Tuckahoe by the numbers - how can it stay a neighborhood school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If a school has a capacity of 545 but only has 350-400 students enrolled, does APS still provide all of the same specials and support? Are there any benefits that come from being over capacity?

Do you mean like the 0.5 math coach PER SCHOOL or the 1.0 GT teacher PER SCHOOL that are allocated using the current APS planning factor guidelines? No, there are no "benefits" to being over capacity. But there are a ton of benefits to remaining under capacity. One of the Tuckahoe PTA moms is the president of the CCPTA this year- do you think she doesn't know how this game is played? Pleeeze....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a school has a capacity of 545 but only has 350-400 students enrolled, does APS still provide all of the same specials and support? Are there any benefits that come from being over capacity?

Do you mean like the 0.5 math coach PER SCHOOL or the 1.0 GT teacher PER SCHOOL that are allocated using the current APS planning factor guidelines? No, there are no "benefits" to being over capacity. But there are a ton of benefits to remaining under capacity. One of the Tuckahoe PTA moms is the president of the CCPTA this year- do you think she doesn't know how this game is played? Pleeeze....

Certain things are at a per school level, no matter how big the school is. Others like counselors are provided on a per child basis, so it isn’t an advantage to be a bigger school, you are just getting the additional staff to keep the ratio the same. Obviously the lack of space for playgrounds, fields, lunch and so on is always a negative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a school has a capacity of 545 but only has 350-400 students enrolled, does APS still provide all of the same specials and support? Are there any benefits that come from being over capacity?

Do you mean like the 0.5 math coach PER SCHOOL or the 1.0 GT teacher PER SCHOOL that are allocated using the current APS planning factor guidelines? No, there are no "benefits" to being over capacity. But there are a ton of benefits to remaining under capacity. One of the Tuckahoe PTA moms is the president of the CCPTA this year- do you think she doesn't know how this game is played? Pleeeze....

That is crazy so a school with 800+ has those same resource teachers as a school with only 350.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a school has a capacity of 545 but only has 350-400 students enrolled, does APS still provide all of the same specials and support? Are there any benefits that come from being over capacity?

Do you mean like the 0.5 math coach PER SCHOOL or the 1.0 GT teacher PER SCHOOL that are allocated using the current APS planning factor guidelines? No, there are no "benefits" to being over capacity. But there are a ton of benefits to remaining under capacity. One of the Tuckahoe PTA moms is the president of the CCPTA this year- do you think she doesn't know how this game is played? Pleeeze....

Wow - so Tuckahoe has chosen the Nuclear option. Burn down everything around them instead of doing the right thing for the larger student community and becoming an option school. Just think of the overcrowding relief Tuckahoe could bring to many schools. Thanks Tuckahoe....this helps explain the letter to the school board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Wow - so Tuckahoe has chosen the Nuclear option. Burn down everything around them instead of doing the right thing for the larger student community and becoming an option school. Just think of the overcrowding relief Tuckahoe could bring to many schools. Thanks Tuckahoe....this helps explain the letter to the school board.

And they are doing it before the process even plays out, which in itself speaks volumes. They know that there is the real possibility for there to be far too much excess capacity there and are hoping that a lot of kicking and screaming will obfuscate that reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Wow - so Tuckahoe has chosen the Nuclear option. Burn down everything around them instead of doing the right thing for the larger student community and becoming an option school. Just think of the overcrowding relief Tuckahoe could bring to many schools. Thanks Tuckahoe....this helps explain the letter to the school board.

And they are doing it before the process even plays out, which in itself speaks volumes. They know that there is the real possibility for there to be far too much excess capacity there and are hoping that a lot of kicking and screaming will obfuscate that reality.

It only highlights that reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:White snowflakes to their battle stations.

My sides are hurting...

You don't even understand how much overcrowding we have had in NW Arlington Elementary Schools. It is our turn to have breathing room for a few years while they build housing on Lee Highway and EFC. It is okay for Tuckahoe, Nottingham. McKinley and Reed to be under-enrolled for 5-10 years. These kids have been through so much and just look what will happen once they go to middle school. Swanson is like a Zoo. Don't send kids from across the county here it just wouldn't be fair to Tuckahoe.

OMG, really? So the kids who have endured the overcrowding have earned the right for the next ones behind them in the coming 5-10 years to be under-enrolled? What about the kids in crowded schools elsewhere in the County? You want relief from crowding, transfer to less crowded schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:White snowflakes to their battle stations.

My sides are hurting...

You don't even understand how much overcrowding we have had in NW Arlington Elementary Schools. It is our turn to have breathing room for a few years while they build housing on Lee Highway and EFC. It is okay for Tuckahoe, Nottingham. McKinley and Reed to be under-enrolled for 5-10 years. These kids have been through so much and just look what will happen once they go to middle school. Swanson is like a Zoo. Don't send kids from across the county here it just wouldn't be fair to Tuckahoe.

