APS Closing Nottingham

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS already knows exactly what they are going to do with this situation. It will take a extremally large wave for them to change their path.

Well then they should be prepared to “show their work,” as the teachers say. Right now there are so many TBDs the only thing we know for sure is that they want to shut down Nottingham and overcrowd the other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:County projecting in 5 years we will have a surplus of over 1,000 elementary seats. That sounds...optimistic.

Based on what I wonder. There has been a lot of turnover and lots of new kids in the neighborhood. Pandemic dip was a blip driven by desperate parents who could afford alternatives. We’re coming back.

There’s absolutely no facts/data to support this one way or the other. It’s 1,000 kids going to private school and APS doesn’t know or care to know if they are ever coming back. And if they leave for good, what does that mean for other families in the neighborhood when it’s normal to send your kids to private schools?

I have zero confidence in APS planning/projections. I understand that as a member of the public school community we need to every once in a while deal with these adjustments. APS has convinced me that they are totally incompetent at predicting seats so why should we all run around like crazy people on an annual basis trying to fill seats that APS couldn’t accurately predict?

They need better, outside data before I believe that these moves actually need to be made. They have wasted our money long enough on poor planning and annual neighborhood fights over boundaries.

South Arl poster, our neighborhood has kids divided everywhere, especially private. The effect on the neighborhood has been ...just fine. We just had a real July 4th parade you probably have heard of and a neighborhood picnic at the community house. Having your young kids dispersed doesn't not kill your neighborhood, that is blatantly untrue and known by many county residents apparently outside of your neighborhood.
As for no confidence in APS planning, sure, you do your opinion. My opinion is APS is never allowed to make good strategic decisions because of having to give too much deference to neighborhood feedback. I just don't understand how a 26-square mile system allows itself to be handcuffed by a group of maybe a dozen streets at every decision.

I second that!! - different southern neighborhood. We don't have our own parade or community house but still have a vibrant neighborhood community with kids attending minimally 6 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools that I can think of quickly off the top of my head.

Kudos to you. Nobody else wants this. You are the vast minority. We want our kids to walk to schools with their neighborhood friends. Hang out after school. Know the parents and families. Know what is happening in the classroom from the crazy moms who are there every other day. We want a little Mayberry. We take comfort in knowing that our neighbors around the corner are just as smart and just fancy elitists as we are and yet also choose to send their kid to this great public school. Seriously. I am not joking. That is why people move to North Arlington. You can delude yourself that others want what you have in terms of “community” but they don’t. What you have is what will happen to us in N Arlington when everyone sends their kids to private schools.

If you want your kids walking together with neighborhood friends, hanging out after school and know all the families, it might be time to move outside of Arlington. That's not how this area is set up anymore.

How sad is that. How sad for the kids, how sad for the parents. Worst part is that it doesn’t have to be that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:County projecting in 5 years we will have a surplus of over 1,000 elementary seats. That sounds...optimistic.

Based on what I wonder. There has been a lot of turnover and lots of new kids in the neighborhood. Pandemic dip was a blip driven by desperate parents who could afford alternatives. We’re coming back.

There’s absolutely no facts/data to support this one way or the other. It’s 1,000 kids going to private school and APS doesn’t know or care to know if they are ever coming back. And if they leave for good, what does that mean for other families in the neighborhood when it’s normal to send your kids to private schools?

I have zero confidence in APS planning/projections. I understand that as a member of the public school community we need to every once in a while deal with these adjustments. APS has convinced me that they are totally incompetent at predicting seats so why should we all run around like crazy people on an annual basis trying to fill seats that APS couldn’t accurately predict?

They need better, outside data before I believe that these moves actually need to be made. They have wasted our money long enough on poor planning and annual neighborhood fights over boundaries.

South Arl poster, our neighborhood has kids divided everywhere, especially private. The effect on the neighborhood has been ...just fine. We just had a real July 4th parade you probably have heard of and a neighborhood picnic at the community house. Having your young kids dispersed doesn't not kill your neighborhood, that is blatantly untrue and known by many county residents apparently outside of your neighborhood.
As for no confidence in APS planning, sure, you do your opinion. My opinion is APS is never allowed to make good strategic decisions because of having to give too much deference to neighborhood feedback. I just don't understand how a 26-square mile system allows itself to be handcuffed by a group of maybe a dozen streets at every decision.

