APS boundary process this fall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

No, the number of Spanish speakers to English speakers is 50/50 in the lottery. Some of the Spanish speakers are also native English speakers.

The equity dashboard shows 33.33% English learners at Claremont as compared to 40.39% at Abingdon, 37.5% at Campbell, 69.58% at Carlin Springs, 38.64 at Drew, and 60.7% at Randolph. There's a narrative that the Immersion schools are for the benefit and support of English learners, but the truth is that they are supporting fewer English learners than many of the neighborhood schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

No, the number of Spanish speakers to English speakers is 50/50 in the lottery. Some of the Spanish speakers are also native English speakers.

The equity dashboard shows 33.33% English learners at Claremont as compared to 40.39% at Abingdon, 37.5% at Campbell, 69.58% at Carlin Springs, 38.64 at Drew, and 60.7% at Randolph. There's a narrative that the Immersion schools are for the benefit and support of English learners, but the truth is that they are supporting fewer English learners than many of the neighborhood schools.

The narrative isn't invented. That's the part of APS administration that runs immersion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's do the math everyone.

Hamm and Williamsburg are comfy so there is no issue? Amirite?

Piss off everyone else.

Please notice the sections of the County where it's no big deal at all to have capacity at near 100 percent or over.

So move Immersion to Williamsburg so the seats open up at Gunston and then balance. They'll say that kids won't stay with the program, but they said that about the Key move too. Problem solved, walkers (mostly) stay walkers.

Totally forgot about Immersion solution. That is quite elegant.

Nice try, Taylor parent. Appreciate the persistence.

Don’t worry. We are not alone and we are not giving up protecting the best interest of our kids and neighborhood

It's such a weird thing to latch onto, as it is so unlikely to be adopted by APS because of the negative consequences to immersion. If you want to keep Hamm walkable, you're way better off pushing for units to be moved from Swanson to WMS or the ATS feeder option.

--another Hamm parent

Nice sock puppet, but Hamm parents don’t actually care because they will be off at high school once this happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

No, the number of Spanish speakers to English speakers is 50/50 in the lottery. Some of the Spanish speakers are also native English speakers.

The equity dashboard shows 33.33% English learners at Claremont as compared to 40.39% at Abingdon, 37.5% at Campbell, 69.58% at Carlin Springs, 38.64 at Drew, and 60.7% at Randolph. There's a narrative that the Immersion schools are for the benefit and support of English learners, but the truth is that they are supporting fewer English learners than many of the neighborhood schools.

The narrative isn't invented. That's the part of APS administration that runs immersion.

That’s part of how they justify the expense and effort to keep immersion, not the reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's do the math everyone.

Hamm and Williamsburg are comfy so there is no issue? Amirite?

Piss off everyone else.

Please notice the sections of the County where it's no big deal at all to have capacity at near 100 percent or over.

So move Immersion to Williamsburg so the seats open up at Gunston and then balance. They'll say that kids won't stay with the program, but they said that about the Key move too. Problem solved, walkers (mostly) stay walkers.

Totally forgot about Immersion solution. That is quite elegant.

Nice try, Taylor parent. Appreciate the persistence.

Don’t worry. We are not alone and we are not giving up protecting the best interest of our kids and neighborhood

It's such a weird thing to latch onto, as it is so unlikely to be adopted by APS because of the negative consequences to immersion. If you want to keep Hamm walkable, you're way better off pushing for units to be moved from Swanson to WMS or the ATS feeder option.

--another Hamm parent

Nice sock puppet, but Hamm parents don’t actually care because they will be off at high school once this happens.

Uh, I have younger ones too. And your sock puppet reference makes no sense here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

No, the number of Spanish speakers to English speakers is 50/50 in the lottery. Some of the Spanish speakers are also native English speakers.

The equity dashboard shows 33.33% English learners at Claremont as compared to 40.39% at Abingdon, 37.5% at Campbell, 69.58% at Carlin Springs, 38.64 at Drew, and 60.7% at Randolph. There's a narrative that the Immersion schools are for the benefit and support of English learners, but the truth is that they are supporting fewer English learners than many of the neighborhood schools.

The narrative isn't invented. That's the part of APS administration that runs immersion.

That’s part of how they justify the expense and effort to keep immersion, not the reality.

I think you're missing that it's part of the pedagogical underpinnings, in addition to being consistent with the administration's equity platform. Strong support for English learners (both students and their non-fluent parents) is a huge part of how the program operates.

Immersion also brings a certain prestige to APS admin (see article below) and isn't something the administration is looking to kill. It may be unpopular with a few parents who latched onto it during a messy boundary proposal fight, but I really think they're wasting their effort on a program that has significant internal support.

