Anonymous wrote:One key difference at ATS, kids have one teacher that teaches all the subjects. Other schools rotate by subject

Anonymous wrote:Lots of claims here that ATS has better stats. Can you provide links or be more specific? I agree ATS has a reputation for excellent but when I’ve looked at data it really isn’t stood out to me, but perhaps I do t know everywhere to look.

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Anonymous wrote:Build 2 and then y’all will start screaming about duplication of resources.

I would get rid of the one we have because it doesn’t actually have a unique pedagogy. It’s good because all of the parents, including the low income ones, lottery in. That’s it. That’s the special sauce. The children perform well because every parent GAF.

I think the special sauce is actually the expectations and standards the admin and teachers set for the students. They don't reduce expectations and hold their students accountable.

*Their parents* hold them accountable.

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Anonymous wrote:Disagree w having more option schools. The answer is to follow the ATS model in neighborhood schools. We seem to be moving in opposite direction though w equity grading.

I guess I could never get a good feel for what "traditional" meant. I realize there's a heavy emphasis on reading and homework every day. And tucking in shirts (maybe that went away).

But I asked the principal at an info session (this was in 2018) and she gave me this line about the school having walls with doors. I was SO confused. My kid's neighborhood school has walls and doors?

I know the school culture is most likely a bit part of what makes kids successful. But if the ideas there are so well done, why aren't we doing it APS wide? What is the main difference between the way ATS does teaching and the rest of the county? I don't' want to hear it's kindergarten kids reading for 30 minutes a night. That's not a curriculum.

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Anonymous wrote:ATS has the best stats in APS. You can’t just say it’s self selection because they outperform all the other option schools. Can’t say it’s not diverse because it has a lot of ell and FRM students.

The other option schools had neighborhood preference until very recently, give them time. Most of ATS’s kids who receive FRM came in through the VPI preference, so they have a parent who knew at preschool age that they needed to get their kid in the lottery, plus they have lived in Arlington multiple years. The FRM population at ATS is far savvier about schools and has more housing stability than the FRM population in Arlington generally.

The current 5th graders in option schools are the last of the neighborhood kids at those schools. 4th and below are lottery. And montessori and immersion have VPI.

Anonymous wrote:Data shows ATS outperforms all other APS schools with similar demographic, what it means is we need a more "traditional" approach in education. But that's against what APS leadership prefers - they are always chasing the "new shining thing" (such as Lucy Calkins, now "grading for (fake) equity"). If they actually cared about data and science, they would use the ATS model widely at APS, the ATS model has been proved to be effective.

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Anonymous wrote:ATS has the best stats in APS. You can’t just say it’s self selection because they outperform all the other option schools. Can’t say it’s not diverse because it has a lot of ell and FRM students.

The other option schools had neighborhood preference until very recently, give them time. Most of ATS’s kids who receive FRM came in through the VPI preference, so they have a parent who knew at preschool age that they needed to get their kid in the lottery, plus they have lived in Arlington multiple years. The FRM population at ATS is far savvier about schools and has more housing stability than the FRM population in Arlington generally.

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Anonymous wrote:To me the real question is-- "why not replicate ATS best practices?". As I understand it from friends who have kids there--they get weekly reports from the Kinder teacher on each student--not so at my DC's APS elementary. There is homework from kindergarten on at ATS--homework did not start until 3rd grade at my DC's school.

It makes no sense at all that APS does not identify best practices from the most popular APS school and replicate them in part or full at all other APS elementary schools. Seems like a no brainer!

Homework for kindergartners is not a best practice. Honestly, as a parent of older kids, I can assure you that ATS kids do not have better outcomes in the long run than kids who attended their neighborhood schools.

But if you want to assign your own kid worksheets, require them to play an instrument, and tuck in their shirts, you can do all of that

This is not because ATS doesn't do things better. This is because the standards and practices at all APS middle schools don't measure up.The rigor and discipline sharply declines from elementary to middle school.

Anonymous wrote:ATS has the best stats in APS. You can’t just say it’s self selection because they outperform all the other option schools. Can’t say it’s not diverse because it has a lot of ell and FRM students.

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Anonymous wrote:Don’t want to drain neighborhood schools and leave them only with kids whose parents couldn’t/didn’t navigate the lottery.

The correct question is: if ATS is so popular, why don't we operate all of our elementary schools the same way as ATS?

It’s so popular precisely because it keeps out kids from families that cannot/do not/will not navigate the lottery. Why don’t we operate all our elementary schools in such an exclusionary way?