the Key/ASFS building switch...

[Anonymous]

also- for those who say that 'everyone' should want two way immersion- unless your a racist. Despite Dr. Myers research to the contrary- the scores for students with disabilities at Key appear to be dramatically lower than those for students with disabilities in the rest of the county.
http://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/francis-scott-key-elementary#fndtn-desktopTabs-assessments

It's hard for me to not take this a little personally, having watched my child struggle and struggle in immersion due to her (spanish) teachers refusal to 'believe' in learning differences or the need for accomodations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, he put his foot down on our Hispanic community.

There are 40 walkers to key. Period. Only 10 of those are Hispanic. Everyone else is bussed and would have a 0.5 mile longer bus ride

This. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. There will be TEN Hispanic kids who won't be able to walk to an immersion school because of this decision. They will instead have to ride a bus. Those who can't walk now will have to ride .5 mile further to continue in Immersion, or can opt to attend their (closer) neighborhood school instead. And this move puts Immersion slightly closer to Buckingham. If you were concerned that the Hispanic community is losing access to Immersion, then you should be arguing to move the program closer to Buckingham, because they don't live in Clarendon or Rosslyn any more.

[Anonymous]

It’s refreshing to learn that you know where all of “them” live and what “they” want. Just because you don’t see Hispanics in your apartment building doesn’t mean that they don’t live in your neighborhood or very close by. It’s just not true to say Hispanics don’t live in Rosslyn. Also, much of this discussion ignores the diversity within the Hispanic community, like any other community.

[Anonymous]

And the numbers for walkability are bogus. Remember that survey where you basically self-selected what your transportation was? I’m sure no one who wanted to be a walker, despite never actually doing it, called themselves a walker, right?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, he put his foot down on our Hispanic community.

Why aren’t you advocating for a move to Carlin Springs? That would truly help the Hispanic community.

Smoke screen idea for rich N Arl whites, bro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, he put his foot down on our Hispanic community.

Why aren’t you advocating for a move to Carlin Springs? That would truly help the Hispanic community.

Smoke screen idea for rich N Arl whites, bro.

How does staying at Key help the Hispanic community more than another location closer to native speakers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious if anyone read the memo from Lisa Stengle to the School Board dated Aug 13th seeking the board approval for this switch and laying out the rationale, as well as answers to school board questions.
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/08-13-18-FLA-SB-Input-on-ESB-Proposal.pdf
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/08-13-18-FLA-SB-Input-on-ESB-Proposal.pdf
If found it fascinating. A few takeaways;
1. Even though there was no formal school board vote on this- it appears this is being done with their approval.
2. The number of spanish speaking walkers currently attending Key is incredibly small- there are 40 walkers to Key, of which 13 are hispanic (not necessarily spanish dominant- but hispanic.)
3. The staff is partially motivated by diversity considerations- if they draw a walkzone around ASFS, it will be almost all non-FARMS, and will have to kick out the far eastern planning units which are FARMS dominant- either busing them past Key and ASFS to Taylor or Long Branch.

You seem to have confused drawing a boundary with drawing a walk zone - a boundary includes much more than a walk zone and you absolutely have diversity to draw upon for that boundary in the Ballston and VA Sq area even though people don’t want to hear that. This was not factored in and comparative analysis was never done between the swap and actually drawing a boundary

Read the analysis in the memo op linked. They looked at the asfs walk zone, but then also at the contiguous planning units that would likely have moved from Ashlawn and Taylor. That would have included the kids from ballston/va square currently going to Ashlawn. The farms rate was 0-6% versus the far eastern parts of Rosslyn. They have numbers in there to back this up. The farms rate of asfs where it is with a logical boundary is incredibly low (I think they said 6% and does not include north of 85% of the existing student population. The farms rate of asfs and key swapping is 23% and 40% respectively and allows for everyone at the school to continue to attend.
I’m not sure why we keep having the same arguments over and over on this board. It looks like aps made a rational decision given their available constraints. We beat them up about not making smart decisions, then when they try to make one, we swarm and beat them up about it being too much change. No solution is perfect. This at least provides more neighborhood seats.

