APS Closing Nottingham

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the traffic deaths and safety issues are the primary concerns of the Nottingham neighborhood, then let’s have some meetings with County traffic experts and figure this out!! It can’t be that the facility can never be used for bus and car traffic. It just may take some additional calming measures or re-routing if school bound traffic. Plenty of neighborhoods have one-way traffic on streets near schools to avoid cut through and maximize safety. I’m positive the County and the neighborhood can work together to make this safe.

We've been trying for years, but you sound very optimistic.

yeah, lol, let's just have some meetings and figure this out!

do you really think that has not been tried? what makes you so positive they will listen when they have not for YEARS. Good lord, the naivete.

TJ and the surrounding neighborhood had the same problem. And they had to fight fight fight even after Fleet opened. But the County did finally add crosswalks and stop signs. you will need to be pushing both APS and the County and APS needs to push the County. Will you ever be completely satisfied? No. Will accidents still happen. Most likely. Just like everywhere else.

Try talking to the people who live near ATS. Option schools / swing space result in families who mostly do not live in the neighborhood and seem to drive / park / act as if no one else does either. The ATS parents at the old McKinley building speed, block driveways, make illegal u turns and generally behave in ways that parents did not when it was a neighborhood school. Plenty of complaints have been made - APS and Arlington do not care.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Sounds like Duran sticking it to a wealthier part of North Arlington just because he thinks he can. Congratulations, you got what you paid for - a stupid class warrior who thinks equity means driving people of greater means out of APS.

Cool your jets on your anti-Duran narrative, APE. APS has closed and moved schools before. Former McKinley families are doing just fine at their new north Arlington schools.

The fact is that the spaces available are in the north. And the places that need a full renovation next are either in the north or could be relocated there like MPSA.

APE's previous antics are coming back to bite them. They made all the teachers leave, then figured they'd go private for a few years while all that gets sorted out, and now they are apoplectic that their precious neighborhood school won't be there when they decide to come back. I remember seeing the Miranda van outside of Nottingham when I walked my kids to school during the pandemic. We all know where APE's base is.

The last thing APS boundRy wars needs is for APE to get involved. They are already posting about it on their Facebook page. Sounds like some of them are posting here too when they complain about equity and Duran. Make the popcorn.

Has APE SB candidate Miranda publicly commented on this proposal yet? I think she had a lot of supporters at Nottingham so where does she stand on this issue?

I don’t know but it’s telling that APE has already commented publicly on this move in the arlnow story but nothing about the other proposed moves. They don’t care much when it’s not their kids but we already knew that.

Yeah - we already knew they were (aggressively) only looking out for themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK. Just to recap the argument. There have been several traffic fatalities along Yorktown Boulevard. As a consequence, Nottingham can’t ever be used for any purpose other than exactly how it’s being used right now. Neighborhood school with only 2 classes in at least 2 grades. There have been similar traffic fatalities at the Fleet/TJ site (also very close to the career center that brings people from all over the county all day long), but that’s different because their houses cost less. Did I get it right?

Well, you could start by getting the name of the road right. Just one clue that you have no idea what you're talking about. Clearly.

I don't understand why PP is comparing this to Fleet/TJ. Unless there's a proposal to use Fleet for swing space, which there is not.

OMG. Really? Nottingham's complaining about the traffic dangers and all the buses that would come and make the traffic dangers even worse. Building Fleet brought - guess what! - more buses and cars to the TJ site which happens to be sandwiched by roads (50 and 2nd St) that have had multiple pedestrian traffic accidents, including fatalities. If you can't see the relevance, perhaps you shouldn't bother trying to follow the conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never said they weren't real. Mainly I am saying that just because a project will bring traffic doesn't mean it can't happen. Every single APS project has traffic implications. Nottingham is not unique in this regard. And yes, there is a terrible history there I was not specifically aware of, but if you look at the map I shared, this part of Arlington does not have the most safety concerns of anywhere in Arlington. Look at Columbia Pike for example.

I also think YOU are not aware of the issues other communities deal with. Are you aware of the specific traffic concerns the communities south of Rt 50 deal with? That doesn't stop new schools from being built here. We've also had fatalities. It's also awful.

Do you want to stop every APS project in Arlington? I am just saying, it does not make sense to not consider this just because of traffic issues. We have to manage and deal with the traffic issues as best we can. And that's the truth.

You lost all credibility.