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/secretary-cardona-shows-off-dual-language-school-to-international-education-leaders/2023/04

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

It annoys me that this is thrown out as the solution. People want to know where their kids will go to middle school and know they will go with a cohort from their elementary school and their neighbors. It's not a solution to just say people from overcrowded schools can opt to go elsewhere. Listen to what you're saying. My school and its boundary works for me so several other over enrolled schools should just send their overages to my school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

It annoys me that this is thrown out as the solution. People want to know where their kids will go to middle school and know they will go with a cohort from their elementary school and their neighbors. It's not a solution to just say people from overcrowded schools can opt to go elsewhere. Listen to what you're saying. My school and its boundary works for me so several other over enrolled schools should just send their overages to my school.

I don't think that's what it's saying at all. I have a kid from an elementary school that splits for middle school. The kids who didn't have an older sibling at the crowded middle school tended to apply to transfer, but those who did have an older sibling opted to go to the same school as their sibling. This seemed to work out pretty well, with a lot of students going to their preferred school and less stressful than forcing students to swap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

It annoys me that this is thrown out as the solution. People want to know where their kids will go to middle school and know they will go with a cohort from their elementary school and their neighbors. It's not a solution to just say people from overcrowded schools can opt to go elsewhere. Listen to what you're saying. My school and its boundary works for me so several other over enrolled schools should just send their overages to my school.

I don't think that's what it's saying at all. I have a kid from an elementary school that splits for middle school. The kids who didn't have an older sibling at the crowded middle school tended to apply to transfer, but those who did have an older sibling opted to go to the same school as their sibling. This seemed to work out pretty well, with a lot of students going to their preferred school and less stressful than forcing students to swap.

It doesn't work well for me. I have a kid at Tuckahoe zoned to Swanson. I don't really care where he goes. Don't mind if we get a bus or not although he would be a walker to Swanson. What about kids who want to go to the other school and don't get a transfer? A lot of these schools have 1 or a just a handful of PUs going to a middle school. If most kids get a transfer out and he doesn't, that sucks for him. He was already supposed to go to Swanson with not many kids from his elementary school and what if he's one of the only ones who ends up there? That's stressful. Unless the policy is these kids are guaranteed placement at either school of their choice, which I don't think is the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

It annoys me that this is thrown out as the solution. People want to know where their kids will go to middle school and know they will go with a cohort from their elementary school and their neighbors. It's not a solution to just say people from overcrowded schools can opt to go elsewhere. Listen to what you're saying. My school and its boundary works for me so several other over enrolled schools should just send their overages to my school.

I don't think that's what it's saying at all. I have a kid from an elementary school that splits for middle school. The kids who didn't have an older sibling at the crowded middle school tended to apply to transfer, but those who did have an older sibling opted to go to the same school as their sibling. This seemed to work out pretty well, with a lot of students going to their preferred school and less stressful than forcing students to swap.

It is stressful having to apply for a transfer, not know the outcome for some amount of time, and trying to figure out who else is doing what and make a decision about all of it. As someone who went through it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

It annoys me that this is thrown out as the solution. People want to know where their kids will go to middle school and know they will go with a cohort from their elementary school and their neighbors. It's not a solution to just say people from overcrowded schools can opt to go elsewhere. Listen to what you're saying. My school and its boundary works for me so several other over enrolled schools should just send their overages to my school.

I don't think that's what it's saying at all. I have a kid from an elementary school that splits for middle school. The kids who didn't have an older sibling at the crowded middle school tended to apply to transfer, but those who did have an older sibling opted to go to the same school as their sibling. This seemed to work out pretty well, with a lot of students going to their preferred school and less stressful than forcing students to swap.

It is stressful having to apply for a transfer, not know the outcome for some amount of time, and trying to figure out who else is doing what and make a decision about all of it. As someone who went through it.

Being forcefully rezoned or having a kid switch schools midstream is also stressful.

If you don't want the stress of applying for a transfer, then don't apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

It annoys me that this is thrown out as the solution. People want to know where their kids will go to middle school and know they will go with a cohort from their elementary school and their neighbors. It's not a solution to just say people from overcrowded schools can opt to go elsewhere. Listen to what you're saying. My school and its boundary works for me so several other over enrolled schools should just send their overages to my school.

I don't think that's what it's saying at all. I have a kid from an elementary school that splits for middle school. The kids who didn't have an older sibling at the crowded middle school tended to apply to transfer, but those who did have an older sibling opted to go to the same school as their sibling. This seemed to work out pretty well, with a lot of students going to their preferred school and less stressful than forcing students to swap.

It is stressful having to apply for a transfer, not know the outcome for some amount of time, and trying to figure out who else is doing what and make a decision about all of it. As someone who went through it.

Being forcefully rezoned or having a kid switch schools midstream is also stressful.

If you don't want the stress of applying for a transfer, then don't apply.

Someone above explained why the whole thing is stressful. If your kid is already in a small group going and many others are applying for a transfer but you are not sure exactly who, it's not great. You're not talking about a decision being made and then a knowable outcome...my neighborhood and adjacent PUs will go to X school in the fall. You're talking about a lot of limbo for a lot of families.

I think it's important to acknowledge there is stress to all of these options and not just have the kneejerk reaction that your stress isn't real or doesn't matter and mine is more important. Yes, I agree getting rezoned mid-middle school would be stressful for some kids.