I second that!! - different southern neighborhood. We don't have our own parade or community house but still have a vibrant neighborhood community with kids attending minimally 6 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools that I can think of quickly off the top of my head.

Kudos to you. Nobody else wants this. You are the vast minority. We want our kids to walk to schools with their neighborhood friends. Hang out after school. Know the parents and families. Know what is happening in the classroom from the crazy moms who are there every other day. We want a little Mayberry. We take comfort in knowing that our neighbors around the corner are just as smart and just fancy elitists as we are and yet also choose to send their kid to this great public school. Seriously. I am not joking. That is why people move to North Arlington. You can delude yourself that others want what you have in terms of “community” but they don’t. What you have is what will happen to us in N Arlington when everyone sends their kids to private schools.

A lot of people would love to send their kids to a great, walkable school. But Arlington is part of a large and diverse school district. There are many different kinds of kids and families. Nobody owns any particular school. I say this gently, but if you want that kind of certainty, you need to pay for private school. And you don’t get a medal for sending your kids to a wealthy, white, walkable elementary school. You’re kidding yourself if you think you’re contributing to some kind of public good through this action. If the Nott community really wants that school to stay open, then they should support denser housing in that part of the county.

Nottingham family. I do support denser housing and proudly supported missing middle. I don’t support public housing projects and never have - not in my neighborhood and not anywhere - because we have known for 40+ years that concentrating poverty in this way is a bad idea. But the so-called “affordable housing” mafia seems to run this place and they get what they want.

I do find it a bit rich, though, when incredibly privileged people pat themselves on the back for buying a $1m+ house in a “diverse” neighborhood, promptly send their kids to option schools, and then berate others for looking after their interests.

Eyeroll. You didn’t even need to tell us you were from Nottingham. Obvious from your nasty tone.

Something sensitive there? Do you have a problem with me pointing out the rampant privilege that runs through this county and how aggressive people are about looking after their own interests everywhere? The average sales and rentals prices don’t lie. People in this town are RICH - and increasingly so with each passing year.

I’m not aware of any MC or above community that has willingly sacrificed itself for the greater good on anything. The communities just have varying levels of effectiveness in getting what they want. That’s the truth.

You want to talk about privilege? It’s laughable that you think the Nott kids getting assigned to another wealthy N Arlington ES is “sacrificing yourself.” You need to get out more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:County projecting in 5 years we will have a surplus of over 1,000 elementary seats. That sounds...optimistic.

Based on what I wonder. There has been a lot of turnover and lots of new kids in the neighborhood. Pandemic dip was a blip driven by desperate parents who could afford alternatives. We’re coming back.

There’s absolutely no facts/data to support this one way or the other. It’s 1,000 kids going to private school and APS doesn’t know or care to know if they are ever coming back. And if they leave for good, what does that mean for other families in the neighborhood when it’s normal to send your kids to private schools?

I have zero confidence in APS planning/projections. I understand that as a member of the public school community we need to every once in a while deal with these adjustments. APS has convinced me that they are totally incompetent at predicting seats so why should we all run around like crazy people on an annual basis trying to fill seats that APS couldn’t accurately predict?

They need better, outside data before I believe that these moves actually need to be made. They have wasted our money long enough on poor planning and annual neighborhood fights over boundaries.

South Arl poster, our neighborhood has kids divided everywhere, especially private. The effect on the neighborhood has been ...just fine. We just had a real July 4th parade you probably have heard of and a neighborhood picnic at the community house. Having your young kids dispersed doesn't not kill your neighborhood, that is blatantly untrue and known by many county residents apparently outside of your neighborhood.
As for no confidence in APS planning, sure, you do your opinion. My opinion is APS is never allowed to make good strategic decisions because of having to give too much deference to neighborhood feedback. I just don't understand how a 26-square mile system allows itself to be handcuffed by a group of maybe a dozen streets at every decision.

I second that!! - different southern neighborhood. We don't have our own parade or community house but still have a vibrant neighborhood community with kids attending minimally 6 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools that I can think of quickly off the top of my head.

