ASFS/Key Swap Off . . .

[Anonymous]

So I think the pp needs to stop arguing, this thread has become an echo chamber of what seems to be a back and forth between two people.
Proximity matters for elementary school because that is the only time where parents need to be able to access the school regularly. Middle school and high school kids are more independent.
The proponents for immersion really need to figure out what exactly they are arguing for. Is it to stay on key at all costs? Why, when you may be able to build a better dual immersion program at another location? From this year lottery numbers, it looks like isn’t enough demand from the spanish speaking side to support two schools. Demand from the English speaking side is irrelevant— look at ats and hb. Aps has no issue with having extremely long waiting lists for option schools.
If it’s to increase access, what’s wrong with having a spanish immersion classroom at several neighborhood schools? How is this any different from Montessori, where you can lottery in at many different schools for pre-K? Wouldn’t you get more spanish speakers if it was an option at the school nearest to them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love being schooled by a parent without kids at the school about the reason people attend the school. You can play your math game all you want, but maybe try interacting with the human beings who are making the choices at issue before claiming you’ve figured it all out from a transfer report.

You’ve convinced me. Location doesn’t matter. So immersion can move to Nottingham and still thrive (that’s closer than Gunston to most of Arl)

LOL, immersion to Nottingham isn’t going to happen. Keep dreaming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love being schooled by a parent without kids at the school about the reason people attend the school. You can play your math game all you want, but maybe try interacting with the human beings who are making the choices at issue before claiming you’ve figured it all out from a transfer report.

You’ve convinced me. Location doesn’t matter. So immersion can move to Nottingham and still thrive (that’s closer than Gunston to most of Arl)

LOL, immersion to Nottingham isn’t going to happen. Keep dreaming.

You literally said location doesn’t matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love being schooled by a parent without kids at the school about the reason people attend the school. You can play your math game all you want, but maybe try interacting with the human beings who are making the choices at issue before claiming you’ve figured it all out from a transfer report.

You’ve convinced me. Location doesn’t matter. So immersion can move to Nottingham and still thrive (that’s closer than Gunston to most of Arl)

LOL, immersion to Nottingham isn’t going to happen. Keep dreaming.

You literally said location doesn’t matter.

I’m not pp, I just think it’s dumb how people have latched onto Nottingham after the failed attempt to move an option program there, during which the staff explicitly said they would not move immersion there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love being schooled by a parent without kids at the school about the reason people attend the school. You can play your math game all you want, but maybe try interacting with the human beings who are making the choices at issue before claiming you’ve figured it all out from a transfer report.

You’ve convinced me. Location doesn’t matter. So immersion can move to Nottingham and still thrive (that’s closer than Gunston to most of Arl)

LOL, immersion to Nottingham isn’t going to happen. Keep dreaming.

You literally said location doesn’t matter.

I’m not pp, I just think it’s dumb how people have latched onto Nottingham after the failed attempt to move an option program there, during which the staff explicitly said they would not move immersion there.

Um, did you miss everything that happened last spring? When APS issued its first analysis and said ASFS should become an option and Key should become a neighborhood school? And then three weeks later said, nope, ASFS and Key should both be neighborhood schools? And issued update after update over the summer that ASFS, as a neighborhood school, would be getting new boundaries in 2019? But then the week before school started announced that Murphy was invested with the power of god and unequivocally moving Key to ASFS???

The spreadsheet leaked last spring said ASFS and Nottingham would both become options. APS has tried twice to move Key to ASFS and failed but I have no doubt they will try again (rumor has it that the staff is still pushing hard but the SB is not so enamored with the idea anymore). Just because Nottingham escaped the option dance once, you shouldn’t feel totally comfortable that APS won’t try again. It ain’t over til it’s over. And we’ve got until Dec. 2020 before any “final” decisions “have” to be made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love being schooled by a parent without kids at the school about the reason people attend the school. You can play your math game all you want, but maybe try interacting with the human beings who are making the choices at issue before claiming you’ve figured it all out from a transfer report.

