APS boundary process this fall?

[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 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.

This is what it is for a lot of people. What we have doesn't work and a lot of kids are getting screwed but my kid isn't currently screwed so let's stick with what we have because in a new system my own kid could be worse off.

This is why APS sucks. This attitude is prevalent and APS totally caves to it over and over.

[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 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.

This is what it is for a lot of people. What we have doesn't work and a lot of kids are getting screwed but my kid isn't currently screwed so let's stick with what we have because in a new system my own kid could be worse off.

This is why APS sucks. This attitude is prevalent and APS totally caves to it over and over.

Its super disruptive to school communities and families to redraw boundaries. It should be done as infrequently as possible. Voluntary transfers are minimally disruptive and are a great measure to stretch out the time between boundary changes.

[Anonymous]

This is never going to happen. it will just come up on the agenda and then get pushed back for some reason or another

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A couple of the schools hovering around 100 percent capacity, which feels crowded day to day, while one sits way under capacity is not a solution.

No one wants to give up walking or commit to a long bus ride.

At capacity changes year to year.

They should colocate HBW middle school students at WMS, and expand the HBW high school enrollment at the Heights.

I like that last suggestion.

Personally, I would rather my kids be at a school that's not packed to the seams and take a bus. We are walkers for Swanson. Walking has value but these kids are packed into that school all day every day and that has a much bigger impact on them. I don't think I'm the only person who feels that way? Maybe I am. And yes, I understand I could choose a transfer.

Isn't it better to have the option to transfer than to be forced to switch in a boundary shift? I know lots of kids who transferred out of Swanson and they were very happy to have that option.

Where can you transfer to if you’re leaving Swanson? Just Williamsburg?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A couple of the schools hovering around 100 percent capacity, which feels crowded day to day, while one sits way under capacity is not a solution.

No one wants to give up walking or commit to a long bus ride.

At capacity changes year to year.

They should colocate HBW middle school students at WMS, and expand the HBW high school enrollment at the Heights.

Does it though? A couple of the middle schools hover around over stuffed while Williamsburg is pretty empty and just getting more empty. We can all kick the can down the road so the Hamm people don't freak out again, but it doesn't seem like strategic decision making or good use of facilities at all.

Hamm isn't overcrowded and the zone isn't situated between the overcapacity schools and Williamsburg. It doesn't actually need to be involved in a meaningful way.

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2024/08/MS_Boundaries_SY24_25_V2.pdf

This is what it boils down to. The Hamm people are blocking what is best for the greater good. There aren't enough contiguous PUs to fill Williamsburg appropriately without affecting Hamm, but we get it you don't care about anyone else and want to walk.

Uh, the last boundary process died because APS planning has made a major hash of things (e.g., Nottingham) and schools weren't over capacity once they verified addresses. I don't think it died because of any single group, but because of APS incompetence.

Looking at the map, I don't understand why they can't just move students from Swanson to WMS. There's a long contiguous boundary with students who aren't that far from WMS. They could also move the rest of the Glebe kids to Hamm, which is also contiguous, freeing up more space at Swanson.

We are in Ballston, zoned for Ashlawn. We live near the Uncle Julio’s. We are closer to Hamm than Swanson but zoned for Swanson. There are probably some planning units that ours that could be switched without anyone freaking out. We can’t walk to either one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 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.

This is what it is for a lot of people. What we have doesn't work and a lot of kids are getting screwed but my kid isn't currently screwed so let's stick with what we have because in a new system my own kid could be worse off.

This is why APS sucks. This attitude is prevalent and APS totally caves to it over and over.

Its super disruptive to school communities and families to redraw boundaries. It should be done as infrequently as possible. Voluntary transfers are minimally disruptive and are a great measure to stretch out the time between boundary changes.

Guess what is super disruptive to school communities. Having your kid in a school packed like a sardine can for 3 years. Just lived it for 3 years with one kid. Voluntary transfers don't really help this issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A couple of the schools hovering around 100 percent capacity, which feels crowded day to day, while one sits way under capacity is not a solution.

