APS elementary planning initiative called off

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Arlington got rid of option schools, a lot of parents would leave certain neighborhoods. Sorry, but it is true. I live in SA in a neighborhood surrounded by title I schools. Most parents try for an option school. Many of them get in, or at least used to. If they don't, they leave. Schools has been one of the largest drivers of home sales and non-renewal of rental leases. In the 8 years I have lived here, it has been the primary driver and I know of over a dozen who made a decision to leave because of schools.

For families moving in, they already have their kids in option schools.

People will move, driving down real estate values and making south arlington SFH neighborhoods more affordable. So, if that is the goal, eliminating option schools will do it.

When’s that happening? Cause I don’t know if you noticed, but neighborhoods zoned to the worst elementary schools were selling older homes for over 800K this past spring.

People with kids already in option schools are the buyers for these houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Arlington got rid of option schools, a lot of parents would leave certain neighborhoods. Sorry, but it is true. I live in SA in a neighborhood surrounded by title I schools. Most parents try for an option school. Many of them get in, or at least used to. If they don't, they leave. Schools has been one of the largest drivers of home sales and non-renewal of rental leases. In the 8 years I have lived here, it has been the primary driver and I know of over a dozen who made a decision to leave because of schools.

For families moving in, they already have their kids in option schools.

People will move, driving down real estate values and making south arlington SFH neighborhoods more affordable. So, if that is the goal, eliminating option schools will do it.

When’s that happening? Cause I don’t know if you noticed, but neighborhoods zoned to the worst elementary schools were selling older homes for over 800K this past spring.

People with kids already in option schools are the buyers for these houses.

Prove it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Arlington got rid of option schools, a lot of parents would leave certain neighborhoods. Sorry, but it is true. I live in SA in a neighborhood surrounded by title I schools. Most parents try for an option school. Many of them get in, or at least used to. If they don't, they leave. Schools has been one of the largest drivers of home sales and non-renewal of rental leases. In the 8 years I have lived here, it has been the primary driver and I know of over a dozen who made a decision to leave because of schools.

For families moving in, they already have their kids in option schools.

People will move, driving down real estate values and making south arlington SFH neighborhoods more affordable. So, if that is the goal, eliminating option schools will do it.

When’s that happening? Cause I don’t know if you noticed, but neighborhoods zoned to the worst elementary schools were selling older homes for over 800K this past spring.

People with kids already in option schools are the buyers for these houses.

Prove it.

I am such a person. if my preschooler gets into an option school I will leave my small SA townhouse and buy in DP or alcova. Great neighborhoods, interesting houses, way cheaper than NA, more down to earth. Only problem is the segregated neighborhood elementary schools. If my kid gets into an option, there is no downside. It has been my plan for awhile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the PP, but obvious to me to make options bigger. Henry and Oakridge are so overcrowded for one reason: parents have been packing I to those zones to avoid the surrounding neighborhood schools. Making neighborhood schools like them bigger just worsens that problem and will lead to more frequent rezonings, lobbying, etc. make the option schools bigger and you give more people more choices. It's nice to have choices. Which behavior do you wa t to support, more self segregation, or more countywide integration?

That's assuming that many/most people are choosing option schools because they believe they are best for their child, or if they are also an opportunity to escape a poor or overcrowded neighborhood school. Option schools can just as easily be a drain on neighborhood schools by providing an out for families who don't want to deal with problems. Meanwhile, solid neighborhood schools that families don't want to leave end up overcrowded if you make them the smaller facilities. Option schools are supposed to be the bonus in the school system, offering an additional educational option for families. Using them to instead as escape routes from undesirable schools is hurting matters, not helping.

Sorry, but you're wrong here. Option schools are largely the only SES integrated schools we have. Over and over, posters here think that SA parents have two choices: neighborhood or option. Nope. It's a free country and they have those options, they can go private, they can move. You might as well blame north Arlington parents for br moving by to south arlington to "improve" the low SES schools there. Where you live is not some moral obligation to attend the local neighborhood school. For many UMC parents, a high farms school is simply not an option. It's not like if they didn't choice out they'd bite the bullet and send their kids there.

