APS new middle school boundary options posted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But ATS is for elementary aged kids, who do need more green space and room to run around so Wilson isn't as good a fit for it as it would be for H-B.

a soccer field is not enough open space? but as i said, just don't apply if it has not enough anything to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: This really needs to be mapped out and other successful urban schools need to be consulted.

But there is a very vocal contingent of Arlington parents who don't want to acknowledge that Arlington is increasing urban and future schools aren't going to look like "the single-story buildings surrounded by tons of field space" that many (most?) of us grew up with.

This I don't get AT ALL! Lyon Village resident here (with friends in Ashton Heights, Lyon Park, Clarendon/Colonial Village, Courthouse, Rosslyn). Our kids live in an urban environment. They bike, scooter, run and walk all over this area. They cross Clarendon and Wilson with us on a daily basis. We walk to dinner or Pinkberry several times a week. We walk to our gym, the grocery stores, etc. We walk to the brand new, beautiful Rocky Run Park (surrounded by tall buildings--the horror).

You would think APS was asking to ship these kids off to the middle of Anacostia. Rosslyn is not exactly 'cut-throat' urban. Further, these streets are designed for walkers/pedestrians. There are lighted cross-walks, lights at cross-sections. Some of the other walk zones in more suburban areas are much more dangerous.

I would love a brand-new cutting edge school. Further--there is going to be a soccer field and b-ball courts on the roof. Did you play on a playground in middle school??? I certainly didn't. We played sports on a field--and it was limited. All travel teams play on turf. What is wrong with a turf field as green space?? At least it won't be covered under a tarp for 75% of the school year like my kid's grass elementary school field.

My kids only have a blacktop and some small playground area with some wood chips from mid-November to April.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson might have been a good fit for H-B and Stratford if APS had gotten its act together and done something about capacity issues 10 years ago. Now the programs are in a building that can't house enough students to fix the problem even if the current occupants were evicted. So where do you move H-B and Stratford students while you tear down the building on Vacation Lane and rebuild, even assuming that's the best place for it?

There weren't any capacity issues 10 years ago. Total enrollment in APS dropped every year between 2002 and 2006. They never would have gotten the support to add capacity 10 years ago--too many existing schools need renovation. Growth has outstripped their best projections, anyhow--in 2007, they projected five years out and estimated that there would be 19,000 students in 2012 and elementary capacity would still be under 100% in aggregate, although certain schools would be overcrowded. Actual enrollment was over 21,000 and more than half the schools were very overcrowded.

And most likely the bump in 2007 was related to the housing market crash; suddenly a *lot* of young people who had bought starter condo homes were *stuck* in Arlington (rather than moving out to the suburban Fairfax as had happened the decades before).

Now raising their kids in an urban area has proven to be quite pleasant, and realizing how important the short commute it vs larger house, young parents have put down roots and decided to stay.

However, it is unclear if the next generation of young parents will make the same decisions; they will not be forced to spend early years of childhood in underwater condos; they will have options to move out to the further 'burbs and get that green space and yard and all that. This might be a demographic bubble in the student population, not necessarily a growing trend. Hard to say. Yes urban walkable living is more popular now, but people think KIDS == HOUSE, and compromising on some tiny Arlington brick box or condo or th is not the first thing that comes to people's minds. They think of that nice 0.25 acres in Vienna or Oakton or Burke, and think "what's another 15 minutes added to my commute". They have options and they may take it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson might have been a good fit for H-B and Stratford if APS had gotten its act together and done something about capacity issues 10 years ago. Now the programs are in a building that can't house enough students to fix the problem even if the current occupants were evicted. So where do you move H-B and Stratford students while you tear down the building on Vacation Lane and rebuild, even assuming that's the best place for it?

There weren't any capacity issues 10 years ago. Total enrollment in APS dropped every year between 2002 and 2006. They never would have gotten the support to add capacity 10 years ago--too many existing schools need renovation. Growth has outstripped their best projections, anyhow--in 2007, they projected five years out and estimated that there would be 19,000 students in 2012 and elementary capacity would still be under 100% in aggregate, although certain schools would be overcrowded. Actual enrollment was over 21,000 and more than half the schools were very overcrowded.

And most likely the bump in 2007 was related to the housing market crash; suddenly a *lot* of young people who had bought starter condo homes were *stuck* in Arlington (rather than moving out to the suburban Fairfax as had happened the decades before).

Now raising their kids in an urban area has proven to be quite pleasant, and realizing how important the short commute it vs larger house, young parents have put down roots and decided to stay.

However, it is unclear if the next generation of young parents will make the same decisions; they will not be forced to spend early years of childhood in underwater condos; they will have options to move out to the further 'burbs and get that green space and yard and all that. This might be a demographic bubble in the student population, not necessarily a growing trend. Hard to say. Yes urban walkable living is more popular now, but people think KIDS == HOUSE, and compromising on some tiny Arlington brick box or condo or th is not the first thing that comes to people's minds. They think of that nice 0.25 acres in Vienna or Oakton or Burke, and think "what's another 15 minutes added to my commute". They have options and they may take it?

