Reply to HB Admissions are rigged

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is why I wish APS would release the actual percentage/number of 5th graders applying to HB from each ES. My guess has always been that a higher proportion of ATS 5th graders may apply (compared to the proportion of 5th graders from the neighborhood ES). The ATS kids draw from all over the County and then are scattered to their home zones for middle school. The ATS kids are starting their friendships over, regardless of whether they go to HB or the home middle school. In contrast, many neighborhood ES kids may want to just stick with their existing friends through middle school and therefore not as many apply to HB--- I have heard this from quite a few parents in our neighborhood. This is just a theory... not sure why APS is so secretive about the HB admission pool data.[/quote]

Maybe they aren't secretive. The form and the lottery are based on your home ES. The transfer report shows how many kids transfer in from which middle school zone (so you can figure out from which group of ES). It's not being "secret" -- they are reporting the information they easily have. What you are really asking is "why doesn't APS run a custom report to satisfy curious gossips?" I can answer that--they have better things to do with their time (and our tax dollars). [/quote]

PP- you missed the point of my post and are being unnecessarily snarky. The transfer report shows how many kids transfer in from which middle school zone-- but it doesn't show which elementary school they attended before coming to HB. It also doesn't show how many kids apply from each ES (or from private school for that matter). This is information APS should easily have- X%/# of 5th graders from Taylor who apply; X%/# from Long Branch; X%/# from ATS, etc. If more ATS kids proportionally apply to the HB lottery, then it makes sense why it seems like a disproportionate amount are accepted (or maybe that's not even true). The data would also show (or not show) whether there are admissions irregularities that could be chalked up to connections/favoritism people often claim. Without this data, its hard to have a conversation about whether the lottery should change, which was a point of discussion when the APS transfer policy was being revised last year. [/quote]

I take your point, but ATS kids officially apply "from" their neighborhood schools. Of course, they know what school they're actually attending, but they're thrown in the pool for the seats allotted for whatever would have been their neighborhood elementary school. [/quote]

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