You’ve convinced me. Location doesn’t matter. So immersion can move to Nottingham and still thrive (that’s closer than Gunston to most of Arl)

LOL, immersion to Nottingham isn’t going to happen. Keep dreaming.

You literally said location doesn’t matter.

I’m not pp, I just think it’s dumb how people have latched onto Nottingham after the failed attempt to move an option program there, during which the staff explicitly said they would not move immersion there.

Um, did you miss everything that happened last spring? When APS issued its first analysis and said ASFS should become an option and Key should become a neighborhood school? And then three weeks later said, nope, ASFS and Key should both be neighborhood schools? And issued update after update over the summer that ASFS, as a neighborhood school, would be getting new boundaries in 2019? But then the week before school started announced that Murphy was invested with the power of god and unequivocally moving Key to ASFS???

The spreadsheet leaked last spring said ASFS and Nottingham would both become options. APS has tried twice to move Key to ASFS and failed but I have no doubt they will try again (rumor has it that the staff is still pushing hard but the SB is not so enamored with the idea anymore). Just because Nottingham escaped the option dance once, you shouldn’t feel totally comfortable that APS won’t try again. It ain’t over til it’s over. And we’ve got until Dec. 2020 before any “final” decisions “have” to be made.

They need seats in the east, swap doesn’t help that so why still pushing??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love being schooled by a parent without kids at the school about the reason people attend the school. You can play your math game all you want, but maybe try interacting with the human beings who are making the choices at issue before claiming you’ve figured it all out from a transfer report.

You’ve convinced me. Location doesn’t matter. So immersion can move to Nottingham and still thrive (that’s closer than Gunston to most of Arl)

LOL, immersion to Nottingham isn’t going to happen. Keep dreaming.

You literally said location doesn’t matter.

I’m not pp, I just think it’s dumb how people have latched onto Nottingham after the failed attempt to move an option program there, during which the staff explicitly said they would not move immersion there.

Um, did you miss everything that happened last spring? When APS issued its first analysis and said ASFS should become an option and Key should become a neighborhood school? And then three weeks later said, nope, ASFS and Key should both be neighborhood schools? And issued update after update over the summer that ASFS, as a neighborhood school, would be getting new boundaries in 2019? But then the week before school started announced that Murphy was invested with the power of god and unequivocally moving Key to ASFS???

The spreadsheet leaked last spring said ASFS and Nottingham would both become options. APS has tried twice to move Key to ASFS and failed but I have no doubt they will try again (rumor has it that the staff is still pushing hard but the SB is not so enamored with the idea anymore). Just because Nottingham escaped the option dance once, you shouldn’t feel totally comfortable that APS won’t try again. It ain’t over til it’s over. And we’ve got until Dec. 2020 before any “final” decisions “have” to be made.

They need seats in the east, swap doesn’t help that so why still pushing??

Because logically, the swap should have had the least resistance from current families.
From an ASFS perspective: entire school moves, boundaries stay largely the same, curriculum stays the same. There was a lot of concerns about the lab not moving meaning that the science program would end, but frankly there's nothing to say that a new school at key would have any science curriculum at all, since it would be a brand new school with new principal/etc. Switching locations was the least risky.

From a Key perspective: entire school moves about 3/4 mile down the road, with less than a 2 minute bus ride change for everyone. The native spanish speakers who picked key because of its location can go to either the neighborhood school at key or the immersion program at asfs (which is their current neighborhood school). Yes it is disruptive because there are new classrooms and there is a potential that a large chunk of the school doesn't move, but its significantly less disruptive than moving the school to a random office building or to carlin springs or barrett.

APS did a horrible job with conveying this to anyone -- and they were so focused on the cf that was the south arlington boundaries that they didn't kill any of the fake news surrounding it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love being schooled by a parent without kids at the school about the reason people attend the school. You can play your math game all you want, but maybe try interacting with the human beings who are making the choices at issue before claiming you’ve figured it all out from a transfer report.

You’ve convinced me. Location doesn’t matter. So immersion can move to Nottingham and still thrive (that’s closer than Gunston to most of Arl)

LOL, immersion to Nottingham isn’t going to happen. Keep dreaming.