No one wants to give up walking or commit to a long bus ride.

At capacity changes year to year.

They should colocate HBW middle school students at WMS, and expand the HBW high school enrollment at the Heights.

I like that last suggestion.

Personally, I would rather my kids be at a school that's not packed to the seams and take a bus. We are walkers for Swanson. Walking has value but these kids are packed into that school all day every day and that has a much bigger impact on them. I don't think I'm the only person who feels that way? Maybe I am. And yes, I understand I could choose a transfer.

Isn't it better to have the option to transfer than to be forced to switch in a boundary shift? I know lots of kids who transferred out of Swanson and they were very happy to have that option.

Where can you transfer to if you’re leaving Swanson? Just Williamsburg?

WMS and Hamm were both preferenced this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 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.

This is what it is for a lot of people. What we have doesn't work and a lot of kids are getting screwed but my kid isn't currently screwed so let's stick with what we have because in a new system my own kid could be worse off.

This is why APS sucks. This attitude is prevalent and APS totally caves to it over and over.

Its super disruptive to school communities and families to redraw boundaries. It should be done as infrequently as possible. Voluntary transfers are minimally disruptive and are a great measure to stretch out the time between boundary changes.

Guess what is super disruptive to school communities. Having your kid in a school packed like a sardine can for 3 years. Just lived it for 3 years with one kid. Voluntary transfers don't really help this issue.

The point of transfers is to deal with overcrowding. If it's not sufficient, that's a different discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A couple of the schools hovering around 100 percent capacity, which feels crowded day to day, while one sits way under capacity is not a solution.

No one wants to give up walking or commit to a long bus ride.

At capacity changes year to year.

They should colocate HBW middle school students at WMS, and expand the HBW high school enrollment at the Heights.

Does it though? A couple of the middle schools hover around over stuffed while Williamsburg is pretty empty and just getting more empty. We can all kick the can down the road so the Hamm people don't freak out again, but it doesn't seem like strategic decision making or good use of facilities at all.

Hamm isn't overcrowded and the zone isn't situated between the overcapacity schools and Williamsburg. It doesn't actually need to be involved in a meaningful way.

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2024/08/MS_Boundaries_SY24_25_V2.pdf

This is what it boils down to. The Hamm people are blocking what is best for the greater good. There aren't enough contiguous PUs to fill Williamsburg appropriately without affecting Hamm, but we get it you don't care about anyone else and want to walk.

Uh, the last boundary process died because APS planning has made a major hash of things (e.g., Nottingham) and schools weren't over capacity once they verified addresses. I don't think it died because of any single group, but because of APS incompetence.

Looking at the map, I don't understand why they can't just move students from Swanson to WMS. There's a long contiguous boundary with students who aren't that far from WMS. They could also move the rest of the Glebe kids to Hamm, which is also contiguous, freeing up more space at Swanson.

We are in Ballston, zoned for Ashlawn. We live near the Uncle Julio’s. We are closer to Hamm than Swanson but zoned for Swanson. There are probably some planning units that ours that could be switched without anyone freaking out. We can’t walk to either one.

Why would they add yet another elementary school feeder to Hamm, creating another split, when there are ASFS and Glebe kids who could be consolidated at fewer MSs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 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.

This is what it is for a lot of people. What we have doesn't work and a lot of kids are getting screwed but my kid isn't currently screwed so let's stick with what we have because in a new system my own kid could be worse off.

This is why APS sucks. This attitude is prevalent and APS totally caves to it over and over.

Its super disruptive to school communities and families to redraw boundaries. It should be done as infrequently as possible. Voluntary transfers are minimally disruptive and are a great measure to stretch out the time between boundary changes.

Guess what is super disruptive to school communities. Having your kid in a school packed like a sardine can for 3 years. Just lived it for 3 years with one kid. Voluntary transfers don't really help this issue.

The point of transfers is to deal with overcrowding. If it's not sufficient, that's a different discussion.

Take a walk around Swanson during a school day and see how it works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 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.