There should be predictability for the kids and families and it seems a bit dysfunctional if children from three middle schools are being given preference to transfer out due to overcrowding. It seems to me APS is using this band-aid solution of transferring kids out of under enrolled schools to avoid dealing with difficult decision making.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

It annoys me that this is thrown out as the solution. People want to know where their kids will go to middle school and know they will go with a cohort from their elementary school and their neighbors. It's not a solution to just say people from overcrowded schools can opt to go elsewhere. Listen to what you're saying. My school and its boundary works for me so several other over enrolled schools should just send their overages to my school.

I don't think that's what it's saying at all. I have a kid from an elementary school that splits for middle school. The kids who didn't have an older sibling at the crowded middle school tended to apply to transfer, but those who did have an older sibling opted to go to the same school as their sibling. This seemed to work out pretty well, with a lot of students going to their preferred school and less stressful than forcing students to swap.

It is stressful having to apply for a transfer, not know the outcome for some amount of time, and trying to figure out who else is doing what and make a decision about all of it. As someone who went through it.

Being forcefully rezoned or having a kid switch schools midstream is also stressful.

If you don't want the stress of applying for a transfer, then don't apply.

Someone above explained why the whole thing is stressful. If your kid is already in a small group going and many others are applying for a transfer but you are not sure exactly who, it's not great. You're not talking about a decision being made and then a knowable outcome...my neighborhood and adjacent PUs will go to X school in the fall. You're talking about a lot of limbo for a lot of families.

I think it's important to acknowledge there is stress to all of these options and not just have the kneejerk reaction that your stress isn't real or doesn't matter and mine is more important. Yes, I agree getting rezoned mid-middle school would be stressful for some kids.

There should be predictability for the kids and families and it seems a bit dysfunctional if children from three middle schools are being given preference to transfer out due to overcrowding. It seems to me APS is using this band-aid solution of transferring kids out of over enrolled schools to avoid dealing with difficult decision making.

sorry mistyped orignally

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about making ATS a feeder into WMS? That way friend groups could stay together post-elementary.

DC schools do this where option programs have their own feeder path.

Yes. Campbell, both immersion schools, Montessori, and ATS could all feed into Williamsburg then Yorktown. That would solve the underenrolled North Arlington schools once and for all.

Huh? I don't know that those numbers add up at all and it's a super weird grouping. Immersion needs to be considered separately because it has specific needs and is intended to benefit and support English learners.

I do think it would work well to give ATS students the option to continue at WMS so they can stay with friends, even if the program doesn't continue into middle school.

I know less about the Campbell program and whether those families would be interested in continuing at WMS given commutes and whether most of those kids end up at the same middle school(s) already.

And yet somehow Claremont has a lower FARMS rate and percentage of English learners than the surrounding neighborhood schools. I bet those parents would be happy to opt out of Gunston.

Huh? The ratio of English learners in immersion is set to 50/50 by definition. And immersion feeds into Gunston so signing up for immersion isn't opting out of Gunston. And Escuela Key parents are opting into Gunston and out of WMS/Hamm/Swanson by choosing immersion.

Voluntary transfers last year prioritized TJ and Swanson as the most overcrowded APS middle schools. If Gunston becomes the most crowded, presumably Gunston parents will be prioritized for a voluntary transfer to an underenrolled middle school.

It annoys me that this is thrown out as the solution. People want to know where their kids will go to middle school and know they will go with a cohort from their elementary school and their neighbors. It's not a solution to just say people from overcrowded schools can opt to go elsewhere. Listen to what you're saying. My school and its boundary works for me so several other over enrolled schools should just send their overages to my school.

I don't think that's what it's saying at all. I have a kid from an elementary school that splits for middle school. The kids who didn't have an older sibling at the crowded middle school tended to apply to transfer, but those who did have an older sibling opted to go to the same school as their sibling. This seemed to work out pretty well, with a lot of students going to their preferred school and less stressful than forcing students to swap.

It doesn't work well for me. I have a kid at Tuckahoe zoned to Swanson. I don't really care where he goes. Don't mind if we get a bus or not although he would be a walker to Swanson. What about kids who want to go to the other school and don't get a transfer? A lot of these schools have 1 or a just a handful of PUs going to a middle school. If most kids get a transfer out and he doesn't, that sucks for him. He was already supposed to go to Swanson with not many kids from his elementary school and what if he's one of the only ones who ends up there? That's stressful. Unless the policy is these kids are guaranteed placement at either school of their choice, which I don't think is the case.

You're guaranteed to go to your home school. No one is guaranteed a transfer. It's not a that hard. And yes, some boundary splits suck (see prior posts by Glebe, Ashlawn and ASFS parents) and don't make sense. But the next round could very well be worse and redrawing boundaries is always disruptive.

[Anonymous]

Isn't APS supposed to be the grown up in the room making decisions that make sense for the whole? And then some people like it and some people don't and we all move on? What happened to that option? Why are they punting this whole thing yet another year.