APS: New High School forum tonight 7-9 pm at Yorktown

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I don't think the poster(s) above are really indicating that YT got screwed any more than anyone else. We are ALL getting screwed. Rearranging the deck chairs is not a solution. Building a 1,300 seat high school at the Kenmore site would open up the possibility that we could expand it later - with fields and everything else a comprehensive neighborhood school needs (consistent with other high schools). This would help all Arlington students - not just YT, not just Wakefield, not just W-L. (also ensure that our students would not need to go to high school in shifts)


+1
I line in the Wakefield zone and I support the Kenmore site. It's the best solution for Arlington overall.

Anonymous
The Kenmore site could correct some of the imbalances in demographics at Wakefield.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:The Kenmore site could correct some of the imbalances in demographics at Wakefield.


Pretty clear that the 40+ involved parents and voters who attended tonight all prefer the Kenmore site since it is an obvious stepping stone to a comprehensive high school at that site. Moving the elementary and middle school programs at much more feasible esp if parents put pressure on county board for VHC parcel. Hopefully SB got the memo that Kenmore site is the path forward that will best serve the wider community. Now onto county board to get the parcel and money SH needs to address capacity, traffic, and green space concerns

Some folks mentioned having a Hs, MS, ES in close proximity was a problem? What exactly is issue? They are on staggered schedules so traffic impact would be minimal, and it isn't like HS students are going to go hang out at th ES playground? For many families, co-location could help, such as HS sitter picking up ES charge and walking home. What am I missing?
Anonymous
I favor using the Keire site as the ultimate site to a 4th comprehensive, but I hear the point of the local parents who say putting a high school and elementary school so close in proximity is a problem because high school kids are terrible drivers and shouldn't be driving so near small children. How do we solve that?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I favor using the Keire site as the ultimate site to a 4th comprehensive, but I hear the point of the local parents who say putting a high school and elementary school so close in proximity is a problem because high school kids are terrible drivers and shouldn't be driving so near small children. How do we solve that?


You don't. Just like you can't solve the problem of the local parents who like having that urgent care nearby just in case DS hurts himself, which I swear was one of the responses in that ridiculous survey commissioned by the Carlin Springs area civic association. There is always going to be something.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I favor using the Keire site as the ultimate site to a 4th comprehensive, but I hear the point of the local parents who say putting a high school and elementary school so close in proximity is a problem because high school kids are terrible drivers and shouldn't be driving so near small children. How do we solve that?


While it's a somewhat different situation because it's not an APS school, I will point out that bishop O'Connell high school is located across the street from tuckahoe elementary. And as far as I was told, the two schools share access to the county fields located there.
Anonymous
the argument of not having a hs near an es is a terrible one. There are plenty of k-12 schools in the world and no one brings it up then.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I favor using the Keire site as the ultimate site to a 4th comprehensive, but I hear the point of the local parents who say putting a high school and elementary school so close in proximity is a problem because high school kids are terrible drivers and shouldn't be driving so near small children. How do we solve that?


This won't be a problem bc all the high schools are eventually going to eliminate parking for students. The land for the parking lot is way to valuable for HS students, who are provided a school bus and are more than capable (and far safer) to use city transit to provide them with parking for personal vehicles. They are already planning underground parking garages for staff to preserve green space and fields.
Anonymous
The 2 SB members who were there seemed to be pro-Kenmore before tonight, right? How do we get the third vote? Obviously, it won't be NVD.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:The 2 SB members who were there seemed to be pro-Kenmore before tonight, right? How do we get the third vote? Obviously, it won't be NVD.


Convince Lander to commit before next week's caucus to voting in favor of the Kenmore site.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I favor using the Kenmore site as the ultimate site to a 4th comprehensive, but I hear the point of the local parents who say putting a high school and elementary school so close in proximity is a problem because high school kids are terrible drivers and shouldn't be driving so near small children. How do we solve that?


You don't. Just like you can't solve the problem of the local parents who like having that urgent care nearby just in case DS hurts himself, which I swear was one of the responses in that ridiculous survey commissioned by the Carlin Springs area civic association. There is always going to be something.


PP here, and to be honest I am also starting to feel not great about asking South Arlington to take another one for the team so that my North Arlington kid won't be crammed into a 4,000 kid high school. I mean, I hate ** H A T E ** the idea of a 4,000 kid high school, and I genuinely think that having a 4th comprehensive at Kenmore could benefit ALL high school kids, north and south, because it would force redistricting and we could make each school take a mix of north and south kids that could better benefit the socioeconomic makeup of each high school.

