Anonymous
09/10/2023 22:18
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I heard that someone on school board actually started paying attention and that moving Spanish immersion to the HIGHEST percentage, majority Hispanic school (45%), looked a LOT like segregation from the 50s, and would create a school with probably 60% Hispanic student population.
Unclear if it would have affected FARMS ratios — does Immersion run more low income that county average?
It’s one thing to locate near a substantial Spanish speaking population. This goes WAY beyond that and possibly opens up doorway to lawsuits?
So are they just not going to move any of the middle school boundaries this year?
They either have to do a boundary change or move Immersion elsewhere. Or both.
I can't imagine where they'd move Immersion if it's not Kenmore. Transportation-wise, it would make no sense to move it up to Williamsburg.
It would take the same number of buses as Gunston. Read the report!
The same number of buses, but they would have much longer routes. It's not like the neighborhoods around Williamsburg are sending a ton of kids to immersion.
I really don’t think short bus rides for option programs are the priority, or should be.
We live 4.5 miles from our immersiom school. It takes my kids’ bus 30 minutes to get to school. I’d hardly call that short. We’re not even the first stop which means the kids getting on the bus before my kids have a longer ride. Now apply that timeline to going all the way to Williamsburg. Williamsburg is 20 miles from Gunston. Than remember that is just one way.
Immersion have fewer stops than neighborhood schools (hub stops) so the 3 miles for a neighborhood route would take about as much time
Don’t play up the Gunston WMS distance. Gunston is LITERALLY on the edge of the county with Alexandria, so EVERY student will be closer to WMS than Gunston.
Um. What? I can walk to Gunston. Williamsburg is 6.2 miles away. You know people live over here right?
Sigh. But you don’t live south of Gunston, so you are CLOSER to WMS than Gunston is to WMS (PP measured the distance between Gunston and WMS — that’s the worst case scenario since Gunston is literal edge).
Different poster. You're making no sense. There are many people who live closer to Gunston than WMS even if they live W, E, or N of Gunston. I also know many families who live south of Gunston. Obviously there are many more people between the two but that's a pretty big area with multiple MS too.
Gunston is at the edge of the county, how can they live south of it??
Anyways you are being deliberately obtuse. Of course people can live closer to Gunston, but the distance between Gunston and WMS is worst case distance.
Gunston is close to the edge of the county but if you look at a map you'll see it isn't literally on the edge. If you drew a line running E to W from Gunston, you'd have parts of Crystal City, Aurora Hills, Long Branch Creek, Green Valley, all of Shirlington, and even parts of Claremont south, south east, or south west of that line. You really seem unfamiliar with the area so stop telling those of us who live here what our kids' new commutes would be like and please listen to those of us actually familiar with the area. Same with the poster claiming traffic in Arlington only runs E to W. Clearly you've never driven on Walter Reed or George Mason drive during rush hour.
Anonymous
09/10/2023 21:56
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:When has APS ever located an option program so that it is convenient? Is that really a consideration? I am confused. I didn’t see that as a consideration with HB Woodlawn or ATS or any other program. If it is a consideration, then that implies that the option programs are FOR a specific portion of the county. Can you imagine if HB, previously located off fancy Lorcom, said we have to stay in the affluent part of the county because our constituency is rich? That is asinine. These are option programs. They go where there is space. Period. If they aren’t supportable, then we should all move on. There are real kids with real needs and we don’t have the luxury of supporting programs if there aren’t people willing to travel wherever in Arlington their preferred option is located.
I think the reason it is being considered here is because Claremont has nearly 100% of kids going on to immersion in MS and key has 50%. They want more Key families to continue and the key families allegedly said location was the reason.
But then why are we persisting? Why is APS beholden to these few families? If the program isn’t popular county wide, then shouldn’t we move on?
I am confused, who is public education for? These few families who said they will only continue with an option program if it’s convenient for them or the county as whole?
Anonymous
09/10/2023 21:48
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:When has APS ever located an option program so that it is convenient? Is that really a consideration? I am confused. I didn’t see that as a consideration with HB Woodlawn or ATS or any other program. If it is a consideration, then that implies that the option programs are FOR a specific portion of the county. Can you imagine if HB, previously located off fancy Lorcom, said we have to stay in the affluent part of the county because our constituency is rich? That is asinine. These are option programs. They go where there is space. Period. If they aren’t supportable, then we should all move on. There are real kids with real needs and we don’t have the luxury of supporting programs if there aren’t people willing to travel wherever in Arlington their preferred option is located.
