APS Free and Reduced Meals - New Report

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Here we go again with the HB bashing. We get it. Your kid didn’t get in and you’re jealous. I’ll bet your kid doesn’t qualify for reduced price meals either.

DP. I agree with the PPP. Option programs should be balanced. They can be controlled with admissions policies requiring it. But they won't do it.

HB’s program was not designed to serve an economically diverse population per se. Its program is designed for students with a certain learning style, and it’s self selecting. The selection process already attempts to arrive at socioeconomic diversity by allocating slots among the various elementary schools fairly and equitably, but it can’t force poor kids to apply.

I don't know how you can look at this application data and say people are self-selecting for learning style: https://www.apsva.us/school-options/school-transfer-data/secondary-options-transfers-application-data-school-year-2022-23/

There are 443 applicants for 73 offered seats in the 6th grade entry year. If it was about learning style we would be more concerned that 83% of the people who think they need that environment can't get it. We would have a process where there is some kind of recommendation and application materials showing suitability. Everyone know that HB Woodlawn is no longer about self selecting for leaning style.

Who said anything about “needing” HB’s learning style? There’s a difference between need and want.

A PP upthread was saying HB can’t match the county average FARMs rate because it’s self selecting for learning style.

What the PP meant by "learning style" and what all rich white parents mean by that is " my kid has to be surrounded by kids just like himself who have the means and intelligence. And we can't afford private school and why should we when we already paid a couple million for this old house in Arlington? Our kid DESERVES the school. it's ok to sprinkle in a non white kid every once in a while though bc my kid does need to learn about diversity and of course that not every one is rich ..."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Here we go again with the HB bashing. We get it. Your kid didn’t get in and you’re jealous. I’ll bet your kid doesn’t qualify for reduced price meals either.

DP. Look around you at where that school is located and the resources it takes to run it. If the best you can come up with is “you’re jealous,” you need to take a moment and really reflect.

What does this mean? It's in the location nobody else wanted to send their kid to...

It’s located walking distance from hundreds of affordable housing units and other kinds of multi-family housing. It should draw more than 12 percent. If the application process doesn’t result in a student population more reflective of the county population, then the application process needs to change. If the program can’t serve a population more reflective of our county, then the program needs to change. There’s no good reason why an option high school in a public school system should be so out of sync with the demographics of the entire county student population.

the lack of sports and hours are quite limiting for many families. As a rising middle school parent I am thinking about whether my kid will be good to get himself out the door for a 9am start time while I’m working. Other middle schools start times make that a moot point. If we had younger siblings at home that needed to be picked up or watched the HB schedule wouldn’t work either.

Also more difficult to work after school if you get out at 3:50

Great points- the limited hours sound like a great place to start a review.

Sounds like having program unique hours makes HB discriminatory — lawsuit in waiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS has posted this year's free and reduced meals report: https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/FREE-REDUCED-OCTOBER-31-2022.pdf

This is the first time these numbers have been reported since 2019, so we are seeing the impact of the school moves, pandemic changes, etc. Barrett, Barcroft, and Drew are all significantly higher.

BARRETT 74.91%
RANDOLPH 74.88%
BARCROFT 74.84%
CARLIN SPRINGS 74.82%
DREW 74.78%
KENMORE 51.34%
HOFFMAN BOSTON 46.38%
CAMPBELL 45.65%
JEFFERSON 42.05%
ABINGDON 40.69%
WAKEFIELD 39.59%
GUNSTON 36.81%
INNOVATION 35.98%
ARL. TRADITIONAL 34.78%
ARLINGTON COMM 34.61%
ESCUELA KEY 32.63%
ALICE WEST FLEET 32.11%
LONG BRANCH 31.68%
OAKRIDGE 31.62%
CLAREMONT 27.64%
MONTESSORI 27.60%
WASHINGTON LIB 24.34%
DOROTHY HAMM 19.11%
SWANSON 17.56%
ASHLAWN 17.21%
SCIENCE FOCUS 14.78%
YORKTOWN 14.40%
GLEBE 13.04%
HB WOODLAWN 12.15%
TAYLOR 8.02%
CARDINAL 6.37%
NOTTINGHAM 4.63%
JAMESTOWN 4.57%
DISCOVERY 2.88%
TUCKAHOE 2.68%
WILLIAMSBURG 2.43%
TOTAL 30.13%

Glad HB is representative of the student population /s

The HB and Williamsburg statistics are scandalous. Williamsburg is a MIDDLE school.

