Declining enrollment at APS

[Anonymous]

Those are fair statistics. It was, however, the schools/zip codes in Arlington with lower incomes that were most hesitant to go back. They, statistically, had higher infection and death rates and per a PP, more complicated living situations that were harder to rearrange for a 2-day then possible 4-day then SOL schedule.

It was/is a pandemic and APS did what it thought was best for the kids. If this was a well thought out planned response, then complain…but it was sudden and in the past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For kids who think public school is horrible this year. I promise (from a teacher perspective at least) private school is also horrible. I have a number of friends that teach at private school and they are miserable this year (2 of them are leaving teaching all together at the end of the year). It is not like private school kids magically know how to behave better than public school kids. And it is not like private school teachers get amazing support from Admin just because they are private. This year has been a lot.

But doesn't this relate to whether schools were open or closed last year? We switched to Catholic which was open close to normal last year, and my kids are having a great school year this year. I'm so glad we didn't send them back into APS, which I think is going to take many, many, many years to recover from having been closed for so long last year. Arlington did so much harm to kids in the way it handled COVID, and we are going to be seeing that for a very long time. And APS still won't admit that it made a huge mistake in how it handled things, worst in the region, I believe, and our region overall was among the worst in the nation.

The APS response to a deadly global pandemic was reasonable and similar to many other school districts. Kids went back in person after adults had vaccine.

Have you read or seen any of the studies coming out about how kids fared in the districts that stayed closed longest vs. those who opened again sooner? Many schools in other parts of the US were similar last year to what Catholic schools here did locally, which was to open with as much spacing as possible and to require masks. Those kids, overall, did better in every aspect -- academically, socially, emotionally -- vs. the kids in APS. APS' test scores last year plummeted across the board, and it's seen a marked increase in discipline and emotional issues. Local pediatricians have been discussing the mental health crisis here as well, which is very real, and very concerning.

APS' response was only reasonable to those with an inside the beltway mentality who did not know or understand that most of the rest of America managed to open up and do much better. Our approach maybe made sense in August when everyone was worried open schools were going to be a disaster. But by October, it was clear that most of the country that opened was doing just fine. And when APS did "open" it was only a limited basis, and far later than most other places. So no, our response was neither reasonable nor similar to how things were done elsewhere.

I have a kid in private and a kid in public. The kid in private was in person all last year.

Both schools are full of kids who are struggling. It's not because APS stayed virtual.

I mean, there is actual research people. Here's a summary from the NYT:

"The researchers broke the students into different groups based on how much time they had spent attending in-person school during 2020-21 — the academic year with the most variation in whether schools were open. On average, students who attended in-person school for nearly all of 2020-21 lost about 20 percent worth of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window.

Some of those losses stemmed from the time the students had spent learning remotely during the spring of 2020, when school buildings were almost universally closed. And some of the losses stemmed from the difficulties of in-person schooling during the pandemic, as families coped with disruption and illness.

But students who stayed home for most of 2020-21 fared much worse. On average, they lost the equivalent of about 50 percent of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window."

So yes, there are many kids struggling this year. But kids in districts that stayed closed longer (like APS) are struggling more.

APS went back in person around the same time as MANY other schools.

Do you not know any other parents outside the DMV? Schools in the mountain west and south were open basically all of last year, and those kids did MUCH better. And BS to the person who said correlation not causation. Online learning is no substitute for in-person instruction. That's overwhelmingly clear. And our kids suffered as a result.

Yes, and I know kids who went back later than our kids.

Sorry, you can't attribute all bad outcomes from the pandemic to online learning.

I'm not trying to! But again, 20% loss on average last year, but 50% loss for those whose schools were closed the longest. So it sucked everywhere, but it sucked SO MUCH WORSE in the places that were closed the longest. And that's us, people.

But there are likely other factors at play for those places that had the greatest “learning loss”.

Higher density areas, more illness/death, lower income, more job loss, more transient, more kids at risk, etc.

