Anonymous wrote:Buy in FFx. Stay away from Arlington

If you think moving across the County line will insulate you from these issues, you're blind.

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2017/mar/23/painful-outlook-cast-countys-budget/

I don't understand the Libbey Garvey comment above. Nobody brought her up related to the McKinley situation? The North Arlington boundary refinement vote took place in January 2015 and she wasn't on the school board then. Lander was chair during the vote, and the other members were Van Doren, Kannien, Raphael, and Sanchez. McKinley enrollment got pushed over the top when the School Board voted in January 2015 to move Tuckahoe PU 1608 (scheduled to go to Nottingham) over to McKinley instead. PU 1608 was projected to hold 93 students in 2016, which would have left trailers at Nottingham. The Nottingham PTA flipped out and began to lobby the School Board behind the scenes to move 1608 over to McKinley so they could be trailer-free. As a result, today Nottingham is under-enrolled (less than 500 students) with no trailers and two huge fields, while McKinley is pushing 740 with six trailers still on-site and no field space. McKinley parents didn't speak out as much as we should have, because everyone assumed the School Board would make their decision based on the numbers and not politics. Nobody at McKinley will ever make that mistake again.

The crux of problem is that the County Board and School Board continue to under-estimate the student population in the 22205/Westover area, while over-estimating the student population in NE Arlington (Jamestown-Nottingham-Discovery). You can make the call as to whether that is due to stupidity or $$$.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, Chadwick and crew knew the numbers were looking bad for McK long before the students showed up in September. They told those that brought it up that they had no intention of changing plans. The McK wouldn't exist if Nottingham took their fare share of students.

This. Even some of the Nottingham contingent have apologized, acknowledging that they pushed hard to move planning units. I still don't understand why the last minute adjustments didn't include an option to move one or two of them to Discovery instead. bygones, but rest assured my 1. and 2. at the caucus will be Maura and then Maureen. I don't agree wiht a lot of Maureen's positions but I really want Lander gone.

It's Monique not Maureen

You're right. Not at all sure why I said Maureen. Sorry!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, Chadwick and crew knew the numbers were looking bad for McK long before the students showed up in September. They told those that brought it up that they had no intention of changing plans. The McK wouldn't exist if Nottingham took their fare share of students.

This. Even some of the Nottingham contingent have apologized, acknowledging that they pushed hard to move planning units. I still don't understand why the last minute adjustments didn't include an option to move one or two of them to Discovery instead. bygones, but rest assured my 1. and 2. at the caucus will be Maura and then Maureen. I don't agree wiht a lot of Maureen's positions but I really want Lander gone.

It's Monique not Maureen

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, Chadwick and crew knew the numbers were looking bad for McK long before the students showed up in September. They told those that brought it up that they had no intention of changing plans. The McK wouldn't exist if Nottingham took their fare share of students.

This. Even some of the Nottingham contingent have apologized, acknowledging that they pushed hard to move planning units. I still don't understand why the last minute adjustments didn't include an option to move one or two of them to Discovery instead. bygones, but rest assured my 1. and 2. at the caucus will be Maura and then Maureen. I don't agree wiht a lot of Maureen's positions but I really want Lander gone.

FWIW, Chadwick and crew knew the numbers were looking bad for McK long before the students showed up in September. They told those that brought it up that they had no intention of changing plans. The McK wouldn't exist if Nottingham took their fare share of students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To give better clarity of the McKinley overcrowding - The county has created a mess at McKinley in terms of number of seats vs. number of butts. The SB added capacity at McKinley, but used an incorrect methodology when adding planning units to the school during the redistricting process. It undercounted butts that were going to McKinley. Now the trailers will need to stay at the school, which apparently are taking up field space - so there is no field to play on, and there is no adjacent park. I think there is a playground, but it is small. The county is not interested in correcting the issue. I believe they do not want to correct it anytime soon, because the county wants a choice elementary school at Westover's Reed school which will open in 2021, I think (although the SB will indicate the decision is not made, yada yada). That, and the opening of the Stratford, and elementary in S. Arlington would be the prime opportunity to redistrict everything in Arlington and correct past issues.

STOP IT!!! This had NOTHING to do with Libby Garvey's tenure on the School Board. No one could have possibly foreseen the growth in enrollment when Libby said we have to keep the boundaries stable. To blame former School Board members like Libby and David Foster reeks not of Monday, but rather [b]Wednesday morning quarterbacking.

