ASFS/Key Swap Off . . .

[Anonymous]

I have some serious concerns about having an immersion class in each school as an option.
Part of what makes key and Claremont a “school” is that everything is dual language. It isn’t just in the classrooms. And that brings a sense of community and dual language to the school. If only a couple classes are immersion, there will be a neighborhood school- and immersion. Two tracks of school didn’t work at drew because one program will become subordinate to the other. The immersion class will be full of poorer ELL students, the neighborhood full of whiter kids and non Spanish speaking poorer kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have some serious concerns about having an immersion class in each school as an option.
Part of what makes key and Claremont a “school” is that everything is dual language. It isn’t just in the classrooms. And that brings a sense of community and dual language to the school. If only a couple classes are immersion, there will be a neighborhood school- and immersion. Two tracks of school didn’t work at drew because one program will become subordinate to the other. The immersion class will be full of poorer ELL students, the neighborhood full of whiter kids and non Spanish speaking poorer kids.

This was one of the concerns expressed last fall, that not having an entire school Ben a dedicated immersion program would make those satellite locations less attractive, and thus they might not be able to fill them. That’s why the discussion back then was to phase it in slowly, try a couple of sites with just K/1 classes and then see if there was enough demand to continue the next grade level at each site each subsequent year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have some serious concerns about having an immersion class in each school as an option.
Part of what makes key and Claremont a “school” is that everything is dual language. It isn’t just in the classrooms. And that brings a sense of community and dual language to the school. If only a couple classes are immersion, there will be a neighborhood school- and immersion. Two tracks of school didn’t work at drew because one program will become subordinate to the other. The immersion class will be full of poorer ELL students, the neighborhood full of whiter kids and non Spanish speaking poorer kids.

Not sure that is true when ELL don’t seem to be opting in to immersion in an adequate number in the first place. But you’re probably right about the two tracks not being a positive for the school/ a real administrative challenge.

We should consider, however, that the schools with most FRL are also overcrowded. Definitely wouldn’t be doing any favors for those neighborhood schools by taking up classroom space for a separate program not avail to the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have some serious concerns about having an immersion class in each school as an option.
Part of what makes key and Claremont a “school” is that everything is dual language. It isn’t just in the classrooms. And that brings a sense of community and dual language to the school. If only a couple classes are immersion, there will be a neighborhood school- and immersion. Two tracks of school didn’t work at drew because one program will become subordinate to the other. The immersion class will be full of poorer ELL students, the neighborhood full of whiter kids and non Spanish speaking poorer kids.

The alternative is to move key immersion wholesale somewhere else; right now they are looking at office space or other non neighborhood schools. Maybe Reed but Westover would crap a brick.

[Anonymous]

The alternative is to move key immersion wholesale somewhere else; right now they are looking at office space or other non neighborhood schools. Maybe Reed but Westover would crap a brick.


Like all else, a total dumpster fire!! Meanwhile our CB and SB members say they think growth is trending down, and publically deny that the largest growth in RS enrollment is from MFH. It’s a convenient way to keep the AH lobby strong and development unchecked.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It’s June. Pathways will come this month?

I heard from a teacher that staff have already decided to return Key to neighborhood status, keep immersion there, and add immersion at another neighborhood school?

And preliminary No Arlington boundaries with Reed built and ASFS within its own zone are already laid out.

Any way to see those new boundaries?

Key will be a neighborhood immersion school? I’m not following.

It will be neighborhood, and some classes per grade will have immersion option depending on student preference. Kind of what they had before 2017 except now an option for non-immersion at Key so no need to transfer to ASFS.

But the lottery for immersion spots will remain open to all without geographic preferences (but with certain groups of schools assigned to each lottery location)?

There is simply no way this is true. This would violate the options/transfers policy the Board put in place just a few years ago. They very deliberately got rid of neighborhood preference for option schools. There is no way they are going to create a special Key zone that is allowed to choose either immersion or neighborhood, while the rest of APS has to lottery into an immersion program.
There is a slight possibility that they are considering 'phasing out' immersion at Key. e.g. they will leave a few classes of 4th and 5th grade immersion, and everything below that will be lottery.

Well the whole mess was caused by the updates options/transfer policy they put in place, and they have the unhappy task of moving immersion from Key completely or doing this hybrid and planting immersion in other schools to meet demand and located where ELL live.

The east part of county needs more seats, I’m sure school board will entertain your solution, but they are trying to get those seats without disrupting existing classes.

Funny how people in the eastern part of the county are so concerned about their own children not being disrupted, yet have zero such concern about other kids when they blithely pronounce that Nottingham should be made an option school so immersion can go to ATS rather than Carlin Springs.

That’s not why they were exploring Nottingham as an option. It’s because after they build Reed as a neighborhood school, they will have an over abundance of seats in NW Arlington with overlapping walk zones and not enough money and land left to build them elsewhere in the near term where seats are more urgently needed. The NW part of Arlington isn’t likely to be upzoned or get a giant CAF anytime soon, meanwhile other areas in Arlington are exploding with kids and projected to trend in the same way. If that data is correct, how do they utilize seats effectively if they are all neighborhood? Do they make a bunch of crazy Ashlawn-type boundaries, resulting in a lot of busing anyway, or do they try to minimize bus routes at some highly walkable neighborhood schools and move options programs into adjacent schools? Caveat: their data might be crap. However, now that they are actually using more appropriate student generation factors linked to housing types, I don’t think it is as incorrect or incomplete. Also, I am not sure how they arrived at Nottingham as the school rather than one of the others, but I understand why they were going through that exercise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s June. Pathways will come this month?

I heard from a teacher that staff have already decided to return Key to neighborhood status, keep immersion there, and add immersion at another neighborhood school?

