Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where's my S Arlington choice school?

Or better, when are we just going to go back and redraw all the lines, institute a busing plan, or start completely over?

Deafening silence ... Crickets...

No one gives a shit about the problems in south Arlington. When people wring their hands over APS's decisions, it is only the children of north Arlington that matter.

I thought for some time that we should move ATS to S. Arlington.

Madison is not a prime candidate for a neighborhood school. It's too remote. It would be fantastic for choice, however.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are we fighting about this? Let's just hope they create some form of capacity at the site in the near future.

They want people to fight so no one notices that by the time the kids in ES get to HS, we will be short AN ENTIRE SCHOOL THAT THEY AREN'T BUILDING!

For the cheap seats. You want your walkable neighborhood school in your quaint little neighborhood, but get to the back of the line with that. We don't have the money or the space for all of the wants. We can only accommodate the needs at this point. We need schools that can solve capacity problems in multiple areas, and we need a new HS, otherwise our kids will be going to school in shifts. Not trailers, SHIFTS.

Um, you do realize that they are talking about seats at all 3 levels, right? A neighborhood school doesn't impact HS seats, unless........

1. Don't spend as much on Reed. Make it a bit smaller and bring it online quickly as a neighborhood school.
2. Turn ATS back into a neighborhood school, thereby providing more seats in Ballston.
3. Put ATS at Madison, a space that will never fill from the neighborhood.
4. Take that money saved from not building another huge ES and spend it on HS seats at VHC or Career Center.

What is the deal with Madison? It seems like a prime candidate for a new elementary school (choice or neighborhood). Someone on DCUM once said that Madison could not be converted into an elementary school because of a historical designation (or something similar). Does anyone know if that is correct? With land at such a premium, perhaps any such historic designation obstacles could be overcome?

Anonymous wrote:Where's my S Arlington choice school?

Or better, when are we just going to go back and redraw all the lines, institute a busing plan, or start completely over?

Campbell is the South Arlington choice school. South Arlington kids get a preference over North Arlington kids in the Campbell lottery. And Claremont, which should cover the Western half of the County, is mostly filled with kids from the neighborhoods adjacent to the school. Granted, this makes it function more like a neighborhood school than a choice school. But, to the extent that it still is a choice school, it is a choice school for those in certain South Arlington neighborhoods. And South Arlington kids have exactly the same chance in the ATS lottery as North Arlington kids. I think the same is true for Drew.

So, South Arlington parents are not denied choice school options. And I'm honestly not being snotty here. I'm a South Arlington parent myself. South Arlington schools have some challenges that North Arlington schools don't, but a lack of choice school seats isn't one of them.

Anonymous wrote:Where's my S Arlington choice school?

Or better, when are we just going to go back and redraw all the lines, institute a busing plan, or start completely over?

Deafening silence ... Crickets...

No one gives a shit about the problems in south Arlington. When people wring their hands over APS's decisions, it is only the children of north Arlington that matter.

Perspective is so interesting. I am in Loudoun (clicked out of random interest) and everyone here much prefers to be a bus rider. Being in the walk zone is considered a negative by most people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And to save you all some time, here is a link to the map. http://www.apsva.us/cms/lib2/VA01000586/Centricity/Domain/168/ES%202016%20Offical%20Map%2001222015.pdf

I am guessing the Taylor parent above would be going to the Science Focus building (and therefore not crossing Lee Highway) if it had not been taken out of commission as a neighborhood school years ago and turned into a "choice" school program. The locations of these programs does not make a lot of sense now.

Taylor parent here. Yep, ASFS is 4 blocks away.

Right, but ASFS is now a neighborhood school, in essence, for the Key Boundary. So whether it's a choice school or neighborhood school, it would not be the school you are zoned for, right? Again, it stinks to be on the edge of the boundary, where you'd need a bus (or have an unsafe walk) to school. But at least if ASFS is a choice school, there's a chance you might be able to attend. If it were a neighborhood school, it still wouldn't be your neighborhood school, right?

We need to invest more in making it safer for all kids to get to all schools (by foot and bike if they want), because we can't possibly build enough schools for everyone to be within a couple blocks of their elementary school. Not even a neighborhood-schools-only model can accomplish that.

