APS DHMS walk zone nuclear option

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Any updates from the meeting at Kenmore this afternoon? Were there any chance to have questions from the audience?

Bump?

I was there with the Ashlawn cohort. I think there were maybe 4 Taylor parents? Staff did answer questions but wouldn’t commit to anything. It does appear that Kenmore is a done deal, whether anyone thinks that’s a good plan or not.

Did they say why?

Because the immersion “visioning” committee concluded that the program should be at Kenmore or Jefferson and Jefferson already has the IB program. Why they are prioritizing the conclusion of a random, un-elected group of stakeholders they did not explain although my friend said she asked the question. Someone from our school asked about moving immersion to Williamsburg and avoiding the domino effect that Kenmore will cause and that got no traction. Staff seems entirely convinced that immersion needs to be given the location their “visioning” committee wants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Any updates from the meeting at Kenmore this afternoon? Were there any chance to have questions from the audience?

Bump?

I was there with the Ashlawn cohort. I think there were maybe 4 Taylor parents? Staff did answer questions but wouldn’t commit to anything. It does appear that Kenmore is a done deal, whether anyone thinks that’s a good plan or not.

Did they say why?

Because the immersion “visioning” committee concluded that the program should be at Kenmore or Jefferson and Jefferson already has the IB program. Why they are prioritizing the conclusion of a random, un-elected group of stakeholders they did not explain although my friend said she asked the question. Someone from our school asked about moving immersion to Williamsburg and avoiding the domino effect that Kenmore will cause and that got no traction. Staff seems entirely convinced that immersion needs to be given the location their “visioning” committee wants.

Yes they should prioritize a different group of random and un-elected stakeholders who have the distinction of looking at this issue purely through the lens of self-interest instead. (That’s all of you complaining.)

[Anonymous]

The families being rezoned to Williamsburg would have vigorously defended their right to attend Williamsburg before Hamm opened. That's where they were zoned historically. But now it's suddenly too inconvenient? For a cohort of families with amongst the most resources in Arlington?

Instead they're now asking for a cohort of families with far fewer resources and means to trek across the county for MS? Most immersion students live in the Gunston/Wakefield boundary. That's a long way from Williamsburg. And the program collapses without the Spanish speaking classmates, so that would be the end of it. All so a few very privileged kids don't have to travel to an excellent MS that was considered their preferred option just a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The families being rezoned to Williamsburg would have vigorously defended their right to attend Williamsburg before Hamm opened. That's where they were zoned historically. But now it's suddenly too inconvenient? For a cohort of families with amongst the most resources in Arlington?

Instead they're now asking for a cohort of families with far fewer resources and means to trek across the county for MS? Most immersion students live in the Gunston/Wakefield boundary. That's a long way from Williamsburg. And the program collapses without the Spanish speaking classmates, so that would be the end of it. All so a few very privileged kids don't have to travel to an excellent MS that was considered their preferred option just a few years ago.

Kenmore parents are rightly pissed off about thus, too! We don’t want the immersion program. We have STEAM already and don’t want another program that has its own “vision” disrupting and superseding our existing program and the neighborhood contingent. It’s patently stupid to move immersion here, when there is a population crunch in this corridor already. Move it where there is space, and always will be space due to restrictive housing policy that will take at least a hundred years to unwind. F*** you immersion jerks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Any updates from the meeting at Kenmore this afternoon? Were there any chance to have questions from the audience?

Bump?

I was there with the Ashlawn cohort. I think there were maybe 4 Taylor parents? Staff did answer questions but wouldn’t commit to anything. It does appear that Kenmore is a done deal, whether anyone thinks that’s a good plan or not.

Did they say why?

Because the immersion “visioning” committee concluded that the program should be at Kenmore or Jefferson and Jefferson already has the IB program. Why they are prioritizing the conclusion of a random, un-elected group of stakeholders they did not explain although my friend said she asked the question. Someone from our school asked about moving immersion to Williamsburg and avoiding the domino effect that Kenmore will cause and that got no traction. Staff seems entirely convinced that immersion needs to be given the location their “visioning” committee wants.