It's not that different from Cooper MS, the feeder to Langley HS in FCPS, which was 3.2% FARMS last year. At least the high schools in APS have some economic diversity; Langley's FARMS rate is about the same as Cooper's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS has posted this year's free and reduced meals report: https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/FREE-REDUCED-OCTOBER-31-2022.pdf

This is the first time these numbers have been reported since 2019, so we are seeing the impact of the school moves, pandemic changes, etc. Barrett, Barcroft, and Drew are all significantly higher.

BARRETT 74.91%
RANDOLPH 74.88%
BARCROFT 74.84%
CARLIN SPRINGS 74.82%
DREW 74.78%
KENMORE 51.34%
HOFFMAN BOSTON 46.38%
CAMPBELL 45.65%
JEFFERSON 42.05%
ABINGDON 40.69%
WAKEFIELD 39.59%
GUNSTON 36.81%
INNOVATION 35.98%
ARL. TRADITIONAL 34.78%
ARLINGTON COMM 34.61%
ESCUELA KEY 32.63%
ALICE WEST FLEET 32.11%
LONG BRANCH 31.68%
OAKRIDGE 31.62%
CLAREMONT 27.64%
MONTESSORI 27.60%
WASHINGTON LIB 24.34%
DOROTHY HAMM 19.11%
SWANSON 17.56%
ASHLAWN 17.21%
SCIENCE FOCUS 14.78%
YORKTOWN 14.40%
GLEBE 13.04%
HB WOODLAWN 12.15%
TAYLOR 8.02%
CARDINAL 6.37%
NOTTINGHAM 4.63%
JAMESTOWN 4.57%
DISCOVERY 2.88%
TUCKAHOE 2.68%
WILLIAMSBURG 2.43%
TOTAL 30.13%

Glad HB is representative of the student population /s

The HB and Williamsburg statistics are scandalous. Williamsburg is a MIDDLE school.

It's not that different from Cooper MS, the feeder to Langley HS in FCPS, which was 3.2% FARMS last year. At least the high schools in APS have some economic diversity; Langley's FARMS rate is about the same as Cooper's.

Rich liberals love to vote for democrats, but they want actual diversity to be something that other people's kids experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Here we go again with the HB bashing. We get it. Your kid didn’t get in and you’re jealous. I’ll bet your kid doesn’t qualify for reduced price meals either.

DP. I agree with the PPP. Option programs should be balanced. They can be controlled with admissions policies requiring it. But they won't do it.

HB’s program was not designed to serve an economically diverse population per se. Its program is designed for students with a certain learning style, and it’s self selecting. The selection process already attempts to arrive at socioeconomic diversity by allocating slots among the various elementary schools fairly and equitably, but it can’t force poor kids to apply.

I don't know how you can look at this application data and say people are self-selecting for learning style: https://www.apsva.us/school-options/school-transfer-data/secondary-options-transfers-application-data-school-year-2022-23/

There are 443 applicants for 73 offered seats in the 6th grade entry year. If it was about learning style we would be more concerned that 83% of the people who think they need that environment can't get it. We would have a process where there is some kind of recommendation and application materials showing suitability. Everyone know that HB Woodlawn is no longer about self selecting for leaning style.

Who said anything about “needing” HB’s learning style? There’s a difference between need and want.

There are plenty of students who decided against HB because they want certain sports or electives. Arlington needs more, not fewer, high school seats. HB needs to stay an option high school. If anything, it should drop middle school students and open up more high school seats.

I'd support that. But the middle school students still have to go somewhere and we have over-crowded middle schools. APS needs to do better with MS boundaries.

We have way more middle school capacity than we need; we need new boundaries I agree to balance them, but we can covert HB MS to
HS seats and add 300+ more seats where we most need it. Whole thread on this with the math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand all the HB hatred. It’s not better than the neighborhood high schools. I’ve had kids attend both. I also know parents who pulled their kids out of HB and sent them to the neighborhood schools because they decided those schools were better.

That may have happened in the past, but this year they created XL WL with a future 3000+ capacity — very few will be swapping a 700 seat school for that monstrosity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Here we go again with the HB bashing. We get it. Your kid didn’t get in and you’re jealous. I’ll bet your kid doesn’t qualify for reduced price meals either.

DP. I agree with the PPP. Option programs should be balanced. They can be controlled with admissions policies requiring it. But they won't do it.

