Reply to Ashlawn/Kenmore vs. Long Branch/Jefferson

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I can’t imagine sending my kid to a middle school and receiving weekly EMS alerts about group fights. [/quote]

It happens at every middle school- police are always there.  Maybe not group fights, but something else.

APS started sending text alerts after a bunch of parents complained they did not know when police were there.

So now the big thing is if the school shares with parents or not when ems is on campus.

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/amid-a-rise-in-bad-behavior-an-arlington-middle-school-changes-rules.amp[/quote]

The EMS alerts from Kenmore are not all group fights, and that’s not happening weekly. OP, your kid would not be a target of these fights. It’s among kids who have known each other previously from ES, and they keep to themselves. It’s very likely your student wouldn’t be in any classes with the group known for fighting. Maybe they might see something at lunch or in PE, but it will not involve them. This will be the case at any school that has a “diverse” population, so all of them, except WMS and maybe DHMS. But they’re still MS kids, so those schools aren’t without issues.

As much as it pains me to say it, Kenmore is a very segregated school. Kids from vastly different backgrounds and home situations are in a building together, but really don’t mix. They often aren’t in the same core classes, electives, or extracurricular activities. It’s more segregated along SES lines than race/ethnicity, but unfortunately that’s also largely correlated to race/ethnicity. [b]My student has friends from ES that are “outliers” so to speak[/b], but it’s because despite their race/ethnicity/SES they have really involved parents who make sure their kids are placed in the higher level classes, and get scholarships for them to participate in pricey extracurricular activities so they maintain that connection to the peer group (outside of school) that can afford travel sports, private music lessons, etc.

I think your student would be safe and do well at Kenmore. It’s been an eye opener for me and my kid, for sure, but that’s not necessarily an indictment of the school. If anything, it’s an indictment of our nation, our culture, our segregated county, our racially charged past that continues to harm and separate our kids and provides unequal opportunities, from birth, that really limit kids’ potential, which becomes more apparent the older the kids become. They are beginning to realize it, too, and I suspect that’s a large part of the root of their anger/frustration. Kids who have nothing to lose and are already struggling at school aren’t really deterred by suspension.

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+100 to all of this.
And in regards to the bolded, this is why desegregation needs to start in elementary school. Actually before, in neighborhoods and preschool. But diverse elementary schools would go a long way to resolving problems. Arlington parents are more supportive of a ranked-choice admissions system for high school; but not for elementary. Elementary is where it is most needed. The same social and academic segregation continues in our high schools.
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