No, the PP is spot on.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:First they overcrowded Glebe
And I did not speak out
Because I didn't have kids there and so eff that.
Then they repurposed McKinley
And I did not speak out
and in fact was a little grateful over it because better them than us.
Then they came for Nottingham
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
and in fact for some reason people don't seem to like me that much and they're starting to get on my nerves

It's funny because if Nottingham hadn't been so vocal about turning away kids from other schools before because they were oh so crowded, they might not be underenrolled now. But noooooo, like always the Nottingham moms and dads were all: FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!

Everyone else is really done with Nottingham's Thunderdome antics. Reading some of the terrible "I'm a lawyer but have no experience with this kind of law" takes posted here is hysterical -- you guys are too much. Look at this this way, Nottingham: This is actually an opportunity for you, since your school isn't being scrapped, it's being given an extension. If enrollment numbers in your area go back up after covid, like you have been saying they will when folks return from private, then Nottingham will turn back into a local elementary in several years after the renovations. If not, and if you've been wrong about the numbers, then let's see what this experiment shows re whether the school is really needed as a local elementary.

Nottingham was overcrowded. Significantly so, and for some time. So overcrowded that we spent hundreds of millions of dollars on new elementary schools nearby. Now, less than a decade later, we are shutting down Nottingham because oops, we didn’t need that space after all.

Tell me- did the school board screw up then, or is it screwing up now? Because no rational district spends hundreds of millions of dollars to create new schools that aren’t needed. Have things changed so permanently and remarkably after COVID that we need to completely change course? If so, why aren’t we looking at that?

I don’t trust their projection data. Their confidence in it, despite being repeatedly wrong and it having the same sort of limitations that caused them to be caught flat footed in the 2010s, is very concerning.

I can see few people share this concern when it comes to sticking it to the Nottingham community. I don’t like being surrounded by idiots, and for that reason I’m looking toward the exits. Enjoy the bond service on those hundred million dollar schools.

I think it’s a little unfair to blame the school board for building a new school when it was clearly needed. (Although I do blame them for building clearly over the top fancy ones). No one could have predicted the pandemic/the resulting learning loss and exodus to private. The fact now is that APS doesn’t need an elementary school there now. If in 10 years an elementary school is needed, then great, the building is there and APS can reopen it.

Although, my prediction is that the demographics in that neighborhood have permanently changed. No 2 government employees can buy a house there like they could 20-30 years ago. And when people buy 2.5 to 3 million houses, they tend to go private.

It’s insane that APS is just completely ignoring the private school exodus in the context of these seating questions. Why? Why does no one look at it? Why aren’t we spending some of this time money and energy on really understanding the numbers instead of relying on the incompetent APS staff who have a demonstrable record of absolutely blowing there calls?

I’m not even sure what you are asking for. You want to go around a $$$ neighborhood and ask all the big law partners why they aren’t using public schools? I mean, I can already tell you it’s prestige and getting their children a leg up in the world. And APS has enough problems educating the children they do have (and the many, many who were left behind during Covid) without begging some to come back.

I don’t think that’s the only demographic leaving for private post-Covid. There are lots of families enrolled in Catholic school and other placements that are less expensive than the so-called “prestige schools” but still solid schools where kids are getting educated. It’s a larger group of parents leaving for private. The public schools (not just APS) failed a lot of students during Covid. I’m not here to litigate the wisdom of the decisions that were made. But we can’t ignore that many students were not well-served. And we are still feeling the downstream consequences. It’s not just law partners looking for prestige. It’s a lot of people trying to do right by their kids in the best way they know how.

How is APS realistically supposed to figure out how many of these kids are coming back to APS, or how many of the kids turning school age will attend APS vs private? Honestly curious how they can make these projections. It seems obvious there would be a ton of room for error, with unforeseen economic conditions and all the other factors that go into where people live/move and send their kids to school. Which means keeping Nottingham as a swing space in case of future growth makes good sense, rather than closing it permanently and converting it to a senior center or something.

Doesn't really seem fair for the three of the richest schools in the north to all keep operating at much lower capacity than the Title 1 schools in the south.

I didn’t say Nottingham should stay open or that anyone should do a survey. I gave my opinion that the private school demographic is changing. It’s not just “law partners looking for prestige.”

Others were saying this move should be delayed pending deeper analysis of demographic trends and an estimation of how many would stay/go private. But it seems difficult to do this kind of study with any fidelity.