The county-wide FARMS rate was 31% last year. The only elementary schools within five points of that are Long Branch (35%), Henry (32%) and ATS (26%). If we want to to out to within ten points of average, we can add Claremont (37%), Key (41%), Oakridge (25%) and Science Focus (23%). So let's dispense with the fiction that there are no diverse neighborhood schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Arlington got rid of option schools, a lot of parents would leave certain neighborhoods. Sorry, but it is true. I live in SA in a neighborhood surrounded by title I schools. Most parents try for an option school. Many of them get in, or at least used to. If they don't, they leave. Schools has been one of the largest drivers of home sales and non-renewal of rental leases. In the 8 years I have lived here, it has been the primary driver and I know of over a dozen who made a decision to leave because of schools.

For families moving in, they already have their kids in option schools.

People will move, driving down real estate values and making south arlington SFH neighborhoods more affordable. So, if that is the goal, eliminating option schools will do it.

When’s that happening? Cause I don’t know if you noticed, but neighborhoods zoned to the worst elementary schools were selling older homes for over 800K this past spring.

People with kids already in option schools are the buyers for these houses.

Prove it.

I am such a person. if my preschooler gets into an option school I will leave my small SA townhouse and buy in DP or alcova. Great neighborhoods, interesting houses, way cheaper than NA, more down to earth. Only problem is the segregated neighborhood elementary schools. If my kid gets into an option, there is no downside. It has been my plan for awhile.

And then pat yourself on the back for your progressive virtue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Arlington got rid of option schools, a lot of parents would leave certain neighborhoods. Sorry, but it is true. I live in SA in a neighborhood surrounded by title I schools. Most parents try for an option school. Many of them get in, or at least used to. If they don't, they leave. Schools has been one of the largest drivers of home sales and non-renewal of rental leases. In the 8 years I have lived here, it has been the primary driver and I know of over a dozen who made a decision to leave because of schools.

For families moving in, they already have their kids in option schools.

People will move, driving down real estate values and making south arlington SFH neighborhoods more affordable. So, if that is the goal, eliminating option schools will do it.

When’s that happening? Cause I don’t know if you noticed, but neighborhoods zoned to the worst elementary schools were selling older homes for over 800K this past spring.

People with kids already in option schools are the buyers for these houses.

Prove it.

With one recent exception, this is what I have noted in our neighborhood when buyers have kids that are school aged or close. Otherwise its people with very little babies or buyers are DINKs with no plans for kids. Maybe things will change, but I have a difficult time believing that people who can afford $800,000 + homes are content sending their kids to schools that are seen as offering so much less than other schools. I get that this is essentially seen as "DCUM poor," but it's really not. People with this kind of capital do have choices, and they rarely choose the option that provides their own children with fewer opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Arlington got rid of option schools, a lot of parents would leave certain neighborhoods. Sorry, but it is true. I live in SA in a neighborhood surrounded by title I schools. Most parents try for an option school. Many of them get in, or at least used to. If they don't, they leave. Schools has been one of the largest drivers of home sales and non-renewal of rental leases. In the 8 years I have lived here, it has been the primary driver and I know of over a dozen who made a decision to leave because of schools.

For families moving in, they already have their kids in option schools.

People will move, driving down real estate values and making south arlington SFH neighborhoods more affordable. So, if that is the goal, eliminating option schools will do it.

When’s that happening? Cause I don’t know if you noticed, but neighborhoods zoned to the worst elementary schools were selling older homes for over 800K this past spring.

People with kids already in option schools are the buyers for these houses.

Prove it.

