Reply to South Arlington elementary school boundary adjustments 2019

Forum Index » Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)

Reply to "South Arlington elementary school boundary adjustments 2019"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The year round calendar is for that benfit of the immigrant community. 
After Tania Talento’s awful speech about how wonderful it is that people can choose where they live, and how much that community just wants to cluster together around a school, why don’t they just draw a line around all those crappy apartments and give the community what they want. Give them a school. The county board and school sees no issues with clustering poverty and championing walkability respectively. Give that community the school it’s asked for. [/quote]

Treating your comment as serious and not just borne of frustration, I don't think it's fair to assume the community is okay with a far inferior school that is close by simply because they don't want to be bused to the Yorktown area. Those parents showed up to the HS rezoning meetings and they were not having any of moving them out of W-L in favor of Wakefield. (Yes, I think this was unfair to Wakefield but that is a separate issue.) They aren't just bowing and scraping happy to be here. And, Talento's wisdom aside, actually folks can't necessarily choose where they live. Certainly folks in AH can't be said to have much of a choice to live in North Arlington, because there isn't AH to speak of up there. Put those things together and I don't think your solution is the right one. I'm no fan of committed AH myself, but we have it and have obligations to the folks who live in it because they are members of the community just as we are.

*steps off soapbox* [/quote]

So which is it? They want to be together or they don’t?  My point is the county has created this scenario, actively worked to not only maintain, but encouraged this scenario, AND even gone so far as to celebrate this scenario. If they are so f#ckin proud of the wonderful work the’ve done and the outstanding policies they’ve implemented, then the middle class community should help them own it.
Let the state see how fantastic Arlington is doing.
Keeping the immigrant community together is a smoke screen for keeping them out of north Arlington. It’s wonderfully convenient for everyone. I understand it’s also easier for the lower income parents. I get it. But there is a 60 million dollar AH fund. Those f#ckers can pay for shuttles to the schools. It’s not hard to convince a community that has no formal education there is a difference among the schools. Not really hard to keep them content right where they are. So let them just be happy right where they are. Draw a big red line around them. Not like we don’t have a sterling history of that in Arlington, and it’s not like 5-10% middle class kids in attendance will make any sort of meaningful impact.
Of course people don’t have choices. It was outrageous she would dare utter those words. She’s an embarrassment.
Yes. I’m frustrated. [/quote]

This isn't that surprising.  Rich white people in N. Arlington want their kids to go to schools close to their homes that are in their communities.  So do many immigrants in S. Arlington (at least at the elementary level). This is an even bigger  deal for families where many parents are working multiple jobs and they may have to share cars or rely on buses for transportation. My child is at Randolph.  There is a lot of support for the school among families from all cultures, and many parents and grandparents attend school events and meetings. That would be a lot harder if the school was further from home.   I  very much want all students to succeed and I understand why you are frustrated, but in many cases these communities have been in that part of Arlington longer than you have.  22204 is one of the most diverse zip codes on the eastern seaboard.   When we chose our home it wasn't simply that this was the only part of Arlington where we could afford a house.  It was also that we appreciated the cultural, racial and socioeconomic diversity of the neighborhood.  It is important to understand the fabric of a community before making a decision to become part of it.

Please understand--I'm not saying we have to go 100% with the status quo, but please try to respect  the needs and requests of all stakeholders in these schools.

We have a history in Arlington and in our country of making people of color move around in order to integrate.  There is a lot of history and resentment there (especially in Nauck).

[/quote]

What grade is your Randolph kid? I’ve heard people get frustrated somewhere around 4th/ 5th grade.  I’d be interested to hear positive stories from happy families in the upper grades.
Also, I understand there is broad familial support at Randolph. That isn’t the source of my frustration. There is a history of strong immigrant communities in 22204, but the majority of the families moving into AH are not long time Arlington residents. Most of the studies done by the county have said that.[/quote]

Lower elementary. So we will see. We did go to the exhibit of 5th grade IB portfolio projects last year and I was impressed.  Also there are two enrichment teachers---one for lower elementary and one for upper elementary.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics