want to walk to ASFS also believe Rosslyn should walk to school as well. That was going to happen when APS announced that both schools should be neighborhood schools. No one in Cherrydale ever advocated that Rosslyn shouldn't be able to walk or go to the Key building.

That's the one thing everyone keeps glossing over-- there doesn't have to be only one neighborhood school between Rosslyn and Cherrydale. APS could send Immersion somewhere else (and somewhere that makes more sense for the program) and then everyone would be happy-- except, of course, the parents at the school where Immersion ends up. But it makes no sense to have only one neighborhood school in the east while there are underpopulated schools in the west. APS doesn't have the guts to deal with that issue or those parents, though. It's just easier for them to dump on the people in the east.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no asfs program. It’s an elementary school with one hour of extra science a week.
Want to know what my kids did during that hour this week?
1 drew a picture of clouds and wrote a sentence about how cloud hold rain water.
The other measured pencils and toy cars using a ruler.
This is pretty demonstrative of what they do every week in science city.
Not really sure if that’s worth fighting for.

No one is really fighting for "science" program, most people are fighting not to be bused half-way across the county. That's the root of the Cherosslyn War -- Cherrydale wants a walkable at the expense of all the neighborhoods east of them, who have no neighborhood school at all. We really probably should just do long east-west boundaries, since that's how almost all NA elementary schools are configured anyways.

Not true-some of Cherrydale wants to walk to ASFS, but many are happy going to Taylor. And those that do want to walk to ASFS also believe Rosslyn should walk to school as well. That was going to happen when APS announced that both schools should be neighborhood schools. No one in Cherrydale ever advocated that Rosslyn shouldn't be able to walk or go to the Key building.

That's the one thing everyone keeps glossing over-- there doesn't have to be only one neighborhood school between Rosslyn and Cherrydale. APS could send Immersion somewhere else (and somewhere that makes more sense for the program) and then everyone would be happy-- except, of course, the parents at the school where Immersion ends up. But it makes no sense to have only one neighborhood school in the east while there are underpopulated schools in the west. APS doesn't have the guts to deal with that issue or those parents, though. It's just easier for them to dump on the people in the east.

I want to see September enrollment numbers before I pass judgment on anything, because I wonder if APS is seeing shifts we’re not aware of yet (because they have the data and we don’t). Yes, the county as a whole is growing and some schools started with more students than projected, but other schools started with fewer, especially in the kindergarten numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no asfs program. It’s an elementary school with one hour of extra science a week.
Want to know what my kids did during that hour this week?
1 drew a picture of clouds and wrote a sentence about how cloud hold rain water.
The other measured pencils and toy cars using a ruler.
This is pretty demonstrative of what they do every week in science city.
Not really sure if that’s worth fighting for.

No one is really fighting for "science" program, most people are fighting not to be bused half-way across the county. That's the root of the Cherosslyn War -- Cherrydale wants a walkable at the expense of all the neighborhoods east of them, who have no neighborhood school at all. We really probably should just do long east-west boundaries, since that's how almost all NA elementary schools are configured anyways.

Not true-some of Cherrydale wants to walk to ASFS, but many are happy going to Taylor. And those that do want to walk to ASFS also believe Rosslyn should walk to school as well. That was going to happen when APS announced that both schools should be neighborhood schools. No one in Cherrydale ever advocated that Rosslyn shouldn't be able to walk or go to the Key building.

That's the one thing everyone keeps glossing over-- there doesn't have to be only one neighborhood school between Rosslyn and Cherrydale. APS could send Immersion somewhere else (and somewhere that makes more sense for the program) and then everyone would be happy-- except, of course, the parents at the school where Immersion ends up. But it makes no sense to have only one neighborhood school in the east while there are underpopulated schools in the west. APS doesn't have the guts to deal with that issue or those parents, though. It's just easier for them to dump on the people in the east.