I am such a person. if my preschooler gets into an option school I will leave my small SA townhouse and buy in DP or alcova. Great neighborhoods, interesting houses, way cheaper than NA, more down to earth. Only problem is the segregated neighborhood elementary schools. If my kid gets into an option, there is no downside. It has been my plan for awhile.

What's your plan if your kid doesn't get in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the PP, but obvious to me to make options bigger. Henry and Oakridge are so overcrowded for one reason: parents have been packing I to those zones to avoid the surrounding neighborhood schools. Making neighborhood schools like them bigger just worsens that problem and will lead to more frequent rezonings, lobbying, etc. make the option schools bigger and you give more people more choices. It's nice to have choices. Which behavior do you wa t to support, more self segregation, or more countywide integration?

That's assuming that many/most people are choosing option schools because they believe they are best for their child, or if they are also an opportunity to escape a poor or overcrowded neighborhood school. Option schools can just as easily be a drain on neighborhood schools by providing an out for families who don't want to deal with problems. Meanwhile, solid neighborhood schools that families don't want to leave end up overcrowded if you make them the smaller facilities. Option schools are supposed to be the bonus in the school system, offering an additional educational option for families. Using them to instead as escape routes from undesirable schools is hurting matters, not helping.

Sorry, but you're wrong here. Option schools are largely the only SES integrated schools we have. Over and over, posters here think that SA parents have two choices: neighborhood or option. Nope. It's a free country and they have those options, they can go private, they can move. You might as well blame north Arlington parents for br moving by to south arlington to "improve" the low SES schools there. Where you live is not some moral obligation to attend the local neighborhood school. For many UMC parents, a high farms school is simply not an option. It's not like if they didn't choice out they'd bite the bullet and send their kids there.

The county-wide FARMS rate was 31% last year. The only elementary schools within five points of that are Long Branch (35%), Henry (32%) and ATS (26%). If we want to to out to within ten points of average, we can add Claremont (37%), Key (41%), Oakridge (25%) and Science Focus (23%). So let's dispense with the fiction that there are no diverse neighborhood schools.

You're proving the point you're trying to refute: you just listed three option schools (key, Claremont, ATS.) two of the neighborhood schools you listed, Oakridge and Henry, are likely to be much lower farms after the boundaries for Drew are redrawn and Henry becomes Fleet. You're left with just two examples, long branch and science focus. How many elementaries are there again? Like 20+?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the PP, but obvious to me to make options bigger. Henry and Oakridge are so overcrowded for one reason: parents have been packing I to those zones to avoid the surrounding neighborhood schools. Making neighborhood schools like them bigger just worsens that problem and will lead to more frequent rezonings, lobbying, etc. make the option schools bigger and you give more people more choices. It's nice to have choices. Which behavior do you wa t to support, more self segregation, or more countywide integration?

That's assuming that many/most people are choosing option schools because they believe they are best for their child, or if they are also an opportunity to escape a poor or overcrowded neighborhood school. Option schools can just as easily be a drain on neighborhood schools by providing an out for families who don't want to deal with problems. Meanwhile, solid neighborhood schools that families don't want to leave end up overcrowded if you make them the smaller facilities. Option schools are supposed to be the bonus in the school system, offering an additional educational option for families. Using them to instead as escape routes from undesirable schools is hurting matters, not helping.

Sorry, but you're wrong here. Option schools are largely the only SES integrated schools we have. Over and over, posters here think that SA parents have two choices: neighborhood or option. Nope. It's a free country and they have those options, they can go private, they can move. You might as well blame north Arlington parents for br moving by to south arlington to "improve" the low SES schools there. Where you live is not some moral obligation to attend the local neighborhood school. For many UMC parents, a high farms school is simply not an option. It's not like if they didn't choice out they'd bite the bullet and send their kids there.

The county-wide FARMS rate was 31% last year. The only elementary schools within five points of that are Long Branch (35%), Henry (32%) and ATS (26%). If we want to to out to within ten points of average, we can add Claremont (37%), Key (41%), Oakridge (25%) and Science Focus (23%). So let's dispense with the fiction that there are no diverse neighborhood schools.