HB’s program was not designed to serve an economically diverse population per se. Its program is designed for students with a certain learning style, and it’s self selecting. The selection process already attempts to arrive at socioeconomic diversity by allocating slots among the various elementary schools fairly and equitably, but it can’t force poor kids to apply.

I don't know how you can look at this application data and say people are self-selecting for learning style: https://www.apsva.us/school-options/school-transfer-data/secondary-options-transfers-application-data-school-year-2022-23/

There are 443 applicants for 73 offered seats in the 6th grade entry year. If it was about learning style we would be more concerned that 83% of the people who think they need that environment can't get it. We would have a process where there is some kind of recommendation and application materials showing suitability. Everyone know that HB Woodlawn is no longer about self selecting for leaning style.

Who said anything about “needing” HB’s learning style? There’s a difference between need and want.

A PP upthread was saying HB can’t match the county average FARMs rate because it’s self selecting for learning style.

What the PP meant by "learning style" and what all rich white parents mean by that is " my kid has to be surrounded by kids just like himself who have the means and intelligence. And we can't afford private school and why should we when we already paid a couple million for this old house in Arlington? Our kid DESERVES the school. it's ok to sprinkle in a non white kid every once in a while though bc my kid does need to learn about diversity and of course that not every one is rich ..."

Today, perhaps; but not when it was first developed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's also amazing to me how white people are SO scared of the high FRL schools.

When you live in South Arlington, you are not scared of them. And you know that your child can have a terrific experience anywhere. We have friends who choose to go to Drew this year (vice Abingdon) and are having an outstanding experience.

But of course, you should have to post your zip code when entering these discussions. It seems 22207 has a lot of opinions about what happens with 22204 and think their opinion should trump the opinion of those of us who actually live here.

The most passionate voices in option school discussions on DCUM are SA parents, by far. The only reason many families stay in SA is because they have an out via option schools. Your claim is laughable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm really surprised Williamsburg is so low. I know it draws from a very wealthy area, but 2.43% is so low - especially compared to Hamm and Swanson. Did Hamm take all the "poor" people from Williamsburg when it opened?

Also, my kids went to Glebe - they are in HS now. Their numbers are much lower than they used to be, too.

It's so low b/c it only pulls from these:

NOTTINGHAM 4.63%
JAMESTOWN 4.57%
DISCOVERY 2.88%
TUCKAHOE 2.68%

Hmm, does this potentially indicate that more people have their kids in private schools in elementary over the past few years than in middle? (Feeder elementaries ALL have higher rates than the WMS average). Or are the FARMS families on the "borders" and go to Swanson/Hamm?

Do these numbers include Montessori classrooms? Jamestown and Discovery both have them, and they draw from roughly middle school sized boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's also amazing to me how white people are SO scared of the high FRL schools.

When you live in South Arlington, you are not scared of them. And you know that your child can have a terrific experience anywhere. We have friends who choose to go to Drew this year (vice Abingdon) and are having an outstanding experience.

But of course, you should have to post your zip code when entering these discussions. It seems 22207 has a lot of opinions about what happens with 22204 and think their opinion should trump the opinion of those of us who actually live here.

The most passionate voices in option school discussions on DCUM are SA parents, by far. The only reason many families stay in SA is because they have an out via option schools. Your claim is laughable.

The opt-out rate of SA elem schools directly corresponds to the FARMS rate. You can do the math. The poorest schools have the most families who opt out. And there is a reason for that. I want my kids in schools with a FARMS rate around 30%. That's ideal. Higher than that and the schools don't perform as well. There is also data on this. But APS has not and will not ever address this issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS has posted this year's free and reduced meals report: https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/FREE-REDUCED-OCTOBER-31-2022.pdf

This is the first time these numbers have been reported since 2019, so we are seeing the impact of the school moves, pandemic changes, etc. Barrett, Barcroft, and Drew are all significantly higher.

