APS Lottery

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We're #27 on the Key waitlist as a Spanish speaker, does anyone have a sense on how that waitlist will move?

I don't but this surprises me. I could have sworn in past years people claimed all Spanish speakers were accepted and there was no wait list. Last year the number of Claremont Kindergarten classes was reduced from 6 to 4 supposedly to better align with demand, i.e. there wasn't enough demand to support continuing to have 6. Also, I think Key was moved to a smaller building this past year. However, if there are wait lists, especially for Spanish speakers...

https://www.apsva.us/school-options/school-transfer-data-2/pre-k-elementary-options-transfers-application-data-school-year-2022-23/

Last year by June there was 1 Spanish speaker on the waitlist for Claremont and 6 Spanish speakers on the list for Key, even with the number of classes reduced to 4.

Thank you for sharing the data! Interesting that PP is a Spanish speaker and #27 on this year's Key waitlist. That would be enough Spanish speaking kids for two classes. IMO that's a big change from last year!

For anyone interested in last year's non-Spanish speaking waitlist, there were 22 non-Spanish speakers on the Claremont waitlist and 36 non-Spanish speakers on the Key waitlist.

Sorry, this may be a dumb question, but why are Spanish speakers given preference?

They aren’t but they have a separate lottery and historically all or most Spanish speakers were admitted since there was less demand.

Separate lottery = preference, no?

. Yes, I suppose in this case… but the immersion model policy requires an equal amount of native speakers vs. learners, as far as I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child is low 100s in the ATS lottery and has moved up 4 spots since it was announced two days ago. Is it a true lottery, or were some districts, demographics, etc. given preference? How many K spots does ATS actually have? Regardless, I'm assuming there's no chance and will proceed accordingly.

Also, for the PP wondering about private schools for K, just research schools and call them up. Some will be taking late applications. No harm in asking.

I’m sorry to say that there is no chance with a WL number that high. And there is no preferences for neighborhoods, demographics etc. Only Virginia preschool initiative siblings and existing students’ siblings. The number of K spots changes every year, but each K class is maxed to what APS allows. APS leadership decides each year anew how many K classes will be opened at each option school. This is a top-down decision without school (or other) input.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, I have a son entering Kindergarten in August. I applied for the lottery because Arlington Traditional was my first choice. I had to apply to both ATS and Campbell because I do not want my son to go to Carlin Springs where we live. I did not realize that the lottery was this hard. We are spot #114 for ATS and #13 for Campbell. Any chance that he may get into Campbell?

I really wish I could have found somewhere in the Arlington Science Focus boundary but I had to move quickly due to a divorce so now I'm really worried. Worse come to worse are there any diverse private schools that parents recommend?

Thank you!

Depending where in Arlington you live, you might want to look into these well-regarded privates for K-6/K-8. It is late to apply, but also it cannot hurt to ask each school about possible openings for next Fall. Sometimes there are last-minute openings due to unexpected job transfers (e.g., from Federal government, IMF, corporation, or whatever else). Some also have bus transportation options, but each school’s bus zones might vary.

Brooksfield school - on Kirby just north of Arlington
Congressional School - on Sleepy Hollow Rd near 7 Corners
Montessori School of McLean - on Kirby just north of Arlington
St Stephens & St Agnes School (SSSAS) - Alexandria City

Good luck !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi, I have a son entering Kindergarten in August. I applied for the lottery because Arlington Traditional was my first choice. I had to apply to both ATS and Campbell because I do not want my son to go to Carlin Springs where we live. I did not realize that the lottery was this hard. We are spot #114 for ATS and #13 for Campbell. Any chance that he may get into Campbell?

I really wish I could have found somewhere in the Arlington Science Focus boundary but I had to move quickly due to a divorce so now I'm really worried. Worse come to worse are there any diverse private schools that parents recommend?

Thank you!

Depending where in Arlington you live, you might want to look into these well-regarded privates for K-6/K-8. It is late to apply, but also it cannot hurt to ask each school about possible openings for next Fall. Sometimes there are last-minute openings due to unexpected job transfers (e.g., from Federal government, IMF, corporation, or whatever else). Some also have bus transportation options, but each school’s bus zones might vary.

Brooksfield school - on Kirby just north of Arlington
Congressional School - on Sleepy Hollow Rd near 7 Corners
Montessori School of McLean - on Kirby just north of Arlington
St Stephens & St Agnes School (SSSAS) - Alexandria City

Good luck !

Burgundy Farm in Alexandria still has spots in K, I think.

[Anonymous]

How many more spots could the ATS wait list move between now and the beginning of the school year / the first month of the school year? We are in the low teens and it's difficult to tell how much more the list will move. All feedback welcome. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

#13 at Campbell should get in, but do you like the philosophy there? It’s not a school to go to just to avoid Carlin Springs. It’s got it’s own philosophy (which is the complete opposite of ATS), and you either like it or you don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is low 100s in the ATS lottery and has moved up 4 spots since it was announced two days ago. Is it a true lottery, or were some districts, demographics, etc. given preference? How many K spots does ATS actually have? Regardless, I'm assuming there's no chance and will proceed accordingly.

Also, for the PP wondering about private schools for K, just research schools and call them up. Some will be taking late applications. No harm in asking.

There’s four K classes at ATS. The odds are not in your favor of getting in. We were in the 20s last year and moved up but did not get a spot. Good luck!

May I ask how far did you move up? Do they continue taking kids throughout the year and even at the end of K you had not been offered a spot? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is low 100s in the ATS lottery and has moved up 4 spots since it was announced two days ago. Is it a true lottery, or were some districts, demographics, etc. given preference? How many K spots does ATS actually have? Regardless, I'm assuming there's no chance and will proceed accordingly.