Kudos to you. Nobody else wants this. You are the vast minority. We want our kids to walk to schools with their neighborhood friends. Hang out after school. Know the parents and families. Know what is happening in the classroom from the crazy moms who are there every other day. We want a little Mayberry. We take comfort in knowing that our neighbors around the corner are just as smart and just fancy elitists as we are and yet also choose to send their kid to this great public school. Seriously. I am not joking. That is why people move to North Arlington. You can delude yourself that others want what you have in terms of “community” but they don’t. What you have is what will happen to us in N Arlington when everyone sends their kids to private schools.

If you want your kids walking together with neighborhood friends, hanging out after school and know all the families, it might be time to move outside of Arlington. That's not how this area is set up anymore.

How sad is that. How sad for the kids, how sad for the parents. Worst part is that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Agreed! But how can families change the way APS runs things? This isn't a tiny town where everyone goes private or they go to their neighborhood school which is 500 yards form their home and that's it. APS has a lot of systemic issues that are not going to be solved while our kids are attending APS. how can families advocate for change - they don't listen. You can write a million emails, you can speak at school board meetings and you can vote but it feels like a lot of our hands are tied besides coming on this anonymous forum and venting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS already knows exactly what they are going to do with this situation. It will take a extremally large wave for them to change their path.

Well then they should be prepared to “show their work,” as the teachers say. Right now there are so many TBDs the only thing we know for sure is that they want to shut down Nottingham and overcrowd the other schools.

I'm sure they will "show their work" once they make a decision and start to execute it. Doesn't mean anyone will like it or agree with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:County projecting in 5 years we will have a surplus of over 1,000 elementary seats. That sounds...optimistic.

Based on what I wonder. There has been a lot of turnover and lots of new kids in the neighborhood. Pandemic dip was a blip driven by desperate parents who could afford alternatives. We’re coming back.

There’s absolutely no facts/data to support this one way or the other. It’s 1,000 kids going to private school and APS doesn’t know or care to know if they are ever coming back. And if they leave for good, what does that mean for other families in the neighborhood when it’s normal to send your kids to private schools?

I have zero confidence in APS planning/projections. I understand that as a member of the public school community we need to every once in a while deal with these adjustments. APS has convinced me that they are totally incompetent at predicting seats so why should we all run around like crazy people on an annual basis trying to fill seats that APS couldn’t accurately predict?

They need better, outside data before I believe that these moves actually need to be made. They have wasted our money long enough on poor planning and annual neighborhood fights over boundaries.

South Arl poster, our neighborhood has kids divided everywhere, especially private. The effect on the neighborhood has been ...just fine. We just had a real July 4th parade you probably have heard of and a neighborhood picnic at the community house. Having your young kids dispersed doesn't not kill your neighborhood, that is blatantly untrue and known by many county residents apparently outside of your neighborhood.
As for no confidence in APS planning, sure, you do your opinion. My opinion is APS is never allowed to make good strategic decisions because of having to give too much deference to neighborhood feedback. I just don't understand how a 26-square mile system allows itself to be handcuffed by a group of maybe a dozen streets at every decision.

I second that!! - different southern neighborhood. We don't have our own parade or community house but still have a vibrant neighborhood community with kids attending minimally 6 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools that I can think of quickly off the top of my head.

Kudos to you. Nobody else wants this. You are the vast minority. We want our kids to walk to schools with their neighborhood friends. Hang out after school. Know the parents and families. Know what is happening in the classroom from the crazy moms who are there every other day. We want a little Mayberry. We take comfort in knowing that our neighbors around the corner are just as smart and just fancy elitists as we are and yet also choose to send their kid to this great public school. Seriously. I am not joking. That is why people move to North Arlington. You can delude yourself that others want what you have in terms of “community” but they don’t. What you have is what will happen to us in N Arlington when everyone sends their kids to private schools.

If you want your kids walking together with neighborhood friends, hanging out after school and know all the families, it might be time to move outside of Arlington. That's not how this area is set up anymore.

Obviously this is not true for most of Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS already knows exactly what they are going to do with this situation. It will take a extremally large wave for them to change their path.

