South Arlington & PTAs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kiddos aren't school age yet. What can we do to help our neighborhood schools?

Great question! Participate in fundraisers - many have silent auctions, donation drives, etc. You can also offer to volunteer at the school (if you have time) which would be very appreciated.

Also, actually enrolling your children in the neighborhood schools when they become school-age is huge. So many SA parents choice out. I understand their rationale, but those who opt out take MC resources and students out of schools that would really benefit from their engagement and presence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kiddos aren't school age yet. What can we do to help our neighborhood schools?

Great question! Participate in fundraisers - many have silent auctions, donation drives, etc. You can also offer to volunteer at the school (if you have time) which would be very appreciated.

Also, actually enrolling your children in the neighborhood schools when they become school-age is huge. So many SA parents choice out. I understand their rationale, but those who opt out take MC resources and students out of schools that would really benefit from their engagement and presence.

That's why APS needs to put a tony bit of effort into making their schools attractive to MC parents. "Goodness of their hearts" doesn't work. No one is obligated to attend a neighborhood schools, even if they live in the zone. All schools are choice schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kiddos aren't school age yet. What can we do to help our neighborhood schools?

Great question! Participate in fundraisers - many have silent auctions, donation drives, etc. You can also offer to volunteer at the school (if you have time) which would be very appreciated.

Also, actually enrolling your children in the neighborhood schools when they become school-age is huge. So many SA parents choice out. I understand their rationale, but those who opt out take MC resources and students out of schools that would really benefit from their engagement and presence.

actually enrolling more kids in at least one of those schools would push to to 150% capacity and STILL be 60% ( or more) poverty. APS needs to step and start working on the problem. It isn’t going to solve itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kiddos aren't school age yet. What can we do to help our neighborhood schools?

Great question! Participate in fundraisers - many have silent auctions, donation drives, etc. You can also offer to volunteer at the school (if you have time) which would be very appreciated.

Also, actually enrolling your children in the neighborhood schools when they become school-age is huge. So many SA parents choice out. I understand their rationale, but those who opt out take MC resources and students out of schools that would really benefit from their engagement and presence.

That's why APS needs to put a tony bit of effort into making their schools attractive to MC parents. "Goodness of their hearts" doesn't work. No one is obligated to attend a neighborhood schools, even if they live in the zone. All schools are choice schools.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that this thread turned to enrichment when that is only a small part of what the PTA budget can fund. At my NA elem school, the principal has been very demanding of the PTA to fundraise, fundraise, fundraise in order to fund things she specifically wants for the school.

OTOH, some SA schools do get more money through Title 1 funding. There is also much more support in SA for special needs and ELL. NA parents of kids whose needs are not being met in NA, actually try to transfer to SA schools - or at least think about it.

So, this is complex.

Your principal needs a tutorial about the purpose of PTAs. In the national PTA organization handbook, it clearly states that the primary function of PTA is NOT fundraising. It is ADVOCACY. The principal should not be driving the PTA's agenda.

The greater support in SA for special needs and ELL is a contributing problem to the "better to have them all together in some schools where we can focus services" argument. ALL schools need to be able to provide sufficient support to meet the needs of ALL students.

[Anonymous]

We have a lot more "clubs" than that at our NA elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that this thread turned to enrichment when that is only a small part of what the PTA budget can fund. At my NA elem school, the principal has been very demanding of the PTA to fundraise, fundraise, fundraise in order to fund things she specifically wants for the school.

OTOH, some SA schools do get more money through Title 1 funding. There is also much more support in SA for special needs and ELL. NA parents of kids whose needs are not being met in NA, actually try to transfer to SA schools - or at least think about it.

So, this is complex.

Your principal needs a tutorial about the purpose of PTAs. In the national PTA organization handbook, it clearly states that the primary function of PTA is NOT fundraising. It is ADVOCACY. The principal should not be driving the PTA's agenda.

The greater support in SA for special needs and ELL is a contributing problem to the "better to have them all together in some schools where we can focus services" argument. ALL schools need to be able to provide sufficient support to meet the needs of ALL students.

Then there will have to be more lawsuits. There's an thread on the SN board about how at least one NA school laughed at the idea of providing specific accommodations in an IEP. It's probably easier for that parent, and better for their child, to switch schools than it is to fight. Inclusivity is apparently not for every school in APS. Meanwhile, our school in SA actually referred my friend's daughter for testing at KKI so that she would get the accommodations that the teacher was certain she needed (was heading to MS the following year and the teacher thought it best to have an IEP in place prior). That's a completely different culture/attitude. Two schools in the same system, but worlds apart. I know which I'd prefer, even for my NT kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that this thread turned to enrichment when that is only a small part of what the PTA budget can fund. At my NA elem school, the principal has been very demanding of the PTA to fundraise, fundraise, fundraise in order to fund things she specifically wants for the school.

OTOH, some SA schools do get more money through Title 1 funding. There is also much more support in SA for special needs and ELL. NA parents of kids whose needs are not being met in NA, actually try to transfer to SA schools - or at least think about it.

So, this is complex.

Your principal needs a tutorial about the purpose of PTAs. In the national PTA organization handbook, it clearly states that the primary function of PTA is NOT fundraising. It is ADVOCACY. The principal should not be driving the PTA's agenda.

The greater support in SA for special needs and ELL is a contributing problem to the "better to have them all together in some schools where we can focus services" argument. ALL schools need to be able to provide sufficient support to meet the needs of ALL students.

