Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the deal with ATS? It's special, apparently, but is that because of some special educational philosophy or just because everyone is there by choice and not by default?

Bingo.

So why is it perceived as a better - or more coveted, more special, etc. - school than the other choice schools (Montessori, Immersion, Campbell)? Is it the socioeconomic make up of the student body? Something else?

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the responses. PP, we're quite happy with our neighborhood school. We're zoned for Henry, and I expect where we'll up. We're just curious about the other options, and if we find that one might be a good fit, wondering how likely it would be that pursuing that option would be fruitful. We also have another child a couple of years behind our rising kinder gardener and want to be thinking about possibilities for her, too.

Depending on where you live in relation to the “new” Henry (Fleet), you may not end up there after it opens. All of the boundaries are up in the air, but especially Henry’s as the school is moving. Just be prepared.

OP here. Thanks for the responses. PP, we're quite happy with our neighborhood school. We're zoned for Henry, and I expect where we'll up. We're just curious about the other options, and if we find that one might be a good fit, wondering how likely it would be that pursuing that option would be fruitful. We also have another child a couple of years behind our rising kinder gardener and want to be thinking about possibilities for her, too.

Anonymous wrote:What is the deal with ATS? It's special, apparently, but is that because of some special educational philosophy or just because everyone is there by choice and not by default?

Bingo.

Do you have something against your neighborhood school?

I was at the info session for ATS this morning. The long time principal said they typically get 300 applications for K. Waitlist numbers used to carry over, though they won't starting this fall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well I can assure you that is a lot more than 350, which would be 20%. Do you know how many K students there are in this county?

Really? I don't think it is. I thought at last year's info session they said that ATS typically received between 150-200 applications.

I think it's higher. I think the waitlist goes higher than 200, so there must be more applicants.

Anonymous wrote:Well I can assure you that is a lot more than 350, which would be 20%. Do you know how many K students there are in this county?

Really? I don't think it is. I thought at last year's info session they said that ATS typically received between 150-200 applications.

What is the deal with ATS? It's special, apparently, but is that because of some special educational philosophy or just because everyone is there by choice and not by default?

Well I can assure you that is a lot more than 350, which would be 20%. Do you know how many K students there are in this county?

Anonymous wrote:Ha! You do not have a 20% chance of getting into ATS. That's hysterical. I remember the year I applied for my daughter there were like 45 spots. Total. 3 classes minus the VPI-committed seats and siblings. Now there are 4 classes. So add 24 to that.

This means nothing without the number of total applications.

Ha! You do not have a 20% chance of getting into ATS. That's hysterical. I remember the year I applied for my daughter there were like 45 spots. Total. 3 classes minus the VPI-committed seats and siblings. Now there are 4 classes. So add 24 to that.

ATS historical acceptance rate is about 6%. This year they are adding one extra class so that might make it go up to 8%.

As compared to what?
Your chances of getting into ATS are something like 20%. Your chances of getting into Montessori? pretty good- historically they have not had a wait list. Your chances of getting into immersion? Probably better than they were last year- for the last few years Claremont has been filled by siblings and neighborhood preference- with the neighborhood preference gone, if you weren't entitled to neighborhood preference your chances are way up. If were entitled to neighborhood preference your chances are obviously down (as compared to guaranteed.) Still- pretty good chance.
Your chances of getting into Campbell? This is the big unknown. Campbell has not historically had a huge waitlist, but only drew form very limited zones. With it open to the whole county for the first time no one really knows what will happen.

My DS will be entering kindergarten this fall, and we have a full roster of school open houses we're attending to learn more about the possibilities outside of our neighborhood school (we're in south Arlington).

After reading through some of the other threads, however, I'm wondering how realistic it is that there will be spaces that would allow any options schools to be, well, an option. I'd really value thoughts to help set our expectations. Thanks!