I think the reason it is being considered here is because Claremont has nearly 100% of kids going on to immersion in MS and key has 50%. They want more Key families to continue and the key families allegedly said location was the reason.
Anonymous
09/10/2023 21:24
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:When has APS ever located an option program so that it is convenient? Is that really a consideration? I am confused. I didn’t see that as a consideration with HB Woodlawn or ATS or any other program. If it is a consideration, then that implies that the option programs are FOR a specific portion of the county. Can you imagine if HB, previously located off fancy Lorcom, said we have to stay in the affluent part of the county because our constituency is rich? That is asinine. These are option programs. They go where there is space. Period. If they aren’t supportable, then we should all move on. There are real kids with real needs and we don’t have the luxury of supporting programs if there aren’t people willing to travel wherever in Arlington their preferred option is located.
Not really a great comparison. The reasons for attending Spanish immersion — and the resources of the families - are very different from those of Woodlawn.
Uh, don’t you think every option kid has the same exact argument? I mean, what about the Montessori kids, the ATS kids, the Career Center kids? Every family has some justification.
And what are you talking about that the resources of the families attending immersion in middle school are different? Please explain. Are you talking about the native Spanish kids? I had thought that the program was extremely unpopular among native Spanish speakers and that it was filled with English kids wanting to learn Spanish in Ms? Have you asked the native Spanish speakers in the community whether they want this program? And where they want it? And how many people are we talking about?
Anonymous
09/10/2023 21:18
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:When has APS ever located an option program so that it is convenient? Is that really a consideration? I am confused. I didn’t see that as a consideration with HB Woodlawn or ATS or any other program. If it is a consideration, then that implies that the option programs are FOR a specific portion of the county. Can you imagine if HB, previously located off fancy Lorcom, said we have to stay in the affluent part of the county because our constituency is rich? That is asinine. These are option programs. They go where there is space. Period. If they aren’t supportable, then we should all move on. There are real kids with real needs and we don’t have the luxury of supporting programs if there aren’t people willing to travel wherever in Arlington their preferred option is located.
Not really a great comparison. The reasons for attending Spanish immersion — and the resources of the families - are very different from those of Woodlawn.
Anonymous
09/10/2023 21:15
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
When has APS ever located an option program so that it is convenient? Is that really a consideration? I am confused. I didn’t see that as a consideration with HB Woodlawn or ATS or any other program. If it is a consideration, then that implies that the option programs are FOR a specific portion of the county. Can you imagine if HB, previously located off fancy Lorcom, said we have to stay in the affluent part of the county because our constituency is rich? That is asinine. These are option programs. They go where there is space. Period. If they aren’t supportable, then we should all move on. There are real kids with real needs and we don’t have the luxury of supporting programs if there aren’t people willing to travel wherever in Arlington their preferred option is located.
Anonymous
09/10/2023 21:10
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
This is ridiculous. They will not move the Spanish program to Williamsburg regardless of the bus routes.
Anonymous
09/10/2023 21:08
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I heard that someone on school board actually started paying attention and that moving Spanish immersion to the HIGHEST percentage, majority Hispanic school (45%), looked a LOT like segregation from the 50s, and would create a school with probably 60% Hispanic student population.
Unclear if it would have affected FARMS ratios — does Immersion run more low income that county average?
It’s one thing to locate near a substantial Spanish speaking population. This goes WAY beyond that and possibly opens up doorway to lawsuits?
So are they just not going to move any of the middle school boundaries this year?
They either have to do a boundary change or move Immersion elsewhere. Or both.
I can't imagine where they'd move Immersion if it's not Kenmore. Transportation-wise, it would make no sense to move it up to Williamsburg.
It would take the same number of buses as Gunston. Read the report!
The same number of buses, but they would have much longer routes. It's not like the neighborhoods around Williamsburg are sending a ton of kids to immersion.
I really don’t think short bus rides for option programs are the priority, or should be.
We live 4.5 miles from our immersiom school. It takes my kids’ bus 30 minutes to get to school. I’d hardly call that short. We’re not even the first stop which means the kids getting on the bus before my kids have a longer ride. Now apply that timeline to going all the way to Williamsburg. Williamsburg is 20 miles from Gunston. Than remember that is just one way.
Immersion have fewer stops than neighborhood schools (hub stops) so the 3 miles for a neighborhood route would take about as much time
Don’t play up the Gunston WMS distance. Gunston is LITERALLY on the edge of the county with Alexandria, so EVERY student will be closer to WMS than Gunston.
