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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Get the book On Purpose: How Great Schools From Strong Character. An entire chapter on ATS.

ATS has a  unique culture going back over 40 years. Every teacher and family has chosen to be there. They tell you that at every BTS night. Teachers send their kids there if they can, former ATS students come back and teach there. Former teachers come back and volunteer there.

Other APS schools could do some of what makes ATS unique and some similar things.

Some schools have a model project but ATS has the ABCs which means a focus on academics, behavior and character. Kids learn this from day one and can tell you what the ABCs are and what they mean. They teach and reinforce the 6 pillars of citizenship and all of these messages are everywhere in the school.

Like other APS schools, they have unique parties and traditions. People think it's some test prep school and no one has fun. We already have the schedule of school parties for the year and my kids can't wait to go to the fall festival.

Everyone focuses on the homework and tucked-in shirts. [b]But the school builds teacher relationships and school community from day 1 to set every kid up for academic success.[/b]
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So does every other elementary school in the system. This is NOT what sets ATS apart.
Every school in Arlington will say they have and set high expectations for all of its students. This is NOT what sets ATS apart.
Each school in APS has its "unique" traditions and parties. This is NOT what sets ATS apart.
Each school my children have attended, regardless of model project, discuss and emphasize character, community, and academic success. This is NOT what sets ATS apart.

I don't know what specific thing it is that does set it apart; my kids didn't attend and I don't have direct experience. But I don't buy the "self-selection" argument. From my conversations with ATS parents I've known over the years, I think the "secret sauce" ingredients include:

1. holding every single student to the SAME HIGH standard - not a standard or goal individualized to each child. They believe and expect every student can and will meet those standards.

2. expecting and extracting each student's best efforts and best work - with those highest expectations and standards as the goal

3. every student taking up a musical instrument (music and brain development....scientific credibility, folks; as well as expanded opportunity or exposure v. schools where it's optional)

4. and apparently instructional methods employed, per AEM and DCUM commentaries (not shifting with the winds, sticking with something when it works)

Here's one example of a significant difference from many years ago, OP: 
The summer reading program/goals at our kids' elementary school was 10 books. Summer reading expectations at ATS was (oh shoot, I forget if it was 25 or 50! someone else here surely knows?) Regardless, it was MORE THAN DOUBLE our school's. And the "reward" for the students meeting the goal at our school was a cookie party. At ATS, it was a field trip to the zoo. While it may have been a challenge for some kids to read ten books, it was nothing for most of the kids who actually did it. They were not significantly challenging those kids.

Which brings us to another key difference between ATS and at least many of our other elementary schools:
5.  demographics and resources

Yes, yes, I know ATS has many low-income students and a diverse student body. But it is not the low-income levels of our Title I schools and is not the same level of ELL as those schools in particular.

OP, I agree with others that taking this to your principal is a bad idea. This is something that people need to start pushing at Central office.

I am wholeheartedly opposed to merely establishing a second ATS. Every school does not need to be ATS. Every school just needs to be as academically engaging as ATS at least seems to be. The biggest issue I have with the schools my kids have attended is the watering down of expectations, the lower level of intensity (versus what people describe at ATS). Students meeting expectations is "good enough" and they are not necessarily pushed (in general by the school - perhaps by some individual teachers) to push themselves beyond that.  Again, I think this is a bigger issue at the highest FRL/ELL schools because the school's primary need is to get every student on grade level and they have far more students who need far more focus to get them there in the same amount of time.

I'll add another one in the what distinguished ATS column:
6. Dress codes. People believe them to be sexist and racist. I don't think shirts have to be tucked in; but why is it sexist to require every student to have their butts and mid-sections covered? I'll be put in the sexist camp, but I don't think young girls need to have a lot of cleavage showing either. Not because it's their fault if some boy gets excited or assaults her; but because it is clearly unnecessary and inappropriate in the school setting. I'm not buying the "individual expression and proud of my body" crap. Teen girls are dressing the way they do specifically for the attention, whether from their friends or from the boys. And boys don't need to have their pants hanging off their asses either.

Regardless of all of that, a real dress code (uniforms in particular) contribute to better focus on the purpose at hand: school. They take away other distracting nonsense and instill a sense of discipline and school pride. Dress codes don't have to be overly restrictive and can still allow for individual expression.

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