It’s difficult, but we can do more than just guess based on how many women birthed children at VHC. We missed big trends before - namely that people did not want to move out to FFX to raise their kids - and it took decades to catch up. I have a feeling, just based on the dozens of little kids I’ve seen move in the last 3 years alone and the boomers I see moving out - that APS is setting itself up to miss big again.

By the time they figure it out Discovery and Tuckahoe are packed to the gills and they can’t do anything about it without spending a hundred million dollars. Kids suffer in the meantime.

Shouldn’t we at least try to look at the issue instead of pretending an uneducated guess is the best we can do?

But how? I'm genuinely asking. Even if you conducted a county-wide survey, probably a lot of families don't know if they would go private unless/until maybe their financial situation suddenly improves, or maybe they have a negative experience in public that reaches a tipping point where they feel it's worth it... It's such a personal decision. I say this as someone who went private during covid and am switching back to public next year. Both were very hard decisions. If you had asked me pre-covid, I never ever would've thought I'd go private (and our HHI data would not suggest we could manage it), but our experience with virtual was just that bad we made the sacrifice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look just stop. The argument that PEOPLE WILL DIE if Nottingham ceases being a neighborhood school is hysterical and insane.

x1 million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good lord these Nottingham parents, I can't even. There is ALWAYS something getting in the way of using their resources for the greater good of the community. It's such a strange coincidence, but there is always one thing that just makes the plan unworkable for them where it would work for every other community.

PP has been so polite to Nottingham parent in explaining that other schools also deal with traffic issues and manage to get through it, and Notting parent has been nothing but snotty and rude to them. What kind of discourse is this, Nottingham parent? What will it take for you to understand that other APS school communities go through this stuff all the time, and manage to get through it, without being jerks to everyone around them. The real solution here is not to stand there and argumentatively block the move, but to work towards making it as safe as possible for everyone -- but of course you won't be doing that if your safety concerns are really just a pretext for not wanting your local school to be used in this way.

If you woke up one morning and found out the elementary school within a few blocks of your house would close in a few years, wouldn’t you be upset and try everything you could to advocate for a different plan?

So many APS families have been rezoned to schools that are farther away from them that were not as convenient and that were not their expectation when they moved into the area, including me, twice. In the end, it was fine. I say this with kindness -- it will be okay.

+1

Same thing happened to us. Our kids love their new school. It’s all good.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Because APS had a history of mistakes and overlooking issues. Some of us don’t think it’s in the best interest of any kids to put a 100 % drop off school in an area where three adults have recently been killed by cars.

I’m a Nott parent. I know these streets. We are incredibly lucky that no children have been killed. Some of us would like to keep it that way. Others are flippantly dismissive and just plain insensitive.

It seems odd to me that Nottingham parents are trying to portray Little Falls as a death trap while also demanding that their children get to keep attending the school. So only current families know how to navigate the traffic issues?

Not odd at all. Nottingham is known for its walkability. Current families don't ALL drive to the school, in fact very few do at all. You realize that will be the scenario right? All busses and car riders. That changes the dynamic of the neighborhood for several hours in the morning and evening (extended day). I am not a Nottingham parent but I do live in the neighborhood. Its also been proven that drivers use less caution when not in their own neighborhood and when in a hurry (drop offs).

You are twisting yourself into a pretzel here. The tragic pedestrian deaths have occurred with current traffic levels. It seems to be that a responsible, concerned parent would be advocating for the closure of Nottingham on that basis alone.

Dramatic much? No, we advocated for traffic reduction and stop signs. It's not reasonable to close a school. It is reasonable to enforce traffic safety protocols.

It’s not drama to point out how hypocritical the Nottingham parents are. If the traffic is so dangerous, why do you want your children to keep attending school there? Ohhhhh, right, that’s not what it is about at all.

This is really not a logical argument. You're talking about taking the current NES walkers, having them walk (in and around that neighborhood) to other schools, and then adding in 4-5x the number of buses that currently go to the school, plus additional cars doing drop-off and pick-up both for extended day (~7am, ~6pm) and for school hours (~9am, ~4pm). This is a material change in the traffic profile, patterns, and volume around the school. So yes, it's currently dangerous - which the neighborhood and school community dislike and have been trying to address for years with the county, with limited success as noted upthread. But this makes the situation worse - including for the students and parents being moved here as part of the swing space.

