the Key/ASFS building switch...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Immersion to Carlin Springs and/or Barcroft. That is where the Spanish speakers are. And they have incredible numbers transferring out. Breaks up pockets of generational poverty.

Carlin Springs for sure. But Barrett rather than Barcroft; or ATS rather than Barcroft. It isn't right to leave the entire SW quadrant without a neighborhood school and Barcroft physically cannot handle the buses and cars and "event parking" an option school brings. Barrett's land is more open and is where a large Spanish-speaking population lives as well as within easy reach of the English-speaking families both north and south of 50 - but particularly north. That would help with the enrollments in the NW and help move more diversity northward for those in the CS and Barrett attendance zones who do not choose immersion.

PP back - yes - also great points! It is selfish to keep Immerson at Key, which has a significantly decreased Spanish-speaking population (couldn’t even fill those seats with native speakers) and the fact that that part of the county could fill two neighborhood schools. The argument that some families won’t stay if it moves is silly - those families would build the character of the new school. Meanwhile, families who are truly committed to Immersion will follow and be enriched by being closer to more native speakers.

[Anonymous]

This is untrue. Key does fill all of the native speaking slots, 6 K classes worth this year. There still needs to be an immersion school that serves the eastern portion of the county, no matter how much you personally may not want it to. Also, research shows that lower income families do not access option schools at the same rate as wealthier families do, so the argument that immersion will somehow break up a high poverty school is very debatable. I think it would be useful to look at a demographic map of this part of the county so you can see how many Hispanic families actually live here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is untrue. Key does fill all of the native speaking slots, 6 K classes worth this year. There still needs to be an immersion school that serves the eastern portion of the county, no matter how much you personally may not want it to. Also, research shows that lower income families do not access option schools at the same rate as wealthier families do, so the argument that immersion will somehow break up a high poverty school is very debatable. I think it would be useful to look at a demographic map of this part of the county so you can see how many Hispanic families actually live here.

Straight from APS:

The elementary immersion program is struggling to maintain the 50/50 balance of Spanish and English speakers, and will likely need to adjust regardless of any facility related changes. This summer, English speaking students were accepted off the waitlists, filling spots that were originally allocated for the Spanish speaking lottery. When established, the immersion program was designed to build upon the native language skills of Spanish speaking students in a dual language setting. Both English and Spanish speakers have had strong results from participating in the immersion program.
Refer to the 2013 World Languages Program Evaluation www.apsva.us/wp? content/uploads/2015/05/World?Languages? Evaluation?Report?Revised.pdf

[Anonymous]

“Struggling”is a big stretch. Did they publish actual numbers by grade level?

[Anonymous]

One thing I continue to find amusing about this whole plan is that anyone is parroting the “swap” terminology. There’s no swap. They are moving immersion into what is currently the ASFS building and converting Key into a neighborhood school. There will be nothing programmatically unique about the Key neighborhood school. Given all of the boundary changes that will happen simultaneously, it also won’t be the same student body as would have been attending ASFS if that had remained a neighborhood school. The multi-million dollar budget shortfall and increased community criticism of funding the move of lab equipment to satisfy the whims and desires of a wealthy north Arlington neighborhood will make it impossible for APS to move the lab. The Spanish speaking population living in close proximity to Key will likely continue to attend the school that is practically across the street, only without the benefit of the program that has been such an amazing feature of the courthouse neighborhood. They’re converting Key to neighborhood; the concept of swap is just silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Struggling”is a big stretch. Did they publish actual numbers by grade level?

We know that they offered 54 spots to Spanish speakers and 78 spots to English speakers in the lottery. That’s 41% Spanish speakers and 59% not. The actual Sept enrollment was 120 so not all accepted, but the ratio is probably close. Can you go get an actual headcount and report back since you don’t want to believe any of the official information?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing I continue to find amusing about this whole plan is that anyone is parroting the “swap” terminology. There’s no swap. They are moving immersion into what is currently the ASFS building and converting Key into a neighborhood school. There will be nothing programmatically unique about the Key neighborhood school. Given all of the boundary changes that will happen simultaneously, it also won’t be the same student body as would have been attending ASFS if that had remained a neighborhood school. The multi-million dollar budget shortfall and increased community criticism of funding the move of lab equipment to satisfy the whims and desires of a wealthy north Arlington neighborhood will make it impossible for APS to move the lab. The Spanish speaking population living in close proximity to Key will likely continue to attend the school that is practically across the street, only without the benefit of the program that has been such an amazing feature of the courthouse neighborhood. They’re converting Key to neighborhood; the concept of swap is just silly.

Ugh, a socioeconomically diverse neighborhood school. How horrible for everyone!

[Anonymous]

Um, Key was one of the only 2 diverse neighborhood schools in NA until last year when it was turned into an option school. For many of us in the former neighborhood zone it’s also the only path to sending our kids to diverse middle and high schools. Not all of us in Rosslyn want to be bused to Williamsburg and Yorktown because the demographics at those schools don’t represent our neighborhoods, at least for now, until they finish gentrifying it, Turnberry style.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um, Key was one of the only 2 diverse neighborhood schools in NA until last year when it was turned into an option school. For many of us in the former neighborhood zone it’s also the only path to sending our kids to diverse middle and high schools. Not all of us in Rosslyn want to be bused to Williamsburg and Yorktown because the demographics at those schools don’t represent our neighborhoods, at least for now, until they finish gentrifying it, Turnberry style.