Well then they should be prepared to “show their work,” as the teachers say. Right now there are so many TBDs the only thing we know for sure is that they want to shut down Nottingham and overcrowd the other schools.

+1. They are trying to rush this through without any justification other than "trust us." In speaking with other parents, nobody is saying in absolutely no circumstance should Nottingham be turned into a swing space, but we want to see an actual plan based on data from today, not 5 years ago pre pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:County projecting in 5 years we will have a surplus of over 1,000 elementary seats. That sounds...optimistic.

Based on what I wonder. There has been a lot of turnover and lots of new kids in the neighborhood. Pandemic dip was a blip driven by desperate parents who could afford alternatives. We’re coming back.

There’s absolutely no facts/data to support this one way or the other. It’s 1,000 kids going to private school and APS doesn’t know or care to know if they are ever coming back. And if they leave for good, what does that mean for other families in the neighborhood when it’s normal to send your kids to private schools?

I have zero confidence in APS planning/projections. I understand that as a member of the public school community we need to every once in a while deal with these adjustments. APS has convinced me that they are totally incompetent at predicting seats so why should we all run around like crazy people on an annual basis trying to fill seats that APS couldn’t accurately predict?

They need better, outside data before I believe that these moves actually need to be made. They have wasted our money long enough on poor planning and annual neighborhood fights over boundaries.

South Arl poster, our neighborhood has kids divided everywhere, especially private. The effect on the neighborhood has been ...just fine. We just had a real July 4th parade you probably have heard of and a neighborhood picnic at the community house. Having your young kids dispersed doesn't not kill your neighborhood, that is blatantly untrue and known by many county residents apparently outside of your neighborhood.
As for no confidence in APS planning, sure, you do your opinion. My opinion is APS is never allowed to make good strategic decisions because of having to give too much deference to neighborhood feedback. I just don't understand how a 26-square mile system allows itself to be handcuffed by a group of maybe a dozen streets at every decision.

I second that!! - different southern neighborhood. We don't have our own parade or community house but still have a vibrant neighborhood community with kids attending minimally 6 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools that I can think of quickly off the top of my head.

Kudos to you. Nobody else wants this. You are the vast minority. We want our kids to walk to schools with their neighborhood friends. Hang out after school. Know the parents and families. Know what is happening in the classroom from the crazy moms who are there every other day. We want a little Mayberry. We take comfort in knowing that our neighbors around the corner are just as smart and just fancy elitists as we are and yet also choose to send their kid to this great public school. Seriously. I am not joking. That is why people move to North Arlington. You can delude yourself that others want what you have in terms of “community” but they don’t. What you have is what will happen to us in N Arlington when everyone sends their kids to private schools.

A lot of people would love to send their kids to a great, walkable school. But Arlington is part of a large and diverse school district. There are many different kinds of kids and families. Nobody owns any particular school. I say this gently, but if you want that kind of certainty, you need to pay for private school. And you don’t get a medal for sending your kids to a wealthy, white, walkable elementary school. You’re kidding yourself if you think you’re contributing to some kind of public good through this action. If the Nott community really wants that school to stay open, then they should support denser housing in that part of the county.

Nottingham family. I do support denser housing and proudly supported missing middle. I don’t support public housing projects and never have - not in my neighborhood and not anywhere - because we have known for 40+ years that concentrating poverty in this way is a bad idea. But the so-called “affordable housing” mafia seems to run this place and they get what they want.

I do find it a bit rich, though, when incredibly privileged people pat themselves on the back for buying a $1m+ house in a “diverse” neighborhood, promptly send their kids to option schools, and then berate others for looking after their interests.

Eyeroll. You didn’t even need to tell us you were from Nottingham. Obvious from your nasty tone.

Something sensitive there? Do you have a problem with me pointing out the rampant privilege that runs through this county and how aggressive people are about looking after their own interests everywhere? The average sales and rentals prices don’t lie. People in this town are RICH - and increasingly so with each passing year.

I’m not aware of any MC or above community that has willingly sacrificed itself for the greater good on anything. The communities just have varying levels of effectiveness in getting what they want. That’s the truth.