I'm not the Taylor parent, but if ASFS were still a true neighborhood school, then someone living within 4 blocks of it would be zoned for it. I agree that you always have people who live on a boundary and will need to bus, but the point of neighborhood schools is that anyone who truly lived within walking distance would be zoned to that building. ASFS is not a neighborhood school-- it is an alternative to people who don't want immersion at Key, because again, the choice model doesn't really work in an overcrowded school system.

Not necessarily. They can't just build a school and then make the boundaries concentric circles around them, because that's not how our neighborhoods are built and there are sometimes considerations that are of equal or greater importance than whether someone who lives blocks away can walk to their elementary school. And at least a few schools have overlapping walk zones (what APS considers walk zones, so not necessarily a walk that you might want to make with your Kindergarten student daily). Maybe your house is inside both of those "walk zones" even though it's closer to one school than the other. Or maybe you're in the walk zone for one, but just outside for the other but your planning unit was rezoned to a new school when it was built 50 years ago, and now your community is so invested in the school where you're zoned, they would lose their minds if someone tried suggesting rezoning. Somebody will always be unhappy and just on the edge of the boundary. That may not be your ideal, but if it's not your kids sitting on a bus, somebody else's kid will. By the way, my elementary kid LOVES riding the bus. He would be really sad to be a walker (he asks me about whether I "got" to ride the bus when I was little and he says he's sorry for me when I tell him I did not).

Anonymous wrote:We live on the very edge of the Glebe boundary (the kids across the street go to Taylor), which put us in the bus zone for Glebe. Honestly, it is really not a hardship to not be a walker for elementary school. (And actually, we could walk, it's a little over a mile, not exactly an arduous trek).

But cheer up, Taylor parent. If you are four blocks from ASFS, then you are walking distance to W-L. I have a teenager now and can report my experienced opinion that, if I had to choose, I'd much rather have my kids be able to walk to high school than walk to elementary school (if I had to choose

Taylor parent again. I was NOT complaining about the distances to Taylor and ASFS. Or even Swanson, where one of my children is currently a student. When I bought my house I knew the boundaries. And yes, W-L is within walking distance and hopefully when the high school boundaries get redrawn for 9th graders starting high school in 2017 it will remain our high school.

We live on the very edge of the Glebe boundary (the kids across the street go to Taylor), which put us in the bus zone for Glebe. Honestly, it is really not a hardship to not be a walker for elementary school. (And actually, we could walk, it's a little over a mile, not exactly an arduous trek).

But cheer up, Taylor parent. If you are four blocks from ASFS, then you are walking distance to W-L. I have a teenager now and can report my experienced opinion that, if I had to choose, I'd much rather have my kids be able to walk to high school than walk to elementary school (if I had to choose

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And to save you all some time, here is a link to the map. http://www.apsva.us/cms/lib2/VA01000586/Centricity/Domain/168/ES%202016%20Offical%20Map%2001222015.pdf

I am guessing the Taylor parent above would be going to the Science Focus building (and therefore not crossing Lee Highway) if it had not been taken out of commission as a neighborhood school years ago and turned into a "choice" school program. The locations of these programs does not make a lot of sense now.

Taylor parent here. Yep, ASFS is 4 blocks away.

Right, but ASFS is now a neighborhood school, in essence, for the Key Boundary. So whether it's a choice school or neighborhood school, it would not be the school you are zoned for, right? Again, it stinks to be on the edge of the boundary, where you'd need a bus (or have an unsafe walk) to school. But at least if ASFS is a choice school, there's a chance you might be able to attend. If it were a neighborhood school, it still wouldn't be your neighborhood school, right?

We need to invest more in making it safer for all kids to get to all schools (by foot and bike if they want), because we can't possibly build enough schools for everyone to be within a couple blocks of their elementary school. Not even a neighborhood-schools-only model can accomplish that.

I'm not the Taylor parent, but if ASFS were still a true neighborhood school, then someone living within 4 blocks of it would be zoned for it. I agree that you always have people who live on a boundary and will need to bus, but the point of neighborhood schools is that anyone who truly lived within walking distance would be zoned to that building. ASFS is not a neighborhood school-- it is an alternative to people who don't want immersion at Key, because again, the choice model doesn't really work in an overcrowded school system.

