Goodbye Barcroft (APS)?

[Anonymous]

Saw all the talk about Nottingham being slated as a possible option school, but I didn't see much about Barcroft. Barcroft has 42% of its registered students as transfers elsewhere, making it the 2nd highest transfer rate in the county. When you include all the students who could attend, it jumps up to 72% of those students not attending. How do people feel about Barcroft being considered for an option school? With the new principal, I thought it was on the road to change. Or will it finally drop the year round calendar?


https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Apr-30-Analysis-Final-2.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Saw all the talk about Nottingham being slated as a possible option school, but I didn't see much about Barcroft. Barcroft has 42% of its registered students as transfers elsewhere, making it the 2nd highest transfer rate in the county. When you include all the students who could attend, it jumps up to 72% of those students not attending. How do people feel about Barcroft being considered for an option school? With the new principal, I thought it was on the road to change. Or will it finally drop the year round calendar?


https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Apr-30-Analysis-Final-2.pdf

I think it's a no brainer to put immersion at carlin springs and Barcroft. There aren't enough Spanish speakers at either Claremont or key right now. Immersion is not moving to the ATS building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saw all the talk about Nottingham being slated as a possible option school, but I didn't see much about Barcroft. Barcroft has 42% of its registered students as transfers elsewhere, making it the 2nd highest transfer rate in the county. When you include all the students who could attend, it jumps up to 72% of those students not attending. How do people feel about Barcroft being considered for an option school? With the new principal, I thought it was on the road to change. Or will it finally drop the year round calendar?


https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Apr-30-Analysis-Final-2.pdf

I think it's a no brainer to put immersion at carlin springs and Barcroft. There aren't enough Spanish speakers at either Claremont or key right now. Immersion is not moving to the ATS building.

Where did you get this information? I thought the ATS building was still on the table.

[Anonymous]

Where do the kids who are zoned to Barcorft go if this happens? It says its one of the most walkable schools, but many people don't use it. I'm guessing the Spanish speaking kids would stay and walk, but what about families who don't want immersion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saw all the talk about Nottingham being slated as a possible option school, but I didn't see much about Barcroft. Barcroft has 42% of its registered students as transfers elsewhere, making it the 2nd highest transfer rate in the county. When you include all the students who could attend, it jumps up to 72% of those students not attending. How do people feel about Barcroft being considered for an option school? With the new principal, I thought it was on the road to change. Or will it finally drop the year round calendar?


https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Apr-30-Analysis-Final-2.pdf

I think it's a no brainer to put immersion at carlin springs and Barcroft. There aren't enough Spanish speakers at either Claremont or key right now. Immersion is not moving to the ATS building.

Where did you get this information? I thought the ATS building was still on the table.

DP. It is on the table, but the Spanish-speaking population numbers around ATS are pretty low. Whether ATS works as an immersion site depends on how far away native Spanish-speaking families would be willing to bus their kids for immersion. The historical transfer data for ATS makes that a questionable assumption, so the immersion->ATS/ATS->Nottingham plan is a pretty big gamble. My guess is that when we someday see the community questionnaire, there will be questions directed specifically at this concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do the kids who are zoned to Barcorft go if this happens? It says its one of the most walkable schools, but many people don't use it. I'm guessing the Spanish speaking kids would stay and walk, but what about families who don't want immersion?

If they did this, it wouldn't surprise me if the new Ashlawn boundary became a dogleg cutting straight down across 50 and then moving eastward along 50 to pick up planning units from Carlin Springs and Barcroft until you hit the new Jefferson boundary. The rest of current Barcroft would be spread among Claremont (as a neighborhood school), Fleet and maybe Randolph if they decide to bus some of the walkers there elsewhere to make room.

[Anonymous]

No, all the Spanish speaking, low income kids that live at the southern part of the boundary will not all go to an immersion at Barcroft. Some go to Claremont now, but immigrant families tend to want their kids in an all English speaking school (as do non-immigrant families). There is very little outreach to the Spanish speaking community now, and I have heard little about changing how APS does things. Will some parents opt for Barcroft as immersion, sure. Will that ensure there are more Spanish speakers? No. Not unless the county comes in and makes them apply, or educates them on the benefits of immersion. And even if they do apply, there is no preference for the neighborhood so they have to get in line.

Those kids who do not get into Barcroft (and they cannot all get in, not even close) would then have to take a bus to Randolph - yes low income kids who are walkers will become bused kids. Nice, huh.

The UMC kids will continue to choice out, some to immersion, because Randolph is not walkable and considered even more challenged than Barcroft. If they neighborhood is split up and the northern edge goes to Barrett, they will no longer be walkers either, because walkers cannot cross route 50.

So, let's make an entire walkable neighborhood now take the bus, especially lower income kids. A large percentage of kids do choice out of Barcroft, but a large number do not - enough to fill the school. Only recently, Barcroft was one of the most overcrowded schools in the county.

[Anonymous]

Spanish speakers cannot just "stay" and walk. There is no neighborhood preference. They must apply like everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Ashlawn will not sweep into Barcroft. Why would it when Barrett is just across 50? Some families in Barcroft are closer to Barrett than Barcroft elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do the kids who are zoned to Barcorft go if this happens? It says its one of the most walkable schools, but many people don't use it. I'm guessing the Spanish speaking kids would stay and walk, but what about families who don't want immersion?