BARRETT 74.91%
RANDOLPH 74.88%
BARCROFT 74.84%
CARLIN SPRINGS 74.82%
DREW 74.78%
KENMORE 51.34%
HOFFMAN BOSTON 46.38%
CAMPBELL 45.65%
JEFFERSON 42.05%
ABINGDON 40.69%
WAKEFIELD 39.59%
GUNSTON 36.81%
INNOVATION 35.98%
ARL. TRADITIONAL 34.78%
ARLINGTON COMM 34.61%
ESCUELA KEY 32.63%
ALICE WEST FLEET 32.11%
LONG BRANCH 31.68%
OAKRIDGE 31.62%
CLAREMONT 27.64%
MONTESSORI 27.60%
WASHINGTON LIB 24.34%
DOROTHY HAMM 19.11%
SWANSON 17.56%
ASHLAWN 17.21%
SCIENCE FOCUS 14.78%
YORKTOWN 14.40%
GLEBE 13.04%
HB WOODLAWN 12.15%
TAYLOR 8.02%
CARDINAL 6.37%
NOTTINGHAM 4.63%
JAMESTOWN 4.57%
DISCOVERY 2.88%
TUCKAHOE 2.68%
WILLIAMSBURG 2.43%
TOTAL 30.13%

Glad HB is representative of the student population /s

The HB and Williamsburg statistics are scandalous. Williamsburg is a MIDDLE school.

It's not that different from Cooper MS, the feeder to Langley HS in FCPS, which was 3.2% FARMS last year. At least the high schools in APS have some economic diversity; Langley's FARMS rate is about the same as Cooper's.

Rich liberals love to vote for democrats, but they want actual diversity to be something that other people's kids experience

Most Arlingtonians don’t live in Upper Caucasia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Here we go again with the HB bashing. We get it. Your kid didn’t get in and you’re jealous. I’ll bet your kid doesn’t qualify for reduced price meals either.

DP. I agree with the PPP. Option programs should be balanced. They can be controlled with admissions policies requiring it. But they won't do it.

HB’s program was not designed to serve an economically diverse population per se. Its program is designed for students with a certain learning style, and it’s self selecting. The selection process already attempts to arrive at socioeconomic diversity by allocating slots among the various elementary schools fairly and equitably, but it can’t force poor kids to apply.

I don't know how you can look at this application data and say people are self-selecting for learning style: https://www.apsva.us/school-options/school-transfer-data/secondary-options-transfers-application-data-school-year-2022-23/

There are 443 applicants for 73 offered seats in the 6th grade entry year. If it was about learning style we would be more concerned that 83% of the people who think they need that environment can't get it. We would have a process where there is some kind of recommendation and application materials showing suitability. Everyone know that HB Woodlawn is no longer about self selecting for leaning style.

Who said anything about “needing” HB’s learning style? There’s a difference between need and want.

A PP upthread was saying HB can’t match the county average FARMs rate because it’s self selecting for learning style.

What the PP meant by "learning style" and what all rich white parents mean by that is " my kid has to be surrounded by kids just like himself who have the means and intelligence. And we can't afford private school and why should we when we already paid a couple million for this old house in Arlington? Our kid DESERVES the school. it's ok to sprinkle in a non white kid every once in a while though bc my kid does need to learn about diversity and of course that not every one is rich ..."

I think the reasoning is more like:

N. Arlington: When I moved to Arlington W-L was a big but reasonable-ish size. Now almost 20 years later it's a behemoth and my kid is going to get horribly lost. This isn't what I signed up for. I *need* to get my kid into HB so they survive high school. I'm terrified my kid won't do well in a huge, over crowded high school because of [specific reason, eg anxiety, shyness, executive function, etc] and I can't afford private.

FARMS view:. Going to an option school is logistically complicated and I don't have bandwidth in my life to deal with those transportation issues. I also know nothing about the school. I'm not going to war with my kid, who wants to be with their community and friends, to get them to attend HB, even if it's slightly better. The zoned high school is good enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Here we go again with the HB bashing. We get it. Your kid didn’t get in and you’re jealous. I’ll bet your kid doesn’t qualify for reduced price meals either.

DP. I agree with the PPP. Option programs should be balanced. They can be controlled with admissions policies requiring it. But they won't do it.

HB’s program was not designed to serve an economically diverse population per se. Its program is designed for students with a certain learning style, and it’s self selecting. The selection process already attempts to arrive at socioeconomic diversity by allocating slots among the various elementary schools fairly and equitably, but it can’t force poor kids to apply.

I don't know how you can look at this application data and say people are self-selecting for learning style: https://www.apsva.us/school-options/school-transfer-data/secondary-options-transfers-application-data-school-year-2022-23/

There are 443 applicants for 73 offered seats in the 6th grade entry year. If it was about learning style we would be more concerned that 83% of the people who think they need that environment can't get it. We would have a process where there is some kind of recommendation and application materials showing suitability. Everyone know that HB Woodlawn is no longer about self selecting for leaning style.

Who said anything about “needing” HB’s learning style? There’s a difference between need and want.

