Reply to ASFS/Key Swap Off . . .

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[quote=Anonymous]so APS staff will basically entertain any idea, not matter how off the wall.  Note the guy who routinely gets people to engage in making all schools immersion.

That being said- the way APS initially created Claremont was to put immersion classrooms in several schools- Oakridge, Abingdon, and I'm forgetting the 3rd, and then eventually consolidated them into Claremont.  It's not a bad way to go an immersion program.  It works better when you have lots of space.  When APS created those immersion classrooms, there was enough room for everyone who wanted immersion and the classrooms were not supplanting neighborhood seats.

There is strong interest in the english speaking immersion community in creating a 3rd elementary school.  As part of the South Arlington boundary process last year, APS staff worked on a plan to put a couple of Kindergarten immersion classrooms in another school and bring Claremont down to 4 K's instead of 6 but they never even presented the plan b/c they said it was too complicated.  It is a little difficult to say what the best thing to do with immersion is.  On the pro immersion side 1) there is significant evidence to support that ELL do better when taught in their own language, and so immersion helps with the goal of closing the achievement gap; 2) there is a long waiting list for immersion on the english side so it also helps with integration.  On the anti-immersion side; 1) there is not demand from the ELL for immersion- APS struggles to fill those slots, and it is unclear how they would fill them if the opened up a 3rd school.

I think that the type of competing interests above is part of the reason for doing the instructional pathways- what does APS want to offer and how does it fit into the plan?

Given that proximity matters so much- I can see why putting some immersion classes at Randolph/ Carlin Springs, possibly Barrett would have a significant appeal.  But I think ultimately that concerns about equitable access and not wanting to let people 'buy' an option will win out.   [/quote]

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