Aside from the covid deniers, most schools brought kids back around the same time - after vaccines & winter surge. A few weeks earlier or later wouldn’t likely affect outcomes that much.

Correlation, not causation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For kids who think public school is horrible this year. I promise (from a teacher perspective at least) private school is also horrible. I have a number of friends that teach at private school and they are miserable this year (2 of them are leaving teaching all together at the end of the year). It is not like private school kids magically know how to behave better than public school kids. And it is not like private school teachers get amazing support from Admin just because they are private. This year has been a lot.

But doesn't this relate to whether schools were open or closed last year? We switched to Catholic which was open close to normal last year, and my kids are having a great school year this year. I'm so glad we didn't send them back into APS, which I think is going to take many, many, many years to recover from having been closed for so long last year. Arlington did so much harm to kids in the way it handled COVID, and we are going to be seeing that for a very long time. And APS still won't admit that it made a huge mistake in how it handled things, worst in the region, I believe, and our region overall was among the worst in the nation.

The APS response to a deadly global pandemic was reasonable and similar to many other school districts. Kids went back in person after adults had vaccine.

Have you read or seen any of the studies coming out about how kids fared in the districts that stayed closed longest vs. those who opened again sooner? Many schools in other parts of the US were similar last year to what Catholic schools here did locally, which was to open with as much spacing as possible and to require masks. Those kids, overall, did better in every aspect -- academically, socially, emotionally -- vs. the kids in APS. APS' test scores last year plummeted across the board, and it's seen a marked increase in discipline and emotional issues. Local pediatricians have been discussing the mental health crisis here as well, which is very real, and very concerning.

APS' response was only reasonable to those with an inside the beltway mentality who did not know or understand that most of the rest of America managed to open up and do much better. Our approach maybe made sense in August when everyone was worried open schools were going to be a disaster. But by October, it was clear that most of the country that opened was doing just fine. And when APS did "open" it was only a limited basis, and far later than most other places. So no, our response was neither reasonable nor similar to how things were done elsewhere.

I have a kid in private and a kid in public. The kid in private was in person all last year.

Both schools are full of kids who are struggling. It's not because APS stayed virtual.

I mean, there is actual research people. Here's a summary from the NYT:

"The researchers broke the students into different groups based on how much time they had spent attending in-person school during 2020-21 — the academic year with the most variation in whether schools were open. On average, students who attended in-person school for nearly all of 2020-21 lost about 20 percent worth of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window.

Some of those losses stemmed from the time the students had spent learning remotely during the spring of 2020, when school buildings were almost universally closed. And some of the losses stemmed from the difficulties of in-person schooling during the pandemic, as families coped with disruption and illness.

But students who stayed home for most of 2020-21 fared much worse. On average, they lost the equivalent of about 50 percent of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window."

So yes, there are many kids struggling this year. But kids in districts that stayed closed longer (like APS) are struggling more.

APS went back in person around the same time as MANY other schools.

Do you not know any other parents outside the DMV? Schools in the mountain west and south were open basically all of last year, and those kids did MUCH better. And BS to the person who said correlation not causation. Online learning is no substitute for in-person instruction. That's overwhelmingly clear. And our kids suffered as a result.

Yes, and I know kids who went back later than our kids.

Sorry, you can't attribute all bad outcomes from the pandemic to online learning.

I'm not trying to! But again, 20% loss on average last year, but 50% loss for those whose schools were closed the longest. So it sucked everywhere, but it sucked SO MUCH WORSE in the places that were closed the longest. And that's us, people.

But there are likely other factors at play for those places that had the greatest “learning loss”.

Higher density areas, more illness/death, lower income, more job loss, more transient, more kids at risk, etc.

Aside from the covid deniers, most schools brought kids back around the same time - after vaccines & winter surge. A few weeks earlier or later wouldn’t likely affect outcomes that much.

Correlation, not causation.