A PP upthread was saying HB can’t match the county average FARMs rate because it’s self selecting for learning style.

What the PP meant by "learning style" and what all rich white parents mean by that is " my kid has to be surrounded by kids just like himself who have the means and intelligence. And we can't afford private school and why should we when we already paid a couple million for this old house in Arlington? Our kid DESERVES the school. it's ok to sprinkle in a non white kid every once in a while though bc my kid does need to learn about diversity and of course that not every one is rich ..."

I think the reasoning is more like:

N. Arlington: When I moved to Arlington W-L was a big but reasonable-ish size. Now almost 20 years later it's a behemoth and my kid is going to get horribly lost. This isn't what I signed up for. I *need* to get my kid into HB so they survive high school. I'm terrified my kid won't do well in a huge, over crowded high school because of [specific reason, eg anxiety, shyness, executive function, etc] and I can't afford private.

FARMS view:. Going to an option school is logistically complicated and I don't have bandwidth in my life to deal with those transportation issues. I also know nothing about the school. I'm not going to war with my kid, who wants to be with their community and friends, to get them to attend HB, even if it's slightly better. The zoned high school is good enough.

I don’t fully agree with your characterization that only Farm’s parents care about the social aspect but it is a huge factor not a lot of kids want to leave their friends and almost everyone they went to elementary school with

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most embarrassing is HB Woodlawn at 12%. There’s no reason for that to be lower than the county average.

Here we go again with the HB bashing. We get it. Your kid didn’t get in and you’re jealous. I’ll bet your kid doesn’t qualify for reduced price meals either.

DP. I agree with the PPP. Option programs should be balanced. They can be controlled with admissions policies requiring it. But they won't do it.

HB’s program was not designed to serve an economically diverse population per se. Its program is designed for students with a certain learning style, and it’s self selecting. The selection process already attempts to arrive at socioeconomic diversity by allocating slots among the various elementary schools fairly and equitably, but it can’t force poor kids to apply.

I don't know how you can look at this application data and say people are self-selecting for learning style: https://www.apsva.us/school-options/school-transfer-data/secondary-options-transfers-application-data-school-year-2022-23/

There are 443 applicants for 73 offered seats in the 6th grade entry year. If it was about learning style we would be more concerned that 83% of the people who think they need that environment can't get it. We would have a process where there is some kind of recommendation and application materials showing suitability. Everyone know that HB Woodlawn is no longer about self selecting for leaning style.

Who said anything about “needing” HB’s learning style? There’s a difference between need and want.

A PP upthread was saying HB can’t match the county average FARMs rate because it’s self selecting for learning style.

What the PP meant by "learning style" and what all rich white parents mean by that is " my kid has to be surrounded by kids just like himself who have the means and intelligence. And we can't afford private school and why should we when we already paid a couple million for this old house in Arlington? Our kid DESERVES the school. it's ok to sprinkle in a non white kid every once in a while though bc my kid does need to learn about diversity and of course that not every one is rich ..."

I think the reasoning is more like:

N. Arlington: When I moved to Arlington W-L was a big but reasonable-ish size. Now almost 20 years later it's a behemoth and my kid is going to get horribly lost. This isn't what I signed up for. I *need* to get my kid into HB so they survive high school. I'm terrified my kid won't do well in a huge, over crowded high school because of [specific reason, eg anxiety, shyness, executive function, etc] and I can't afford private.

FARMS view:. Going to an option school is logistically complicated and I don't have bandwidth in my life to deal with those transportation issues. I also know nothing about the school. I'm not going to war with my kid, who wants to be with their community and friends, to get them to attend HB, even if it's slightly better. The zoned high school is good enough.

I don’t fully agree with your characterization that only Farm’s parents care about the social aspect but it is a huge factor not a lot of kids want to leave their friends and almost everyone they went to elementary school with

We entered the lottery from a high FARMS school and none of the other parents I talked to could understand why we would be interested in HB. In addition to the social aspect, there was a perception that bigger was better and the zoned middle school offered sports and a wider variety of courses. Our odds were much better since there weren't many applicants, and we got in (and love it!).

[Anonymous]

APS has nothing to do with housing. You don't like the huge FARMS rates at certain schools? Go advocate to the County Board that you want to see affordable housing around Jamestown and Tuckahoe.

Alternatively, go advocate in front of APS that you want forced busing to equalize FARMS rates across schools.

People love to complain about this issue, but they're unwilling to actually do anything about it.