I would disagree with this statement or at least think it needs to be clarified that the vocal parents at ASFS most certainly wanted the ASFS program at Key. I was at the May ASFS PTA meeting and parents were stunned when APS announced that there would be two neighborhood schools. No one from Rosslyn or who lives around the Key building were rejoicing. No one was saying, "wow, this is great news, we get to walk to school! No more long bus ride!" It was bitterness and sadness that they wouldn't be at ASFS anymore. They literally accused the teachers and faculty of not caring about their children when some of them said they wanted to stay with the building and the fixtures in the buildings that support their curriculum. The manta was, two schools would tear the community apart! But if 80% of ASFS was going to Key, then most of the community would move together and be together. So the message (at least last year) was that ASFS had to be moved at all costs, not that Rosslyn needed a shorter commute. Which is still evident this year-- if they weren't fighting for the science program, then why is there a demand that every fixture in the ASFS building be moved with the swap? Rosslyn could and should definitely advocate for a neighborhood school but they did so at the expense of current ASFS building when they lobbied that ASFS had to move with them. All of ASFS could have been on the same page about moving the immersion program and then everyone would have gotten a walkable school but the Rosslyn folks couldn't bear the thought that Cherrydale would get "their" school while they went to a different/new school. So all the strife at and between the parents at ASFS revolve around the program, the stuff inside the building and the faculty, not the commute. If it was just about the commute, then the two neighborhood schools would have been a relief or welcome news.

The irony is, APS won't move all that stuff. And even though most of the staff and faculty will probably make the transition, it won't be ASFS anymore, or the ASFS that everyone who currently attends ASFS knows. So Rosslyn is going to end up pretty much in the same position if they had just embraced APS' announcement that there would be two neighborhood schools instead of fighting it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no asfs program. It’s an elementary school with one hour of extra science a week.
Want to know what my kids did during that hour this week?
1 drew a picture of clouds and wrote a sentence about how cloud hold rain water.
The other measured pencils and toy cars using a ruler.
This is pretty demonstrative of what they do every week in science city.
Not really sure if that’s worth fighting for.

No one is really fighting for "science" program, most people are fighting not to be bused half-way across the county. That's the root of the Cherosslyn War -- Cherrydale wants a walkable at the expense of all the neighborhoods east of them, who have no neighborhood school at all. We really probably should just do long east-west boundaries, since that's how almost all NA elementary schools are configured anyways.

Not true-some of Cherrydale wants to walk to ASFS, but many are happy going to Taylor. And those that do want to walk to ASFS also believe Rosslyn should walk to school as well. That was going to happen when APS announced that both schools should be neighborhood schools. No one in Cherrydale ever advocated that Rosslyn shouldn't be able to walk or go to the Key building.

That's the one thing everyone keeps glossing over-- there doesn't have to be only one neighborhood school between Rosslyn and Cherrydale. APS could send Immersion somewhere else (and somewhere that makes more sense for the program) and then everyone would be happy-- except, of course, the parents at the school where Immersion ends up. But it makes no sense to have only one neighborhood school in the east while there are underpopulated schools in the west. APS doesn't have the guts to deal with that issue or those parents, though. It's just easier for them to dump on the people in the east.

I would disagree with this statement or at least think it needs to be clarified that the vocal parents at ASFS most certainly wanted the ASFS program at Key. I was at the May ASFS PTA meeting and parents were stunned when APS announced that there would be two neighborhood schools. No one from Rosslyn or who lives around the Key building were rejoicing. No one was saying, "wow, this is great news, we get to walk to school! No more long bus ride!" It was bitterness and sadness that they wouldn't be at ASFS anymore. They literally accused the teachers and faculty of not caring about their children when some of them said they wanted to stay with the building and the fixtures in the buildings that support their curriculum. The manta was, two schools would tear the community apart! But if 80% of ASFS was going to Key, then most of the community would move together and be together. So the message (at least last year) was that ASFS had to be moved at all costs, not that Rosslyn needed a shorter commute. Which is still evident this year-- if they weren't fighting for the science program, then why is there a demand that every fixture in the ASFS building be moved with the swap? Rosslyn could and should definitely advocate for a neighborhood school but they did so at the expense of current ASFS building when they lobbied that ASFS had to move with them. All of ASFS could have been on the same page about moving the immersion program and then everyone would have gotten a walkable school but the Rosslyn folks couldn't bear the thought that Cherrydale would get "their" school while they went to a different/new school. So all the strife at and between the parents at ASFS revolve around the program, the stuff inside the building and the faculty, not the commute. If it was just about the commute, then the two neighborhood schools would have been a relief or welcome news.