Um. What? I can walk to Gunston. Williamsburg is 6.2 miles away. You know people live over here right?
Sigh. But you don’t live south of Gunston, so you are CLOSER to WMS than Gunston is to WMS (PP measured the distance between Gunston and WMS — that’s the worst case scenario since Gunston is literal edge).
Different poster. You're making no sense. There are many people who live closer to Gunston than WMS even if they live W, E, or N of Gunston. I also know many families who live south of Gunston. Obviously there are many more people between the two but that's a pretty big area with multiple MS too.
Gunston is at the edge of the county, how can they live south of it??
Anyways you are being deliberately obtuse. Of course people can live closer to Gunston, but the distance between Gunston and WMS is worst case distance.
Anonymous
09/10/2023 20:38
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I heard that someone on school board actually started paying attention and that moving Spanish immersion to the HIGHEST percentage, majority Hispanic school (45%), looked a LOT like segregation from the 50s, and would create a school with probably 60% Hispanic student population.
Unclear if it would have affected FARMS ratios — does Immersion run more low income that county average?
It’s one thing to locate near a substantial Spanish speaking population. This goes WAY beyond that and possibly opens up doorway to lawsuits?
So are they just not going to move any of the middle school boundaries this year?
They either have to do a boundary change or move Immersion elsewhere. Or both.
I can't imagine where they'd move Immersion if it's not Kenmore. Transportation-wise, it would make no sense to move it up to Williamsburg.
It would take the same number of buses as Gunston. Read the report!
The same number of buses, but they would have much longer routes. It's not like the neighborhoods around Williamsburg are sending a ton of kids to immersion.
I really don’t think short bus rides for option programs are the priority, or should be.
We live 4.5 miles from our immersiom school. It takes my kids’ bus 30 minutes to get to school. I’d hardly call that short. We’re not even the first stop which means the kids getting on the bus before my kids have a longer ride. Now apply that timeline to going all the way to Williamsburg. Williamsburg is 20 miles from Gunston. Than remember that is just one way.
Immersion have fewer stops than neighborhood schools (hub stops) so the 3 miles for a neighborhood route would take about as much time
Don’t play up the Gunston WMS distance. Gunston is LITERALLY on the edge of the county with Alexandria, so EVERY student will be closer to WMS than Gunston.
Um. What? I can walk to Gunston. Williamsburg is 6.2 miles away. You know people live over here right?
Sigh. But you don’t live south of Gunston, so you are CLOSER to WMS than Gunston is to WMS (PP measured the distance between Gunston and WMS — that’s the worst case scenario since Gunston is literal edge).
Different poster. You're making no sense. There are many people who live closer to Gunston than WMS even if they live W, E, or N of Gunston. I also know many families who live south of Gunston. Obviously there are many more people between the two but that's a pretty big area with multiple MS too.
Anonymous
09/10/2023 20:25
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I heard that someone on school board actually started paying attention and that moving Spanish immersion to the HIGHEST percentage, majority Hispanic school (45%), looked a LOT like segregation from the 50s, and would create a school with probably 60% Hispanic student population.
Unclear if it would have affected FARMS ratios — does Immersion run more low income that county average?
It’s one thing to locate near a substantial Spanish speaking population. This goes WAY beyond that and possibly opens up doorway to lawsuits?
So are they just not going to move any of the middle school boundaries this year?
They either have to do a boundary change or move Immersion elsewhere. Or both.
I can't imagine where they'd move Immersion if it's not Kenmore. Transportation-wise, it would make no sense to move it up to Williamsburg.
It would take the same number of buses as Gunston. Read the report!
The same number of buses, but they would have much longer routes. It's not like the neighborhoods around Williamsburg are sending a ton of kids to immersion.
I really don’t think short bus rides for option programs are the priority, or should be.
We live 4.5 miles from our immersiom school. It takes my kids’ bus 30 minutes to get to school. I’d hardly call that short. We’re not even the first stop which means the kids getting on the bus before my kids have a longer ride. Now apply that timeline to going all the way to Williamsburg. Williamsburg is 20 miles from Gunston. Than remember that is just one way.
Immersion have fewer stops than neighborhood schools (hub stops) so the 3 miles for a neighborhood route would take about as much time
Don’t play up the Gunston WMS distance. Gunston is LITERALLY on the edge of the county with Alexandria, so EVERY student will be closer to WMS than Gunston.