You're proving the point you're trying to refute: you just listed three option schools (key, Claremont, ATS.) two of the neighborhood schools you listed, Oakridge and Henry, are likely to be much lower farms after the boundaries for Drew are redrawn and Henry becomes Fleet. You're left with just two examples, long branch and science focus. How many elementaries are there again? Like 20+?

+1

[Anonymous]

It would be helpful to have an option school in the NW quadrant, if 1/3 of its seats were held for Free and reduced lunch recipients.
Can we make that happen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Arlington got rid of option schools, a lot of parents would leave certain neighborhoods. Sorry, but it is true. I live in SA in a neighborhood surrounded by title I schools. Most parents try for an option school. Many of them get in, or at least used to. If they don't, they leave. Schools has been one of the largest drivers of home sales and non-renewal of rental leases. In the 8 years I have lived here, it has been the primary driver and I know of over a dozen who made a decision to leave because of schools.

For families moving in, they already have their kids in option schools.

People will move, driving down real estate values and making south arlington SFH neighborhoods more affordable. So, if that is the goal, eliminating option schools will do it.

When’s that happening? Cause I don’t know if you noticed, but neighborhoods zoned to the worst elementary schools were selling older homes for over 800K this past spring.

People with kids already in option schools are the buyers for these houses.

Prove it.

I am such a person. if my preschooler gets into an option school I will leave my small SA townhouse and buy in DP or alcova. Great neighborhoods, interesting houses, way cheaper than NA, more down to earth. Only problem is the segregated neighborhood elementary schools. If my kid gets into an option, there is no downside. It has been my plan for awhile.

And then pat yourself on the back for your progressive virtue.

F that. Pay themselves on the back for being smart with their money and stretching their housing budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Arlington got rid of option schools, a lot of parents would leave certain neighborhoods. Sorry, but it is true. I live in SA in a neighborhood surrounded by title I schools. Most parents try for an option school. Many of them get in, or at least used to. If they don't, they leave. Schools has been one of the largest drivers of home sales and non-renewal of rental leases. In the 8 years I have lived here, it has been the primary driver and I know of over a dozen who made a decision to leave because of schools.

For families moving in, they already have their kids in option schools.

People will move, driving down real estate values and making south arlington SFH neighborhoods more affordable. So, if that is the goal, eliminating option schools will do it.

When’s that happening? Cause I don’t know if you noticed, but neighborhoods zoned to the worst elementary schools were selling older homes for over 800K this past spring.

People with kids already in option schools are the buyers for these houses.

Prove it.

I am such a person. if my preschooler gets into an option school I will leave my small SA townhouse and buy in DP or alcova. Great neighborhoods, interesting houses, way cheaper than NA, more down to earth. Only problem is the segregated neighborhood elementary schools. If my kid gets into an option, there is no downside. It has been my plan for awhile.

And then pat yourself on the back for your progressive virtue.

F that. Pay themselves on the back for being smart with their money and stretching their housing budget.

It's always amusing to watch north Arlington parents assume the moral high ground. SA parents are supposed to send their kids to crappy schools an not talk about it or push for options. We too could be pure, if only we had the money to buy an $$$ house in NA. Then we could stay silent, and seem virtuous, like we weren't be self interested. That's the thing that irks NA naysayers the most: they understand that many of the things that SA parents want- integrated schools, more options, ANYTHING to disrupt high poverty schools, is not just good for the goose, it's good for the gander.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Arlington got rid of option schools, a lot of parents would leave certain neighborhoods. Sorry, but it is true. I live in SA in a neighborhood surrounded by title I schools. Most parents try for an option school. Many of them get in, or at least used to. If they don't, they leave. Schools has been one of the largest drivers of home sales and non-renewal of rental leases. In the 8 years I have lived here, it has been the primary driver and I know of over a dozen who made a decision to leave because of schools.