Yes, it does. Believe me, many of us living elsewhere understand completely. But I'm not going to advocate for NES to cap its enrollment to 65% capacity, or even 100% capacity, because of it - especially when other schools are over-capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the traffic deaths and safety issues are the primary concerns of the Nottingham neighborhood, then let’s have some meetings with County traffic experts and figure this out!! It can’t be that the facility can never be used for bus and car traffic. It just may take some additional calming measures or re-routing if school bound traffic. Plenty of neighborhoods have one-way traffic on streets near schools to avoid cut through and maximize safety. I’m positive the County and the neighborhood can work together to make this safe.

We've been trying for years, but you sound very optimistic.

yeah, lol, let's just have some meetings and figure this out!

do you really think that has not been tried? what makes you so positive they will listen when they have not for YEARS. Good lord, the naivete.

TJ and the surrounding neighborhood had the same problem. And they had to fight fight fight even after Fleet opened. But the County did finally add crosswalks and stop signs. you will need to be pushing both APS and the County and APS needs to push the County. Will you ever be completely satisfied? No. Will accidents still happen. Most likely. Just like everywhere else.

Try talking to the people who live near ATS. Option schools / swing space result in families who mostly do not live in the neighborhood and seem to drive / park / act as if no one else does either. The ATS parents at the old McKinley building speed, block driveways, make illegal u turns and generally behave in ways that parents did not when it was a neighborhood school. Plenty of complaints have been made - APS and Arlington do not care.

Sigh.
Of course. Your neighborhood is different and special. Got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because APS had a history of mistakes and overlooking issues. Some of us don’t think it’s in the best interest of any kids to put a 100 % drop off school in an area where three adults have recently been killed by cars.

I’m a Nott parent. I know these streets. We are incredibly lucky that no children have been killed. Some of us would like to keep it that way. Others are flippantly dismissive and just plain insensitive.

It seems odd to me that Nottingham parents are trying to portray Little Falls as a death trap while also demanding that their children get to keep attending the school. So only current families know how to navigate the traffic issues?

Not odd at all. Nottingham is known for its walkability. Current families don't ALL drive to the school, in fact very few do at all. You realize that will be the scenario right? All busses and car riders. That changes the dynamic of the neighborhood for several hours in the morning and evening (extended day). I am not a Nottingham parent but I do live in the neighborhood. Its also been proven that drivers use less caution when not in their own neighborhood and when in a hurry (drop offs).

You are twisting yourself into a pretzel here. The tragic pedestrian deaths have occurred with current traffic levels. It seems to be that a responsible, concerned parent would be advocating for the closure of Nottingham on that basis alone.

Dramatic much? No, we advocated for traffic reduction and stop signs. It's not reasonable to close a school. It is reasonable to enforce traffic safety protocols.

It’s not drama to point out how hypocritical the Nottingham parents are. If the traffic is so dangerous, why do you want your children to keep attending school there? Ohhhhh, right, that’s not what it is about at all.

This is really not a logical argument. You're talking about taking the current NES walkers, having them walk (in and around that neighborhood) to other schools, and then adding in 4-5x the number of buses that currently go to the school, plus additional cars doing drop-off and pick-up both for extended day (~7am, ~6pm) and for school hours (~9am, ~4pm). This is a material change in the traffic profile, patterns, and volume around the school. So yes, it's currently dangerous - which the neighborhood and school community dislike and have been trying to address for years with the county, with limited success as noted upthread. But this makes the situation worse - including for the students and parents being moved here as part of the swing space.

Yes, it does. Believe me, many of us living elsewhere understand completely. But I'm not going to advocate for NES to cap its enrollment to 65% capacity, or even 100% capacity, because of it - especially when other schools are over-capacity.

But this does nothing to fix capacity at other schools? APS still hasn’t given a reason for exactly why they need a swing space, or why kitchen renovations and vestibules (all they have budget for in the CIP) can’t be done in the summer. Right now there is only downside in this plan— which children’s lives are improving? Maybe APS knows, but they haven’t shared. I want every child to have access to amazing public schools. But no one has told us so far how this plan helps get there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK. Just to recap the argument. There have been several traffic fatalities along Yorktown Boulevard. As a consequence, Nottingham can’t ever be used for any purpose other than exactly how it’s being used right now. Neighborhood school with only 2 classes in at least 2 grades. There have been similar traffic fatalities at the Fleet/TJ site (also very close to the career center that brings people from all over the county all day long), but that’s different because their houses cost less. Did I get it right?

