Is APS really looking to close a N. Arlington elem school again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Close the option schools, use what actually works (everyone wants ATS, great, we all get ATS), and rezone to balance attendance. Done.

you are so far from reality or what parents actually want

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ATS wait list is long enough to justify a 2nd ATS school. Maybe some other option schools also have long enough waitlists.

they do!

Not even close

ATS has almost 500 kids on wait list and MPSA is next with around 150.

https://www.apsva.us/school-transfer-data/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ATS wait list is long enough to justify a 2nd ATS school. Maybe some other option schools also have long enough waitlists.

they do!

Not even close

ATS has almost 500 kids on wait list and MPSA is next with around 150.

https://www.apsva.us/school-transfer-data/

Agree with your overall assessment, but you appear to have included the VPI cohort in your ATS number but not the corresponding PreK in Montessori. There are 420 PreK waitlisted for Montessori across APS, 206 of whom are waiting at MPSA. The apples-to-apples for school buildings ATS and MPSA is actually 490 ATS and 363. As programs, all ATS v. Prek-K APS Montessori, it is 490 and 577. Both very strong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Close the option schools, use what actually works (everyone wants ATS, great, we all get ATS), and rezone to balance attendance. Done.

you are so far from reality or what parents actually want

I am an APS parent. South Arlington parents want “diversity” and a bigger house, but don’t actually want to send their kids to a neighborhood school where they might have to go to school with their neighbors’ kids. Wealthy parents want the private school experience if they can get it for free. Everyone’s looking for something special.

End the special. Make all schools equal and - this is important - equally good. Save the money on the busses, end the waitlists, toss the lottos. The school near your house is where you go (except for something like special ed where it actually makes sense to concentrate resources).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a post on facebook in the AEC group saying APS is looking at closing a North Arlington elementary school again (like they did with Nottingham a couple years back) in order to move MPSA there instead of the plan to move MPSA into the old career center building. Is this a real thing? Or is it just MPSA stirring things up?

There is zero political will to do anything drastic anymore. Not going to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Close the option schools, use what actually works (everyone wants ATS, great, we all get ATS), and rezone to balance attendance. Done.

you are so far from reality or what parents actually want

I am an APS parent. South Arlington parents want “diversity” and a bigger house, but don’t actually want to send their kids to a neighborhood school where they might have to go to school with their neighbors’ kids. Wealthy parents want the private school experience if they can get it for free. Everyone’s looking for something special.

End the special. Make all schools equal and - this is important - equally good. Save the money on the busses, end the waitlists, toss the lottos. The school near your house is where you go (except for something like special ed where it actually makes sense to concentrate resources).

Making them equally good is impossible. Not when parental GAF (not income, as ATS consistently demonstrates!) is such a huge part of the equation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Close the option schools, use what actually works (everyone wants ATS, great, we all get ATS), and rezone to balance attendance. Done.

you are so far from reality or what parents actually want

I am an APS parent. South Arlington parents want “diversity” and a bigger house, but don’t actually want to send their kids to a neighborhood school where they might have to go to school with their neighbors’ kids. Wealthy parents want the private school experience if they can get it for free. Everyone’s looking for something special.

End the special. Make all schools equal and - this is important - equally good. Save the money on the busses, end the waitlists, toss the lottos. The school near your house is where you go (except for something like special ed where it actually makes sense to concentrate resources).

The problem is that your neighbors don't want to go to the neighborhood school. The problem isn't with the option schools. End the neighborhood schools. Make all schools option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Close the option schools, use what actually works (everyone wants ATS, great, we all get ATS), and rezone to balance attendance. Done.

you are so far from reality or what parents actually want

I am an APS parent. South Arlington parents want “diversity” and a bigger house, but don’t actually want to send their kids to a neighborhood school where they might have to go to school with their neighbors’ kids. Wealthy parents want the private school experience if they can get it for free. Everyone’s looking for something special.

