Just make Jamestown an Option School Already
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Anonymous
| I'm a Tuckahoe parent who understands why there is concern over becoming a choice school. The lowest number of walkers looks bad, but we have some shared boundaries. Jamestown is at 100. It's not going to grow because it is almost in Fairfax. If the APS initiative is to put option schools where we have the fewest walkers, I will concede that Reed is a bad choice in our area. Jamestown, on the other hand, is a perfect location based on the population in the area. |
Anonymous
| Jamestown is not a good choice for an option school because it is even farther north than Tuckahoe. Far from a perfect location. |
Anonymous
While it would be awesome if APS had a ton of schools right on Rt. 50 to chose from, they don't. What APS is saying now, is that from an operational perspective, it makes more sense to have schools that require busing in locations that require busing anyway. I don't believe option schools are a good thing for APS, but if they aren't going away, I think there are smarter ways to determine their location. Instead of being handcuffed by old decisions, I appreciate that they are looking at ways to make more sense of the boundaries and reduce costs. |
Anonymous
| I don’t have kids in either school and therefore will not be affected, but I just wanted to throw out there that I thought one additional thing they are trying to consider when choosing an option school is accessibility by public transportation. Tuckahoe is easily accessible whereas Jamestown is not. A school that is not easily accessible may discourage lower income families - who may rely on public transport - from applying. It’s not just getting the kids to/from school but also having a way for parents to get there for conferences, picking up and dropping off kids outside of normal arrival/dismissal times, etc... |
Anonymous
So, shorter you: Don't change me, don't change thee, change the one behind the tree. Jamestown is in a bad location for this. |
Anonymous
| Well, any school that can't fill up over 50% with walkers should be on the table. Can Jamestown do that? |
Anonymous
But not based on accessibility across the county. It would merely echo the "team school" scenario and ASFS. |
Anonymous
|
it makes zero sense to make a school that is not easily accessible throughout the county to be a choice school. Taylor / Glebe are in better locations to be a choice school.
Tuckahoe would have several buses navigating Lee Hiway during rush hour. That would not be cost-effective or convenient for families. |
Anonymous
| Glebe is in a good location to be choice. Fair point. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
Only if you move ATS from its current location, and ATS makes more sense as a choice school because it has lower capacity than Glebe, has fewer potential walkers, and is more accessible to South Arlington residents. If both schools are choice schools you'll end up with 600 kids who could have been walkers but instead will need buses. |
Anonymous
This is not a valid argument. |
Anonymous
Right now Tuckahoe parents are floating as many arguments as possible, hoping one sticks. Unless they can show how they will reasonably fill that school, without taking kids who could otherwise walk to Nottingham, Reed or McKinley, the rest of these are false flags. |
Anonymous
Tuckahoe has an underground spring beneath the school. The kids are accustomed to that unique ecosystem and moving them elsewhere would be dangerous. |
Anonymous
| There's almost no walk zone overlap with Reed or McKinley and Tucakhoe. Plenty with Nottingham. Nottingham also overlaps with Discovery. I think it has one planning unit that is exclusively walkable to Nottingham. But the debate has not been framed to point that out. Tuckahoe is also situated near areas for future development. No one is building multistory buildings near Discovery, Nottingham or Jamestown. Ever. |