A language program makes more sense at Jefferson. It dovetails with IB, rather than competes with the STEAM focus at Kenmore. Also, Carlin Springs cannot take that much additional traffic. What a nightmare!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The families being rezoned to Williamsburg would have vigorously defended their right to attend Williamsburg before Hamm opened. That's where they were zoned historically. But now it's suddenly too inconvenient? For a cohort of families with amongst the most resources in Arlington?

Instead they're now asking for a cohort of families with far fewer resources and means to trek across the county for MS? Most immersion students live in the Gunston/Wakefield boundary. That's a long way from Williamsburg. And the program collapses without the Spanish speaking classmates, so that would be the end of it. All so a few very privileged kids don't have to travel to an excellent MS that was considered their preferred option just a few years ago.

Kenmore parents are rightly pissed off about thus, too! We don’t want the immersion program. We have STEAM already and don’t want another program that has its own “vision” disrupting and superseding our existing program and the neighborhood contingent. It’s patently stupid to move immersion here, when there is a population crunch in this corridor already. Move it where there is space, and always will be space due to restrictive housing policy that will take at least a hundred years to unwind. F*** you immersion jerks!

I'm all for a discussion about Jefferson vs Kenmore vs Gunston. Williamsburg can't be on the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The families being rezoned to Williamsburg would have vigorously defended their right to attend Williamsburg before Hamm opened. That's where they were zoned historically. But now it's suddenly too inconvenient? For a cohort of families with amongst the most resources in Arlington?

Instead they're now asking for a cohort of families with far fewer resources and means to trek across the county for MS? Most immersion students live in the Gunston/Wakefield boundary. That's a long way from Williamsburg. And the program collapses without the Spanish speaking classmates, so that would be the end of it. All so a few very privileged kids don't have to travel to an excellent MS that was considered their preferred option just a few years ago.

Kenmore parents are rightly pissed off about thus, too! We don’t want the immersion program. We have STEAM already and don’t want another program that has its own “vision” disrupting and superseding our existing program and the neighborhood contingent. It’s patently stupid to move immersion here, when there is a population crunch in this corridor already. Move it where there is space, and always will be space due to restrictive housing policy that will take at least a hundred years to unwind. F*** you immersion jerks!

What impact would it have on STEAM? I haven't heard any impact identified. This just sounds like irrational hand waving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The families being rezoned to Williamsburg would have vigorously defended their right to attend Williamsburg before Hamm opened. That's where they were zoned historically. But now it's suddenly too inconvenient? For a cohort of families with amongst the most resources in Arlington?

Instead they're now asking for a cohort of families with far fewer resources and means to trek across the county for MS? Most immersion students live in the Gunston/Wakefield boundary. That's a long way from Williamsburg. And the program collapses without the Spanish speaking classmates, so that would be the end of it. All so a few very privileged kids don't have to travel to an excellent MS that was considered their preferred option just a few years ago.

Kenmore parents are rightly pissed off about thus, too! We don’t want the immersion program. We have STEAM already and don’t want another program that has its own “vision” disrupting and superseding our existing program and the neighborhood contingent. It’s patently stupid to move immersion here, when there is a population crunch in this corridor already. Move it where there is space, and always will be space due to restrictive housing policy that will take at least a hundred years to unwind. F*** you immersion jerks!

What impact would it have on STEAM? I haven't heard any impact identified. This just sounds like irrational hand waving.

You don’t think having two distinct programs in one school is a problem? Gunston parents certainly complained that having Montessori and Immersion houses together was an issue. Will transfers still be allowed? Will Immersion parents insist all the Kenmore staff be replaced with bilingual teachers and administrators? None of these questions have been answered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The families being rezoned to Williamsburg would have vigorously defended their right to attend Williamsburg before Hamm opened. That's where they were zoned historically. But now it's suddenly too inconvenient? For a cohort of families with amongst the most resources in Arlington?

Instead they're now asking for a cohort of families with far fewer resources and means to trek across the county for MS? Most immersion students live in the Gunston/Wakefield boundary. That's a long way from Williamsburg. And the program collapses without the Spanish speaking classmates, so that would be the end of it. All so a few very privileged kids don't have to travel to an excellent MS that was considered their preferred option just a few years ago.