If your schools aren’t diverse enough for you, perhaps you should move to a more diverse part of the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing I continue to find amusing about this whole plan is that anyone is parroting the “swap” terminology. There’s no swap. They are moving immersion into what is currently the ASFS building and converting Key into a neighborhood school. There will be nothing programmatically unique about the Key neighborhood school. Given all of the boundary changes that will happen simultaneously, it also won’t be the same student body as would have been attending ASFS if that had remained a neighborhood school. The multi-million dollar budget shortfall and increased community criticism of funding the move of lab equipment to satisfy the whims and desires of a wealthy north Arlington neighborhood will make it impossible for APS to move the lab. The Spanish speaking population living in close proximity to Key will likely continue to attend the school that is practically across the street, only without the benefit of the program that has been such an amazing feature of the courthouse neighborhood. They’re converting Key to neighborhood; the concept of swap is just silly.

Ugh, a socioeconomically diverse neighborhood school. How horrible for everyone!

The only point I’m making is that you can’t recreate ASFS at the Key location. Not in terms of its unique character and not in terms of its student body. I think the loss of immersion from Key will be a loss for the Courthouse community, and I have trouble imagining the current pro-swap folks embracing the diversity many of us love about Key.

[Anonymous]

What a fantastic solution. You sound like a lovely person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing I continue to find amusing about this whole plan is that anyone is parroting the “swap” terminology. There’s no swap. They are moving immersion into what is currently the ASFS building and converting Key into a neighborhood school. There will be nothing programmatically unique about the Key neighborhood school. Given all of the boundary changes that will happen simultaneously, it also won’t be the same student body as would have been attending ASFS if that had remained a neighborhood school. The multi-million dollar budget shortfall and increased community criticism of funding the move of lab equipment to satisfy the whims and desires of a wealthy north Arlington neighborhood will make it impossible for APS to move the lab. The Spanish speaking population living in close proximity to Key will likely continue to attend the school that is practically across the street, only without the benefit of the program that has been such an amazing feature of the courthouse neighborhood. They’re converting Key to neighborhood; the concept of swap is just silly.

Ugh, a socioeconomically diverse neighborhood school. How horrible for everyone!

The only point I’m making is that you can’t recreate ASFS at the Key location. Not in terms of its unique character and not in terms of its student body. I think the loss of immersion from Key will be a loss for the Courthouse community, and I have trouble imagining the current pro-swap folks embracing the diversity many of us love about Key.

Look, it’s a tough situation to fix right now for all the reasons we’ve hashed out over and over again. Key Immersion as a neighborhood school is gone and it’s not coming back. I know you still see it as a neighborhood school that serves the community but it’s not anymore. This will become more apparent with each incoming class. It’s time to give some serious thought to where the program could best thrive in the future and advocate to move immersion there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Immersion to Carlin Springs and/or Barcroft. That is where the Spanish speakers are. And they have incredible numbers transferring out. Breaks up pockets of generational poverty.

It is two way immersion, not ESOL. There is a huge difference and, if you understood that, you would know that the student population should not ideally be 100% native Spanish speaking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing I continue to find amusing about this whole plan is that anyone is parroting the “swap” terminology. There’s no swap. They are moving immersion into what is currently the ASFS building and converting Key into a neighborhood school. There will be nothing programmatically unique about the Key neighborhood school. Given all of the boundary changes that will happen simultaneously, it also won’t be the same student body as would have been attending ASFS if that had remained a neighborhood school. The multi-million dollar budget shortfall and increased community criticism of funding the move of lab equipment to satisfy the whims and desires of a wealthy north Arlington neighborhood will make it impossible for APS to move the lab. The Spanish speaking population living in close proximity to Key will likely continue to attend the school that is practically across the street, only without the benefit of the program that has been such an amazing feature of the courthouse neighborhood. They’re converting Key to neighborhood; the concept of swap is just silly.

Ugh, a socioeconomically diverse neighborhood school. How horrible for everyone!

The only point I’m making is that you can’t recreate ASFS at the Key location. Not in terms of its unique character and not in terms of its student body. I think the loss of immersion from Key will be a loss for the Courthouse community, and I have trouble imagining the current pro-swap folks embracing the diversity many of us love about Key.

Look, it’s a tough situation to fix right now for all the reasons we’ve hashed out over and over again. Key Immersion as a neighborhood school is gone and it’s not coming back. I know you still see it as a neighborhood school that serves the community but it’s not anymore. This will become more apparent with each incoming class. It’s time to give some serious thought to where the program could best thrive in the future and advocate to move immersion there.

Actually, it does still serve the neighborhood even if it isn't guaranteed admission. Also, I’m not about to “pull an ASFS” and start pressing APS to evict another school in order to house the immersion program without that school community’s blessing. Key may not be the perfect location for the program, but it is a good location. And until APS presents a viable alternative (not just a theoretical site like ATS that is geographically well suited, but sure to encounter very tough resistance) I’m not going to make it my job to upend the status quo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Immersion to Carlin Springs and/or Barcroft. That is where the Spanish speakers are. And they have incredible numbers transferring out. Breaks up pockets of generational poverty.

It is two way immersion, not ESOL. There is a huge difference and, if you understood that, you would know that the student population should not ideally be 100% native Spanish speaking.

Either it’s imperative that the program be located near native speakers, in which case Barcroft or Carlin springs would work, or it’s not important and the program can go anywhere, including NW Arlington. You can’t have it both ways.