This is what it is for a lot of people. What we have doesn't work and a lot of kids are getting screwed but my kid isn't currently screwed so let's stick with what we have because in a new system my own kid could be worse off.

This is why APS sucks. This attitude is prevalent and APS totally caves to it over and over.

Its super disruptive to school communities and families to redraw boundaries. It should be done as infrequently as possible. Voluntary transfers are minimally disruptive and are a great measure to stretch out the time between boundary changes.

Guess what is super disruptive to school communities. Having your kid in a school packed like a sardine can for 3 years. Just lived it for 3 years with one kid. Voluntary transfers don't really help this issue.

There are lots of instances where neighborhoods (e.g., Cardinal / Swanson ) that have chosen to be in overcrowded schools versus being moved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 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.

This is what it is for a lot of people. What we have doesn't work and a lot of kids are getting screwed but my kid isn't currently screwed so let's stick with what we have because in a new system my own kid could be worse off.

This is why APS sucks. This attitude is prevalent and APS totally caves to it over and over.

Its super disruptive to school communities and families to redraw boundaries. It should be done as infrequently as possible. Voluntary transfers are minimally disruptive and are a great measure to stretch out the time between boundary changes.

Guess what is super disruptive to school communities. Having your kid in a school packed like a sardine can for 3 years. Just lived it for 3 years with one kid. Voluntary transfers don't really help this issue.

The point of transfers is to deal with overcrowding. If it's not sufficient, that's a different discussion.

You can't force enough kids to take an optional transfer to Williamsburg to fix the imbalance. The way you would fix the issue is by...rezoning kids.

[Anonymous]

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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.

This is what it is for a lot of people. What we have doesn't work and a lot of kids are getting screwed but my kid isn't currently screwed so let's stick with what we have because in a new system my own kid could be worse off.

This is why APS sucks. This attitude is prevalent and APS totally caves to it over and over.

Its super disruptive to school communities and families to redraw boundaries. It should be done as infrequently as possible. Voluntary transfers are minimally disruptive and are a great measure to stretch out the time between boundary changes.

Guess what is super disruptive to school communities. Having your kid in a school packed like a sardine can for 3 years. Just lived it for 3 years with one kid. Voluntary transfers don't really help this issue.

There are lots of instances where neighborhoods (e.g., Cardinal / Swanson ) that have chosen to be in overcrowded schools versus being moved.

We are a McKinley then Cardinal then Swanson family. The affected neighborhood that's going to get the boot screams bloody murder and they also hijack the PTA on their behalf. Plenty of individuals spoke up to the school board and said please don't overpack Cardinal. I was one of them. But many parents who aren't going to be moved aren't paying enough attention to realize the advocacy coming from a certain group inside the school means their kid will be at a crowded school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

This is what it is for a lot of people. What we have doesn't work and a lot of kids are getting screwed but my kid isn't currently screwed so let's stick with what we have because in a new system my own kid could be worse off.

This is why APS sucks. This attitude is prevalent and APS totally caves to it over and over.

Its super disruptive to school communities and families to redraw boundaries. It should be done as infrequently as possible. Voluntary transfers are minimally disruptive and are a great measure to stretch out the time between boundary changes.

Guess what is super disruptive to school communities. Having your kid in a school packed like a sardine can for 3 years. Just lived it for 3 years with one kid. Voluntary transfers don't really help this issue.

The point of transfers is to deal with overcrowding. If it's not sufficient, that's a different discussion.

You can't force enough kids to take an optional transfer to Williamsburg to fix the imbalance. The way you would fix the issue is by...rezoning kids.

I know Hamm filled every transfer seat because I know people on the waitlist. Does anyone know if WMS still has a transfer waitlist? It's possible that the question is more about whether APS is making enough transfer seats available.

I also know that Swanson pushed hard not to have PUs moved away in the last boundary swap, so be careful what you wish for? I also wouldn't expect those PUs to suddenly agree to be swapped now, especially if it means splitting elementary schools or a lower stats Swanson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

It's not the Arlington Way. It never has been.