Kenmore parents are rightly pissed off about thus, too! We don’t want the immersion program. We have STEAM already and don’t want another program that has its own “vision” disrupting and superseding our existing program and the neighborhood contingent. It’s patently stupid to move immersion here, when there is a population crunch in this corridor already. Move it where there is space, and always will be space due to restrictive housing policy that will take at least a hundred years to unwind. F*** you immersion jerks!

I'm all for a discussion about Jefferson vs Kenmore vs Gunston. Williamsburg can't be on the table.

It can and should, because it has and always will have space. Just as the elementary options were moved to the places identified as having space, so should the MS program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The families being rezoned to Williamsburg would have vigorously defended their right to attend Williamsburg before Hamm opened. That's where they were zoned historically. But now it's suddenly too inconvenient? For a cohort of families with amongst the most resources in Arlington?

Instead they're now asking for a cohort of families with far fewer resources and means to trek across the county for MS? Most immersion students live in the Gunston/Wakefield boundary. That's a long way from Williamsburg. And the program collapses without the Spanish speaking classmates, so that would be the end of it. All so a few very privileged kids don't have to travel to an excellent MS that was considered their preferred option just a few years ago.

Kenmore parents are rightly pissed off about thus, too! We don’t want the immersion program. We have STEAM already and don’t want another program that has its own “vision” disrupting and superseding our existing program and the neighborhood contingent. It’s patently stupid to move immersion here, when there is a population crunch in this corridor already. Move it where there is space, and always will be space due to restrictive housing policy that will take at least a hundred years to unwind. F*** you immersion jerks!

I'm all for a discussion about Jefferson vs Kenmore vs Gunston. Williamsburg can't be on the table.

It can and should, because it has and always will have space. Just as the elementary options were moved to the places identified as having space, so should the MS program.

Huh? This is not what happens with the elementary option schools. There is reasoning and criteria for where they were moved. Did they just "have space" at the old McKinley building? Nope.

Dumb strategy on all your parts. Stop with the Williamsburg thing. Not happening. Move on. Focus on TJ if you're determined to keep it out of Kenmore.

[Anonymous]

Jefferson is the most central middle school. It makes sense from a busing perspective and an access perspective.

And they’re having to adjust boundaries for all the middle schools anyway.

Plus, years ago the SB rejected an idea to put a 4th high school at the Kenmore site bc of traffic and road access. You could put an entrance off rte 50 on the west side, but that would take coordination with VDOT, and APS wrung its hands and said “that would take years!!!”

I argued then that they should start the process of that entrance so that years later when they really needed it, they’d have it. But of course they didn’t do anything and here we are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The families being rezoned to Williamsburg would have vigorously defended their right to attend Williamsburg before Hamm opened. That's where they were zoned historically. But now it's suddenly too inconvenient? For a cohort of families with amongst the most resources in Arlington?

Instead they're now asking for a cohort of families with far fewer resources and means to trek across the county for MS? Most immersion students live in the Gunston/Wakefield boundary. That's a long way from Williamsburg. And the program collapses without the Spanish speaking classmates, so that would be the end of it. All so a few very privileged kids don't have to travel to an excellent MS that was considered their preferred option just a few years ago.

Kenmore parents are rightly pissed off about thus, too! We don’t want the immersion program. We have STEAM already and don’t want another program that has its own “vision” disrupting and superseding our existing program and the neighborhood contingent. It’s patently stupid to move immersion here, when there is a population crunch in this corridor already. Move it where there is space, and always will be space due to restrictive housing policy that will take at least a hundred years to unwind. F*** you immersion jerks!

What impact would it have on STEAM? I haven't heard any impact identified. This just sounds like irrational hand waving.

You don’t think having two distinct programs in one school is a problem? Gunston parents certainly complained that having Montessori and Immersion houses together was an issue. Will transfers still be allowed? Will Immersion parents insist all the Kenmore staff be replaced with bilingual teachers and administrators? None of these questions have been answered.