Bullshit. Libby Garvey absolutely has plenty of blame to be shouldered here.

Why do you keep bringing her up, Kip? She's not on the School Board any longer, and she is not up for reelection to the County Board this year. There's only one head on the chopping block this May, and I am bringing my axe to the caucus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To give better clarity of the McKinley overcrowding - The county has created a mess at McKinley in terms of number of seats vs. number of butts. The SB added capacity at McKinley, but used an incorrect methodology when adding planning units to the school during the redistricting process. It undercounted butts that were going to McKinley. Now the trailers will need to stay at the school, which apparently are taking up field space - so there is no field to play on, and there is no adjacent park. I think there is a playground, but it is small. The county is not interested in correcting the issue. I believe they do not want to correct it anytime soon, because the county wants a choice elementary school at Westover's Reed school which will open in 2021, I think (although the SB will indicate the decision is not made, yada yada). That, and the opening of the Stratford, and elementary in S. Arlington would be the prime opportunity to redistrict everything in Arlington and correct past issues.

STOP IT!!! This had NOTHING to do with Libby Garvey's tenure on the School Board. No one could have possibly foreseen the growth in enrollment when Libby said we have to keep the boundaries stable. To blame former School Board members like Libby and David Foster reeks not of Monday, but rather [b]Wednesday morning quarterbacking.

Bullshit. Libby Garvey absolutely has plenty of blame to be shouldered here.

Has OP read any of these threads?
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/60/634962.page

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/636199.page

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/255/632851.page

They may not even understand that these threads are about Arlington Public Schools (APS). I think anyone with school aged children should think carefully about whether Arlington's reputation is a legacy or reflecting the current realities in these schools today.

My DD is in Claremont elementary school and she has 28 students in her class.

Anonymous wrote:To give better clarity of the McKinley overcrowding - The county has created a mess at McKinley in terms of number of seats vs. number of butts. The SB added capacity at McKinley, but used an incorrect methodology when adding planning units to the school during the redistricting process. It undercounted butts that were going to McKinley. Now the trailers will need to stay at the school, which apparently are taking up field space - so there is no field to play on, and there is no adjacent park. I think there is a playground, but it is small. The county is not interested in correcting the issue. I believe they do not want to correct it anytime soon, because the county wants a choice elementary school at Westover's Reed school which will open in 2021, I think (although the SB will indicate the decision is not made, yada yada). That, and the opening of the Stratford, and elementary in S. Arlington would be the prime opportunity to redistrict everything in Arlington and correct past issues.

STOP IT!!! This had NOTHING to do with Libby Garvey's tenure on the School Board. No one could have possibly foreseen the growth in enrollment when Libby said we have to keep the boundaries stable. To blame former School Board members like Libby and David Foster reeks not of Monday, but rather [b]Wednesday morning quarterbacking.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are at Glebe and love it - great school with a definite sense of community. The PTA is very active and we've been particularly impressed with the after school enrichment opportunities that are offered.

We're also at Glebe and have been very happy there. And, I'm on the enrichment committee so the PP's post makes me very happy!

We have friends who were moved from Glebe to McKinley this year and they said while the academics are good, there is just not the sense of community that they found at Glebe. Now this may have changed as the year has gone on, but that was a comment from them. She also said that she missed the field Glebe has for after school play - many kids (and their parents) hang out after school. It's a great space for the kids to burn energy, and many parents sit and talk at that time as well.

This is the PP - awesome! Thanks for all the great work you all do!

Anonymous wrote:Even when the SB "fixes" the McK mess, it will still be a bigger school. The addition brought McK's capacity to 684. I think Glebe is under 600 with no plans to expand (at least as of today).

We're at McK and really like the principal and staff. However, I've heard wonderful things about Glebe and it actually seems more like the kind of school we thought we were getting when we bought into the McK district 10+ years ago. McK has started to feel much more impersonal as it has grown in size. It is just hard to know everyone when you have 5 to 6 classes per grade.

The gifted teacher at Glebe is supposed to be amazing too if that's a factor for you-- I think she won a statewide award last year, if I remember correctly.

Stephanie McIntyre was the gifted teacher and she was amazing. But she left for another position in APS at the end of the year last year.