Arlington capacity issues

[Anonymous]

Hi! For any parents who are concerned, a Facebook page has been set up. Please Like the page to show your support.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/APS-Parents-Against-Increasing-Class-Size/226998404061441?sk=wall

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's good that Arlington Science Focus and Arlington Traditional and the other county-wide schools are being made to absorb more students to pick up the slack.

I was really alarmed reading a PTA thing recently from Jamestown in which a fuss was made about "caps" at Arlington Traditional that comply with their "philosophy" -- turns out the info was immaterial b/c the board is already going to be increasing the population of those schools to take pressure off some of the neighborhood schools, but any pushback against the board that divides the schools is going to be ineffective.

ASFS does not have 23 kids in every class, according to a PP. ASFS being a N Arl neighborhood-lottery-based school has more potential to 'pick up the slack' for your N Arl school.

ATS, on the other hand, has 24 for every K/1/2 grade class. ATS being a county-wide lottery school has less potential to 'pick up the slack' for your N Arl schools.

how many kids in your DC school's class?

23 in 1st Grade (and there's a student teacher)

25 in 3rd.

I don't think the issue is class size so much now as in the very near future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi! For any parents who are concerned, a Facebook page has been set up. Please Like the page to show your support.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/APS-Parents-Against-Increasing-Class-Size/226998404061441?sk=wall

I wish people would think this through a bit more. Increasing class size is probably preferable to some other alternatives, and I fear the opposition is knee-jerk and emotional and not grounded in facts.

[Anonymous]

It is certainly a hot topic. Our family would prefer reopening centers like Madison or using relocatables than increase class size further. We just don't think the system will follow through on decreasing classes once new schools are built.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is certainly a hot topic. Our family would prefer reopening centers like Madison or using relocatables than increase class size further. We just don't think the system will follow through on decreasing classes once new schools are built.

Call them trailers, please.

Trailers are fare more preferable to reopening old buildings.

[Anonymous]

we are at ATS and have 24 kids in all our school classes. Our son is in kindergarten (the K class, like the others in the county have an asst) and i really dislike the class size. I am clearly no teacher, but i have my concerns that the teacher is not able to get to really know my child and what motivates, drives and interests him in such a large classroom.

Also, no one has talked about how classes and buildings are added. being part of the "bubble" class at ATS (the school went to 4 k classes this year from 3 in all prior years) this year has been a rough experience. Our class had to borrow books from another elementary school b/c the School system will not buy them the necessary books b/c technically they are 1st grade books. seriously? also, the school is configured for 3 classes at every grade level (i admit i have no clue how other schools are configured). When they added our class, they placed us in with the 2nd grade classes, far removed from the other K classes. I hear they plan next year for the 4th 1st grade class to also be far removed from the existing 1st grade classes. So, when they add classes, they need to make sure they are really adding a true/fully intergrated classroom experience and not just shoving 24 kids in a room. I certainly hope the neighborhood schools do a better job when they add classrooms, perhaps b/c they have more experience in it? ATS however, has done a horrible job thus far. IMO.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the insight, ATS parent!

Anyone who is concerned may want to consider speaking at this Thursday's school board meeting. You have to sign up by 4 on Wednesday. No need for anything super-formal, just come speak your mind! You have 3 minutes max to speak.

Citizens may sign up electronically after publication of the agenda until 4:00 p.m. the day before the meeting. 

http://www.apsva.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=3069

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i'm talking about ONE kid - surely among 130 or so registered students there's ONE family who wouldn't mind voluntarily going to a different school, no? you won't know for sure until you try/ask.

This makes no sense, on so many levels. What happens when another new kid moves in mid-year? Is he then not allowed to go to his neighborhood school? What happens if someone moves and a new "spot" is opened up? Do they give the relocated kids the option to go back? This sounds like an absolute administrative nightmare, and I fail to see how it would resolve the overcrowding issue on a county-wide basis. And good luck finding even ONE parent from Jamestown, Nottingham, etc. who wants to voluntarily send their kid clear across town to a school that is widely considered (fairly or unfairly) inferior. And how do you propose the county transport all of these students to their new schools?

[Anonymous]

Glad I stumbled on this thread. We're in DC with a PreK at a good charter, but moving to Arlington has always been our fallback position is we feel it's not acceptable. I've been so focused on DC schools, I've ignored the troubles in Arlington - I'll have to pay closer attention.

[Anonymous]

Previous poster--"trouble" is a pretty strong word in my opinion. Arlington schools are some of the best in the country. It's an affluent county filled with lots of smart people whom I'm convinced will come up with a solution. Will it please everyone, probably not.

[Anonymous]

agreed. I am the ATS poster and while i don't LOVE everything about the school (just small sips of the kool-aid there so far for me), we are VERY happy with what my son is learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Glad I stumbled on this thread. We're in DC with a PreK at a good charter, but moving to Arlington has always been our fallback position is we feel it's not acceptable. I've been so focused on DC schools, I've ignored the troubles in Arlington - I'll have to pay closer attention.

agree with pp that "troubled" is not an adjective any rational person would use when describing APS, particularly when the comparison is DC. This capacity thing is a *good* problem to have compared to some of the alternatives.

[Anonymous]

Our elementary newsletter stated they are going to begin reviewing residency claims and verifying what is on file. They indicated that there is a known problem of non-county children attending APS schoolsn(as well as in-county falsifying for particular schools). I know this is not the only (or even main problem) for overcrowding- but I am glad to see they are going to start taking this crap seriously.

[Anonymous]

http://clarendon.patch.com/articles/two-arlingtons-nearly-one-third-of-aps-students-receive-free-reduced-lunch

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Our elementary newsletter stated they are going to begin reviewing residency claims and verifying what is on file. They indicated that there is a known problem of non-county children attending APS schoolsn(as well as in-county falsifying for particular schools). I know this is not the only (or even main problem) for overcrowding- but I am glad to see they are going to start taking this crap seriously.

Which elementary is that?
I also think they should look into this at every Arlington school, after I read one of the high school students talk about the 'large'? number of people commuting in from out of county. As for in-county - hey, at least they are paying Arlington taxes - so in my eyes that's a different issue.