OMG, really? So the kids who have endured the overcrowding have earned the right for the next ones behind them in the coming 5-10 years to be under-enrolled? What about the kids in crowded schools elsewhere in the County? You want relief from crowding, transfer to less crowded schools.

Yeah, this is the same sh!t that Nottingham boosters pulled a few years ago, and it’s unacceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:White snowflakes to their battle stations.

My sides are hurting...

You don't even understand how much overcrowding we have had in NW Arlington Elementary Schools. It is our turn to have breathing room for a few years while they build housing on Lee Highway and EFC. It is okay for Tuckahoe, Nottingham. McKinley and Reed to be under-enrolled for 5-10 years. These kids have been through so much and just look what will happen once they go to middle school. Swanson is like a Zoo. Don't send kids from across the county here it just wouldn't be fair to Tuckahoe.

OMG, really? So the kids who have endured the overcrowding have earned the right for the next ones behind them in the coming 5-10 years to be under-enrolled? What about the kids in crowded schools elsewhere in the County? You want relief from crowding, transfer to less crowded schools.

I pointed out a few hours ago that the kids who experienced the Tuckahoe overcrowding won't even be there by the time this happens since Reed doesn't open until 2021. Most of those kids are headed to Williamsburg which is on track to itself be underenrolled in another year. Really, Tuckahoe kids from 2016 on forward have had it pretty good, or at least no worse than kids from any other elementary school ending up at crowded middle schools. Smoke and mirrors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My favorite part of the letter is how they talk about developments completed in 2005, 2006, and 2010 as having an effect on the future. Seriously? I live in the Key zone. Do you know how long a list of new developments since 2005 would be?

Yeah, I actually laughed at that.

The argument has been - quite strongly - that enrollment growth is coming from SFHs and not multi-family housing. I suppose the Tuckahoe people will now suddenly come on board to argue that the multi-family housing produces more kids than SFHs. Arlingtonians are masters at picking and choosing the pieces they need to support whatever goal they have at any given time, denying their hypocrisy.

Exemplary projects for the most part can go; or they can leave it in place as the program for the countywide choice school. Really, if it's so "extraordinary" and unique, it should qualify as a choice program. Problem solved.

But, yes, by all means we should absolutely make boundary decisions for the next 5-10 years based on development that might happen in 15-20. That's certainly fair to the rest of the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My favorite part of the letter is how they talk about developments completed in 2005, 2006, and 2010 as having an effect on the future. Seriously? I live in the Key zone. Do you know how long a list of new developments since 2005 would be?

Yeah, I actually laughed at that.

The argument has been - quite strongly - that enrollment growth is coming from SFHs and not multi-family housing. I suppose the Tuckahoe people will now suddenly come on board to argue that the multi-family housing produces more kids than SFHs. Arlingtonians are masters at picking and choosing the pieces they need to support whatever goal they have at any given time, denying their hypocrisy.

Exemplary projects for the most part can go; or they can leave it in place as the program for the countywide choice school. Really, if it's so "extraordinary" and unique, it should qualify as a choice program. Problem solved.

But, yes, by all means we should absolutely make boundary decisions for the next 5-10 years based on development that might happen in 15-20. That's certainly fair to the rest of the schools.

+1 Sounds like it could be a great place to put a second Campbell-style school. That model would have been great for my DD but wasn't an option for us when she started school because of the location preference.

[Anonymous]

Well, well......Arlington County sold you out. Nothing new is coming down the pike.

"We are not currently reviewing any other development applications in East Falls Church,” I’m told by county planning staffer Jessica Margarit. But that plan and policy guidance are “still valid,” and its component of creating a western entrance to the Metro remains in the capital improvement plan."

https://fcnp.com/2018/02/28/our-man-in-arlington-261/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
You don't even understand how much overcrowding we have had in NW Arlington Elementary Schools. It is our turn to have breathing room for a few years while they build housing on Lee Highway and EFC. It is okay for Tuckahoe, Nottingham. McKinley and Reed to be under-enrolled for 5-10 years. These kids have been through so much and just look what will happen once they go to middle school. Swanson is like a Zoo. Don't send kids from across the county here it just wouldn't be fair to Tuckahoe.

Proposed bumper sticker: TUCKAHOE SUFFERS

[Anonymous]

My favorite part of the letter is that the "schoolyard...would be jeopardized." Seriously? It's still going to be a school, not a bank. And if that's among their best arguments, I really hope it loses its neighborhood status.
Signed,
Former Tuckahoe parent now at McKinley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You don't even understand how much overcrowding we have had in NW Arlington Elementary Schools. It is our turn to have breathing room for a few years while they build housing on Lee Highway and EFC. It is okay for Tuckahoe, Nottingham. McKinley and Reed to be under-enrolled for 5-10 years. These kids have been through so much and just look what will happen once they go to middle school. Swanson is like a Zoo. Don't send kids from across the county here it just wouldn't be fair to Tuckahoe.

Proposed bumper sticker: TUCKAHOE SUFFERS

Exactly! And cry me a river about Swanson! Those jerks refused to go to Williamsburg, which is why that school will now be under-enrolled.