Anonymous wrote:The most absurd are the parents who swear by the structure of ATS, then send their kids to HB.

How is this absurd? An elementary schooler’s needs are different than a middle schooler’s needs. After 5 years of structure some kids mature to the point they can handle a school like HB. Many students don’t apply to HB though.

Anonymous wrote:ATS is the “my kid is too good for my neighborhood school” school. Total waste of tax dollars to have a minimally different learning environment so the rest of Arlington can pay for those elitist dumplings to be bussed.

And the “choice” is corrupt. The ATS teacher’s kids ALL somehow manage to get chosen in the lottery, as do the pre-chosen VPI kids. Its a BS program designed so parents feel elite.

If you haven’t experienced ATS then how can you formulate an informed opinion on it? Yes VPI students automatically get in which is a good thing. ATS is one of those schools that have managed to close the education gap so low income students that get in through VPI are lucky in that they will get a good education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ATS is the “my kid is too good for my neighborhood school” school. Total waste of tax dollars to have a minimally different learning environment so the rest of Arlington can pay for those elitist dumplings to be bussed.

And the “choice” is corrupt. The ATS teacher’s kids ALL somehow manage to get chosen in the lottery, as do the pre-chosen VPI kids. Its a BS program designed so parents feel elite.

Not true. I know bunches of teachers who live in Arlington and their kids didn't get in. in our 5 years there, I only saw 1 kid of the teacher who got in.

Not a teacher. We got in. Turned it down.

That's great. You opened up a spot for someone who really wanted it. Thank you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ATS is the “my kid is too good for my neighborhood school” school. Total waste of tax dollars to have a minimally different learning environment so the rest of Arlington can pay for those elitist dumplings to be bussed.

And the “choice” is corrupt. The ATS teacher’s kids ALL somehow manage to get chosen in the lottery, as do the pre-chosen VPI kids. Its a BS program designed so parents feel elite.

Not true. I know bunches of teachers who live in Arlington and their kids didn't get in. in our 5 years there, I only saw 1 kid of the teacher who got in.

Not a teacher. We got in. Turned it down.

Please note that there are a lot of kids who transfer in to ATS and so know the difference between the two and there are some who transfer out of ATS. Of those, the only two I've met have left for private school. (one faith-based, one not).

Anonymous wrote:The most absurd are the parents who swear by the structure of ATS, then send their kids to HB.

I have an ATS 5th grader and I assure you that there are many parents who didn't apply to HB b/c our kids need structure and HB would be...an abject failure for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most absurd are the parents who swear by the structure of ATS, then send their kids to HB.

I don't think that's absurd at all. My kid needed structured environment in ES then they were mature enough to attend HB. ATS had given them every tools to be successful in a less structured environment.

What's absurd about that?

“My kid needs structure” until that option is gone..”My kid needs freedom”… ugh. It all means, “ I wan’t a private school but want someone else to pay for it.” If you’ve never sent your kids to their neighborhood school, you don’t know how they would respond to it. ATS is an excuse for elitism with no tangible benefit.

You are wrong about this. I live in bounds for Drew and we did the Montessori side because it seemed like a better fit for my kids who are both strongly self-directed, which was right for my first but turned out to be a disaster for my second kid, who also has ADHD. I DID pay for private school for middle school to make sure he learned the skills he did not get in Montessori, like how to read a book and write about it and how to do homework. Things he would have learned if we had sent him to ATS instead of Montessori.

We also certainly would have been alerted to his deficiencies much earlier at ATS. I don't think we would have if he had been in the graded program at Drew, because he was an early reader and a quick learner so he would have been fine in a cohort of students with as much turnover as they see at Drew--the graded program had lots of kids behind grade level and he would have been able to easily keep up. It's somewhere like ATS--with a very focused curriculum, lots of attention to student progress, very clear expectations etc. that he would have gotten the attention and help he needed to learn the skills he needed to learn in elementary, and that we ended up having to pay for him to learn in middle school.