You closed schoolers are still justify your awful position and the horrible results of it. It's really pathetic at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For kids who think public school is horrible this year. I promise (from a teacher perspective at least) private school is also horrible. I have a number of friends that teach at private school and they are miserable this year (2 of them are leaving teaching all together at the end of the year). It is not like private school kids magically know how to behave better than public school kids. And it is not like private school teachers get amazing support from Admin just because they are private. This year has been a lot.

But doesn't this relate to whether schools were open or closed last year? We switched to Catholic which was open close to normal last year, and my kids are having a great school year this year. I'm so glad we didn't send them back into APS, which I think is going to take many, many, many years to recover from having been closed for so long last year. Arlington did so much harm to kids in the way it handled COVID, and we are going to be seeing that for a very long time. And APS still won't admit that it made a huge mistake in how it handled things, worst in the region, I believe, and our region overall was among the worst in the nation.

The APS response to a deadly global pandemic was reasonable and similar to many other school districts. Kids went back in person after adults had vaccine.

Have you read or seen any of the studies coming out about how kids fared in the districts that stayed closed longest vs. those who opened again sooner? Many schools in other parts of the US were similar last year to what Catholic schools here did locally, which was to open with as much spacing as possible and to require masks. Those kids, overall, did better in every aspect -- academically, socially, emotionally -- vs. the kids in APS. APS' test scores last year plummeted across the board, and it's seen a marked increase in discipline and emotional issues. Local pediatricians have been discussing the mental health crisis here as well, which is very real, and very concerning.

APS' response was only reasonable to those with an inside the beltway mentality who did not know or understand that most of the rest of America managed to open up and do much better. Our approach maybe made sense in August when everyone was worried open schools were going to be a disaster. But by October, it was clear that most of the country that opened was doing just fine. And when APS did "open" it was only a limited basis, and far later than most other places. So no, our response was neither reasonable nor similar to how things were done elsewhere.

I have a kid in private and a kid in public. The kid in private was in person all last year.

Both schools are full of kids who are struggling. It's not because APS stayed virtual.

I mean, there is actual research people. Here's a summary from the NYT:

"The researchers broke the students into different groups based on how much time they had spent attending in-person school during 2020-21 — the academic year with the most variation in whether schools were open. On average, students who attended in-person school for nearly all of 2020-21 lost about 20 percent worth of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window.

Some of those losses stemmed from the time the students had spent learning remotely during the spring of 2020, when school buildings were almost universally closed. And some of the losses stemmed from the difficulties of in-person schooling during the pandemic, as families coped with disruption and illness.

But students who stayed home for most of 2020-21 fared much worse. On average, they lost the equivalent of about 50 percent of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window."

So yes, there are many kids struggling this year. But kids in districts that stayed closed longer (like APS) are struggling more.

APS went back in person around the same time as MANY other schools.

Do you not know any other parents outside the DMV? Schools in the mountain west and south were open basically all of last year, and those kids did MUCH better. And BS to the person who said correlation not causation. Online learning is no substitute for in-person instruction. That's overwhelmingly clear. And our kids suffered as a result.

Yes, and I know kids who went back later than our kids.

Sorry, you can't attribute all bad outcomes from the pandemic to online learning.

I'm not trying to! But again, 20% loss on average last year, but 50% loss for those whose schools were closed the longest. So it sucked everywhere, but it sucked SO MUCH WORSE in the places that were closed the longest. And that's us, people.

But there are likely other factors at play for those places that had the greatest “learning loss”.

Higher density areas, more illness/death, lower income, more job loss, more transient, more kids at risk, etc.

Aside from the covid deniers, most schools brought kids back around the same time - after vaccines & winter surge. A few weeks earlier or later wouldn’t likely affect outcomes that much.

Correlation, not causation.

You closed schoolers are still justify your awful position and the horrible results of it. It's really pathetic at this point.

