And to save you all some time, here is a link to the map. http://www.apsva.us/cms/lib2/VA01000586/Centricity/Domain/168/ES%202016%20Offical%20Map%2001222015.pdf

I am guessing the Taylor parent above would be going to the Science Focus building (and therefore not crossing Lee Highway) if it had not been taken out of commission as a neighborhood school years ago and turned into a "choice" school program. The locations of these programs does not make a lot of sense now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are we fighting about this? Let's just hope they create some form of capacity at the site in the near future.

They want people to fight so no one notices that by the time the kids in ES get to HS, we will be short AN ENTIRE SCHOOL THAT THEY AREN'T BUILDING!

For the cheap seats. You want your walkable neighborhood school in your quaint little neighborhood, but get to the back of the line with that. We don't have the money or the space for all of the wants. We can only accommodate the needs at this point. We need schools that can solve capacity problems in multiple areas, and we need a new HS, otherwise our kids will be going to school in shifts. Not trailers, SHIFTS.

Um, you do realize that they are talking about seats at all 3 levels, right? A neighborhood school doesn't impact HS seats, unless........

1. Don't spend as much on Reed. Make it a bit smaller and bring it online quickly as a neighborhood school.
2. Turn ATS back into a neighborhood school, thereby providing more seats in Ballston.
3. Put ATS at Madison, a space that will never fill from the neighborhood.
4. Take that money saved from not building another huge ES and spend it on HS seats at VHC or Career Center.

The reason that McKinley and Ashlawn needed additions (and are now 700+ kid schools) and Tuckahoe and Nottingham are overflowing is because the Reed and ATS buildings were both taken out of commission as neighborhood schools a few decades ago when APS enrollment dropped off. This is blantantly obvious if you look at a county map of the elementary school building locations. Both buildings were originally built as neighborhood elementary schools-- not as choice schools or preschools. Using the buildings as neighborhood elementary schools would just be restoring them back to their original purpose, not asking for anything new. I get that people love the ATS program (and the teachers need the Reed daycare program), but they don't need to be in their current locations to continue to exist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are we fighting about this? Let's just hope they create some form of capacity at the site in the near future.

They want people to fight so no one notices that by the time the kids in ES get to HS, we will be short AN ENTIRE SCHOOL THAT THEY AREN'T BUILDING!

This is the real issue. I guarantee you won't care if your kid cannot walk to a neighborhood elementary school when they will have to attend either a 3,000 student high school or a double shifted high school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are we fighting about this? Let's just hope they create some form of capacity at the site in the near future.

They want people to fight so no one notices that by the time the kids in ES get to HS, we will be short AN ENTIRE SCHOOL THAT THEY AREN'T BUILDING!

For the cheap seats. You want your walkable neighborhood school in your quaint little neighborhood, but get to the back of the line with that. We don't have the money or the space for all of the wants. We can only accommodate the needs at this point. We need schools that can solve capacity problems in multiple areas, and we need a new HS, otherwise our kids will be going to school in shifts. Not trailers, SHIFTS.

Anonymous wrote:Why are we fighting about this? Let's just hope they create some form of capacity at the site in the near future.

They want people to fight so no one notices that by the time the kids in ES get to HS, we will be short AN ENTIRE SCHOOL THAT THEY AREN'T BUILDING!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny how APS values walkable everywhere except Westover.

Please. Our house is zoned Taylor, which is more than a mile away and across Lee Highway and Swanson, which is 2-3 miles away. Westover is far from alone.

Sounds like you'll be walking to Stratford!

Nope, it will be finished too late for my 6th grader. And definitely too late for my high school junior.

Where's my S Arlington choice school?

Or better, when are we just going to go back and redraw all the lines, institute a busing plan, or start completely over?

Why are we fighting about this? Let's just hope they create some form of capacity at the site in the near future.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny how APS values walkable everywhere except Westover.

Please. Our house is zoned Taylor, which is more than a mile away and across Lee Highway and Swanson, which is 2-3 miles away. Westover is far from alone.

Sounds like you'll be walking to Stratford!

Anonymous wrote:Funny how APS values walkable everywhere except Westover.

Please. Our house is zoned Taylor, which is more than a mile away and across Lee Highway and Swanson, which is 2-3 miles away. Westover is far from alone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny how APS values walkable everywhere except Westover.

What? You feel persecuted? Unless they build a school every few blocks or so, somebody is going to have to get on a bus. Sorry that it's you and that you find this unacceptable. But you knew that when you moved to Westover, so tell me again why am I supposed to feel sorry for you.

I don't live in Westover. Nice try. My kids walk to their school. I just find it amusing/hypocritical/whatever that a walkable *insert school* is always praised (see every single survey from APS), but when it's brought up for Reed, the residents hear, "Too bad! Deal with it!"

Anonymous wrote:Funny how APS values walkable everywhere except Westover.

What? You feel persecuted? Unless they build a school every few blocks or so, somebody is going to have to get on a bus. Sorry that it's you and that you find this unacceptable. But you knew that when you moved to Westover, so tell me again why am I supposed to feel sorry for you.

Funny how APS values walkable everywhere except Westover.

As I understand it they are not necessarily contemplating creating a new choice program. They are also considering -- or perhaps primarily considering -- creating capacity somewhere else in the county by moving an existing "choice" program to the Reed site. It's similar in concept to the idea last year of moving HB Woodlawn to Reed so that the Stratford neighborhood could have a walkable middle school.