APS Free and Reduced Meals - New Report
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Anonymous
When the boundaries were drawn, a small number of students form Glebe would have remained at Williamsburg. The neighborhoods actually pushed back b/c they didn't want to be left there and were sent to Swanson (which made Swanson still overcrowded). Had the SB considered keeping more Glebe at WMS so it wasn't just a small amount, it would have been different. |
Anonymous
The admissions policy doesn't actually do anything to ensure students of that "certain learning style" - whatever that is - are actually accepted and enrolled. So if it doesn't even strive to serve the students it was designed for, there's no reason it can't do more to enroll more socioeconomically diverse students. Yes, the policy does attempt to spread out enrollment across the system by allotting certain # of seats from each elementary school. But there isn't any element of the system for directing students who would most benefit academically from the program and, as you say, it's self-selection into the lottery. Lower income students from certain parts of the county are unlikely to accept a seat even if selected. Look at Carlin Springs -- they typically have sent zero students. |
Anonymous
+1 Yep! |
Anonymous
Previous comment from above: "Its program is designed for students with a certain learning style..." |
Anonymous
Montessori does with its instructional-philosophy required assistants in every room. Immersion not so technically as you are suggesting; but it takes more financial resources to provide transportation from across the county and requires qualified bilingual teachers. I assume it also requires acquiring educational materials in both languages, which other schools don't require. I really appreciate your parenting each of your children according to their needs rather than claiming seats for children for whom the program is ill-suited. I wish more parents would do that. However, that seems to be more common regarding immersion because the academic impacts are more obvious. HBW, on the other hand, doesn't have the same negative academic impacts and is more about environment; and many are willing and able to keep with the environment even if they would be equally served and successful academically at their neighborhood school. |
Anonymous
I'd support that. But the middle school students still have to go somewhere and we have over-crowded middle schools. APS needs to do better with MS boundaries. |
Anonymous
That was by using race. Economic status is the alternative means of trying to address diversity. There is nothing illegal about using socioeconomic status - YET.. |
Anonymous
DP. I don't know the stats from the 80s and 90s; but I instinctively agree. Obviously, south Arlington has always been higher FRL and north arlington has been low FRL. That's evident in everyone's urgency to find a home in north arlington "for the schools." However, the specific point of this specific thread is also rightly noteworthy when looking at Drew and Barcroft in particular. Barcroft has been in the low 60% for several years and is now almost 75%!! It is also interesting that Carlin Springs dropped! It used to be over 80%. I'm sure people's economic situations have shifted during COVID, which could account for an increase. But I'm curious what caused the drop at Carlin Springs. Have more low-income families there opted for Campbell ? or? |
Anonymous
PP here to add that Randolph also was closer to 80% and has dropped. Campbell used to be in the 50%s and has dropped. But Barcroft has increased, though if I recall correctly, enrollment - at least at Barcroft - is also down. So maybe the part of the student body that has changed/moved is the non-FRL families. |
Anonymous
| We really do need to abolish the choice schools, and make real ones about learning style if at all. Need applied learning? Add that to all schools. Need the double literacy that ATS offers, do that too. Need bilingual education, well, that one I don't have a good solution to; might need to keep them but NO Free Summer School for just them. WHat's HB's learning style? Make that a 70 person section in each school and we wouldn't need an HB and the urban center could have their own walk-to-it high school. |
Anonymous
| With regard to which schools get more resources, a few things to consider. The cost per student is on each page of the full budget (the 200 pg one). However, it's misleading. If a school has MIPA, that might skew the numbers. If they are high poverty, there might be federal dollars augmenting Arlington dollars. If they have a VPI, again, numbers skewed, that's state money. |
Anonymous
OK, for the record, I'm 22204 and my kids went to Barcroft. Yes, they had a mostly solidly good experience with some outstanding teachers and a few lousy ones. Less great experiences as the administration changed. Nevertheless, I know for a fact that their experience was significantly different than that of their friends in low-FRL/low-ELL north Arlington schools where classes were faster-paced, there were more and more varied enrichment and field trip experiences and opportunities, and PTAs had more resources to enhance the whole experience. The fact that our south Arlington experience was still solid and good does not make it "right" or, imo, "OK" for such disparities within a system in a county so small and wealthy as Arlington. ALL students in Arlington should have the positive benefits of a diverse school environment because it's possible to provide that when we have such diversity. Very few schools actually offer a really diverse environment, as most are either very low FRL and ELL or very high FRL and ELL. Neither extreme is actually "diverse." |
Anonymous
| I don’t understand all the HB hatred. It’s not better than the neighborhood high schools. I’ve had kids attend both. I also know parents who pulled their kids out of HB and sent them to the neighborhood schools because they decided those schools were better. |
Anonymous
I generally agree with your direction. I believe all of our schools should be able to serve all of our populations, or from another perspective, a student should be able to transfer from any school to another and still have their needs met (such as a low-income ELL who moves from the Carlin Springs district to Cardinal, for example). I do think there is need for very specific programs such as MIPA or hard of hearing, etc. that are better served as a program in specific location(s) mainly because of #s and the specific resources needed. The HB program is not one that would easily, or effectively, be duplicated in little sub-groups within a school. That would just be creating a school within a school. If that program actually served the type of student learners it was intended to serve, it would be fine to retain it as a separate program in its own location. I also agree that summer school shouldn't be free just on the basis of being an immersion student, theoretically. But the main purpose of making it free is to facilitate the low-income Spanish-speakers who would benefit from summer school. If that works, then keep encouraging them with free summer school. But it should be need-based. Families able to pay should pay for whatever summer school services they need/opt for. |
Anonymous
Hmm, does this potentially indicate that more people have their kids in private schools in elementary over the past few years than in middle? (Feeder elementaries ALL have higher rates than the WMS average). Or are the FARMS families on the "borders" and go to Swanson/Hamm? |