the Key/ASFS building switch...

[Anonymous]

Discovery got a new playground because it was a NEW school. Just like Fleet will get a new playground. APS replaces playgrounds about every 20 years.

The slide was a stupid gimmick proposed by the architects and isn’t even used!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the idea of a mobile science lab! One poster keeps saying it’s just s bunch of old chairs, but that seems unlikely given the $200,000 price tag.

I'm guessing that would be impractical given the size and weight of some of the equipment. I'd love to see it. But both sides of this raise serious questions. I think PTAs are now quite aware that any physical improvements they make to a building or equipment they buy becomes property of APS. I don't think APS should be paying to move it -- and, if they do, they better disclose the cost.

Most of the 200k was spent on things that are not possible to transfer. For example, 100k in engineering design services. I’m not kidding.
It’s a nice room but there isn’t a lot of expensive equipment to move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't get too upset about this since the invisible writing is already on the wall. This will play out in the following way.

1. Key building will become a neighborhood school (new ASFS?)
2. Immerson probably won't move to current ASFS building since a significant # of kids won't transfer with the program.
3. Immerson at some point will move to a South Arlington school with concentrated poverty and lots of native speakers. Question is will that be before the "proposed swap" or after a few years?
4. Current ASFS Building will become a neighborhood school - but may be immersion for a handful of years
5. Even if they move the "Science Lab" it is mostly tables, chairs, storage, and some science toys, etc..so nothing to get upset about.

Key parents should strongly advocate for where to move Immersion now - what is best for the program since most parents I speak with do not believe it to be ASFS for the long term. We aren't keeping it at KEY - so where do we want it?

If a significant number of current Key families decide to stay at neighborhood Key rather than move with the immersion program, that would go a long way toward solving the problem of the current Key program being too big for the ASFS building.

I'd be more worried about the fancy wall projectors in every classroom. I believe those are PTA funded, and were not cheap.

Not pta funded, they are at every aps school I’ve ever been inside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't get too upset about this since the invisible writing is already on the wall. This will play out in the following way.

1. Key building will become a neighborhood school (new ASFS?)
2. Immerson probably won't move to current ASFS building since a significant # of kids won't transfer with the program.
3. Immerson at some point will move to a South Arlington school with concentrated poverty and lots of native speakers. Question is will that be before the "proposed swap" or after a few years?
4. Current ASFS Building will become a neighborhood school - but may be immersion for a handful of years
5. Even if they move the "Science Lab" it is mostly tables, chairs, storage, and some science toys, etc..so nothing to get upset about.

Key parents should strongly advocate for where to move Immersion now - what is best for the program since most parents I speak with do not believe it to be ASFS for the long term. We aren't keeping it at KEY - so where do we want it?

If a significant number of current Key families decide to stay at neighborhood Key rather than move with the immersion program, that would go a long way toward solving the problem of the current Key program being too big for the ASFS building.

I'd be more worried about the fancy wall projectors in every classroom. I believe those are PTA funded, and were not cheap.

The smart boards? No, they’re not PTA funded, they’re standard APS equipment so they won’t need to be moved at all. The Key building should already have their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s official! They are moving the science lab. Praise Jesus.

I just read that on arl news now.

If ASFS were still a semi-option program, they could probably justify hoarding a $200k facility perk that was privately funded, with the rationale that everyone in the county could theoretically seek admission to that school. As a strictly neighborhood school, a $200k perk not made available to other elementary schools starts to feel very unequal. I wonder if the board has fully considered the legal implications of this.

You are welcome to fund a special lab for your school. Find corporate sponsors, etc.

Or just whine about it when other people took the effort to do it at their school.

"people" shouldn't be able to do things like this for their individual public school. It exacerbates inequities, not just in "neat things" for their students; but also in maintenance responsibilities and costs for APS. Has the PTA been paying for any ongoing maintenance and feeding the fish? Is the PTA paying to move the lab to the Key building? People are complaining about the cost to transfer the lab; but there wouldn't be any cost if "other people" hadn't purchased it in the first place. So now it's costing ALL of us; but only the ASFS kids have ever gotten to benefit from it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't get too upset about this since the invisible writing is already on the wall. This will play out in the following way.

1. Key building will become a neighborhood school (new ASFS?)
2. Immerson probably won't move to current ASFS building since a significant # of kids won't transfer with the program.
3. Immerson at some point will move to a South Arlington school with concentrated poverty and lots of native speakers. Question is will that be before the "proposed swap" or after a few years?
4. Current ASFS Building will become a neighborhood school - but may be immersion for a handful of years
5. Even if they move the "Science Lab" it is mostly tables, chairs, storage, and some science toys, etc..so nothing to get upset about.

Key parents should strongly advocate for where to move Immersion now - what is best for the program since most parents I speak with do not believe it to be ASFS for the long term. We aren't keeping it at KEY - so where do we want it?

If a significant number of current Key families decide to stay at neighborhood Key rather than move with the immersion program, that would go a long way toward solving the problem of the current Key program being too big for the ASFS building.

