Anonymous wrote:NP here with no dog in this fight, but my DD's private school has demographics that are much more diverse than at our public school, and this was important to us. I would bet the same is true for the earlier PP who sends her kids to private school but lives in the Jamestown neighborhood. No one is suggesting it's not a great school, but it does have to take all comers who live within its bounds. Our local public is also good but enormous.

Why would diversity be important? Generally speaking, it's highly overrated, unless you can get socio-economic harmony. That's hard to do, of course.

There's nothing inherently virtuous about a "diverse" school. On the contrary, it seems to cause exponential problems.

NP here with no dog in this fight, but my DD's private school has demographics that are much more diverse than at our public school, and this was important to us. I would bet the same is true for the earlier PP who sends her kids to private school but lives in the Jamestown neighborhood. No one is suggesting it's not a great school, but it does have to take all comers who live within its bounds. Our local public is also good but enormous.

15:35/17:43 No. The trailers are a temporary solution to prevent overcrowding. The demographics of Jamestown and the quality of education at APS is equivalent to most private schools -- in fact, better than some. ALTHOUGH I'M SURE NOT YOURS.

15:35 here. My point is that Jamestown is a public school and that trailers and overcrowding come with that territory. Parents at Jamestown have never wanted to accept that fact as they have thought for years that it is just like a private school and are now having to face reality.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did they only allude to the Mystery Option instead of spell it out in the letter? what is the mystery option???

I think a couple of the harpies want APS to reopen the Madison Center as a school. Retrofitting that would not, in fact, be cheaper. But, hey, it's what they want.

The Madison Center is a dead issue - they were only going to get 8 classrooms out of it. The PTA wants the trailers placed in the back of the school, on the county land. I find it funny that these same "harpies" were all up in arms just a couple of years ago about the lack of security at Jamestown and now they want to create a whole new security issue by putting the trailers in a hidden, more isolated area. And as for the people on Delaware Street who don't want to look at these "eyesores", just deal with it. You chose to buy a house across the street from an elementary school, the addition of trailers really can't be sullying your "view" that much more.

The amount of money APS estimates is saved by putting the trailers where there are instead of in the rear - $60,000. Add in how much it would cost to move the trailers again, and I wouldn't call that "marginally more expensive," especially in this time of budget cuts.

My kids have had a great education at Jamestown, but this is embarrassing.

well the cheapest solution to overcrowding is bring Wakefield to be on par with WL, really.

15:35, what is your point? That a school should do what a loud group of parents say?

I have to say that for years I have been hearing my neighbors say how Jamestown is really a private school with its wonderfully small class sizes and so much parent input. I must be crazy for sending my children to private school. Well I guess it turns out that its just a public school after all controlled by the almighty school board and the rest of the fabulous APS administration. What a shock this news must be to all those parents who thought it was a free private school!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did they only allude to the Mystery Option instead of spell it out in the letter? what is the mystery option???

I think a couple of the harpies want APS to reopen the Madison Center as a school. Retrofitting that would not, in fact, be cheaper. But, hey, it's what they want.

why didn't APS? cost too much?

Cost, politics, the fact they may build a new ES on the grounds of the Williamsburgh MS (which I gather our PTA is gearing up to fight too, go figure).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did they only allude to the Mystery Option instead of spell it out in the letter? what is the mystery option???

I think a couple of the harpies want APS to reopen the Madison Center as a school. Retrofitting that would not, in fact, be cheaper. But, hey, it's what they want.

why didn't APS? cost too much?