You want to talk about privilege? It’s laughable that you think the Nott kids getting assigned to another wealthy N Arlington ES is “sacrificing yourself.” You need to get out more.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, let’s be honest. That there have been a couple of truly tragic deaths near Nottingham in the past decade is awful. Just awful. But that’s NOT why Nottingham families don’t want to give up their neighborhood schools. It just isn’t.

It 100% is in my case. I don’t care if my kid goes to another elementary. I had to change elementary schools growing up and it wasn’t a huge deal. I’m the one who posted about almost getting hit in the neighborhood- I don’t care about traffic that is just volume, but I care deeply about the safety of my kids, my elderly neighbors, and others who will be crossing all those streets.

And you’re a complete and total NIMBY. You care about your kids, your neighbors and “those” streets, but you don’t care about the broader community and its needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS already knows exactly what they are going to do with this situation. It will take a extremally large wave for them to change their path.

Well then they should be prepared to “show their work,” as the teachers say. Right now there are so many TBDs the only thing we know for sure is that they want to shut down Nottingham and overcrowd the other schools.

+1. They are trying to rush this through without any justification other than "trust us." In speaking with other parents, nobody is saying in absolutely no circumstance should Nottingham be turned into a swing space, but we want to see an actual plan based on data from today, not 5 years ago pre pandemic.

I’m pretty sure enrollment data is current. There aren’t enough students at Nottingham. They also are using current enrollment data to showy hay the least number of students will be disrupted by turning Nott into swing space. What old data are they using that upsets you? Walk zone analysis from 2018 doesn’t require updating. Same houses are walkable to schools today as 5 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:County projecting in 5 years we will have a surplus of over 1,000 elementary seats. That sounds...optimistic.

Based on what I wonder. There has been a lot of turnover and lots of new kids in the neighborhood. Pandemic dip was a blip driven by desperate parents who could afford alternatives. We’re coming back.

There’s absolutely no facts/data to support this one way or the other. It’s 1,000 kids going to private school and APS doesn’t know or care to know if they are ever coming back. And if they leave for good, what does that mean for other families in the neighborhood when it’s normal to send your kids to private schools?

I have zero confidence in APS planning/projections. I understand that as a member of the public school community we need to every once in a while deal with these adjustments. APS has convinced me that they are totally incompetent at predicting seats so why should we all run around like crazy people on an annual basis trying to fill seats that APS couldn’t accurately predict?

They need better, outside data before I believe that these moves actually need to be made. They have wasted our money long enough on poor planning and annual neighborhood fights over boundaries.

South Arl poster, our neighborhood has kids divided everywhere, especially private. The effect on the neighborhood has been ...just fine. We just had a real July 4th parade you probably have heard of and a neighborhood picnic at the community house. Having your young kids dispersed doesn't not kill your neighborhood, that is blatantly untrue and known by many county residents apparently outside of your neighborhood.
As for no confidence in APS planning, sure, you do your opinion. My opinion is APS is never allowed to make good strategic decisions because of having to give too much deference to neighborhood feedback. I just don't understand how a 26-square mile system allows itself to be handcuffed by a group of maybe a dozen streets at every decision.

I second that!! - different southern neighborhood. We don't have our own parade or community house but still have a vibrant neighborhood community with kids attending minimally 6 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools that I can think of quickly off the top of my head.

Kudos to you. Nobody else wants this. You are the vast minority. We want our kids to walk to schools with their neighborhood friends. Hang out after school. Know the parents and families. Know what is happening in the classroom from the crazy moms who are there every other day. We want a little Mayberry. We take comfort in knowing that our neighbors around the corner are just as smart and just fancy elitists as we are and yet also choose to send their kid to this great public school. Seriously. I am not joking. That is why people move to North Arlington. You can delude yourself that others want what you have in terms of “community” but they don’t. What you have is what will happen to us in N Arlington when everyone sends their kids to private schools.

A lot of people would love to send their kids to a great, walkable school. But Arlington is part of a large and diverse school district. There are many different kinds of kids and families. Nobody owns any particular school. I say this gently, but if you want that kind of certainty, you need to pay for private school. And you don’t get a medal for sending your kids to a wealthy, white, walkable elementary school. You’re kidding yourself if you think you’re contributing to some kind of public good through this action. If the Nott community really wants that school to stay open, then they should support denser housing in that part of the county.