Some smart boards were purchased by PTAs who didn't want to wait for APS to get every classroom hooked-up. Some purchased newer ones before other schools even had them. APS has since tamped down on this because even APS saw the inequity of it all - that and then APS had to pay to install them.

I'd be more worried about the fancy wall projectors in every classroom. I believe those are PTA funded, and were not cheap.

The smart boards? No, they’re not PTA funded, they’re standard APS equipment so they won’t need to be moved at all. The Key building should already have their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't get too upset about this since the invisible writing is already on the wall. This will play out in the following way.

1. Key building will become a neighborhood school (new ASFS?)
2. Immerson probably won't move to current ASFS building since a significant # of kids won't transfer with the program.
3. Immerson at some point will move to a South Arlington school with concentrated poverty and lots of native speakers. Question is will that be before the "proposed swap" or after a few years?
4. Current ASFS Building will become a neighborhood school - but may be immersion for a handful of years
5. Even if they move the "Science Lab" it is mostly tables, chairs, storage, and some science toys, etc..so nothing to get upset about.

Key parents should strongly advocate for where to move Immersion now - what is best for the program since most parents I speak with do not believe it to be ASFS for the long term. We aren't keeping it at KEY - so where do we want it?

If a significant number of current Key families decide to stay at neighborhood Key rather than move with the immersion program, that would go a long way toward solving the problem of the current Key program being too big for the ASFS building.

I'd be more worried about the fancy wall projectors in every classroom. I believe those are PTA funded, and were not cheap.

The smart boards? No, they’re not PTA funded, they’re standard APS equipment so they won’t need to be moved at all. The Key building should already have their own.

Some PTAs did purchase smart boards in the past. Some decided not to wait for APS to get every classroom fitted with one; and PTAs purchased newer generations before some schools even had them to begin with. APS has since tamped down on that because even they saw the inequity of it - and they had to pay to install them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s official! They are moving the science lab. Praise Jesus.

I just read that on arl news now.

If ASFS were still a semi-option program, they could probably justify hoarding a $200k facility perk that was privately funded, with the rationale that everyone in the county could theoretically seek admission to that school. As a strictly neighborhood school, a $200k perk not made available to other elementary schools starts to feel very unequal. I wonder if the board has fully considered the legal implications of this.

You are welcome to fund a special lab for your school. Find corporate sponsors, etc.

Or just whine about it when other people took the effort to do it at their school.

I’m pro swap and don’t care about the lab, but this is a pretty weak argument considering most of the funding for that lab came from families who are no longer even at the school.

Also, the ASFS families who did contribute to the lab were never promised boundaries would never change, so no one can claim their donations were based on the assurance their kids would always have access to the lab.

I don’t care about the swap and I don’t care about the lab (even as a contributor), but the WHINING about the lab is annoying. Want one at your school? Get one. Look for sponsorships. They are out there. Personally, I don’t think the lab is a big deal, but if you do, go do something about it. They only get built when someone takes the initiative to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s official! They are moving the science lab. Praise Jesus.

I just read that on arl news now.

If ASFS were still a semi-option program, they could probably justify hoarding a $200k facility perk that was privately funded, with the rationale that everyone in the county could theoretically seek admission to that school. As a strictly neighborhood school, a $200k perk not made available to other elementary schools starts to feel very unequal. I wonder if the board has fully considered the legal implications of this.

Please, have you seen the slide and then HALF DOZEN playground structures discovery has? And that WAS funded by APS.

ASFS has a rusty old rinky dink play structure. I would gladly swap play structures which kids use almost everyday vs a once a week science lab.

There are a lot of perks at each school that others don’t have. And again, the SLIDE!

Yes, absolutely. The Key playground is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s official! They are moving the science lab. Praise Jesus.

I just read that on arl news now.

If ASFS were still a semi-option program, they could probably justify hoarding a $200k facility perk that was privately funded, with the rationale that everyone in the county could theoretically seek admission to that school. As a strictly neighborhood school, a $200k perk not made available to other elementary schools starts to feel very unequal. I wonder if the board has fully considered the legal implications of this.

You are welcome to fund a special lab for your school. Find corporate sponsors, etc.

Or just whine about it when other people took the effort to do it at their school.

I’m pro swap and don’t care about the lab, but this is a pretty weak argument considering most of the funding for that lab came from families who are no longer even at the school.

Also, the ASFS families who did contribute to the lab were never promised boundaries would never change, so no one can claim their donations were based on the assurance their kids would always have access to the lab.

I don’t care about the swap and I don’t care about the lab (even as a contributor), but the WHINING about the lab is annoying. Want one at your school? Get one. Look for sponsorships. They are out there. Personally, I don’t think the lab is a big deal, but if you do, go do something about it. They only get built when someone takes the initiative to do it.

You’re yelling at the wrong person. We don’t live over there, I don’t care which school the lab ends up in, and I have zero interest in having one installed at our neighborhood school. Like you, I’m over the whining and the pathetic arguments people are making for the stupid thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s official! They are moving the science lab. Praise Jesus.

I just read that on arl news now.