You would think that, but that's not how they really draw boundaries. I have friends who are walkable to Patrick Henry (6 blocks are so) but zoned to Barcroft, which would be a 30 minute walk or more for their small children.

I live in the Key/ASFS neighborhood, and both are our neighborhood schools (we walk to Key).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I understand it they are not necessarily contemplating creating a new choice program. They are also considering -- or perhaps primarily considering -- creating capacity somewhere else in the county by moving an existing "choice" program to the Reed site. It's similar in concept to the idea last year of moving HB Woodlawn to Reed so that the Stratford neighborhood could have a walkable middle school.

To which evidently no one will be walking, if the demands for paving over fields so there's a new dropoff lane are any indication.

Ha!

Anonymous wrote:As I understand it they are not necessarily contemplating creating a new choice program. They are also considering -- or perhaps primarily considering -- creating capacity somewhere else in the county by moving an existing "choice" program to the Reed site. It's similar in concept to the idea last year of moving HB Woodlawn to Reed so that the Stratford neighborhood could have a walkable middle school.

To which evidently no one will be walking, if the demands for paving over fields so there's a new dropoff lane are any indication.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And to save you all some time, here is a link to the map. http://www.apsva.us/cms/lib2/VA01000586/Centricity/Domain/168/ES%202016%20Offical%20Map%2001222015.pdf

I am guessing the Taylor parent above would be going to the Science Focus building (and therefore not crossing Lee Highway) if it had not been taken out of commission as a neighborhood school years ago and turned into a "choice" school program. The locations of these programs does not make a lot of sense now.

Taylor parent here. Yep, ASFS is 4 blocks away.

Right, but ASFS is now a neighborhood school, in essence, for the Key Boundary. So whether it's a choice school or neighborhood school, it would not be the school you are zoned for, right? Again, it stinks to be on the edge of the boundary, where you'd need a bus (or have an unsafe walk) to school. But at least if ASFS is a choice school, there's a chance you might be able to attend. If it were a neighborhood school, it still wouldn't be your neighborhood school, right?

We need to invest more in making it safer for all kids to get to all schools (by foot and bike if they want), because we can't possibly build enough schools for everyone to be within a couple blocks of their elementary school. Not even a neighborhood-schools-only model can accomplish that.

I'm not the Taylor parent, but if ASFS were still a true neighborhood school, then someone living within 4 blocks of it would be zoned for it. I agree that you always have people who live on a boundary and will need to bus, but the point of neighborhood schools is that anyone who truly lived within walking distance would be zoned to that building. ASFS is not a neighborhood school-- it is an alternative to people who don't want immersion at Key, because again, the choice model doesn't really work in an overcrowded school system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And to save you all some time, here is a link to the map. http://www.apsva.us/cms/lib2/VA01000586/Centricity/Domain/168/ES%202016%20Offical%20Map%2001222015.pdf

I am guessing the Taylor parent above would be going to the Science Focus building (and therefore not crossing Lee Highway) if it had not been taken out of commission as a neighborhood school years ago and turned into a "choice" school program. The locations of these programs does not make a lot of sense now.

Taylor parent here. Yep, ASFS is 4 blocks away.

Right, but ASFS is now a neighborhood school, in essence, for the Key Boundary. So whether it's a choice school or neighborhood school, it would not be the school you are zoned for, right? Again, it stinks to be on the edge of the boundary, where you'd need a bus (or have an unsafe walk) to school. But at least if ASFS is a choice school, there's a chance you might be able to attend. If it were a neighborhood school, it still wouldn't be your neighborhood school, right?

We need to invest more in making it safer for all kids to get to all schools (by foot and bike if they want), because we can't possibly build enough schools for everyone to be within a couple blocks of their elementary school. Not even a neighborhood-schools-only model can accomplish that.

Anonymous wrote:And to save you all some time, here is a link to the map. http://www.apsva.us/cms/lib2/VA01000586/Centricity/Domain/168/ES%202016%20Offical%20Map%2001222015.pdf

I am guessing the Taylor parent above would be going to the Science Focus building (and therefore not crossing Lee Highway) if it had not been taken out of commission as a neighborhood school years ago and turned into a "choice" school program. The locations of these programs does not make a lot of sense now.

Taylor parent here. Yep, ASFS is 4 blocks away.