New Extended Day registration process (APS) - no longer first come first served

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP. not resignation! registration! oh, how I hate auto correct.

well, some of the posters here are resigned to their fates.

[Anonymous]

They haven't posted final application numbers, but it is clear that at least several schools will be going to lottery
https://www.apsva.us/2019-2020-school-year-current-capacity-and-registrations-received/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They haven't posted final application numbers, but it is clear that at least several schools will be going to lottery
https://www.apsva.us/2019-2020-school-year-current-capacity-and-registrations-received/

Maybe they should offer busing to some of the schools with open spots. It looks like there are a lot of schools that are really below capacity for extended day. Too bad that APS can't at least offer these other schools as an option for people, but I know there are transportation issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They haven't posted final application numbers, but it is clear that at least several schools will be going to lottery
https://www.apsva.us/2019-2020-school-year-current-capacity-and-registrations-received/

Maybe they should offer busing to some of the schools with open spots. It looks like there are a lot of schools that are really below capacity for extended day. Too bad that APS can't at least offer these other schools as an option for people, but I know there are transportation issues.

Oh I wanted to add. They could theoretically bus kids to their home schools for extended day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They haven't posted final application numbers, but it is clear that at least several schools will be going to lottery
https://www.apsva.us/2019-2020-school-year-current-capacity-and-registrations-received/

Maybe they should offer busing to some of the schools with open spots. It looks like there are a lot of schools that are really below capacity for extended day. Too bad that APS can't at least offer these other schools as an option for people, but I know there are transportation issues.

Oh I wanted to add. They could theoretically bus kids to their home schools for extended day.

If people want extended day and their neighborhood school has spaces, then they can transfer their kid to the neighborhood school. The budget is tight enough as it is without adding a ton of transportation costs to start shuttling kids between schools for extended day.

[Anonymous]

I will probably get flamed for this, but I also think that extended day should give priority to the youngest kids (K, 1 and 2). So I'd argue those should be automatically given spots, and then with the older kids let them have the extra spots, if there are any, or if they have a younger sibling.

Seems much more like an 8-10 year old would be fine taking a van to an off-site location like the YMCA for an hour or two than a 5-7 year old would be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will probably get flamed for this, but I also think that extended day should give priority to the youngest kids (K, 1 and 2). So I'd argue those should be automatically given spots, and then with the older kids let them have the extra spots, if there are any, or if they have a younger sibling.

Seems much more like an 8-10 year old would be fine taking a van to an off-site location like the YMCA for an hour or two than a 5-7 year old would be.

+1 This makes sense to me. And, most 5th graders should be fine at home after school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will probably get flamed for this, but I also think that extended day should give priority to the youngest kids (K, 1 and 2). So I'd argue those should be automatically given spots, and then with the older kids let them have the extra spots, if there are any, or if they have a younger sibling.

Seems much more like an 8-10 year old would be fine taking a van to an off-site location like the YMCA for an hour or two than a 5-7 year old would be.

+1 This makes sense to me. And, most 5th graders should be fine at home after school.

They used to do this -- there was a separate signup/allotment for K, and so by default a good number of spots were saved for kindergarteners. I'm not sure if that's being maintained with this new lottery system though.

[Anonymous]

9:12 - we're waiting to see if my rising 5th grader gets extended day. Theoretically, she'd be fine at home for a couple of hours. She stays home when I go to the gym or go for a run sometimes. But I think she'd get lonely and miss her friends. I'm a single mom with a FT job and we can't really do play dates, but she gets to hang out with kids her own age during extended day. (we're not in the neighborhood school so she doesn't know the neighborhood kids.)

Also, it would be tough for her to do after-school activities like Girls on the Run if we didn't have extended day - there's no late bus and I can't really walk out of work early enough to pick her up at 4:30.

So I'm crossing my fingers that we get a spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:9:12 - we're waiting to see if my rising 5th grader gets extended day. Theoretically, she'd be fine at home for a couple of hours. She stays home when I go to the gym or go for a run sometimes. But I think she'd get lonely and miss her friends. I'm a single mom with a FT job and we can't really do play dates, but she gets to hang out with kids her own age during extended day. (we're not in the neighborhood school so she doesn't know the neighborhood kids.)

Also, it would be tough for her to do after-school activities like Girls on the Run if we didn't have extended day - there's no late bus and I can't really walk out of work early enough to pick her up at 4:30.

So I'm crossing my fingers that we get a spot.

I have a similar situation and am crossing my fingers too. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will probably get flamed for this, but I also think that extended day should give priority to the youngest kids (K, 1 and 2). So I'd argue those should be automatically given spots, and then with the older kids let them have the extra spots, if there are any, or if they have a younger sibling.

Seems much more like an 8-10 year old would be fine taking a van to an off-site location like the YMCA for an hour or two than a 5-7 year old would be.

+1 This makes sense to me. And, most 5th graders should be fine at home after school.

They used to do this -- there was a separate signup/allotment for K, and so by default a good number of spots were saved for kindergarteners. I'm not sure if that's being maintained with this new lottery system though.

I think the separate allotment for K has to do with the differing licensing requirements for ratios for K.
FWIW- I don't agree that older kids are the ones who should go offsite. When my oldest was in K he was in an offsite program. It was great. It was more nurturing then extended day, provided snacks, was a much much smaller group, and skewed younger. He would have found the masses at extended day totally overwhelming.

[Anonymous]

I thought McK would have the biggest waitlist but, it's actually Ashlawn by about 10.

What are these 50 families going to do? Glebe is the other. So if you triangulate, Ballston Quarter should open an extended day center. or maybe everybody should take their kids the library...parents could take turns being the adult in charge...

other options...they just show up to extended day anyway and force APS to deal with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will probably get flamed for this, but I also think that extended day should give priority to the youngest kids (K, 1 and 2). So I'd argue those should be automatically given spots, and then with the older kids let them have the extra spots, if there are any, or if they have a younger sibling.

Seems much more like an 8-10 year old would be fine taking a van to an off-site location like the YMCA for an hour or two than a 5-7 year old would be.

+1 This makes sense to me. And, most 5th graders should be fine at home after school.

Per county regulations, 9 and 10 yos can only be home alone up to 90 minutes, which is less than many working parents would need to get home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will probably get flamed for this, but I also think that extended day should give priority to the youngest kids (K, 1 and 2). So I'd argue those should be automatically given spots, and then with the older kids let them have the extra spots, if there are any, or if they have a younger sibling.

Seems much more like an 8-10 year old would be fine taking a van to an off-site location like the YMCA for an hour or two than a 5-7 year old would be.

What about older kids who wouldn't do as well with that as younger kids (e.g., kids with anxiety of certain special needs)? And what about low-income parents who can get subsidized extended day through APS but couldn't afford an outside provider?

[Anonymous]

Or the kids whose parents send them to the neighborhood schools because they are close to home and have always offered extended day. This is a big disruption potentially to many families.