Reply to Where is Carlin Springs in all of this?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I heard Barcroft is in the mix because they want to nix the year round calendar, and the school has one of the highest transfer rates. Wouldn't be surprised to see them relocate immersion there. They have a ton of field space for trailers. [/quote]

They still have ten trailers there now.  
Nobody seems to have heard the SB members say they want to see the analysis after other factors are considered....like the accessibility to the site for vehicular traffic.  Barcroft is not particularly accessible for a countywide program.  And, it is also a very highly walkable school.  I don't recall hearing them say a school's calendar is one of the factors for consideration of a change to an option program.[/quote]

DP. Of course "Calendar" isn't going to be one of the considerations for identifying promising candidates for option school locations. But if they're faced with deciding between a few sites including Barcroft that all have their pros and cons, eliminating an unpopular school calendar could end up in the pro column for Barcroft. Other schools will have their own unique pros and cons.[/quote]

The calendar seems to be unpopular by people who don't even attend the school and who have not even given it a try.  I have not heard any outcry about the calendar from the families enrolled there.  That does not necessarily mean the current enrolled families will fight to the death to keep it, or that all of them care strongly one way or the other. But while a school's instructional focus may not be popular among those who don't attend it, that doesn't mean it isn't popular among those who go there.  Same with Barcroft's calendar.

And, despite the calendar, it remains a highly walkable school and many of its current students walk there now.  Follow all the other discussions about how low-income families have to have walkable neighborhood schools?  Well, Barcroft apartments is chock full of low-income families who walk to their neighborhood schools.

It may be under-enrolled now; but that doesn't mean it will remain that way when additional CAF projects are complete and boundaries are readjusted.[/quote]

I live near Barcroft and most people I know do NOT choose to send their kids there in large part because of the year round calendar. If you have two kids, once one of them is in middle school it's a disaster for any kind of family planning. It's definitely doing nobody any favors at this point. Time to end the experiment.[/quote]

I am a current Barcroft and middle school parent.  The two schedules is NOT a disaster and has not been a big issue.  The only issue we've had in two years of the different schedules is this year's winter concert being on the same night for both schools.  That had nothing to do with Barcroft's calendar, rather having two kids in two different schools that don't coordinate concerts or events.  There have been hundreds of families who went through this dual-schedule before us, and I have not heard any big complaints or inability to manage it.  It actually has some advantages.[/quote]

I think PP was probably exaggerating that having kids on two different calendars is a disaster, but I think you are the exception who sees it as a plus. I know I would not ever consider it because it's just one more thing to manage in our very busy lives. Why make a school that is struggling to attract and keep the kids who live nearby any less attractive? If there were some compelling reason, such as improved test scores or educational outcomes (measured in some other way), I could get on board with a calendar that is more costly to maintain. But as far as I know, there is no such evidence of any benefit to students or even families that is not available at the traditional calendar schools. Mainly, I've heard from MC families who like to take off-peak Disney vacations and save on summer camps in August that they love this calendar. Not compelling enough a reason to have one neighborhood school on a different calendar that costs more, especially when we're looking to cut all kinds of other things and find "efficiencies" that I think will have far greater implications. [/quote]

Well, I am not the exception.  Like I said, I haven't heard any big complaints from those who actually experienced it or who are currently experiencing it; and I have lost track of the number of parents in other parts of the County and teachers from other schools I have encountered who say they wish all schools had that, or "I would love that" or "that sounds great."  Those off-peak vacations are a benefit that a lot of people take advantage of - and is very helpful for MC families who don't have the resources the UMC in richer parts of Arlington have, as well as to the teachers.  Those total of 4 weeks of intersession opportunities do cost a lot less than summer camps -- a huge benefit to the 60% FRL families at the school and to those same non-FRL families who may not be poor but who aren't rich and are getting by, too.  Ask the teachers how they like having breaks throughout the year or having the opportunity to take off-season vacations.  Over 300 students are participating in intersessions -- well over 60% of the current student body.  Those intersessions offer extended learning and "remedial" learning and enrichment opportunities these children would otherwise not have.  And again, the school is majority students who fall into those achievement gap student groups.  And even though there are some summer food programs, there are just 5-6 weeks of stress for families who can't afford to feed their children sufficiently instead of 9 or 10.  Benefits may not have translated into test scores as some may have hoped - but APS needs to explore why that might be. I suspect there are several factors.  But you also mention educational outcomes measured in other ways -- APS doesn't do that too well; but there are non-tangibles that can't always be measured.  I'm not saying everybody  would like the alternative calendar -- it's obvious how people in Arlington don't like something different or a change to their traditions and most familiars.  But just because you don't think you would like it or don't want to try it does not mean others do.  I've never seen the numbers for how much more it costs.  But Montessori costs more, too.  Exemplary projects have costs.  Concentrating low-income and/or ELL students in a handful of schools have great costs, both in the way of extra resources needed and in the social and academic costs for the students.  Schools weren't created to cater to parents schedules.  They are here to serve the needs of children and families.  Some families are better served in different ways, including an alternative calendar.[/quote]

Then it should be an alternative school. Not the default. [/quote]

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