That said, he got into H-B in the 9th grade lottery and I have no concerns about him going there. The teachers provide lots of feedback so he will continue to get strengthening in areas like writing where he needs it, and they are small enough that he is not going to be lost in the cracks (or be able to hide). He will be with academic-focused kids and have consistent faculty support in learning how to manage his independent will, things that would be easy to avoid in his large home school.

This testimony outlines precisely why APS needs to make the neighborhood schools more like ATS rather than maintaining ATS as an option program few kids have access to; as well as why they need to provide smaller schools, so more kids can stop falling through the cracks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most absurd are the parents who swear by the structure of ATS, then send their kids to HB.

I don't think that's absurd at all. My kid needed structured environment in ES then they were mature enough to attend HB. ATS had given them every tools to be successful in a less structured environment.

What's absurd about that?

“My kid needs structure” until that option is gone..”My kid needs freedom”… ugh. It all means, “ I wan’t a private school but want someone else to pay for it.” If you’ve never sent your kids to their neighborhood school, you don’t know how they would respond to it. ATS is an excuse for elitism with no tangible benefit.

You are wrong about this. I live in bounds for Drew and we did the Montessori side because it seemed like a better fit for my kids who are both strongly self-directed, which was right for my first but turned out to be a disaster for my second kid, who also has ADHD. I DID pay for private school for middle school to make sure he learned the skills he did not get in Montessori, like how to read a book and write about it and how to do homework. Things he would have learned if we had sent him to ATS instead of Montessori.

We also certainly would have been alerted to his deficiencies much earlier at ATS. I don't think we would have if he had been in the graded program at Drew, because he was an early reader and a quick learner so he would have been fine in a cohort of students with as much turnover as they see at Drew--the graded program had lots of kids behind grade level and he would have been able to easily keep up. It's somewhere like ATS--with a very focused curriculum, lots of attention to student progress, very clear expectations etc. that he would have gotten the attention and help he needed to learn the skills he needed to learn in elementary, and that we ended up having to pay for him to learn in middle school.

That said, he got into H-B in the 9th grade lottery and I have no concerns about him going there. The teachers provide lots of feedback so he will continue to get strengthening in areas like writing where he needs it, and they are small enough that he is not going to be lost in the cracks (or be able to hide). He will be with academic-focused kids and have consistent faculty support in learning how to manage his independent will, things that would be easy to avoid in his large home school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most absurd are the parents who swear by the structure of ATS, then send their kids to HB.

I don't think that's absurd at all. My kid needed structured environment in ES then they were mature enough to attend HB. ATS had given them every tools to be successful in a less structured environment.

What's absurd about that?

“My kid needs structure” until that option is gone..”My kid needs freedom”… ugh. It all means, “ I wan’t a private school but want someone else to pay for it.” If you’ve never sent your kids to their neighborhood school, you don’t know how they would respond to it. ATS is an excuse for elitism with no tangible benefit.

You sound really bitter. Why? Yes, we did try our neighborhood school. Then got into ATS and gave it a try. We figured we could always go back to our neighborhood school if it didn't work out. We immediately noticed a difference. ATS expected a lot from our child and let her know that, in a positive and encouraging way. They also offered support in the areas where she needed some help (reading). We have no regrets. Do I think it is a private school experience? No way. We think it's an excellent public school and there's no shame (or elitism) in that. We would love to see every school in APS be as successful as ATS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most absurd are the parents who swear by the structure of ATS, then send their kids to HB.

I don't think that's absurd at all. My kid needed structured environment in ES then they were mature enough to attend HB. ATS had given them every tools to be successful in a less structured environment.

What's absurd about that?

“My kid needs structure” until that option is gone..”My kid needs freedom”… ugh. It all means, “ I wan’t a private school but want someone else to pay for it.” If you’ve never sent your kids to their neighborhood school, you don’t know how they would respond to it. ATS is an excuse for elitism with no tangible benefit.

ATS is an option school, not a magnet school. What elitism are you talking about? Is your child in ATS? If not, please don't give false impressions of the school to others who genuinely want to know more about the school. More so if you're clouded by prejudice and misinformation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most absurd are the parents who swear by the structure of ATS, then send their kids to HB.