They are. The best part is that, unlike their wild estimates of Long COVID, there's an actual control group cited in both the NYT article and the Harvard study - other districts that were not remote as much. Shocker that both found minimal learning loss and unenrollment (Florida's public school enrollment increased) in those places not virtual.

So if there were other factors in play other than remote instruction, then that would show up in those areas that did not have remote instruction. But they're not showing up whatsoever. The controlling factor was...closed schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For kids who think public school is horrible this year. I promise (from a teacher perspective at least) private school is also horrible. I have a number of friends that teach at private school and they are miserable this year (2 of them are leaving teaching all together at the end of the year). It is not like private school kids magically know how to behave better than public school kids. And it is not like private school teachers get amazing support from Admin just because they are private. This year has been a lot.

But doesn't this relate to whether schools were open or closed last year? We switched to Catholic which was open close to normal last year, and my kids are having a great school year this year. I'm so glad we didn't send them back into APS, which I think is going to take many, many, many years to recover from having been closed for so long last year. Arlington did so much harm to kids in the way it handled COVID, and we are going to be seeing that for a very long time. And APS still won't admit that it made a huge mistake in how it handled things, worst in the region, I believe, and our region overall was among the worst in the nation.

The APS response to a deadly global pandemic was reasonable and similar to many other school districts. Kids went back in person after adults had vaccine.

Have you read or seen any of the studies coming out about how kids fared in the districts that stayed closed longest vs. those who opened again sooner? Many schools in other parts of the US were similar last year to what Catholic schools here did locally, which was to open with as much spacing as possible and to require masks. Those kids, overall, did better in every aspect -- academically, socially, emotionally -- vs. the kids in APS. APS' test scores last year plummeted across the board, and it's seen a marked increase in discipline and emotional issues. Local pediatricians have been discussing the mental health crisis here as well, which is very real, and very concerning.

APS' response was only reasonable to those with an inside the beltway mentality who did not know or understand that most of the rest of America managed to open up and do much better. Our approach maybe made sense in August when everyone was worried open schools were going to be a disaster. But by October, it was clear that most of the country that opened was doing just fine. And when APS did "open" it was only a limited basis, and far later than most other places. So no, our response was neither reasonable nor similar to how things were done elsewhere.

I have a kid in private and a kid in public. The kid in private was in person all last year.

Both schools are full of kids who are struggling. It's not because APS stayed virtual.

I mean, there is actual research people. Here's a summary from the NYT:

"The researchers broke the students into different groups based on how much time they had spent attending in-person school during 2020-21 — the academic year with the most variation in whether schools were open. On average, students who attended in-person school for nearly all of 2020-21 lost about 20 percent worth of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window.

Some of those losses stemmed from the time the students had spent learning remotely during the spring of 2020, when school buildings were almost universally closed. And some of the losses stemmed from the difficulties of in-person schooling during the pandemic, as families coped with disruption and illness.

But students who stayed home for most of 2020-21 fared much worse. On average, they lost the equivalent of about 50 percent of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window."

So yes, there are many kids struggling this year. But kids in districts that stayed closed longer (like APS) are struggling more.

APS went back in person around the same time as MANY other schools.

Do you not know any other parents outside the DMV? Schools in the mountain west and south were open basically all of last year, and those kids did MUCH better. And BS to the person who said correlation not causation. Online learning is no substitute for in-person instruction. That's overwhelmingly clear. And our kids suffered as a result.

Yes, and I know kids who went back later than our kids.

Sorry, you can't attribute all bad outcomes from the pandemic to online learning.

I'm not trying to! But again, 20% loss on average last year, but 50% loss for those whose schools were closed the longest. So it sucked everywhere, but it sucked SO MUCH WORSE in the places that were closed the longest. And that's us, people.

But there are likely other factors at play for those places that had the greatest “learning loss”.

Higher density areas, more illness/death, lower income, more job loss, more transient, more kids at risk, etc.

Aside from the covid deniers, most schools brought kids back around the same time - after vaccines & winter surge. A few weeks earlier or later wouldn’t likely affect outcomes that much.