The irony is, APS won't move all that stuff. And even though most of the staff and faculty will probably make the transition, it won't be ASFS anymore, or the ASFS that everyone who currently attends ASFS knows. So Rosslyn is going to end up pretty much in the same position if they had just embraced APS' announcement that there would be two neighborhood schools instead of fighting it.

I think you are a troll. No one was “stunned” and the vast majority of people were happy going to key. Everyone agreed that two neighborhood schools was great because then the “science” program could stay intact and there would be new “new asfs” for the existing community.
The only ones fighting for the fixtures are the faculty. I have a good idea of who is goading them on. I get it on their part, it’s just sad that they have no loyalty to the students they teach or the neighborhoods that they have taught kids from for decades.
Long story short, the “science” curriculum is a sham. My now sixth grader did not gain an interest in science from attending asfs. My first grader never sang science songs last year. My fourth grader does not even know what the scientific method is. I’ve asked her.

[Anonymous]

APS is facing the potentially massive budget shortfall for next year (I’ve heard the number $43 million throw around, but can’t find a source for that). I don’t think anyone should be planning on funding for discretionary items like moving science labs any time soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no asfs program. It’s an elementary school with one hour of extra science a week.
Want to know what my kids did during that hour this week?
1 drew a picture of clouds and wrote a sentence about how cloud hold rain water.
The other measured pencils and toy cars using a ruler.
This is pretty demonstrative of what they do every week in science city.
Not really sure if that’s worth fighting for.

No one is really fighting for "science" program, most people are fighting not to be bused half-way across the county. That's the root of the Cherosslyn War -- Cherrydale wants a walkable at the expense of all the neighborhoods east of them, who have no neighborhood school at all. We really probably should just do long east-west boundaries, since that's how almost all NA elementary schools are configured anyways.

Not true-some of Cherrydale wants to walk to ASFS, but many are happy going to Taylor. And those that do want to walk to ASFS also believe Rosslyn should walk to school as well. That was going to happen when APS announced that both schools should be neighborhood schools. No one in Cherrydale ever advocated that Rosslyn shouldn't be able to walk or go to the Key building.

That's the one thing everyone keeps glossing over-- there doesn't have to be only one neighborhood school between Rosslyn and Cherrydale. APS could send Immersion somewhere else (and somewhere that makes more sense for the program) and then everyone would be happy-- except, of course, the parents at the school where Immersion ends up. But it makes no sense to have only one neighborhood school in the east while there are underpopulated schools in the west. APS doesn't have the guts to deal with that issue or those parents, though. It's just easier for them to dump on the people in the east.

I would disagree with this statement or at least think it needs to be clarified that the vocal parents at ASFS most certainly wanted the ASFS program at Key. I was at the May ASFS PTA meeting and parents were stunned when APS announced that there would be two neighborhood schools. No one from Rosslyn or who lives around the Key building were rejoicing. No one was saying, "wow, this is great news, we get to walk to school! No more long bus ride!" It was bitterness and sadness that they wouldn't be at ASFS anymore. They literally accused the teachers and faculty of not caring about their children when some of them said they wanted to stay with the building and the fixtures in the buildings that support their curriculum. The manta was, two schools would tear the community apart! But if 80% of ASFS was going to Key, then most of the community would move together and be together. So the message (at least last year) was that ASFS had to be moved at all costs, not that Rosslyn needed a shorter commute. Which is still evident this year-- if they weren't fighting for the science program, then why is there a demand that every fixture in the ASFS building be moved with the swap? Rosslyn could and should definitely advocate for a neighborhood school but they did so at the expense of current ASFS building when they lobbied that ASFS had to move with them. All of ASFS could have been on the same page about moving the immersion program and then everyone would have gotten a walkable school but the Rosslyn folks couldn't bear the thought that Cherrydale would get "their" school while they went to a different/new school. So all the strife at and between the parents at ASFS revolve around the program, the stuff inside the building and the faculty, not the commute. If it was just about the commute, then the two neighborhood schools would have been a relief or welcome news.