Not at all. Most people I knew left DC in 2005-2010 for public school. Almost everyone on the streets around moved in over the last 5-8 years. We came from NW in 2009.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson might have been a good fit for H-B and Stratford if APS had gotten its act together and done something about capacity issues 10 years ago. Now the programs are in a building that can't house enough students to fix the problem even if the current occupants were evicted. So where do you move H-B and Stratford students while you tear down the building on Vacation Lane and rebuild, even assuming that's the best place for it?

There weren't any capacity issues 10 years ago. Total enrollment in APS dropped every year between 2002 and 2006. They never would have gotten the support to add capacity 10 years ago--too many existing schools need renovation. Growth has outstripped their best projections, anyhow--in 2007, they projected five years out and estimated that there would be 19,000 students in 2012 and elementary capacity would still be under 100% in aggregate, although certain schools would be overcrowded. Actual enrollment was over 21,000 and more than half the schools were very overcrowded.

And most likely the bump in 2007 was related to the housing market crash; suddenly a *lot* of young people who had bought starter condo homes were *stuck* in Arlington (rather than moving out to the suburban Fairfax as had happened the decades before).

Now raising their kids in an urban area has proven to be quite pleasant, and realizing how important the short commute it vs larger house, young parents have put down roots and decided to stay.

However, it is unclear if the next generation of young parents will make the same decisions; they will not be forced to spend early years of childhood in underwater condos; they will have options to move out to the further 'burbs and get that green space and yard and all that. This might be a demographic bubble in the student population, not necessarily a growing trend. Hard to say. Yes urban walkable living is more popular now, but people think KIDS == HOUSE, and compromising on some tiny Arlington brick box or condo or th is not the first thing that comes to people's minds. They think of that nice 0.25 acres in Vienna or Oakton or Burke, and think "what's another 15 minutes added to my commute". They have options and they may take it?

Not at all. Most people I knew left DC in 2005-2010 for public school. Almost everyone on the streets around moved in over the last 5-8 years. We came from NW in 2009.

Yep. We moved with our two kids to our arlington brick box in 2008.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Not at all. Most people I knew left DC in 2005-2010 for public school. Almost everyone on the streets around moved in over the last 5-8 years. We came from NW in 2009.

Yep. We moved with our two kids to our arlington brick box in 2008.

I love my brick box.

[Anonymous]

The notion that people stay in Arlington because they can't afford Vienna seems a little off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The notion that people stay in Arlington because they can't afford Vienna seems a little off.

Yeah - that made me LOL. Both areas are relatively expensive and I think it's not really about the money, but more about the lifestyle/commute preferences. But if you want to make it about money, your dollar goes a lot further out in Vienna.

[Anonymous]

I think Arlington vs. Vienna is a very conscious choice. At least it's the conscious choice I and a lot of my friends made. My first home was in Merrifield and I considered Vienna (along with Burke and the Woodson boundary) when looking for my second home. My money could have bought more there, but because I like working in DC and hate commuting, I bought in Arlington instead.

Nothing wrong with Vienna. (or Mosaic District, or Pimmit Hills, or McLean.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Not at all. Most people I knew left DC in 2005-2010 for public school. Almost everyone on the streets around moved in over the last 5-8 years. We came from NW in 2009.

Yep. We moved with our two kids to our arlington brick box in 2008.

I love my brick box.

Me too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Arlington vs. Vienna is a very conscious choice. At least it's the conscious choice I and a lot of my friends made. My first home was in Merrifield and I considered Vienna (along with Burke and the Woodson boundary) when looking for my second home. My money could have bought more there, but because I like working in DC and hate commuting, I bought in Arlington instead.

Nothing wrong with Vienna. (or Mosaic District, or Pimmit Hills, or McLean.)

Some people buy bigger and/or newer homes. Others want a shorter commute. Nothing wrong with Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Arlington vs. Vienna is a very conscious choice. At least it's the conscious choice I and a lot of my friends made. My first home was in Merrifield and I considered Vienna (along with Burke and the Woodson boundary) when looking for my second home. My money could have bought more there, but because I like working in DC and hate commuting, I bought in Arlington instead.

Nothing wrong with Vienna. (or Mosaic District, or Pimmit Hills, or McLean.)

+1. We could have had more house in Vienna.

[Anonymous]

A turf field on the roof? Turf is very, very hot and unpleasant during fall and late spring. It "exhales" noxious fumes. Give me grass and dirt any day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A turf field on the roof? Turf is very, very hot and unpleasant during fall and late spring. It "exhales" noxious fumes. Give me grass and dirt any day.

It's middle school. How much time do you think the kids are going to spend on any field, turf OR grass?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A turf field on the roof? Turf is very, very hot and unpleasant during fall and late spring. It "exhales" noxious fumes. Give me grass and dirt any day.

It's middle school. How much time do you think the kids are going to spend on any field, turf OR grass?

In most places, PE is compulsory in middle school and there are after school intramurals.