Then there will have to be more lawsuits. There's an thread on the SN board about how at least one NA school laughed at the idea of providing specific accommodations in an IEP. It's probably easier for that parent, and better for their child, to switch schools than it is to fight. Inclusivity is apparently not for every school in APS. Meanwhile, our school in SA actually referred my friend's daughter for testing at KKI so that she would get the accommodations that the teacher was certain she needed (was heading to MS the following year and the teacher thought it best to have an IEP in place prior). That's a completely different culture/attitude. Two schools in the same system, but worlds apart. I know which I'd prefer, even for my NT kids.

What's the "SN board"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that this thread turned to enrichment when that is only a small part of what the PTA budget can fund. At my NA elem school, the principal has been very demanding of the PTA to fundraise, fundraise, fundraise in order to fund things she specifically wants for the school.

OTOH, some SA schools do get more money through Title 1 funding. There is also much more support in SA for special needs and ELL. NA parents of kids whose needs are not being met in NA, actually try to transfer to SA schools - or at least think about it.

So, this is complex.

Your principal needs a tutorial about the purpose of PTAs. In the national PTA organization handbook, it clearly states that the primary function of PTA is NOT fundraising. It is ADVOCACY. The principal should not be driving the PTA's agenda.

The greater support in SA for special needs and ELL is a contributing problem to the "better to have them all together in some schools where we can focus services" argument. ALL schools need to be able to provide sufficient support to meet the needs of ALL students.

Then there will have to be more lawsuits. There's an thread on the SN board about how at least one NA school laughed at the idea of providing specific accommodations in an IEP. It's probably easier for that parent, and better for their child, to switch schools than it is to fight. Inclusivity is apparently not for every school in APS. Meanwhile, our school in SA actually referred my friend's daughter for testing at KKI so that she would get the accommodations that the teacher was certain she needed (was heading to MS the following year and the teacher thought it best to have an IEP in place prior). That's a completely different culture/attitude. Two schools in the same system, but worlds apart. I know which I'd prefer, even for my NT kids.

What's the "SN board"?

I assume pp is referring to the "Kids with Special Needs" board. I'm not sure if I'm thinking of the same post as pp, but there was a poster who said her NA elementary dismissed their request for particular interventions/accommodations on the basis that they were medical/parental rather than educational. Without more information from that poster about what the requested interventions/accommodations were, no one here can really say if the school was being unreasonable or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that this thread turned to enrichment when that is only a small part of what the PTA budget can fund. At my NA elem school, the principal has been very demanding of the PTA to fundraise, fundraise, fundraise in order to fund things she specifically wants for the school.

OTOH, some SA schools do get more money through Title 1 funding. There is also much more support in SA for special needs and ELL. NA parents of kids whose needs are not being met in NA, actually try to transfer to SA schools - or at least think about it.

So, this is complex.

Your principal needs a tutorial about the purpose of PTAs. In the national PTA organization handbook, it clearly states that the primary function of PTA is NOT fundraising. It is ADVOCACY. The principal should not be driving the PTA's agenda.

The greater support in SA for special needs and ELL is a contributing problem to the "better to have them all together in some schools where we can focus services" argument. ALL schools need to be able to provide sufficient support to meet the needs of ALL students.

Then there will have to be more lawsuits. There's an thread on the SN board about how at least one NA school laughed at the idea of providing specific accommodations in an IEP. It's probably easier for that parent, and better for their child, to switch schools than it is to fight. Inclusivity is apparently not for every school in APS. Meanwhile, our school in SA actually referred my friend's daughter for testing at KKI so that she would get the accommodations that the teacher was certain she needed (was heading to MS the following year and the teacher thought it best to have an IEP in place prior). That's a completely different culture/attitude. Two schools in the same system, but worlds apart. I know which I'd prefer, even for my NT kids.

What's the "SN board"?

Kids with Special Needs forum. Here's the link: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/740921.page

That makes me very angry, mostly because I've heard it so often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that this thread turned to enrichment when that is only a small part of what the PTA budget can fund. At my NA elem school, the principal has been very demanding of the PTA to fundraise, fundraise, fundraise in order to fund things she specifically wants for the school.

OTOH, some SA schools do get more money through Title 1 funding. There is also much more support in SA for special needs and ELL. NA parents of kids whose needs are not being met in NA, actually try to transfer to SA schools - or at least think about it.

So, this is complex.

Your principal needs a tutorial about the purpose of PTAs. In the national PTA organization handbook, it clearly states that the primary function of PTA is NOT fundraising. It is ADVOCACY. The principal should not be driving the PTA's agenda.

The greater support in SA for special needs and ELL is a contributing problem to the "better to have them all together in some schools where we can focus services" argument. ALL schools need to be able to provide sufficient support to meet the needs of ALL students.

Then there will have to be more lawsuits. There's an thread on the SN board about how at least one NA school laughed at the idea of providing specific accommodations in an IEP. It's probably easier for that parent, and better for their child, to switch schools than it is to fight. Inclusivity is apparently not for every school in APS. Meanwhile, our school in SA actually referred my friend's daughter for testing at KKI so that she would get the accommodations that the teacher was certain she needed (was heading to MS the following year and the teacher thought it best to have an IEP in place prior). That's a completely different culture/attitude. Two schools in the same system, but worlds apart. I know which I'd prefer, even for my NT kids.

What's the "SN board"?

Kids with Special Needs forum. Here's the link: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/740921.page

That makes me very angry, mostly because I've heard it so often.

Examples?

[Anonymous]

^ read the thread linked

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ read the thread linked

I did. I saw no examples of things APS has denied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ read the thread linked

I did. I saw no examples of things APS has denied.

... and the link specifically mentions people not wanting to go into specifics here, in fear of retaliation from APS. You aren’t going to get specifics here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a lot more "clubs" than that at our NA elementary school.

That's kind of the point of this thread....