What about them? They will go elsewhere.
It’s the only to improve performance.
They should do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, all the Spanish speaking, low income kids that live at the southern part of the boundary will not all go to an immersion at Barcroft. Some go to Claremont now, but immigrant families tend to want their kids in an all English speaking school (as do non-immigrant families). There is very little outreach to the Spanish speaking community now, and I have heard little about changing how APS does things. Will some parents opt for Barcroft as immersion, sure. Will that ensure there are more Spanish speakers? No. Not unless the county comes in and makes them apply, or educates them on the benefits of immersion. And even if they do apply, there is no preference for the neighborhood so they have to get in line.

Those kids who do not get into Barcroft (and they cannot all get in, not even close) would then have to take a bus to Randolph - yes low income kids who are walkers will become bused kids. Nice, huh.

The UMC kids will continue to choice out, some to immersion, because Randolph is not walkable and considered even more challenged than Barcroft. If they neighborhood is split up and the northern edge goes to Barrett, they will no longer be walkers either, because walkers cannot cross route 50.

So, let's make an entire walkable neighborhood now take the bus, especially lower income kids. A large percentage of kids do choice out of Barcroft, but a large number do not - enough to fill the school. Only recently, Barcroft was one of the most overcrowded schools in the county.

Nice try idiot.
Randolph is right next door. STFU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, all the Spanish speaking, low income kids that live at the southern part of the boundary will not all go to an immersion at Barcroft. Some go to Claremont now, but immigrant families tend to want their kids in an all English speaking school (as do non-immigrant families). There is very little outreach to the Spanish speaking community now, and I have heard little about changing how APS does things. Will some parents opt for Barcroft as immersion, sure. Will that ensure there are more Spanish speakers? No. Not unless the county comes in and makes them apply, or educates them on the benefits of immersion. And even if they do apply, there is no preference for the neighborhood so they have to get in line.

Those kids who do not get into Barcroft (and they cannot all get in, not even close) would then have to take a bus to Randolph - yes low income kids who are walkers will become bused kids. Nice, huh.

The UMC kids will continue to choice out, some to immersion, because Randolph is not walkable and considered even more challenged than Barcroft. If they neighborhood is split up and the northern edge goes to Barrett, they will no longer be walkers either, because walkers cannot cross route 50.

So, let's make an entire walkable neighborhood now take the bus, especially lower income kids. A large percentage of kids do choice out of Barcroft, but a large number do not - enough to fill the school. Only recently, Barcroft was one of the most overcrowded schools in the county.

So you are happy with the status quo at Barcroft and Randolph? It's either continue to have high poverty schools that people with resources avoid or carve up the area like a turkey and bus kids to various other places in some attempt at balance that may or may not work. The options aren't great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ashlawn will not sweep into Barcroft. Why would it when Barrett is just across 50? Some families in Barcroft are closer to Barrett than Barcroft elementary.

If Barrett isn't going to be an option site (which it's not), they're not going to break it up just to bus kids across 50. Barrett is highly walkable (80%), and high FARMS (62%). Why would you put so many walkers on buses just to move Barcroft kids from one high-FARMS school to another? Ashlawn, at 37% walkers and 19% FARMS, doesn't have this issue so it makes more sense as the school to stretch across 50. The reason for the dog-leg is to avoid only taking the most affluent areas of Glen Carlyn across 50 to Ashlawn but instead to pick up more of the lower-income stretches east of there that are driving up FARMS rates and create better FARMS balance across the SW zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, all the Spanish speaking, low income kids that live at the southern part of the boundary will not all go to an immersion at Barcroft. Some go to Claremont now, but immigrant families tend to want their kids in an all English speaking school (as do non-immigrant families). There is very little outreach to the Spanish speaking community now, and I have heard little about changing how APS does things. Will some parents opt for Barcroft as immersion, sure. Will that ensure there are more Spanish speakers? No. Not unless the county comes in and makes them apply, or educates them on the benefits of immersion. And even if they do apply, there is no preference for the neighborhood so they have to get in line.

Those kids who do not get into Barcroft (and they cannot all get in, not even close) would then have to take a bus to Randolph - yes low income kids who are walkers will become bused kids. Nice, huh.

The UMC kids will continue to choice out, some to immersion, because Randolph is not walkable and considered even more challenged than Barcroft. If they neighborhood is split up and the northern edge goes to Barrett, they will no longer be walkers either, because walkers cannot cross route 50.

So, let's make an entire walkable neighborhood now take the bus, especially lower income kids. A large percentage of kids do choice out of Barcroft, but a large number do not - enough to fill the school. Only recently, Barcroft was one of the most overcrowded schools in the county.

How is Randolph not walkable? The staff's analysis shows Randolph could be filled to 110% capacity just with its walk zone. If that wouldn't happen in practice because too many people opt out of the school, that's a different issue that needs to be addressed but it doesn't make Randolph unwalkable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those kids who do not get into Barcroft (and they cannot all get in, not even close) would then have to take a bus to Randolph - yes low income kids who are walkers will become bused kids. Nice, huh.

The UMC kids will continue to choice out, some to immersion, because Randolph is not walkable and considered even more challenged than Barcroft. If they neighborhood is split up and the northern edge goes to Barrett, they will no longer be walkers either, because walkers cannot cross route 50.

So, let's make an entire walkable neighborhood now take the bus, especially lower income kids. A large percentage of kids do choice out of Barcroft, but a large number do not - enough to fill the school. Only recently, Barcroft was one of the most overcrowded schools in the county.

Nice try idiot.
Randolph is right next door. STFU.

Not a fan of the PP's tone, but he's got a point. The distance between Barcroft and Randolph is .09 mile. So you're not exactly disenfranchising an entire community by moving them 10 blocks down the road...