Nottingham family. I do support denser housing and proudly supported missing middle. I don’t support public housing projects and never have - not in my neighborhood and not anywhere - because we have known for 40+ years that concentrating poverty in this way is a bad idea. But the so-called “affordable housing” mafia seems to run this place and they get what they want.

I do find it a bit rich, though, when incredibly privileged people pat themselves on the back for buying a $1m+ house in a “diverse” neighborhood, promptly send their kids to option schools, and then berate others for looking after their interests.

Eyeroll. You didn’t even need to tell us you were from Nottingham. Obvious from your nasty tone.

Something sensitive there? Do you have a problem with me pointing out the rampant privilege that runs through this county and how aggressive people are about looking after their own interests everywhere? The average sales and rentals prices don’t lie. People in this town are RICH - and increasingly so with each passing year.

I’m not aware of any MC or above community that has willingly sacrificed itself for the greater good on anything. The communities just have varying levels of effectiveness in getting what they want. That’s the truth.

You want to talk about privilege? It’s laughable that you think the Nott kids getting assigned to another wealthy N Arlington ES is “sacrificing yourself.” You need to get out more.

+1

+1000. Moving your kid to Jamestown, Taylor or Tuckahoe isn’t exactly a hardship. Cut me a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:County projecting in 5 years we will have a surplus of over 1,000 elementary seats. That sounds...optimistic.

Based on what I wonder. There has been a lot of turnover and lots of new kids in the neighborhood. Pandemic dip was a blip driven by desperate parents who could afford alternatives. We’re coming back.

There’s absolutely no facts/data to support this one way or the other. It’s 1,000 kids going to private school and APS doesn’t know or care to know if they are ever coming back. And if they leave for good, what does that mean for other families in the neighborhood when it’s normal to send your kids to private schools?

I have zero confidence in APS planning/projections. I understand that as a member of the public school community we need to every once in a while deal with these adjustments. APS has convinced me that they are totally incompetent at predicting seats so why should we all run around like crazy people on an annual basis trying to fill seats that APS couldn’t accurately predict?

They need better, outside data before I believe that these moves actually need to be made. They have wasted our money long enough on poor planning and annual neighborhood fights over boundaries.

South Arl poster, our neighborhood has kids divided everywhere, especially private. The effect on the neighborhood has been ...just fine. We just had a real July 4th parade you probably have heard of and a neighborhood picnic at the community house. Having your young kids dispersed doesn't not kill your neighborhood, that is blatantly untrue and known by many county residents apparently outside of your neighborhood.
As for no confidence in APS planning, sure, you do your opinion. My opinion is APS is never allowed to make good strategic decisions because of having to give too much deference to neighborhood feedback. I just don't understand how a 26-square mile system allows itself to be handcuffed by a group of maybe a dozen streets at every decision.

I second that!! - different southern neighborhood. We don't have our own parade or community house but still have a vibrant neighborhood community with kids attending minimally 6 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools that I can think of quickly off the top of my head.

Kudos to you. Nobody else wants this. You are the vast minority. We want our kids to walk to schools with their neighborhood friends. Hang out after school. Know the parents and families. Know what is happening in the classroom from the crazy moms who are there every other day. We want a little Mayberry. We take comfort in knowing that our neighbors around the corner are just as smart and just fancy elitists as we are and yet also choose to send their kid to this great public school. Seriously. I am not joking. That is why people move to North Arlington. You can delude yourself that others want what you have in terms of “community” but they don’t. What you have is what will happen to us in N Arlington when everyone sends their kids to private schools.

If you want your kids walking together with neighborhood friends, hanging out after school and know all the families, it might be time to move outside of Arlington. That's not how this area is set up anymore.

How sad is that. How sad for the kids, how sad for the parents. Worst part is that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Agreed! But how can families change the way APS runs things? This isn't a tiny town where everyone goes private or they go to their neighborhood school which is 500 yards form their home and that's it. APS has a lot of systemic issues that are not going to be solved while our kids are attending APS. how can families advocate for change - they don't listen. You can write a million emails, you can speak at school board meetings and you can vote but it feels like a lot of our hands are tied besides coming on this anonymous forum and venting.