You literally said location doesn’t matter.

I’m not pp, I just think it’s dumb how people have latched onto Nottingham after the failed attempt to move an option program there, during which the staff explicitly said they would not move immersion there.

Um, did you miss everything that happened last spring? When APS issued its first analysis and said ASFS should become an option and Key should become a neighborhood school? And then three weeks later said, nope, ASFS and Key should both be neighborhood schools? And issued update after update over the summer that ASFS, as a neighborhood school, would be getting new boundaries in 2019? But then the week before school started announced that Murphy was invested with the power of god and unequivocally moving Key to ASFS???

The spreadsheet leaked last spring said ASFS and Nottingham would both become options. APS has tried twice to move Key to ASFS and failed but I have no doubt they will try again (rumor has it that the staff is still pushing hard but the SB is not so enamored with the idea anymore). Just because Nottingham escaped the option dance once, you shouldn’t feel totally comfortable that APS won’t try again. It ain’t over til it’s over. And we’ve got until Dec. 2020 before any “final” decisions “have” to be made.

They need seats in the east, swap doesn’t help that so why still pushing??

Because logically, the swap should have had the least resistance from current families.
From an ASFS perspective: entire school moves, boundaries stay largely the same, curriculum stays the same. There was a lot of concerns about the lab not moving meaning that the science program would end, but frankly there's nothing to say that a new school at key would have any science curriculum at all, since it would be a brand new school with new principal/etc. Switching locations was the least risky.

From a Key perspective: entire school moves about 3/4 mile down the road, with less than a 2 minute bus ride change for everyone. The native spanish speakers who picked key because of its location can go to either the neighborhood school at key or the immersion program at asfs (which is their current neighborhood school). Yes it is disruptive because there are new classrooms and there is a potential that a large chunk of the school doesn't move, but its significantly less disruptive than moving the school to a random office building or to carlin springs or barrett.

APS did a horrible job with conveying this to anyone -- and they were so focused on the cf that was the south arlington boundaries that they didn't kill any of the fake news surrounding it.

DP. But.....the swap still doesn't add seats in the east. Not worth the expense or headache.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love being schooled by a parent without kids at the school about the reason people attend the school. You can play your math game all you want, but maybe try interacting with the human beings who are making the choices at issue before claiming you’ve figured it all out from a transfer report.

You’ve convinced me. Location doesn’t matter. So immersion can move to Nottingham and still thrive (that’s closer than Gunston to most of Arl)

LOL, immersion to Nottingham isn’t going to happen. Keep dreaming.

You literally said location doesn’t matter.

I’m not pp, I just think it’s dumb how people have latched onto Nottingham after the failed attempt to move an option program there, during which the staff explicitly said they would not move immersion there.

Um, did you miss everything that happened last spring? When APS issued its first analysis and said ASFS should become an option and Key should become a neighborhood school? And then three weeks later said, nope, ASFS and Key should both be neighborhood schools? And issued update after update over the summer that ASFS, as a neighborhood school, would be getting new boundaries in 2019? But then the week before school started announced that Murphy was invested with the power of god and unequivocally moving Key to ASFS???

The spreadsheet leaked last spring said ASFS and Nottingham would both become options. APS has tried twice to move Key to ASFS and failed but I have no doubt they will try again (rumor has it that the staff is still pushing hard but the SB is not so enamored with the idea anymore). Just because Nottingham escaped the option dance once, you shouldn’t feel totally comfortable that APS won’t try again. It ain’t over til it’s over. And we’ve got until Dec. 2020 before any “final” decisions “have” to be made.

They need seats in the east, swap doesn’t help that so why still pushing??

Because logically, the swap should have had the least resistance from current families.
From an ASFS perspective: entire school moves, boundaries stay largely the same, curriculum stays the same. There was a lot of concerns about the lab not moving meaning that the science program would end, but frankly there's nothing to say that a new school at key would have any science curriculum at all, since it would be a brand new school with new principal/etc. Switching locations was the least risky.