End the special. Make all schools equal and - this is important - equally good. Save the money on the busses, end the waitlists, toss the lottos. The school near your house is where you go (except for something like special ed where it actually makes sense to concentrate resources).

The problem is that your neighbors don't want to go to the neighborhood school. The problem isn't with the option schools. End the neighborhood schools. Make all schools option.

What’s the option for “I don’t care about my kids’ education”? How about we just park those kids in one spot, and the rest of us get to enjoy excellent schools with parents that care?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ATS wait list is long enough to justify a 2nd ATS school. Maybe some other option schools also have long enough waitlists.

they do!

Not even close

ATS has almost 500 kids on wait list and MPSA is next with around 150.

https://www.apsva.us/school-transfer-data/

Agree with your overall assessment, but you appear to have included the VPI cohort in your ATS number but not the corresponding PreK in Montessori. There are 420 PreK waitlisted for Montessori across APS, 206 of whom are waiting at MPSA. The apples-to-apples for school buildings ATS and MPSA is actually 490 ATS and 363. As programs, all ATS v. Prek-K APS Montessori, it is 490 and 577. Both very strong.

We should exclude prek for all programs; that is a financial incentive for subsidized childcare. K+ waitlist only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a post on facebook in the AEC group saying APS is looking at closing a North Arlington elementary school again (like they did with Nottingham a couple years back) in order to move MPSA there instead of the plan to move MPSA into the old career center building. Is this a real thing? Or is it just MPSA stirring things up?

There is zero political will to do anything drastic anymore. Not going to happen.

Political will? This is literally a topic of the next school board meeting. This is not rumor mill or wishful thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ATS wait list is long enough to justify a 2nd ATS school. Maybe some other option schools also have long enough waitlists.

they do!

Not even close

ATS has almost 500 kids on wait list and MPSA is next with around 150.

https://www.apsva.us/school-transfer-data/

further proof that MPSA should be closed or moved anywhere other than the center of the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ATS wait list is long enough to justify a 2nd ATS school. Maybe some other option schools also have long enough waitlists.

they do!

Not even close

ATS has almost 500 kids on wait list and MPSA is next with around 150.

https://www.apsva.us/school-transfer-data/

Agree with your overall assessment, but you appear to have included the VPI cohort in your ATS number but not the corresponding PreK in Montessori. There are 420 PreK waitlisted for Montessori across APS, 206 of whom are waiting at MPSA. The apples-to-apples for school buildings ATS and MPSA is actually 490 ATS and 363. As programs, all ATS v. Prek-K APS Montessori, it is 490 and 577. Both very strong.

We should exclude prek for all programs; that is a financial incentive for subsidized childcare. K+ waitlist only.

anybody can waitlist for free pre K via Montessori which is why the waitlist is so long. For VPI, you have to qualify. Nobody wants Montessori except for those of you who have it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ATS wait list is long enough to justify a 2nd ATS school. Maybe some other option schools also have long enough waitlists.

they do!

Not even close

ATS has almost 500 kids on wait list and MPSA is next with around 150.

https://www.apsva.us/school-transfer-data/

Agree with your overall assessment, but you appear to have included the VPI cohort in your ATS number but not the corresponding PreK in Montessori. There are 420 PreK waitlisted for Montessori across APS, 206 of whom are waiting at MPSA. The apples-to-apples for school buildings ATS and MPSA is actually 490 ATS and 363. As programs, all ATS v. Prek-K APS Montessori, it is 490 and 577. Both very strong.

That list is k-5. Not pre-k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a post on facebook in the AEC group saying APS is looking at closing a North Arlington elementary school again (like they did with Nottingham a couple years back) in order to move MPSA there instead of the plan to move MPSA into the old career center building. Is this a real thing? Or is it just MPSA stirring things up?

There are too many regular ES in North Arlington.

[Anonymous]

APS has 28,000 students, the vast majority of them in neighborhood schools. This is in contrast to the percentage of commenters in this blog that support options schools. It also seems strange that options school parents here never talk about transportation, an overwhelming cost and issue. Just a bit of reality check.