For families moving in, they already have their kids in option schools.

People will move, driving down real estate values and making south arlington SFH neighborhoods more affordable. So, if that is the goal, eliminating option schools will do it.

When’s that happening? Cause I don’t know if you noticed, but neighborhoods zoned to the worst elementary schools were selling older homes for over 800K this past spring.

People with kids already in option schools are the buyers for these houses.

Prove it.

I am such a person. if my preschooler gets into an option school I will leave my small SA townhouse and buy in DP or alcova. Great neighborhoods, interesting houses, way cheaper than NA, more down to earth. Only problem is the segregated neighborhood elementary schools. If my kid gets into an option, there is no downside. It has been my plan for awhile.

And then pat yourself on the back for your progressive virtue.

F that. Pay themselves on the back for being smart with their money and stretching their housing budget.

It's always amusing to watch north Arlington parents assume the moral high ground. SA parents are supposed to send their kids to crappy schools an not talk about it or push for options. We too could be pure, if only we had the money to buy an $$$ house in NA. Then we could stay silent, and seem virtuous, like we weren't be self interested. That's the thing that irks NA naysayers the most: they understand that many of the things that SA parents want- integrated schools, more options, ANYTHING to disrupt high poverty schools, is not just good for the goose, it's good for the gander.

+1. We bought where we could afford.

[Anonymous]

Barcroft neighborhood has lots of older homes in the 600s, or did until recently. I live there. Of the two families on my block that have moved in since I have, both already had kids in choice schools. One of these new neighbors has a very large and expensive home. Other people who have moved in are single people, with small kids (renters) and retirees. I do not know a single family that has moved in with kids who go to Barcroft. I do, however, know of several who have left because they didn't get in choice or wanted to avoid Kenmore.

Outside of my neighborhood, I know one in Douglas Park who will be moving soon because didn't get into any choice schools and will not send kid to Randolph.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Arlington got rid of option schools, a lot of parents would leave certain neighborhoods. Sorry, but it is true. I live in SA in a neighborhood surrounded by title I schools. Most parents try for an option school. Many of them get in, or at least used to. If they don't, they leave. Schools has been one of the largest drivers of home sales and non-renewal of rental leases. In the 8 years I have lived here, it has been the primary driver and I know of over a dozen who made a decision to leave because of schools.

For families moving in, they already have their kids in option schools.

People will move, driving down real estate values and making south arlington SFH neighborhoods more affordable. So, if that is the goal, eliminating option schools will do it.

When’s that happening? Cause I don’t know if you noticed, but neighborhoods zoned to the worst elementary schools were selling older homes for over 800K this past spring.

People with kids already in option schools are the buyers for these houses.

Prove it.

I am such a person. if my preschooler gets into an option school I will leave my small SA townhouse and buy in DP or alcova. Great neighborhoods, interesting houses, way cheaper than NA, more down to earth. Only problem is the segregated neighborhood elementary schools. If my kid gets into an option, there is no downside. It has been my plan for awhile.

And then pat yourself on the back for your progressive virtue.

F that. Pay themselves on the back for being smart with their money and stretching their housing budget.

It's always amusing to watch north Arlington parents assume the moral high ground. SA parents are supposed to send their kids to crappy schools an not talk about it or push for options. We too could be pure, if only we had the money to buy an $$$ house in NA. Then we could stay silent, and seem virtuous, like we weren't be self interested. That's the thing that irks NA naysayers the most: they understand that many of the things that SA parents want- integrated schools, more options, ANYTHING to disrupt high poverty schools, is not just good for the goose, it's good for the gander.

+1. We bought where we could afford.

Anybody want to share a perspective of living in a lower SES neighborhood and sending kids to an option school? Do they make friends nearby, is it just positive all around? What about the transition to Middle/High School? I am just trying to understand any potential downsides of getting into an option school and living in a lower income area.