And preliminary No Arlington boundaries with Reed built and ASFS within its own zone are already laid out.

Any way to see those new boundaries?

Key will be a neighborhood immersion school? I’m not following.

It will be neighborhood, and some classes per grade will have immersion option depending on student preference. Kind of what they had before 2017 except now an option for non-immersion at Key so no need to transfer to ASFS.

But the lottery for immersion spots will remain open to all without geographic preferences (but with certain groups of schools assigned to each lottery location)?

There is simply no way this is true. This would violate the options/transfers policy the Board put in place just a few years ago. They very deliberately got rid of neighborhood preference for option schools. There is no way they are going to create a special Key zone that is allowed to choose either immersion or neighborhood, while the rest of APS has to lottery into an immersion program.
There is a slight possibility that they are considering 'phasing out' immersion at Key. e.g. they will leave a few classes of 4th and 5th grade immersion, and everything below that will be lottery.

Well the whole mess was caused by the updates options/transfer policy they put in place, and they have the unhappy task of moving immersion from Key completely or doing this hybrid and planting immersion in other schools to meet demand and located where ELL live.

The east part of county needs more seats, I’m sure school board will entertain your solution, but they are trying to get those seats without disrupting existing classes.

Funny how people in the eastern part of the county are so concerned about their own children not being disrupted, yet have zero such concern about other kids when they blithely pronounce that Nottingham should be made an option school so immersion can go to ATS rather than Carlin Springs.

That’s not why they were exploring Nottingham as an option. It’s because after they build Reed as a neighborhood school, they will have an over abundance of seats in NW Arlington with overlapping walk zones and not enough money and land left to build them elsewhere in the near term where seats are more urgently needed. The NW part of Arlington isn’t likely to be upzoned or get a giant CAF anytime soon, meanwhile other areas in Arlington are exploding with kids and projected to trend in the same way. If that data is correct, how do they utilize seats effectively if they are all neighborhood? Do they make a bunch of crazy Ashlawn-type boundaries, resulting in a lot of busing anyway, or do they try to minimize bus routes at some highly walkable neighborhood schools and move options programs into adjacent schools? Caveat: their data might be crap. However, now that they are actually using more appropriate student generation factors linked to housing types, I don’t think it is as incorrect or incomplete. Also, I am not sure how they arrived at Nottingham as the school rather than one of the others, but I understand why they were going through that exercise.

Congratulations on completely missing the point.

[Anonymous]

Mixing in immersion with neighborhood schools is death to the program. I think aps just wants to get rid of immersion and this will send it along that path. It takes up two schools. And, don’t forget-immersion is expensive! Teachers are harder to get.... so this is a cost saving measure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mixing in immersion with neighborhood schools is death to the program. I think aps just wants to get rid of immersion and this will send it along that path. It takes up two schools. And, don’t forget-immersion is expensive! Teachers are harder to get.... so this is a cost saving measure.

Or they can cut the program down to only one school, just like all of the other option programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mixing in immersion with neighborhood schools is death to the program. I think aps just wants to get rid of immersion and this will send it along that path. It takes up two schools. And, don’t forget-immersion is expensive! Teachers are harder to get.... so this is a cost saving measure.

Or they can cut the program down to only one school, just like all of the other option programs.

And this is the way down that path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s June. Pathways will come this month?

I heard from a teacher that staff have already decided to return Key to neighborhood status, keep immersion there, and add immersion at another neighborhood school?

And preliminary No Arlington boundaries with Reed built and ASFS within its own zone are already laid out.

Any way to see those new boundaries?

Key will be a neighborhood immersion school? I’m not following.

It will be neighborhood, and some classes per grade will have immersion option depending on student preference. Kind of what they had before 2017 except now an option for non-immersion at Key so no need to transfer to ASFS.

But the lottery for immersion spots will remain open to all without geographic preferences (but with certain groups of schools assigned to each lottery location)?

There is simply no way this is true. This would violate the options/transfers policy the Board put in place just a few years ago. They very deliberately got rid of neighborhood preference for option schools. There is no way they are going to create a special Key zone that is allowed to choose either immersion or neighborhood, while the rest of APS has to lottery into an immersion program.
There is a slight possibility that they are considering 'phasing out' immersion at Key. e.g. they will leave a few classes of 4th and 5th grade immersion, and everything below that will be lottery.

I don’t personally think this is a good idea but have heard separate rumors that corroborate the idea of adding immersion to several neighborhood schools.

Dis those rumors include an eventual outcome for Key itself?

[Anonymous]

Seems fairly clear that the county wants to be finished with immersion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems fairly clear that the county wants to be finished with immersion.

Well it was started during a period of declining enrollment so maybe not a fit for now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems fairly clear that the county wants to be finished with immersion.

No, it doesn't. Stop being a shit-stirrer/drama queen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems fairly clear that the county wants to be finished with immersion.

Well it was started during a period of declining enrollment so maybe not a fit for now

Whichever way you want to spin your dislike for immersion, the program is immensely popular in the county. Just because the ill-conceived swap plan isn’t going to fly doesn’t mean APS has all of a sudden rejected this program and is working to phase it out. The immersion program was placed at Key because, historically, north Arlington parents don’t send their kids to diverse schools unless there’s a special program attracting them, and at the time Key would not have been attractive to many families absent some type of educational incentive.It worked. The school became popular. It is a model of success. Dismantling the program would undo one of the only successful efforts of the county at balanced and voluntary socio-economic integration. I assume the county is treading carefully when it comes to dismantling integrated schools in North Arlington given that there are schools with fewer than 1% free and reduced lunch populations in the mix. Cry me a river when it comes to the need for the arlington science focus families to have a bigger building and avoid impacts of boundary changes. The swap was always a bad faith undertaking that certain people believed could be guaranteed by throwing around their money.