The irony is, APS won't move all that stuff. And even though most of the staff and faculty will probably make the transition, it won't be ASFS anymore, or the ASFS that everyone who currently attends ASFS knows. So Rosslyn is going to end up pretty much in the same position if they had just embraced APS' announcement that there would be two neighborhood schools instead of fighting it.

APS never, I repeat never, announced two neighborhood schools. Did not. If that's what you heard, you heard wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no asfs program. It’s an elementary school with one hour of extra science a week.
Want to know what my kids did during that hour this week?
1 drew a picture of clouds and wrote a sentence about how cloud hold rain water.
The other measured pencils and toy cars using a ruler.
This is pretty demonstrative of what they do every week in science city.
Not really sure if that’s worth fighting for.

No one is really fighting for "science" program, most people are fighting not to be bused half-way across the county. That's the root of the Cherosslyn War -- Cherrydale wants a walkable at the expense of all the neighborhoods east of them, who have no neighborhood school at all. We really probably should just do long east-west boundaries, since that's how almost all NA elementary schools are configured anyways.

Not true-some of Cherrydale wants to walk to ASFS, but many are happy going to Taylor. And those that do want to walk to ASFS also believe Rosslyn should walk to school as well. That was going to happen when APS announced that both schools should be neighborhood schools. No one in Cherrydale ever advocated that Rosslyn shouldn't be able to walk or go to the Key building.

That's the one thing everyone keeps glossing over-- there doesn't have to be only one neighborhood school between Rosslyn and Cherrydale. APS could send Immersion somewhere else (and somewhere that makes more sense for the program) and then everyone would be happy-- except, of course, the parents at the school where Immersion ends up. But it makes no sense to have only one neighborhood school in the east while there are underpopulated schools in the west. APS doesn't have the guts to deal with that issue or those parents, though. It's just easier for them to dump on the people in the east.

I would disagree with this statement or at least think it needs to be clarified that the vocal parents at ASFS most certainly wanted the ASFS program at Key. I was at the May ASFS PTA meeting and parents were stunned when APS announced that there would be two neighborhood schools. No one from Rosslyn or who lives around the Key building were rejoicing. No one was saying, "wow, this is great news, we get to walk to school! No more long bus ride!" It was bitterness and sadness that they wouldn't be at ASFS anymore. They literally accused the teachers and faculty of not caring about their children when some of them said they wanted to stay with the building and the fixtures in the buildings that support their curriculum. The manta was, two schools would tear the community apart! But if 80% of ASFS was going to Key, then most of the community would move together and be together. So the message (at least last year) was that ASFS had to be moved at all costs, not that Rosslyn needed a shorter commute. Which is still evident this year-- if they weren't fighting for the science program, then why is there a demand that every fixture in the ASFS building be moved with the swap? Rosslyn could and should definitely advocate for a neighborhood school but they did so at the expense of current ASFS building when they lobbied that ASFS had to move with them. All of ASFS could have been on the same page about moving the immersion program and then everyone would have gotten a walkable school but the Rosslyn folks couldn't bear the thought that Cherrydale would get "their" school while they went to a different/new school. So all the strife at and between the parents at ASFS revolve around the program, the stuff inside the building and the faculty, not the commute. If it was just about the commute, then the two neighborhood schools would have been a relief or welcome news.

The irony is, APS won't move all that stuff. And even though most of the staff and faculty will probably make the transition, it won't be ASFS anymore, or the ASFS that everyone who currently attends ASFS knows. So Rosslyn is going to end up pretty much in the same position if they had just embraced APS' announcement that there would be two neighborhood schools instead of fighting it.

APS never, I repeat never, announced two neighborhood schools. Did not. If that's what you heard, you heard wrong.