From a Key perspective: entire school moves about 3/4 mile down the road, with less than a 2 minute bus ride change for everyone. The native spanish speakers who picked key because of its location can go to either the neighborhood school at key or the immersion program at asfs (which is their current neighborhood school). Yes it is disruptive because there are new classrooms and there is a potential that a large chunk of the school doesn't move, but its significantly less disruptive than moving the school to a random office building or to carlin springs or barrett.

APS did a horrible job with conveying this to anyone -- and they were so focused on the cf that was the south arlington boundaries that they didn't kill any of the fake news surrounding it.

DP. But.....the swap still doesn't add seats in the east. Not worth the expense or headache.

I think the transportation review showed that Key is a more walkable school, and in closer proximity to a density of students and makes more sense as a neighborhood school (compared to ASFS) at that point in time. So they figured the swap would be less costly and disruptive to fewer communities than finding an entirely different location for Spanish immersion and moving around more pieces of the puzzle, and it appears not to have needed a SB action since it was considered a program move rather than a boundary change. This was all before the American legion block redevelopment was announced, though, IIRC.

[Anonymous]

I think the transportation review showed that Key is a more walkable school, and in closer proximity to a density of students and makes more sense as a neighborhood school (compared to ASFS) at that point in time. So they figured the swap would be less costly and disruptive to fewer communities than finding an entirely different location for Spanish immersion and moving around more pieces of the puzzle, and it appears not to have needed a SB action since it was considered a program move rather than a boundary change. This was all before the American legion block redevelopment was announced, though, IIRC.

The bolded part is the real issue-- there was no empirical evidence that it would be less costly, APS should be making long-term decisions (not cowering to the current angry mob of families who don't want to be disrupted during their limited elementary years), and what total BS that Murphy had the absolute "authority" to move "programs." The swap was not like moving a few VPI classrooms. It was going to require a complete move of both schools and staff, effect signage (unless APS was planning on making ASFS stand for Arlington Spanish Focus School), and have a much greater impact than what was laid out in APS' swap "support" memos. And the American legion block redevelopment has been in the works for years-- it just wasn't formally recognized as a considering factor. But its been well known by everyone, including APS staff.

[Anonymous]

Putting aside the what, where and why for now, WHEN do we think changes (if any) are coming? Will they take effect in fall 2020? Or Fall 2021 to coincide with Reed opening?

If it's Fall 2020, they have to make the decision before the end of this year, because they have to provide info to Kindergarten info night which takes place in Jan 2020. But that only gives them 6 months, including the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside the what, where and why for now, WHEN do we think changes (if any) are coming? Will they take effect in fall 2020? Or Fall 2021 to coincide with Reed opening?

If it's Fall 2020, they have to make the decision before the end of this year, because they have to provide info to Kindergarten info night which takes place in Jan 2020. But that only gives them 6 months, including the summer.

Reed opening if boundary changes are required - which will happen if they don't do a swap. And they won't do a swap because it is a waste, it doesn't add any seats in the east.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside the what, where and why for now, WHEN do we think changes (if any) are coming? Will they take effect in fall 2020? Or Fall 2021 to coincide with Reed opening?

If it's Fall 2020, they have to make the decision before the end of this year, because they have to provide info to Kindergarten info night which takes place in Jan 2020. But that only gives them 6 months, including the summer.

Reed opening if boundary changes are required - which will happen if they don't do a swap. And they won't do a swap because it is a waste, it doesn't add any seats in the east.

Even if there was a swap (which, I agree with the PP won't happen because it doesn't add any seats in the east), boundaries will still have to be adjusted. There aren't enough permanent seats at Key to accommodate all the elementary kids who live in the attendance zone. So even if they swapped schools, eventually the boundaries would need to be adjusted. APS has already stated (maybe at the late Jan. SB meeting?) that nothing is moving until at least 2021, i.e., immersion will stay at Key through at least the 2020-2021 school year.