Correlation, not causation.

You closed schoolers are still justify your awful position and the horrible results of it. It's really pathetic at this point.

They are. The best part is that, unlike their wild estimates of Long COVID, there's an actual control group cited in both the NYT article and the Harvard study - other districts that were not remote as much. Shocker that both found minimal learning loss and unenrollment (Florida's public school enrollment increased) in those places not virtual.

So if there were other factors in play other than remote instruction, then that would show up in those areas that did not have remote instruction. But they're not showing up whatsoever. The controlling factor was...closed schools.

OK, good, so there are at least three of us here who see this. I really can't believe there are people in Arlington who still think how we handled COVID was "the best we could do." We were flaming garbage here. I get that it was well-intentioned flaming garbage, but we were absolutely the worst. Data bow show this. Real, well done, scientifically collected with real-world controls, data.

[Anonymous]

You closed schoolers are still justify your awful position and the horrible results of it. It's really pathetic at this point.


They are. The best part is that, unlike their wild estimates of Long COVID, there's an actual control group cited in both the NYT article and the Harvard study - other districts that were not remote as much. Shocker that both found minimal learning loss and unenrollment (Florida's public school enrollment increased) in those places not virtual.

So if there were other factors in play other than remote instruction, then that would show up in those areas that did not have remote instruction. But they're not showing up whatsoever. The controlling factor was...closed schools.

OK, good, so there are at least three of us here who see this. I really can't believe there are people in Arlington who still think how we handled COVID was "the best we could do." We were flaming garbage here. I get that it was well-intentioned flaming garbage, but we were absolutely the worst. Data bow show this. Real, well done, scientifically collected with real-world controls, data.



So it wasn't the best they could do? What you are saying is that they were purposely trying to deny kids access to education? That's absurd. You are making judgements on what happened in hindsight. There is no way the goal of APSA was to have less achievement.

[Anonymous]

So it wasn't the best they could do? What you are saying is that they were purposely trying to deny kids access to education? That's absurd. You are making judgements on what happened in hindsight. There is no way the goal of APSA was to have less achievement.

Not hindsight. Many of us were critical of APS's decisions all the way through. The administration put student learning absolutely last on their list of priorities throughout the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

The so-called "close schoolers" may be annoying, but they're no worse than the anti-close schoolers who continue to complain about closed schools WHEN SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN OPEN ALL YEAR.

Quit your harping, please! It's 2022, not 2020.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The so-called "close schoolers" may be annoying, but they're no worse than the anti-close schoolers who continue to complain about closed schools WHEN SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN OPEN ALL YEAR.

Quit your harping, please! It's 2022, not 2020.

APS will never properly remediate for all the damage done last year until it admits that it did significant damage last year. That's the point, and the reason it still matters. Not surprisingly, other districts are also doing a better job remediating than APS is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So it wasn't the best they could do? What you are saying is that they were purposely trying to deny kids access to education? That's absurd. You are making judgements on what happened in hindsight. There is no way the goal of APSA was to have less achievement.

Not hindsight. Many of us were critical of APS's decisions all the way through. The administration put student learning absolutely last on their list of priorities throughout the pandemic.

You being critical of a decision two years sho is not at all congruous to APS actively trying to torpedo student achievement. Everyone was worried about health implications. You and your bubble may have fared fine, but there are large areas of the county which would not have. We are all still figuring it out. Get over it instead of trying to retroactively torpedo APS.

I’m thinking you are a private school parent trying to justify the amount you paid for your House AND the price of tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So it wasn't the best they could do? What you are saying is that they were purposely trying to deny kids access to education? That's absurd. You are making judgements on what happened in hindsight. There is no way the goal of APSA was to have less achievement.

Not hindsight. Many of us were critical of APS's decisions all the way through. The administration put student learning absolutely last on their list of priorities throughout the pandemic.