I don't think that's absurd at all. My kid needed structured environment in ES then they were mature enough to attend HB. ATS had given them every tools to be successful in a less structured environment.

What's absurd about that?

“My kid needs structure” until that option is gone..”My kid needs freedom”… ugh. It all means, “ I wan’t a private school but want someone else to pay for it.” If you’ve never sent your kids to their neighborhood school, you don’t know how they would respond to it. ATS is an excuse for elitism with no tangible benefit.

Maybe what works in these schools is the expectations teachers set for the students. There is scholarly literature on teacher expectations influencing student learning. The ATS principal is really wonderful, and we have had excellent teachers.

Anonymous wrote:The most absurd are the parents who swear by the structure of ATS, then send their kids to HB.

I don't think that's absurd at all. My kid needed structured environment in ES then they were mature enough to attend HB. ATS had given them every tools to be successful in a less structured environment.

What's absurd about that?

The most absurd are the parents who swear by the structure of ATS, then send their kids to HB.

Anonymous wrote:I posted above. I think APS could use ATS as an example of some things that work really well w/out implementing homework and dress code. I am talking about the emphasis on literacy that I feel goes above and beyond what we saw at our last APS school. I think it also involves teaching much more than the VA Standards of Learning requirements. That's a great baseline, but kids can and should learn more than that. It also has a culture of expecting "great things" from every teacher, child, administrator and valuing parents as key partners in their child's learning journey.
Why couldn't those things work at other APS schools? I am not saying they don't exist any some other APS schools (I know for sure they do and that there are many excellent neighborhood schools), but I do not believe they exist consistently across APS schools, and that's a pity.

Rather than tear ATS down and say it shouldn't exist (no one here on this thread has said it but I hear it A LOT) wouldn't parents who are unhappy with their child's school be better served to use ATS as a model of some (not all) of the types of things they would like to see implanted across the board? Just a thought.

If you ask APS to get rid of ATS, how does that send a message that you'd like to see some of the same qualities at your neighborhood school?

NP. I think I share the sentiment of your comments, though probably not the same vision for it. I think you're absolutely right that the best, most effective and desired aspects of ATS easily could (and should) be implemented in every single school in the system.

There is an APS dress code that pertains to all schools. It doesn't require tucked-in shirts; but APS could beef their dress code up a bit and put more emphasis on enforcement. Of course, this runs you into the racist accusations because dress codes apparently single out minority girls. That's another discussion.

The other thing that can and should be implemented systemwide is what you elude to regarding expectations. The expectations of students and teachers is different at each school. Why? Aren't kids at Barcroft just as capable as kids at Taylor? Having experience with a range of schools in APS now, I can attest to how the expectations are significantly different; and that impacts the way the administration and teachers approach instruction and therefore the outcomes of that instruction. One ATS-specific example: students are encouraged/expected to read 50 books over the summer. At my kids' elementary school, the goal was 10.

APS needs to stop lowering their expectations and standards because they believe certain students and their families are not capable due to lack of time, money, or transportation. Yes, food is important. But that's not APS' responsibility. The County should be tending to those needs (can work with and through the schools; but should be the County's responsibility to pay for and administer) and the schools can then focus on what IS their responsibility: educating the children.

Consistency in curriculum across schools would help, too, if they are offering the most effective ones. Why is ATS allowed to use the reading program it uses and other schools use something else that clearly is not as effective?

But I wouldn't just get rid of ATS - yet. As long as it provides a more rigorous and arguably more effective education with higher expectations and standards for its students, parents should be able to opt for it. In the meantime, implement those same expectations and standards at all the other schools, and eventually there won't be a need for an ATS. Then you can eliminate it. I honestly don't think parents are choosing ATS because their kid is required to tuck in their shirt. And I don't think you have to have the same excessive expectation among the parents to volunteer and be so heavily involved (something I think is a product of both ATS principal and the PTA parents). But those other things ATS does - why can't all the schools do them????