Reply to Drew Model Elementary: proposed boundaries (s/o from APS/SA thread specific to Drew)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just a friendly reminder to all concerned.... repeat after me (this time, with feeling!)

Abingdon is not overcrowded.... Abingdon is not overcrowded....

Abingdon is not even at capacity! Abingdon is not even at capacity!

It's 100% true, per Abingdon's rock star team.... let's all take a deep breath and question this notion that we need to shed kids from Abingdon this year....

now back to the refrain.... Abingdon is not overcrowded.... it's not even at capacity! 
[/quote]

On this note, what is the source of the huge differences between the newly published Sept enrollment numbers and the number of resident students with option school attendees removed in the “no change” scenarios for 2019? Ex: Abingdon K-5 2019 estimate 811 vs current enrollment 633? Barcroft 2019 estimate 572 vs current enrollment 396. Oakridge and Henry are off by more than a normal years growth too. Are there really that many new student expected in one year?

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/School-Level-Data-Table-for-Existing-and-Proposed-Boundaries-Final.pdf

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sept-30-Membership-2018-19.pdf[/quote]

I don’t know for sure, but I think there are different possible explanations for each of them. Abingdon has lost its priority for Claremont and that’s expected to drive up enrollment as transfers fall. They’re planning to get rid of the year-round calendar for Barcroft which would then also cut off transfers to Randolph, so numbers could go up meaningfully there. All of the South Arlington schools lost priority for Campbell so you could see fewer transfers from all of them, which means higher neighborhood school enrollment,[/quote]

If Abingdon is not overcrowded than how come my special needs toddler is in a basement classroom with no windows? And yes I'm sure this "outs" me on here.

I'm not sure where they get their statistics on figuring out capacity but it's wrong to have the 3 highly special needs classes in rooms that were not originally designed to be classrooms. [/quote]

Leaving aside the issue of special needs, this is happening at every single school. There was a grandparent complaining on AEM a while back about a windowless K or 1st classroom at Jamestown. At many other schools, the teacher lounges and computer labs are now classrooms, even though they are not close to capacity. Between the poor design of the formerly open "pod" classroom schools, and because of internal modifications to utilize space, once something is converted to classroom space it's not going to be converted back. Ever. Not because Abingdon is too crowded and needs to shed students. Someone's kids will be in that windowless classroom at Abingdon, even if you push out a couple hundred kids who currently attend. [/quote]

Last year these classes where in  actual classrooms. Claremont changed their attendance policy and we needed more K classrooms so special needs got bumped. This problem is only going to get worse. Claremont has a sibling policy so some kids zoned for Abingdon got in because of an older sibling. In the upcoming years more kids are not going to have older siblings at Claremont meaning even more kids at Abingdon. [/quote]

When K-5 space is at a premium, the Pre-K kids get bumped to wherever there is space. It happened at our school, and I know it happened at another overcrowded school my kid's friend attends. None of the parents were happy about it. Wonder where all those kids at Hoffman-Boston are going when the dust settles. [/quote]

Right, my point is don’t say Abingdon is not overcrowded when it is at minimum reaching capacity. Especially when Drew which is right next door will have room. [/quote]

But you just said your Pre-K class got bumped FROM Claremont (no space for Pre-K) TO Abingdon (has space for Pre-K). PUs so not need to be moved out of Abingdon because of the Claremont change (ASFS said the same thing about Key admission policy change, and they didn't have a sudden influx to the neighborhood school when they didn't get in by General lottery). The admission policy changes will cause gradual changes to the neighborhood schools. Not a sudden one. What is more likely is that they might need to make space for the kids the know are coming from Columbia Hills. If they have to send some PUs to Drew, it should be ones that are closest and that can have a positive effect on demographics. [/quote]

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