If ASFS were still a semi-option program, they could probably justify hoarding a $200k facility perk that was privately funded, with the rationale that everyone in the county could theoretically seek admission to that school. As a strictly neighborhood school, a $200k perk not made available to other elementary schools starts to feel very unequal. I wonder if the board has fully considered the legal implications of this.

You are welcome to fund a special lab for your school. Find corporate sponsors, etc.

Or just whine about it when other people took the effort to do it at their school.

I’m pro swap and don’t care about the lab, but this is a pretty weak argument considering most of the funding for that lab came from families who are no longer even at the school.

Also, the ASFS families who did contribute to the lab were never promised boundaries would never change, so no one can claim their donations were based on the assurance their kids would always have access to the lab.

I don’t care about the swap and I don’t care about the lab (even as a contributor), but the WHINING about the lab is annoying. Want one at your school? Get one. Look for sponsorships. They are out there. Personally, I don’t think the lab is a big deal, but if you do, go do something about it. They only get built when someone takes the initiative to do it.

You’re yelling at the wrong person. We don’t live over there, I don’t care which school the lab ends up in, and I have zero interest in having one installed at our neighborhood school. Like you, I’m over the whining and the pathetic arguments people are making for the stupid thing.

Yes, my comments were directed at the whiners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Discovery got a new playground because it was a NEW school. Just like Fleet will get a new playground. APS replaces playgrounds about every 20 years.

The slide was a stupid gimmick proposed by the architects and isn’t even used!

Don’t speak from ignorance. Have you have been to Discovery? It isn’t just a new playground — it has about half a dozen play structures — ASFS had 1 for years, and just this year got one for K-2. Even Key with brand new playground probably has about a 1/3 of the volume of equipment that Discovery did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s official! They are moving the science lab. Praise Jesus.

I just read that on arl news now.

If ASFS were still a semi-option program, they could probably justify hoarding a $200k facility perk that was privately funded, with the rationale that everyone in the county could theoretically seek admission to that school. As a strictly neighborhood school, a $200k perk not made available to other elementary schools starts to feel very unequal. I wonder if the board has fully considered the legal implications of this.

You are welcome to fund a special lab for your school. Find corporate sponsors, etc.

Or just whine about it when other people took the effort to do it at their school.

I’m pro swap and don’t care about the lab, but this is a pretty weak argument considering most of the funding for that lab came from families who are no longer even at the school.

Also, the ASFS families who did contribute to the lab were never promised boundaries would never change, so no one can claim their donations were based on the assurance their kids would always have access to the lab.

I don’t care about the swap and I don’t care about the lab (even as a contributor), but the WHINING about the lab is annoying. Want one at your school? Get one. Look for sponsorships. They are out there. Personally, I don’t think the lab is a big deal, but if you do, go do something about it. They only get built when someone takes the initiative to do it.

They get built when over 60 parents cough up $1,000 or more on a whim. Several giving 10-25k. Spare us the bootstraps, moneybags.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Discovery got a new playground because it was a NEW school. Just like Fleet will get a new playground. APS replaces playgrounds about every 20 years.

The slide was a stupid gimmick proposed by the architects and isn’t even used!

Don’t speak from ignorance. Have you have been to Discovery? It isn’t just a new playground — it has about half a dozen play structures — ASFS had 1 for years, and just this year got one for K-2. Even Key with brand new playground probably has about a 1/3 of the volume of equipment that Discovery did.

No, all schools do not have the same facilities but why come down so hard because people at ASF want to keep the facilities they do have. No, they do not have a luxury playground like other elementary schools. No, they do not have multiple fancy art rooms like Discovery with 2 giant state of the art rooms and no one is chomping to take those away because the school was built in an area where it wasn't need so there is room for inequities like that to continue. People at ASF want to keep their labs because that's what they have worked hard to integrate into their curriculum. People at Key want to keep their very nice new playground - who could blame them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s official! They are moving the science lab. Praise Jesus.

I just read that on arl news now.

If ASFS were still a semi-option program, they could probably justify hoarding a $200k facility perk that was privately funded, with the rationale that everyone in the county could theoretically seek admission to that school. As a strictly neighborhood school, a $200k perk not made available to other elementary schools starts to feel very unequal. I wonder if the board has fully considered the legal implications of this.

You are welcome to fund a special lab for your school. Find corporate sponsors, etc.

Or just whine about it when other people took the effort to do it at their school.

I’m pro swap and don’t care about the lab, but this is a pretty weak argument considering most of the funding for that lab came from families who are no longer even at the school.

Not true but I'm guessing you didn't contribute if you are unaware that many contributors are still at the school. I contributed and I live closer to Key than ASFS and I do not support the swap. I can see through this plan and I fully realize we are all going to end up with crappier programs as a result of these moves. It took years to build what we have at ASFS (and would imagine the same holds for Key) and that is not going to be recreated any time during my children's time. I've had older ones go through ASFS and we value the program enough to know it needs to stay put in order to preserve what we have and not spend years trying to rebuild. However, you do raise interesting point about many of these people that aps is so concerned about appeasing. Many will be gone by the time any of this actually happens.