You being critical of a decision two years sho is not at all congruous to APS actively trying to torpedo student achievement. Everyone was worried about health implications. You and your bubble may have fared fine, but there are large areas of the county which would not have. We are all still figuring it out. Get over it instead of trying to retroactively torpedo APS.

I’m thinking you are a private school parent trying to justify the amount you paid for your House AND the price of tuition.

It wasn't one decision. APS made terrible decision after terrible decision throughout the pandemic, from how they implemented virtual learning to delays bringing students back. I'm actually the parent praising APS for how this year went for my K and 3rd grader earlier on this thread. APS does okay when things are close to business as usual as possible. But I still consider that APS totally failed to serve its students from March 2020 to September 2021. There is more that could be done now, but that "pandemic period" was shameful. APS should be embarrassed and leadership should be called to account.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL. “Close schools.”

So hysterical.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For kids who think public school is horrible this year. I promise (from a teacher perspective at least) private school is also horrible. I have a number of friends that teach at private school and they are miserable this year (2 of them are leaving teaching all together at the end of the year). It is not like private school kids magically know how to behave better than public school kids. And it is not like private school teachers get amazing support from Admin just because they are private. This year has been a lot.

But doesn't this relate to whether schools were open or closed last year? We switched to Catholic which was open close to normal last year, and my kids are having a great school year this year. I'm so glad we didn't send them back into APS, which I think is going to take many, many, many years to recover from having been closed for so long last year. Arlington did so much harm to kids in the way it handled COVID, and we are going to be seeing that for a very long time. And APS still won't admit that it made a huge mistake in how it handled things, worst in the region, I believe, and our region overall was among the worst in the nation.

The APS response to a deadly global pandemic was reasonable and similar to many other school districts. Kids went back in person after adults had vaccine.

I must admit that I'm fascinated by this point of view, which seems to be held by a rather vocal minority of the population. No matter how much evidence there is of increased depression and suicide attempts, learning loss, declining test scores, increased violence in schools, worsening gaps in minority achievement, declining enrollment, etc., there are many who will say that none of this matters. Teaching kids during the pandemic was impossible, I guess, except for all the places that were able to do it.

Suicides were DOWN in 2020, th year of the most virtual learning. Stop playing this disgusting, manipulative card.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For kids who think public school is horrible this year. I promise (from a teacher perspective at least) private school is also horrible. I have a number of friends that teach at private school and they are miserable this year (2 of them are leaving teaching all together at the end of the year). It is not like private school kids magically know how to behave better than public school kids. And it is not like private school teachers get amazing support from Admin just because they are private. This year has been a lot.

But doesn't this relate to whether schools were open or closed last year? We switched to Catholic which was open close to normal last year, and my kids are having a great school year this year. I'm so glad we didn't send them back into APS, which I think is going to take many, many, many years to recover from having been closed for so long last year. Arlington did so much harm to kids in the way it handled COVID, and we are going to be seeing that for a very long time. And APS still won't admit that it made a huge mistake in how it handled things, worst in the region, I believe, and our region overall was among the worst in the nation.

The APS response to a deadly global pandemic was reasonable and similar to many other school districts. Kids went back in person after adults had vaccine.

I must admit that I'm fascinated by this point of view, which seems to be held by a rather vocal minority of the population. No matter how much evidence there is of increased depression and suicide attempts, learning loss, declining test scores, increased violence in schools, worsening gaps in minority achievement, declining enrollment, etc., there are many who will say that none of this matters. Teaching kids during the pandemic was impossible, I guess, except for all the places that were able to do it.

Yes, the pandemic sucked. We know.

Does suck. I got a COVID close contact yesterday for one of my kids. I know so many people who've gotten it this spring, not to mention in December. Cases now are higher than at any point (really) during the last school year, and yet no one is arguing to close schools again? Why is that? HINT: it's because closing schools was a disaster.