In a perfect world, APS would figure out where to put Key (and any other option school) by the end of this year, though, so the incoming K class will know where they will (eventually) end up by first grade. It would also give APS almost 12 months to tinker with the boundaries for everyone (including new boundaries around any option school that moves). And that is what APS has said it will do but I'm sure that won't happen. If APS tries to move any school, there will be a huge uprising and APS will punt the decision down the road and everything (location and boundaries) will all be on the table til the bitter end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside the what, where and why for now, WHEN do we think changes (if any) are coming? Will they take effect in fall 2020? Or Fall 2021 to coincide with Reed opening?

If it's Fall 2020, they have to make the decision before the end of this year, because they have to provide info to Kindergarten info night which takes place in Jan 2020. But that only gives them 6 months, including the summer.

Reed opening if boundary changes are required - which will happen if they don't do a swap. And they won't do a swap because it is a waste, it doesn't add any seats in the east.

Even if there was a swap (which, I agree with the PP won't happen because it doesn't add any seats in the east), boundaries will still have to be adjusted. There aren't enough permanent seats at Key to accommodate all the elementary kids who live in the attendance zone. So even if they swapped schools, eventually the boundaries would need to be adjusted. APS has already stated (maybe at the late Jan. SB meeting?) that nothing is moving until at least 2021, i.e., immersion will stay at Key through at least the 2020-2021 school year.

In a perfect world, APS would figure out where to put Key (and any other option school) by the end of this year, though, so the incoming K class will know where they will (eventually) end up by first grade. It would also give APS almost 12 months to tinker with the boundaries for everyone (including new boundaries around any option school that moves). And that is what APS has said it will do but I'm sure that won't happen. If APS tries to move any school, there will be a huge uprising and APS will punt the decision down the road and everything (location and boundaries) will all be on the table til the bitter end.

If the bolded is true, why haven't they reflected the website to say that? Nothing has been updated on the swap site since Jan. except to say it's been postponed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside the what, where and why for now, WHEN do we think changes (if any) are coming? Will they take effect in fall 2020? Or Fall 2021 to coincide with Reed opening?

If it's Fall 2020, they have to make the decision before the end of this year, because they have to provide info to Kindergarten info night which takes place in Jan 2020. But that only gives them 6 months, including the summer.

Reed opening if boundary changes are required - which will happen if they don't do a swap. And they won't do a swap because it is a waste, it doesn't add any seats in the east.

Even if there was a swap (which, I agree with the PP won't happen because it doesn't add any seats in the east), boundaries will still have to be adjusted. There aren't enough permanent seats at Key to accommodate all the elementary kids who live in the attendance zone. So even if they swapped schools, eventually the boundaries would need to be adjusted. APS has already stated (maybe at the late Jan. SB meeting?) that nothing is moving until at least 2021, i.e., immersion will stay at Key through at least the 2020-2021 school year.

In a perfect world, APS would figure out where to put Key (and any other option school) by the end of this year, though, so the incoming K class will know where they will (eventually) end up by first grade. It would also give APS almost 12 months to tinker with the boundaries for everyone (including new boundaries around any option school that moves). And that is what APS has said it will do but I'm sure that won't happen. If APS tries to move any school, there will be a huge uprising and APS will punt the decision down the road and everything (location and boundaries) will all be on the table til the bitter end.

If the bolded is true, why haven't they reflected the website to say that? Nothing has been updated on the swap site since Jan. except to say it's been postponed.

Here's the only thing in writing I can find, though it's also from January (Page 7) https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Jan-25-2019-Annual-Update-Final.pdf

Key/ASFS Building Swap

There is a need for neighborhood seats in the eastern end of North Arlington due to its continued growth. Key is currently an option school – a location for one of the APS Immersion programs, serving students from about half of the county.

APS is committed to sustaining and potentially growing the immersion instructional pathway. APS will undertake a process to explore locations that provide equitable access for all students, which is critical to the integrity of the two-way instructional model and to the enrollment of more native Spanish speakers. Participation by English learners along with native English speakers helps ensure that the program’s academic benefits are fairly distributed within a community. Decisions on identifying locations for immersion would need to be completed by December 2019, in anticipation of the 2020 elementary school boundary process. The process is still being shaped, and there will be opportunity for community input. The move would be made for the 2021-22 school year.