Reply to APS Interesting Responses to Walk Zone Survey

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Oakridge is one of the most overcrowded schools in the county. They will use Drew to reduce the overcrowding. [b]Do you really think they will bus Arlington Ridge to Drew and not Arna Valley and the Berkeley, no matter how walkable they are?[/quote][/b]

Of course they won't. Does anyone think that?

Drew will not be Oakridge or Henry. But it also won't be Carlin Springs. Do the math:

In the Carlin Springs attendance boundary:

Arbor Heights -198
Columbia Grove - 121
Fields of Arlington - 130
Harvey Hall - 189
Key Gardens - 22
Monterey - 109
The Serrano - 196
The Shell - 83

In the current Drew boundary:

Fort Henry Gardens - 82
The Macedonian - 36
The Shelton - 94

In the potential Drew boundary, if they sweep up Long Branch Creek:

Arna Valley - 101
Avalon - 64 
The Berkley - 110
The Grove - 7

So, that's 1,048 units of AH in the Carlin Springs boundary, and 212 in the current Drew boundary, and 494 if they move all of the AH in Oakridge to Drew. There's more than double the units of AH in the Carlin Springs attendance zone. Not the same. [/quote]

A useful comparison. What you're missing is that much of Nauck's SFH and duplexes are not owned by wealthy newcomers. Nauck is house rich and cash poor. Lots of people live in houses their grandparents paid off. We know from the test scores published on arlnow several years ago that drews graded program does worse than Randolph and carlin springs. That's a strong clue that the farms rate is comparable.[/quote]

Oh, you'll just grab at anything to make yourself believe you're "right."  You just won't admit that there is even a possibility that Drew will improve as a school - and significantly.  Even if it is 50% FRL.

What YOU are missing is that a lot of people across Arlington are house rich and cash poor.  A lot aren't and have more money than they know what to do with; but a lot of people who are by definition "UMC" families are living paycheck to paycheck because their mortgages are so frickin' expensive and property taxes continue to rise even when household income doesn't.

What you are missing is that impoverished people can be intelligent and perform well academically, too.  They just have a heckuva lot more learning and growth to do in the same amount of time as their affluent peers because they are more likely to be starting far behind their wealthier classmates who have had quality preschool experiences, college-educated parents who read to them every night, and overbearing successful parents who make sure their kids have every opportunity and experience they can possibly have for fear they will fail or not be above or better than everyone else.  Or who have parents who are fluent in English and can be more involved in their academic life.

What you are missing is that poor people can value education just as much as rich people.  (and a lot of rich kids take education for granted).  Poor parents can want and push for their kids to do better and achieve more than they did.  Immigrant families can value education and want their kids to succeed - that's why they're here.

What you are missing is that the Nauck/Shirlington area has seen its share of "gentrification" and influx of young, well-educated professional families.

What you are missing is that the current Drew neighborhood program has failed for multiple reasons - lack of cohesive, consistent, strong leadership; administration divided between two completely different and incompatible academic programs; being overshadowed by the Montessori program that absorbed a lot of the resources, benefiting from being under Drew's Title I status even when, as we now see by their loss of Title I status when they become independent in their own building, most of the FRL-eligible kids were in the neighborhood program and the resources should have been going to that program; APS treating the school as one instead of two separate programs; APS' inexcusable and absolute denial about the real situation, and APS' neglect and inaction to do anything to resolve it until it finally became convenient for them because they could get what they needed to build the school they wanted.

What you are missing is that a school does not have to have less than 10% poor kids and the highest test scores to be a high-quality, successful school.  What you are missing is that there are other definitions of a successful school and important values to be gained from a public school experience that apparently don't match yours but are just as valid.  You don't want any of these aspects for your family and so you won't ever send your kids to any of these "lesser, failing" schools.

What we are NOT missing is your ignorance being a part of our school community.[/quote]

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