+1. The closest they came was when they were doing the location review last spring and didn't put either Key or ASFS on the short list of school sites that were considered strong candidates for option programs. That was in no way an announcement that both would be neighborhood schools, making no changes was always a possibility all through that process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no asfs program. It’s an elementary school with one hour of extra science a week.
Want to know what my kids did during that hour this week?
1 drew a picture of clouds and wrote a sentence about how cloud hold rain water.
The other measured pencils and toy cars using a ruler.
This is pretty demonstrative of what they do every week in science city.
Not really sure if that’s worth fighting for.

No one is really fighting for "science" program, most people are fighting not to be bused half-way across the county. That's the root of the Cherosslyn War -- Cherrydale wants a walkable at the expense of all the neighborhoods east of them, who have no neighborhood school at all. We really probably should just do long east-west boundaries, since that's how almost all NA elementary schools are configured anyways.

Not true-some of Cherrydale wants to walk to ASFS, but many are happy going to Taylor. And those that do want to walk to ASFS also believe Rosslyn should walk to school as well. That was going to happen when APS announced that both schools should be neighborhood schools. No one in Cherrydale ever advocated that Rosslyn shouldn't be able to walk or go to the Key building.

That's the one thing everyone keeps glossing over-- there doesn't have to be only one neighborhood school between Rosslyn and Cherrydale. APS could send Immersion somewhere else (and somewhere that makes more sense for the program) and then everyone would be happy-- except, of course, the parents at the school where Immersion ends up. But it makes no sense to have only one neighborhood school in the east while there are underpopulated schools in the west. APS doesn't have the guts to deal with that issue or those parents, though. It's just easier for them to dump on the people in the east.

I want to see September enrollment numbers before I pass judgment on anything, because I wonder if APS is seeing shifts we’re not aware of yet (because they have the data and we don’t). Yes, the county as a whole is growing and some schools started with more students than projected, but other schools started with fewer, especially in the kindergarten numbers.

The extra Kindergarten class they were expecting in this area did not materialize. I think that's at least part of it, and possibly that other schools had higher enrollment than they planned, so making two neighborhood schools here and then trying to find a new home for immersion, possibly in an area that is higher than expected, became a very bad idea. The swap buys them a couple more years to see whether these trends hold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here was the process: Last year, everyone at ASFS pretty much opposed getting rid of the Team boundaries knowing that it was going to create further capacity issues if the Key zone didn’t have both Key and ASFS to use as neighborhood schools. Then there was some “engagement” on the walk zones until April when APS came out and said Key should be a neighborhood school and ASFS an option. This “swap” idea came (according to Lisa Stengel) from a parent at ASFS who lives near Key and wanted ASFS in their neighborhood.The walkers around ASFS and the teachers/faculty lobbied otherwise and 3 weeks later, APS announces that both schools should be neighborhood schools. Now those living near Key and Rosslyn were up in arms because they didn’t want just any old neighborhood school in their neighborhood but they wanted the ASFS program/teachers, science lab, etc.

After a month of fighting, Murphy calls for a stand down and says moving Key would be tabled for now and basically, everyone just shut up and sit down. Then all summer APS posts updates that some ASFS’ boundaries might get changed in 2019 but by the end of July states definitively that all of ASFS’ boundaries would be changed in 2019; thus, supporting Murphy’s decree that no options would be moving and APS would have to figure out a way to draw new boundaries around ASFS (or just leave them alone and let ASFS sit outside its boundaries).

This “plan of action” was touted all through August by APS when they met with Key’s and ASFS’ principals. It wasn’t until 4 hours before Murphy’s August 28th announcement that APS gave the schools the heads up that everything they had been told over the summer was a lie and that they were swapping schools. And the reason? Not to fix capacity at either school, but to just let ASFS’ current community stick together (never mind they’ll all be in middle school in a few years, or that APS is still going to have to redraw boundaries around the new ASFS and kick more than just the transfers out).

So yeah, if that’s the amazing “process” by which APS operates, we should all feel good about the decisions they make and the community engagement that they do.

This is not what happened, at all. Just stop.

+1

Fiction.

uh wrong - this is EXACTLY what happened.
i can see why you remember things the way that best suits your interests though