Overcrowding at Arlington Traditional School

[Anonymous]

Excellent report in the Arlington Connection about overcrowding at Arlington Traditional School (ATS). For 2018 they are projected to have utliization at 121% of capacity.

121%! For ATS!!! And yet the School Board wants to go from four relocatables on the ATS lot to twelve. Even though the whole point of the traditional education model is that you don't have ANY relocatables on the lot .

People cry about McKinley's victimhood, but they're only at 113%. Henry is at 150%. Science Focus is at 128%, with Claremont at 130%.

People have overstated how McKinley has been harmed while schools like Nottingham and Discovery benefited. Well, Nottingham and Discovery are bursting at the seams. As is Tuckahoe. Even Jamestown, which schools kids who live in the most expensive real estate in the County, winds up OVER capacity.

I'm glad the Connection has inserted actual facts into this debate

[Anonymous]

how can it be overcrowded when it is a lottery system with exact numbers.

i don't think one school should be exempted from trailers. That is an odd point to make.

[Anonymous]

ATS has 542 students. McK has 757. At least according to APS, ATS has 4 trailers, McK has 8. It's more than bursting at the seams and lost its field too, after years of construction. And didn't gain an extra music or art or gifted teacher to account for the extra enrollment. Those are facts too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even though the whole point of the traditional education model is that you don't have ANY relocatables on the lot .

People cry about McKinley's victimhood, but they're only at 113%. Henry is at 150%. Science Focus is at 128%,

The whole point of the ATS model is to have docile children all doing the same things on the same schedule and nailing those standardized tests. You can do that in a trailer. And if you wanted to be really traditional, you'd have 32 kids per class.

If you think neighborhood schools have such a sweet deal, your child can always attend yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Excellent report in the Arlington Connection about overcrowding at Arlington Traditional School (ATS). For 2018 they are projected to have utliization at 121% of capacity.

121%! For ATS!!! And yet the School Board wants to go from four relocatables on the ATS lot to twelve. Even though the whole point of the traditional education model is that you don't have ANY relocatables on the lot .

People cry about McKinley's victimhood, but they're only at 113%. Henry is at 150%. Science Focus is at 128%, with Claremont at 130%.

People have overstated how McKinley has been harmed while schools like Nottingham and Discovery benefited. Well, Nottingham and Discovery are bursting at the seams. As is Tuckahoe. Even Jamestown, which schools kids who live in the most expensive real estate in the County, winds up OVER capacity.

I'm glad the Connection has inserted actual facts into this debate

Except that all these numbers are pulled from the 12/22/2016 utilization spreadsheet... which is not correct. This is the projection spreadsheet that the McKinley parents found math errors in as soon as it was published-- you know, when APS hired a consultant to look at the numbers last spring? It was a big School Board presentation? The reason that APS hasn't updated that spreadsheet since December 2016 is because the School Board and consultant concluded that wasn't a good way to look at school capacity (and the projections were bad). I have no idea what "Connection Newspapers" is, but they need to brush up on their research skills. But I would think a parent at Arlington Traditional School would know how to do that too.

For the record, the Feb. 2018 enrollment numbers are posted on the APS website-- McKinley is at 811 and ATS is at 539. https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Feb-28-Membership-2017-18.pdf

[Anonymous]

ATS parent here. We're over our official capacity because we agreed to let in extra kids. First, we increased class sizes and then we added trailers. We're fine with taking each grade to 4 classes. We're fine with trailers. We're just resisting attempts to take each grade to 5 classes, and adding something like 10 more trailers, without some sort of permanent renovation. The building is not large, and the multipurpose room and gym are not large.

Some of the schools that have more kids are also a larger building, with a larger gym and a larger cafeteria and more classrooms. I'm not saying they should be overloaded either - overcrowding is bad for everyone.

And part of the reason McKinley is overcrowded is because planning units asked to stay there instead of being moved to less crowded schools up North.

[Anonymous]

Additionally, if you want to get your facts straight, you should look at the Facility Optimization Report, because this is what APS is now using to determine who has the most space for trailers: https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Facilities-Optimization-Study.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ATS parent here. We're over our official capacity because we agreed to let in extra kids. First, we increased class sizes and then we added trailers. We're fine with taking each grade to 4 classes. We're fine with trailers. We're just resisting attempts to take each grade to 5 classes, and adding something like 10 more trailers, without some sort of permanent renovation. The building is not large, and the multipurpose room and gym are not large.

