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][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]

All I am saying is that Abingdon is not at capacity. That's according to school officials. They are not at capacity, so why move 100s of kids - and the answer can't be to free up one extra room. I'm sorry your kid is in a room w/o windows -- that stinks -- but that doesn't change the fact that the school itself says it isn't at capacity for overall enrollment. [/quote]

It’s two extra rooms this year. Maybe more next year? Not to mention that in the event of a fire my 3 year old with cerbal palsy has to walk pretty far to get out of the building. His room doesn’t have a bathroom which makes potty training my special needs toddler that much more of a challenge.  there is room at Drew. If sending him to Drew is the answer then send him to Drew I’m not fighting that.

The current boundary change doesn’t send 100s of students to Drew, it reduces Abingdons numbers slightly.

L[/quote]

That's terrible, by the way. But moving doesn't mean your child will be assigned to a more appropriate classroom. The Pre-K classes get shifted around, often at the last minute when someone from APS makes a different decision that has ripple effects. I think this is an issue you should bring up to SEPTA or someone, because even if it was decision made over the summer, Abingdon's administration should either have been able to find more appropriate spaces within the school for your child and the others in that class, or should've alerted APS to this issue so they could find a more suitable location for the Pre-K classes. Isn't the code for this age group that they be at ground level, with egress to ground level? No stairs. [/quote]

I’m honestly not sure and the way Abingdon is located on a hill it may technically be ground level?

We are new to the APS SPED world so I’m not sure how to even raise the issue or if it’s a battle worth fighting when I know I have a million more to come. Plus it’s not fair to put another classroom there instead.

My main point was that just because on paper Abingdon isn’t technically overcrowded doesn’t mean that it’s not feeling the crowding issues all the schools are facing. The whole point of building fleet was to help elevate some of these issues. [/quote]

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