Well, you could start by getting the name of the road right. Just one clue that you have no idea what you're talking about. Clearly.

I don't understand why PP is comparing this to Fleet/TJ. Unless there's a proposal to use Fleet for swing space, which there is not.

OMG. Really? Nottingham's complaining about the traffic dangers and all the buses that would come and make the traffic dangers even worse. Building Fleet brought - guess what! - more buses and cars to the TJ site which happens to be sandwiched by roads (50 and 2nd St) that have had multiple pedestrian traffic accidents, including fatalities. If you can't see the relevance, perhaps you shouldn't bother trying to follow the conversation.

so if anything shouldn't that be a cautionary tale? Someone was killed there after Fleet was built right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because APS had a history of mistakes and overlooking issues. Some of us don’t think it’s in the best interest of any kids to put a 100 % drop off school in an area where three adults have recently been killed by cars.

I’m a Nott parent. I know these streets. We are incredibly lucky that no children have been killed. Some of us would like to keep it that way. Others are flippantly dismissive and just plain insensitive.

It seems odd to me that Nottingham parents are trying to portray Little Falls as a death trap while also demanding that their children get to keep attending the school. So only current families know how to navigate the traffic issues?

Not odd at all. Nottingham is known for its walkability. Current families don't ALL drive to the school, in fact very few do at all. You realize that will be the scenario right? All busses and car riders. That changes the dynamic of the neighborhood for several hours in the morning and evening (extended day). I am not a Nottingham parent but I do live in the neighborhood. Its also been proven that drivers use less caution when not in their own neighborhood and when in a hurry (drop offs).

You are twisting yourself into a pretzel here. The tragic pedestrian deaths have occurred with current traffic levels. It seems to be that a responsible, concerned parent would be advocating for the closure of Nottingham on that basis alone.

Dramatic much? No, we advocated for traffic reduction and stop signs. It's not reasonable to close a school. It is reasonable to enforce traffic safety protocols.

It’s not drama to point out how hypocritical the Nottingham parents are. If the traffic is so dangerous, why do you want your children to keep attending school there? Ohhhhh, right, that’s not what it is about at all.

This is really not a logical argument. You're talking about taking the current NES walkers, having them walk (in and around that neighborhood) to other schools, and then adding in 4-5x the number of buses that currently go to the school, plus additional cars doing drop-off and pick-up both for extended day (~7am, ~6pm) and for school hours (~9am, ~4pm). This is a material change in the traffic profile, patterns, and volume around the school. So yes, it's currently dangerous - which the neighborhood and school community dislike and have been trying to address for years with the county, with limited success as noted upthread. But this makes the situation worse - including for the students and parents being moved here as part of the swing space.

Yes, it does. Believe me, many of us living elsewhere understand completely. But I'm not going to advocate for NES to cap its enrollment to 65% capacity, or even 100% capacity, because of it - especially when other schools are over-capacity.

But this does nothing to fix capacity at other schools? APS still hasn’t given a reason for exactly why they need a swing space, or why kitchen renovations and vestibules (all they have budget for in the CIP) can’t be done in the summer. Right now there is only downside in this plan— which children’s lives are improving? Maybe APS knows, but they haven’t shared. I want every child to have access to amazing public schools. But no one has told us so far how this plan helps get there

There is literally no plan to cap Nott's enrollment. This plan doesn't help other schools' capacity at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the traffic deaths and safety issues are the primary concerns of the Nottingham neighborhood, then let’s have some meetings with County traffic experts and figure this out!! It can’t be that the facility can never be used for bus and car traffic. It just may take some additional calming measures or re-routing if school bound traffic. Plenty of neighborhoods have one-way traffic on streets near schools to avoid cut through and maximize safety. I’m positive the County and the neighborhood can work together to make this safe.

We've been trying for years, but you sound very optimistic.

yeah, lol, let's just have some meetings and figure this out!

do you really think that has not been tried? what makes you so positive they will listen when they have not for YEARS. Good lord, the naivete.

TJ and the surrounding neighborhood had the same problem. And they had to fight fight fight even after Fleet opened. But the County did finally add crosswalks and stop signs. you will need to be pushing both APS and the County and APS needs to push the County. Will you ever be completely satisfied? No. Will accidents still happen. Most likely. Just like everywhere else.