Some of the schools that have more kids are also a larger building, with a larger gym and a larger cafeteria and more classrooms. I'm not saying they should be overloaded either - overcrowding is bad for everyone.

And part of the reason McKinley is overcrowded is because planning units asked to stay there instead of being moved to less crowded schools up North.

I’m sorry. ATS is a public school. Your statement that you agreed to let more kids in is outrageous! That isn’t the decision of the school or its parents. That’s for the school board. You guys have seen nothing on overcrowding. Stop whining. Go back to your neighborhood school if it is so bad.

And you do realize they are going to grow ATS. The more you complain about the crowding, the more likely you move to another location. In South Arlington, by the way. It will be just as diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ATS parent here.

And part of the reason McKinley is overcrowded is because planning units asked to stay there instead of being moved to less crowded schools up North.

Sorry ATS parent-- this is wrong too. Facts aren't really an ATS thing, I guess. There were two Tuckahoe planning units that wanted to move together in 2014. They were both originally scheduled to move to Nottingham. Nottingham said they didn't have room for both and lobbied the School Board to move one to McKinley instead. No planning units were ever scheduled to move from McKinley to schools further north in 2014.

[Anonymous]

You're not going to get a lot of sympathy here, ATS parent. The recent school board mtg showed that next year (2018-2019), the entire elementary school system is going to be really overcrowded. Kanninen commented on it and made a note how Fleet was supposed to open in 2018. Next year will be really crowded for lots of people.

We also saw how ATS complained about being overcrowded but at the same time argued that it couldn't possibly be moved anywhere else. You can't have it both ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ATS parent here.

And part of the reason McKinley is overcrowded is because planning units asked to stay there instead of being moved to less crowded schools up North.

Sorry ATS parent-- this is wrong too. Facts aren't really an ATS thing, I guess. There were two Tuckahoe planning units that wanted to move together in 2014. They were both originally scheduled to move to Nottingham. Nottingham said they didn't have room for both and lobbied the School Board to move one to McKinley instead. No planning units were ever scheduled to move from McKinley to schools further north in 2014.

I even thought they asked to go back to Tuckahoe and were told "no." ATS needs to realize it sounds like a bunch of entitled spoiled brats. And ones that are paying no attention to the bigger picture statements coming from APS. Option programs are growing. Period. Either ATS does that where it is (which of course they don't want) or they move to a bigger building (which they also don't want).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Excellent report in the Arlington Connection about overcrowding at Arlington Traditional School (ATS). For 2018 they are projected to have utliization at 121% of capacity.

121%! For ATS!!! And yet the School Board wants to go from four relocatables on the ATS lot to twelve. Even though the whole point of the traditional education model is that you don't have ANY relocatables on the lot .

People cry about McKinley's victimhood, but they're only at 113%. Henry is at 150%. Science Focus is at 128%, with Claremont at 130%.

People have overstated how McKinley has been harmed while schools like Nottingham and Discovery benefited. Well, Nottingham and Discovery are bursting at the seams. As is Tuckahoe. Even Jamestown, which schools kids who live in the most expensive real estate in the County, winds up OVER capacity.

I'm glad the Connection has inserted actual facts into this debate

Funny you call it a "report." It was clearly written by ATS parents. Good try to make it seem like real journalism.

[Anonymous]

So at what point are they going to cancel building HB? Are we still full-steam-ahead with a school that costing us $100,000/seat or more?

[Anonymous]

Wow. Just wow. I actually used to support the ATS community on this, that while the occasional bubble year might make sense, an overall shift to five classes per grade was too much overcrowding for the school. But seriously, you think that because you were lucky enough to lottery into that program you should also be exempt from any overcrowding and the rest of us should meekly accept the consequences of that? Screw you, ATS can have its five classes per grade.

[Anonymous]

ATS has a huge lot with room for trailers. You should be asking for renovations to accommodate more kids in gym and lunch.

Looks like Campbell is going to be screwed with more trailers RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PLAY YARD. So much for sports at that school. At least ATS will still have a decent play space to run around without running into a building.