It's time for Arlington to stop being a bunch of individual neighborhood communities and start acting like one community: Arlington. We are geographically small and the excessive focus on individual neighborhoods is ridiculous, unnecessary, and inhibitive to efficient and effective governance and services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:County projecting in 5 years we will have a surplus of over 1,000 elementary seats. That sounds...optimistic.

Based on what I wonder. There has been a lot of turnover and lots of new kids in the neighborhood. Pandemic dip was a blip driven by desperate parents who could afford alternatives. We’re coming back.

There’s absolutely no facts/data to support this one way or the other. It’s 1,000 kids going to private school and APS doesn’t know or care to know if they are ever coming back. And if they leave for good, what does that mean for other families in the neighborhood when it’s normal to send your kids to private schools?

I have zero confidence in APS planning/projections. I understand that as a member of the public school community we need to every once in a while deal with these adjustments. APS has convinced me that they are totally incompetent at predicting seats so why should we all run around like crazy people on an annual basis trying to fill seats that APS couldn’t accurately predict?

They need better, outside data before I believe that these moves actually need to be made. They have wasted our money long enough on poor planning and annual neighborhood fights over boundaries.

South Arl poster, our neighborhood has kids divided everywhere, especially private. The effect on the neighborhood has been ...just fine. We just had a real July 4th parade you probably have heard of and a neighborhood picnic at the community house. Having your young kids dispersed doesn't not kill your neighborhood, that is blatantly untrue and known by many county residents apparently outside of your neighborhood.
As for no confidence in APS planning, sure, you do your opinion. My opinion is APS is never allowed to make good strategic decisions because of having to give too much deference to neighborhood feedback. I just don't understand how a 26-square mile system allows itself to be handcuffed by a group of maybe a dozen streets at every decision.

I second that!! - different southern neighborhood. We don't have our own parade or community house but still have a vibrant neighborhood community with kids attending minimally 6 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools that I can think of quickly off the top of my head.

Kudos to you. Nobody else wants this. You are the vast minority. We want our kids to walk to schools with their neighborhood friends. Hang out after school. Know the parents and families. Know what is happening in the classroom from the crazy moms who are there every other day. We want a little Mayberry. We take comfort in knowing that our neighbors around the corner are just as smart and just fancy elitists as we are and yet also choose to send their kid to this great public school. Seriously. I am not joking. That is why people move to North Arlington. You can delude yourself that others want what you have in terms of “community” but they don’t. What you have is what will happen to us in N Arlington when everyone sends their kids to private schools.

If you want your kids walking together with neighborhood friends, hanging out after school and know all the families, it might be time to move outside of Arlington. That's not how this area is set up anymore.

Obviously this is not true for most of Arlington.

Not all but most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If anyone cares, at Campbell (which is an option school), parents are not allowed to pick children up via car after school. So there are buses in the morning and afternoon, a car drop off line in the morning, and then cars picking kids up from extended day, plus the kids who walk.

They did that to control the flow of cars into/out of the neighborhood in the afternoon.

The carpool drop off line still snarls traffic in the morning, so there is still room for improvement there.

Interesting. The fact that it’s a choice school probably gives them more flexibility to limit transportation options. If Nottingham becomes a swing school, it might be too much to ban the temporary occupants from the option of picking their kids up in the afternoon. If it were my kid, I could handle being displaced for renovations, but telling me I can’t pick my kid up from the new location would feel unreasonable. I might also raise the objection that Nottingham parents were allowed to pick up their kids, why can’t we?

No, I think any school could do this. It’s not a right to pick up your kid in your car from school, not if it’s making the neighbors angry or endangering others. The school doesn’t have to make a pick up line or organize getting the kids out the door except to the buses or to walk home. It’s not impossible. If anything, an option school is less able to “force” these type of changes. People can and do leave for reasons like this. But neighborhood schools probably wouldn’t risk losing students if they banned car pick ups.

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Anonymous wrote:County projecting in 5 years we will have a surplus of over 1,000 elementary seats. That sounds...optimistic.