But there ARE a lot of legitimate problems with Kenmore. Several people in the know are suggesting there would be space for playing fields, but not a football field, and maybe not a pool. If someone was trying to force a fourth comprehensive into MY neighborhood while telling me that it was going to have to be LESS THAN the others, plus have a lot of traffic and driving problems, I wouldn't like it. I'd be offended. And after decades of south arlington getting the short stick, this isn't sitting as well with me as it was before. I dunno. I have a hard time imagining Yorktown parents at the meeting tonight accepting a neighborhood high school that didn't have a pool or a stadium when they complain about their current level of traffic.

I know there's no perfect solution. It does seem like the North has to talk to the South more, though.
Anonymous
I absolutely think it should have a pool and a football field. It is 32 acres - same size as the Wakefield campus. There is room. If you examine the satellite view on Google maps you will see there is room for a field of the same size as at WL. The pool issue is really a question of money, and we will just have to put sufficient pressure on our elected officials to get that.

When I say comprehensive high school, I mean comparable to the other three. And I would be fine with having my kid zoned there.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I favor using the Kenmore site as the ultimate site to a 4th comprehensive, but I hear the point of the local parents who say putting a high school and elementary school so close in proximity is a problem because high school kids are terrible drivers and shouldn't be driving so near small children. How do we solve that?


You don't. Just like you can't solve the problem of the local parents who like having that urgent care nearby just in case DS hurts himself, which I swear was one of the responses in that ridiculous survey commissioned by the Carlin Springs area civic association. There is always going to be something.


PP here, and to be honest I am also starting to feel not great about asking South Arlington to take another one for the team so that my North Arlington kid won't be crammed into a 4,000 kid high school. I mean, I hate ** H A T E ** the idea of a 4,000 kid high school, and I genuinely think that having a 4th comprehensive at Kenmore could benefit ALL high school kids, north and south, because it would force redistricting and we could make each school take a mix of north and south kids that could better benefit the socioeconomic makeup of each high school.

But there ARE a lot of legitimate problems with Kenmore. Several people in the know are suggesting there would be space for playing fields, but not a football field, and maybe not a pool. If someone was trying to force a fourth comprehensive into MY neighborhood while telling me that it was going to have to be LESS THAN the others, plus have a lot of traffic and driving problems, I wouldn't like it. I'd be offended. And after decades of south arlington getting the short stick, this isn't sitting as well with me as it was before. I dunno. I have a hard time imagining Yorktown parents at the meeting tonight accepting a neighborhood high school that didn't have a pool or a stadium when they complain about their current level of traffic.

I know there's no perfect solution. It does seem like the North has to talk to the South more, though.


I just don't understand why it would have to be a HS with a defined boundary if it's at Kenmore or the Career Center. Couldn't it be an option school, and then transition to a zoned school if they are able to get money and (adjacent) land to build out a full comprehensive school with all the amenities in the future? Do they think none of the programs would draw 1300 to fill the school by 2022 if they locate it there? I agree that a school can't have a defined boundary if it's going to be "less than." They can't do that.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I favor using the Kenmore site as the ultimate site to a 4th comprehensive, but I hear the point of the local parents who say putting a high school and elementary school so close in proximity is a problem because high school kids are terrible drivers and shouldn't be driving so near small children. How do we solve that?


You don't. Just like you can't solve the problem of the local parents who like having that urgent care nearby just in case DS hurts himself, which I swear was one of the responses in that ridiculous survey commissioned by the Carlin Springs area civic association. There is always going to be something.


PP here, and to be honest I am also starting to feel not great about asking South Arlington to take another one for the team so that my North Arlington kid won't be crammed into a 4,000 kid high school. I mean, I hate ** H A T E ** the idea of a 4,000 kid high school, and I genuinely think that having a 4th comprehensive at Kenmore could benefit ALL high school kids, north and south, because it would force redistricting and we could make each school take a mix of north and south kids that could better benefit the socioeconomic makeup of each high school.

But there ARE a lot of legitimate problems with Kenmore. Several people in the know are suggesting there would be space for playing fields, but not a football field, and maybe not a pool. If someone was trying to force a fourth comprehensive into MY neighborhood while telling me that it was going to have to be LESS THAN the others, plus have a lot of traffic and driving problems, I wouldn't like it. I'd be offended. And after decades of south arlington getting the short stick, this isn't sitting as well with me as it was before. I dunno. I have a hard time imagining Yorktown parents at the meeting tonight accepting a neighborhood high school that didn't have a pool or a stadium when they complain about their current level of traffic.

I know there's no perfect solution. It does seem like the North has to talk to the South more, though.



It has the same acreage as Wakefield. I'm guessing how the current school is oriented makes it a challenge. Hmmm...

The other south Arlington option is the career center and that DEFINITELY DOESN'T have the space.

None of the options are great.
Anonymous
Could they make Kenmore "H-B-West", but give it the facilities for sports, etc? Split the HB admissions by zone?
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