Also, for the PP wondering about private schools for K, just research schools and call them up. Some will be taking late applications. No harm in asking.

There’s four K classes at ATS. The odds are not in your favor of getting in. We were in the 20s last year and moved up but did not get a spot. Good luck!

May I ask how far did you move up? Do they continue taking kids throughout the year and even at the end of K you had not been offered a spot? Thanks

WL generally does not move at all after the end of the 1st week of school. There might or might not be 1-2 openings during that first week, for example if a military/government family had an unexpected move during mid-summer and they did not notify APS that they were leaving the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is low 100s in the ATS lottery and has moved up 4 spots since it was announced two days ago. Is it a true lottery, or were some districts, demographics, etc. given preference? How many K spots does ATS actually have? Regardless, I'm assuming there's no chance and will proceed accordingly.

Also, for the PP wondering about private schools for K, just research schools and call them up. Some will be taking late applications. No harm in asking.

There’s four K classes at ATS. The odds are not in your favor of getting in. We were in the 20s last year and moved up but did not get a spot. Good luck!

May I ask how far did you move up? Do they continue taking kids throughout the year and even at the end of K you had not been offered a spot? Thanks

WL generally does not move at all after the end of the 1st week of school. There might or might not be 1-2 openings during that first week, for example if a military/government family had an unexpected move during mid-summer and they did not notify APS that they were leaving the county.

Thank you that's helpful. I thought there might be some movement once school started because of the early start time but maybe not. We are in the lower teens and wondering if we should try to stay on the list given other time-sensitive options. It seems like maybe the families that were offered the initial spot just made their choice? I can't really tell if there is going to be any movement after this. We will hope for the best!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is low 100s in the ATS lottery and has moved up 4 spots since it was announced two days ago. Is it a true lottery, or were some districts, demographics, etc. given preference? How many K spots does ATS actually have? Regardless, I'm assuming there's no chance and will proceed accordingly.

Also, for the PP wondering about private schools for K, just research schools and call them up. Some will be taking late applications. No harm in asking.

There’s four K classes at ATS. The odds are not in your favor of getting in. We were in the 20s last year and moved up but did not get a spot. Good luck!

May I ask how far did you move up? Do they continue taking kids throughout the year and even at the end of K you had not been offered a spot? Thanks

I think we moved up around 10 spots. From the start of the year our number hasn't moved. I think they do continue to take kids but no one has left and we are still at the same number.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If we enroll our kid at a private school will we lose our spot in the waitlists?

No. You only loose your waitlist spot if you accept a place in an option school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does ATS perform so much better than the other option schools and many neighborhood schools? Perhaps APS should look to expand whatever they’re doing there elsewhere?

Compared with neighborhood schools, option schools tend to have more parents who are highly motivated/with the capacity to be involved with their students' education. Involved parents = better performing students. A larger number of involved parents = a larger number of high performing students.

Beyond that, I can't confidently say why ATS scores better than other option schools. The program they describe sounds pretty generic IMO. Not bad, I just never got clarity on what they did that was so different from neighborhood schools. We're at an option school with a surprisingly high (to some parents I've talked to) free and reduced lunch rate. Lower income families absolutely care about their kids, but don't always have as much capacity to be involved. I know this from personal experience as one of the lower income kids at the schools I grew up in. Maybe ATS has a lower free and reduced lunch rate?

ATS has both a high farms rate and a high EL rate. And it’s a majority minority school. Outperforms every other school in APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many more spots could the ATS wait list move between now and the beginning of the school year / the first month of the school year? We are in the low teens and it's difficult to tell how much more the list will move. All feedback welcome. Thanks.

It depends on the year. If its for kindergarten your chance is high. If its for upper grades then first question is whether this is for a sibling or non-sibling. If its for a non-sibling how many siblings are on the waitlist before your child? I believe this is public information but I forgot where you can check. If not just call and see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many more spots could the ATS wait list move between now and the beginning of the school year / the first month of the school year? We are in the low teens and it's difficult to tell how much more the list will move. All feedback welcome. Thanks.

It depends on the year. If its for kindergarten your chance is high. If its for upper grades then first question is whether this is for a sibling or non-sibling. If its for a non-sibling how many siblings are on the waitlist before your child? I believe this is public information but I forgot where you can check. If not just call and see.

It's for Kindergarten. Can I call just APS schools or ATS? I have no idea where to look. When they did the initial offering of spots the list moved a few spots but now it's stalled and hard to get a read on how many more spots it could move between now and the beginning of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many more spots could the ATS wait list move between now and the beginning of the school year / the first month of the school year? We are in the low teens and it's difficult to tell how much more the list will move. All feedback welcome. Thanks.

It depends on the year. If its for kindergarten your chance is high. If its for upper grades then first question is whether this is for a sibling or non-sibling. If its for a non-sibling how many siblings are on the waitlist before your child? I believe this is public information but I forgot where you can check. If not just call and see.

It's for Kindergarten. Can I call just APS schools or ATS? I have no idea where to look. When they did the initial offering of spots the list moved no a few spots but now it's stalled and hard to get a read on how many more spots it could move between now and the beginning of the year.

So this is what I was talking about: https://www.apsva.us/school-options/school-transfer-data/

It seems like the data for elementary option schools is not out for the next school year. You can view the lottery. Sometimes they will tell you how many siblings are accepted. Otherwise I would call APS (there is a point of time where management of the waiting list transfers to the individual schools. I don’t think we are there yet). You will want to ask them how many spots are open, whether all the siblings were admitted, and if they will tell you, how many siblings are still on the waiting list (if not all he siblings were admitted).