Based on what I wonder. There has been a lot of turnover and lots of new kids in the neighborhood. Pandemic dip was a blip driven by desperate parents who could afford alternatives. We’re coming back.

There’s absolutely no facts/data to support this one way or the other. It’s 1,000 kids going to private school and APS doesn’t know or care to know if they are ever coming back. And if they leave for good, what does that mean for other families in the neighborhood when it’s normal to send your kids to private schools?

I have zero confidence in APS planning/projections. I understand that as a member of the public school community we need to every once in a while deal with these adjustments. APS has convinced me that they are totally incompetent at predicting seats so why should we all run around like crazy people on an annual basis trying to fill seats that APS couldn’t accurately predict?

They need better, outside data before I believe that these moves actually need to be made. They have wasted our money long enough on poor planning and annual neighborhood fights over boundaries.

South Arl poster, our neighborhood has kids divided everywhere, especially private. The effect on the neighborhood has been ...just fine. We just had a real July 4th parade you probably have heard of and a neighborhood picnic at the community house. Having your young kids dispersed doesn't not kill your neighborhood, that is blatantly untrue and known by many county residents apparently outside of your neighborhood.
As for no confidence in APS planning, sure, you do your opinion. My opinion is APS is never allowed to make good strategic decisions because of having to give too much deference to neighborhood feedback. I just don't understand how a 26-square mile system allows itself to be handcuffed by a group of maybe a dozen streets at every decision.

I second that!! - different southern neighborhood. We don't have our own parade or community house but still have a vibrant neighborhood community with kids attending minimally 6 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools that I can think of quickly off the top of my head.

Kudos to you. Nobody else wants this. You are the vast minority. We want our kids to walk to schools with their neighborhood friends. Hang out after school. Know the parents and families. Know what is happening in the classroom from the crazy moms who are there every other day. We want a little Mayberry. We take comfort in knowing that our neighbors around the corner are just as smart and just fancy elitists as we are and yet also choose to send their kid to this great public school. Seriously. I am not joking. That is why people move to North Arlington. You can delude yourself that others want what you have in terms of “community” but they don’t. What you have is what will happen to us in N Arlington when everyone sends their kids to private schools.

A lot of people would love to send their kids to a great, walkable school. But Arlington is part of a large and diverse school district. There are many different kinds of kids and families. Nobody owns any particular school. I say this gently, but if you want that kind of certainty, you need to pay for private school. And you don’t get a medal for sending your kids to a wealthy, white, walkable elementary school. You’re kidding yourself if you think you’re contributing to some kind of public good through this action. If the Nott community really wants that school to stay open, then they should support denser housing in that part of the county.

Nottingham family. I do support denser housing and proudly supported missing middle. I don’t support public housing projects and never have - not in my neighborhood and not anywhere - because we have known for 40+ years that concentrating poverty in this way is a bad idea. But the so-called “affordable housing” mafia seems to run this place and they get what they want.

I do find it a bit rich, though, when incredibly privileged people pat themselves on the back for buying a $1m+ house in a “diverse” neighborhood, promptly send their kids to option schools, and then berate others for looking after their interests.

Eyeroll. You didn’t even need to tell us you were from Nottingham. Obvious from your nasty tone.

Something sensitive there? Do you have a problem with me pointing out the rampant privilege that runs through this county and how aggressive people are about looking after their own interests everywhere? The average sales and rentals prices don’t lie. People in this town are RICH - and increasingly so with each passing year.

I’m not aware of any MC or above community that has willingly sacrificed itself for the greater good on anything. The communities just have varying levels of effectiveness in getting what they want. That’s the truth.

You want to talk about privilege? It’s laughable that you think the Nott kids getting assigned to another wealthy N Arlington ES is “sacrificing yourself.” You need to get out more.

+1

+1000. Moving your kid to Jamestown, Taylor or Tuckahoe isn’t exactly a hardship. Cut me a break.

Yes, let’s take 2 slightly under capacity schools and a third under capacity school and create 2 over capacity schools complete with long waiting lists for extended day and classrooms in trailers. What a great idea!

FWIW, Nottingham currently has an extensive waiting list for extended day.