Try talking to the people who live near ATS. Option schools / swing space result in families who mostly do not live in the neighborhood and seem to drive / park / act as if no one else does either. The ATS parents at the old McKinley building speed, block driveways, make illegal u turns and generally behave in ways that parents did not when it was a neighborhood school. Plenty of complaints have been made - APS and Arlington do not care.

Sort of the point. There is traffic and cut through everywhere. Nottingham is not special and doesn’t deserve special protection because you paid a lot for your house. Despite your arguments to the contrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because APS had a history of mistakes and overlooking issues. Some of us don’t think it’s in the best interest of any kids to put a 100 % drop off school in an area where three adults have recently been killed by cars.

I’m a Nott parent. I know these streets. We are incredibly lucky that no children have been killed. Some of us would like to keep it that way. Others are flippantly dismissive and just plain insensitive.

It seems odd to me that Nottingham parents are trying to portray Little Falls as a death trap while also demanding that their children get to keep attending the school. So only current families know how to navigate the traffic issues?

Not odd at all. Nottingham is known for its walkability. Current families don't ALL drive to the school, in fact very few do at all. You realize that will be the scenario right? All busses and car riders. That changes the dynamic of the neighborhood for several hours in the morning and evening (extended day). I am not a Nottingham parent but I do live in the neighborhood. Its also been proven that drivers use less caution when not in their own neighborhood and when in a hurry (drop offs).

You are twisting yourself into a pretzel here. The tragic pedestrian deaths have occurred with current traffic levels. It seems to be that a responsible, concerned parent would be advocating for the closure of Nottingham on that basis alone.

Dramatic much? No, we advocated for traffic reduction and stop signs. It's not reasonable to close a school. It is reasonable to enforce traffic safety protocols.

It’s not drama to point out how hypocritical the Nottingham parents are. If the traffic is so dangerous, why do you want your children to keep attending school there? Ohhhhh, right, that’s not what it is about at all.

This is really not a logical argument. You're talking about taking the current NES walkers, having them walk (in and around that neighborhood) to other schools, and then adding in 4-5x the number of buses that currently go to the school, plus additional cars doing drop-off and pick-up both for extended day (~7am, ~6pm) and for school hours (~9am, ~4pm). This is a material change in the traffic profile, patterns, and volume around the school. So yes, it's currently dangerous - which the neighborhood and school community dislike and have been trying to address for years with the county, with limited success as noted upthread. But this makes the situation worse - including for the students and parents being moved here as part of the swing space.

Yes, it does. Believe me, many of us living elsewhere understand completely. But I'm not going to advocate for NES to cap its enrollment to 65% capacity, or even 100% capacity, because of it - especially when other schools are over-capacity.

But this does nothing to fix capacity at other schools? APS still hasn’t given a reason for exactly why they need a swing space, or why kitchen renovations and vestibules (all they have budget for in the CIP) can’t be done in the summer. Right now there is only downside in this plan— which children’s lives are improving? Maybe APS knows, but they haven’t shared. I want every child to have access to amazing public schools. But no one has told us so far how this plan helps get there

There is literally no plan to cap Nott's enrollment. This plan doesn't help other schools' capacity at all.

Veering off the “swing space” issue but- what discussion has taken place about bussing kids from crowded schools to attend less-subscribed schools like Nottingham? I know Nottingham pushed back on becoming an option school in 2018, but that would have resulted in Nottingham kids not being able to go to their neighborhood school. Curious why some level of bussing has never been proposed. (Please avoid disgusting comments about Nottingham kids not wanting brown people from south Arlington. I am a brown person without significant means, as is my child who attends Nottingham.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK. Just to recap the argument. There have been several traffic fatalities along Yorktown Boulevard. As a consequence, Nottingham can’t ever be used for any purpose other than exactly how it’s being used right now. Neighborhood school with only 2 classes in at least 2 grades. There have been similar traffic fatalities at the Fleet/TJ site (also very close to the career center that brings people from all over the county all day long), but that’s different because their houses cost less. Did I get it right?

Maybe it's just better to shut down Nottingham altogether and build another school. In the meantime, the Nottingham kids will be bused to nearby schools....like they suggest the kids in schools being renovated do.
Solved. No more traffic concerns related to the school.

That does seem like a very Arlington thing to do!