HINT: Its because millions of entitled parents threw a massive temper tantrum and those in charge want their VOTES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For kids who think public school is horrible this year. I promise (from a teacher perspective at least) private school is also horrible. I have a number of friends that teach at private school and they are miserable this year (2 of them are leaving teaching all together at the end of the year). It is not like private school kids magically know how to behave better than public school kids. And it is not like private school teachers get amazing support from Admin just because they are private. This year has been a lot.

But doesn't this relate to whether schools were open or closed last year? We switched to Catholic which was open close to normal last year, and my kids are having a great school year this year. I'm so glad we didn't send them back into APS, which I think is going to take many, many, many years to recover from having been closed for so long last year. Arlington did so much harm to kids in the way it handled COVID, and we are going to be seeing that for a very long time. And APS still won't admit that it made a huge mistake in how it handled things, worst in the region, I believe, and our region overall was among the worst in the nation.

The APS response to a deadly global pandemic was reasonable and similar to many other school districts. Kids went back in person after adults had vaccine.

Have you read or seen any of the studies coming out about how kids fared in the districts that stayed closed longest vs. those who opened again sooner? Many schools in other parts of the US were similar last year to what Catholic schools here did locally, which was to open with as much spacing as possible and to require masks. Those kids, overall, did better in every aspect -- academically, socially, emotionally -- vs. the kids in APS. APS' test scores last year plummeted across the board, and it's seen a marked increase in discipline and emotional issues. Local pediatricians have been discussing the mental health crisis here as well, which is very real, and very concerning.

APS' response was only reasonable to those with an inside the beltway mentality who did not know or understand that most of the rest of America managed to open up and do much better. Our approach maybe made sense in August when everyone was worried open schools were going to be a disaster. But by October, it was clear that most of the country that opened was doing just fine. And when APS did "open" it was only a limited basis, and far later than most other places. So no, our response was neither reasonable nor similar to how things were done elsewhere.

I have a kid in private and a kid in public. The kid in private was in person all last year.

Both schools are full of kids who are struggling. It's not because APS stayed virtual.

I mean, there is actual research people. Here's a summary from the NYT:

"The researchers broke the students into different groups based on how much time they had spent attending in-person school during 2020-21 — the academic year with the most variation in whether schools were open. On average, students who attended in-person school for nearly all of 2020-21 lost about 20 percent worth of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window.

Some of those losses stemmed from the time the students had spent learning remotely during the spring of 2020, when school buildings were almost universally closed. And some of the losses stemmed from the difficulties of in-person schooling during the pandemic, as families coped with disruption and illness.

But students who stayed home for most of 2020-21 fared much worse. On average, they lost the equivalent of about 50 percent of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window."

So yes, there are many kids struggling this year. But kids in districts that stayed closed longer (like APS) are struggling more.

APS went back in person around the same time as MANY other schools.

Do you not know any other parents outside the DMV? Schools in the mountain west and south were open basically all of last year, and those kids did MUCH better. And BS to the person who said correlation not causation. Online learning is no substitute for in-person instruction. That's overwhelmingly clear. And our kids suffered as a result.

Yes, and I know kids who went back later than our kids.

Sorry, you can't attribute all bad outcomes from the pandemic to online learning.

I'm not trying to! But again, 20% loss on average last year, but 50% loss for those whose schools were closed the longest. So it sucked everywhere, but it sucked SO MUCH WORSE in the places that were closed the longest. And that's us, people.

But there are likely other factors at play for those places that had the greatest “learning loss”.

Higher density areas, more illness/death, lower income, more job loss, more transient, more kids at risk, etc.

Aside from the covid deniers, most schools brought kids back around the same time - after vaccines & winter surge. A few weeks earlier or later wouldn’t likely affect outcomes that much.

Correlation, not causation.

You closed schoolers are still justify your awful position and the horrible results of it. It's really pathetic at this point.

You people who won't admit that school isn't a building during a pandemic and schools weren't "closed" and still scream endlessly about "WAAAH DL!!!" in May 2022 are really pathetic at this point.