Absolutely no one has suggested replacing Kenmore STEAM teachers with bilingual teachers. The MS immersion classes are self contained. This change shouldn't affect your little darling. They just won't enroll in the immersion classes.

I think you need to learn more about how the program works before making crazy accusations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The families being rezoned to Williamsburg would have vigorously defended their right to attend Williamsburg before Hamm opened. That's where they were zoned historically. But now it's suddenly too inconvenient? For a cohort of families with amongst the most resources in Arlington?

Instead they're now asking for a cohort of families with far fewer resources and means to trek across the county for MS? Most immersion students live in the Gunston/Wakefield boundary. That's a long way from Williamsburg. And the program collapses without the Spanish speaking classmates, so that would be the end of it. All so a few very privileged kids don't have to travel to an excellent MS that was considered their preferred option just a few years ago.

Kenmore parents are rightly pissed off about thus, too! We don’t want the immersion program. We have STEAM already and don’t want another program that has its own “vision” disrupting and superseding our existing program and the neighborhood contingent. It’s patently stupid to move immersion here, when there is a population crunch in this corridor already. Move it where there is space, and always will be space due to restrictive housing policy that will take at least a hundred years to unwind. F*** you immersion jerks!

I do think Kenmore voices are being drowned out in this process. There are a few comments about traffic with a lot of upvotes on ThoughtExchange but I haven’t heard much about Kenmore just not wanting the program and/or not wanting their children to be bumped to other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The families being rezoned to Williamsburg would have vigorously defended their right to attend Williamsburg before Hamm opened. That's where they were zoned historically. But now it's suddenly too inconvenient? For a cohort of families with amongst the most resources in Arlington?

Instead they're now asking for a cohort of families with far fewer resources and means to trek across the county for MS? Most immersion students live in the Gunston/Wakefield boundary. That's a long way from Williamsburg. And the program collapses without the Spanish speaking classmates, so that would be the end of it. All so a few very privileged kids don't have to travel to an excellent MS that was considered their preferred option just a few years ago.

Yep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The families being rezoned to Williamsburg would have vigorously defended their right to attend Williamsburg before Hamm opened. That's where they were zoned historically. But now it's suddenly too inconvenient? For a cohort of families with amongst the most resources in Arlington?

Instead they're now asking for a cohort of families with far fewer resources and means to trek across the county for MS? Most immersion students live in the Gunston/Wakefield boundary. That's a long way from Williamsburg. And the program collapses without the Spanish speaking classmates, so that would be the end of it. All so a few very privileged kids don't have to travel to an excellent MS that was considered their preferred option just a few years ago.

Kenmore parents are rightly pissed off about thus, too! We don’t want the immersion program. We have STEAM already and don’t want another program that has its own “vision” disrupting and superseding our existing program and the neighborhood contingent. It’s patently stupid to move immersion here, when there is a population crunch in this corridor already. Move it where there is space, and always will be space due to restrictive housing policy that will take at least a hundred years to unwind. F*** you immersion jerks!

What impact would it have on STEAM? I haven't heard any impact identified. This just sounds like irrational hand waving.

You don’t think having two distinct programs in one school is a problem? Gunston parents certainly complained that having Montessori and Immersion houses together was an issue. Will transfers still be allowed? Will Immersion parents insist all the Kenmore staff be replaced with bilingual teachers and administrators? None of these questions have been answered.

So, Immersion with IB is fine. Immersion within neighborhood Gunston is fine. But Immersion within neighborhood Kenmore (because it has a STEAM focus) is not feasible? Montessori is incompatible with everything. The Gunston complaint is justified having THREE programs within it: neighborhood, immersion, and Montessori. Kenmore would have two: neighborhood with a STEAM focus (which isn't really a "program") and immersion. Immersion seems to work just fine within Wakefield (which has "AP and AP Capstone").

Every single question isn't going to be entirely answered before a decision is made. If APS operated that way, no decisions would ever be made for anything ever. But not all teachers in the whole school are required to be bilingual. I'm confident the immersion teachers at Gunston will be offered the opportunity to move to the program at Kenmore and if any teachers need to be replaced at Kenmore, those will be offered any opportunities available at Gunston or elsewhere.