Um. What? I can walk to Gunston. Williamsburg is 6.2 miles away. You know people live over here right?
Sigh. But you don’t live south of Gunston, so you are CLOSER to WMS than Gunston is to WMS (PP measured the distance between Gunston and WMS — that’s the worst case scenario since Gunston is literal edge).
Anonymous
09/10/2023 20:16
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I heard that someone on school board actually started paying attention and that moving Spanish immersion to the HIGHEST percentage, majority Hispanic school (45%), looked a LOT like segregation from the 50s, and would create a school with probably 60% Hispanic student population.
Unclear if it would have affected FARMS ratios — does Immersion run more low income that county average?
It’s one thing to locate near a substantial Spanish speaking population. This goes WAY beyond that and possibly opens up doorway to lawsuits?
So are they just not going to move any of the middle school boundaries this year?
They either have to do a boundary change or move Immersion elsewhere. Or both.
I can't imagine where they'd move Immersion if it's not Kenmore. Transportation-wise, it would make no sense to move it up to Williamsburg.
It would take the same number of buses as Gunston. Read the report!
The same number of buses, but they would have much longer routes. It's not like the neighborhoods around Williamsburg are sending a ton of kids to immersion.
I really don’t think short bus rides for option programs are the priority, or should be.
We live 4.5 miles from our immersiom school. It takes my kids’ bus 30 minutes to get to school. I’d hardly call that short. We’re not even the first stop which means the kids getting on the bus before my kids have a longer ride. Now apply that timeline to going all the way to Williamsburg. Williamsburg is 20 miles from Gunston. Than remember that is just one way.
Immersion have fewer stops than neighborhood schools (hub stops) so the 3 miles for a neighborhood route would take about as much time
Don’t play up the Gunston WMS distance. Gunston is LITERALLY on the edge of the county with Alexandria, so EVERY student will be closer to WMS than Gunston.
Um. What? I can walk to Gunston. Williamsburg is 6.2 miles away. You know people live over here right?
Anonymous
09/10/2023 19:23
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Who said they were ok with 5 mile bus rides to MS? Besides, it’s the amount of time the bus takes, not the distance people are concerned about at any age.
Exactly correct. With stops and rush hour traffic, a trip from the furthest south Arlington to Williamsburg could push one hour.
Fewer stops and there is little north south rush hour traffic it all runs East.
Anonymous
09/10/2023 19:22
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I heard that someone on school board actually started paying attention and that moving Spanish immersion to the HIGHEST percentage, majority Hispanic school (45%), looked a LOT like segregation from the 50s, and would create a school with probably 60% Hispanic student population.
Unclear if it would have affected FARMS ratios — does Immersion run more low income that county average?
It’s one thing to locate near a substantial Spanish speaking population. This goes WAY beyond that and possibly opens up doorway to lawsuits?
So are they just not going to move any of the middle school boundaries this year?
They either have to do a boundary change or move Immersion elsewhere. Or both.
I can't imagine where they'd move Immersion if it's not Kenmore. Transportation-wise, it would make no sense to move it up to Williamsburg.
It would take the same number of buses as Gunston. Read the report!
The same number of buses, but they would have much longer routes. It's not like the neighborhoods around Williamsburg are sending a ton of kids to immersion.
I really don’t think short bus rides for option programs are the priority, or should be.
We live 4.5 miles from our immersiom school. It takes my kids’ bus 30 minutes to get to school. I’d hardly call that short. We’re not even the first stop which means the kids getting on the bus before my kids have a longer ride. Now apply that timeline to going all the way to Williamsburg. Williamsburg is 20 miles from Gunston. Than remember that is just one way.
Immersion have fewer stops than neighborhood schools (hub stops) so the 3 miles for a neighborhood route would take about as much time
Don’t play up the Gunston WMS distance. Gunston is LITERALLY on the edge of the county with Alexandria, so EVERY student will be closer to WMS than Gunston.
Anonymous
09/10/2023 18:41
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Anonymous wrote:Who said they were ok with 5 mile bus rides to MS? Besides, it’s the amount of time the bus takes, not the distance people are concerned about at any age.
Exactly correct. With stops and rush hour traffic, a trip from the furthest south Arlington to Williamsburg could push one hour.
Anonymous
09/10/2023 17:47
Subject: Spanish Immersion Community Table Session
Who said they were ok with 5 mile bus rides to MS? Besides, it’s the amount of time the bus takes, not the distance people are concerned about at any age.