Look at the expanded walk zone for Key. Do you really think that those planning units are not going to be included when the boundaries are redrawn in 2020. There are 100+ children in Key's expanded walk zone. Which planning units do you think get re-zoned? My guess is that it will be those farthest from the school that are already on buses. The real fun will begin once Rosslyn realizes after all of this, they are still getting re-zoned.

[Anonymous]

Enough room to fit the students. A metro station. Multiple bus lines. The most expensive piece of real estate that any Arlington elementary school sits on. It was a neighborhood school for 20+ years until some chess masters realized the principal was retiring, boundaries were being redrawn, and option schools could be moved.

[Anonymous]

APS needs to look at what the best locations for the option programs should be. The problem is that they tried that, but the staff shot themselves in the foot with sloppy data, the School Board was afraid to make hard decisions, Dr. Murphy was useless, and the public only cared about what was best for them not what was best for the system. So instead they are doing a piecemeal approach that just kicks the can down the road. There is no strategy, it is just jumping from fire to fire trying to put them out instead of having a master plan. It's the new "Arlington way".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS needs to look at what the best locations for the option programs should be. The problem is that they tried that, but the staff shot themselves in the foot with sloppy data, the School Board was afraid to make hard decisions, Dr. Murphy was useless, and the public only cared about what was best for them not what was best for the system. So instead they are doing a piecemeal approach that just kicks the can down the road. There is no strategy, it is just jumping from fire to fire trying to put them out instead of having a master plan. It's the new "Arlington way".

It’s the same Arlington way. The Arlington way hasn’t changed. Arlingtonians have changed. There are too many people. It’s not changing, it’s getting worse. Arlington can’t adequately serve these numbers. We certainly can’t so that AND import/ subsidize poverty. Somethings gotta give.
Shift schedules for all grades 2033!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, he put his foot down on our Hispanic community.

Why aren’t you advocating for a move to Carlin Springs? That would truly help the Hispanic community.

Smoke screen idea for rich N Arl whites, bro.

How does staying at Key help the Hispanic community more than another location closer to native speakers?

ASFS is closer to native speakers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, he put his foot down on our Hispanic community.

Why aren’t you advocating for a move to Carlin Springs? That would truly help the Hispanic community.

Smoke screen idea for rich N Arl whites, bro.

How does staying at Key help the Hispanic community more than another location closer to native speakers?

ASFS is closer to native speakers?

Let’s say it is via Buckingham. Is that better/worse for the Hispanic community than the Key location?

Or if it isn’t, why not move immersion closer to native speakers? Is that the best thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, he put his foot down on our Hispanic community.

There are 40 walkers to key. Period. Only 10 of those are Hispanic. Everyone else is bussed and would have a 0.5 mile longer bus ride

This. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. There will be TEN Hispanic kids who won't be able to walk to an immersion school because of this decision. They will instead have to ride a bus. Those who can't walk now will have to ride .5 mile further to continue in Immersion, or can opt to attend their (closer) neighborhood school instead. And this move puts Immersion slightly closer to Buckingham. If you were concerned that the Hispanic community is losing access to Immersion, then you should be arguing to move the program closer to Buckingham, because they don't live in Clarendon or Rosslyn any more.

We are a walker family to Key and 40 sounds way too low. We sure see a lot more then that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, he put his foot down on our Hispanic community.

Why aren’t you advocating for a move to Carlin Springs? That would truly help the Hispanic community.

Smoke screen idea for rich N Arl whites, bro.

How does staying at Key help the Hispanic community more than another location closer to native speakers?

ASFS is closer to native speakers?

Let’s say it is via Buckingham. Is that better/worse for the Hispanic community than the Key location?

Or if it isn’t, why not move immersion closer to native speakers? Is that the best thing?

Do none of you know anything about immersion? It is not supposed to be all native speakers. Ideally, it should be half and half.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s refreshing to learn that you know where all of “them” live and what “they” want. Just because you don’t see Hispanics in your apartment building doesn’t mean that they don’t live in your neighborhood or very close by. It’s just not true to say Hispanics don’t live in Rosslyn. Also, much of this discussion ignores the diversity within the Hispanic community, like any other community.

Do you live in Courthouse/Clarendon/Rosslyn? Most of the ell kids are Mongolian.
Aps showed this with census data. There was one pocket of spanish speakers near key. Woodbury Park. They ride a bus