Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: This really needs to be mapped out and other successful urban schools need to be consulted.

But there is a very vocal contingent of Arlington parents who don't want to acknowledge that Arlington is increasing urban and future schools aren't going to look like "the single-story buildings surrounded by tons of field space" that many (most?) of us grew up with.

This I don't get AT ALL! Lyon Village resident here (with friends in Ashton Heights, Lyon Park, Clarendon/Colonial Village, Courthouse, Rosslyn). Our kids live in an urban environment. They bike, scooter, run and walk all over this area. They cross Clarendon and Wilson with us on a daily basis. We walk to dinner or Pinkberry several times a week. We walk to our gym, the grocery stores, etc. We walk to the brand new, beautiful Rocky Run Park (surrounded by tall buildings--the horror).

You would think APS was asking to ship these kids off to the middle of Anacostia. Rosslyn is not exactly 'cut-throat' urban. Further, these streets are designed for walkers/pedestrians. There are lighted cross-walks, lights at cross-sections. Some of the other walk zones in more suburban areas are much more dangerous.

I would love a brand-new cutting edge school. Further--there is going to be a soccer field and b-ball courts on the roof. Did you play on a playground in middle school??? I certainly didn't. We played sports on a field--and it was limited. All travel teams play on turf. What is wrong with a turf field as green space?? At least it won't be covered under a tarp for 75% of the school year like my kid's grass elementary school field.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson might have been a good fit for H-B and Stratford if APS had gotten its act together and done something about capacity issues 10 years ago. Now the programs are in a building that can't house enough students to fix the problem even if the current occupants were evicted. So where do you move H-B and Stratford students while you tear down the building on Vacation Lane and rebuild, even assuming that's the best place for it?

There weren't any capacity issues 10 years ago. Total enrollment in APS dropped every year between 2002 and 2006. They never would have gotten the support to add capacity 10 years ago--too many existing schools need renovation. Growth has outstripped their best projections, anyhow--in 2007, they projected five years out and estimated that there would be 19,000 students in 2012 and elementary capacity would still be under 100% in aggregate, although certain schools would be overcrowded. Actual enrollment was over 21,000 and more than half the schools were very overcrowded.

Thanks -- I got told, and I deserved it.

That established, what do we do now? And this is both an ideal world/real world questions. (For example, I have no love for ATS, but I think it's a waste of energy to try to dislodge that program. And it might be great to build a new school at the H-B/Stratford site, but I don't think logistics (time, $) make that the best choice.)

Anonymous wrote:Wilson might have been a good fit for H-B and Stratford if APS had gotten its act together and done something about capacity issues 10 years ago. Now the programs are in a building that can't house enough students to fix the problem even if the current occupants were evicted. So where do you move H-B and Stratford students while you tear down the building on Vacation Lane and rebuild, even assuming that's the best place for it?

There weren't any capacity issues 10 years ago. Total enrollment in APS dropped every year between 2002 and 2006. They never would have gotten the support to add capacity 10 years ago--too many existing schools need renovation. Growth has outstripped their best projections, anyhow--in 2007, they projected five years out and estimated that there would be 19,000 students in 2012 and elementary capacity would still be under 100% in aggregate, although certain schools would be overcrowded. Actual enrollment was over 21,000 and more than half the schools were very overcrowded.

Wilson might have been a good fit for H-B and Stratford if APS had gotten its act together and done something about capacity issues 10 years ago. Now the programs are in a building that can't house enough students to fix the problem even if the current occupants were evicted. So where do you move H-B and Stratford students while you tear down the building on Vacation Lane and rebuild, even assuming that's the best place for it?

But ATS is for elementary aged kids, who do need more green space and room to run around so Wilson isn't as good a fit for it as it would be for H-B.

Anonymous wrote:So H-B, Stratford, ATS? Anything else?

why r u so cranky? i thought it's a good discussion so far.

So H-B, Stratford, ATS? Anything else?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i'm sure there're other APS programs that can use the extra space without expanding HB. or, move ATS there and make current ATS site a neighborhood school.

Urban school with little green space works better for a program like HB, that sends kids to the other schools for most sports anyhow, than for an elementary school that needs space for recess. Nice try, though.

A soccer field is definitely enough space for recess. And if a parent thinks there's not enough anything then don't go there. It's a choice school.

PP you are confused. At this point, Wilson is proposed to be a neighborhood school, and as all the other middle schools are overenrolled and HB Woodlawn is very competative, there are really no other choices.

When was the last time APS created a brand new school? This is a huge endeavor and middle schools are hard enough for students. This really needs to be mapped out and other successful urban schools need to be consulted.

i'm not confused. someone said move HB there but thought the program would be forced to expand due to size. so i said well move ATS there too to fill the extra space if need to. hence the choice school comment.

Anonymous wrote: This really needs to be mapped out and other successful urban schools need to be consulted.

But there is a very vocal contingent of Arlington parents who don't want to acknowledge that Arlington is increasing urban and future schools aren't going to look like "the single-story buildings surrounded by tons of field space" that many (most?) of us grew up with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i'm sure there're other APS programs that can use the extra space without expanding HB. or, move ATS there and make current ATS site a neighborhood school.

Urban school with little green space works better for a program like HB, that sends kids to the other schools for most sports anyhow, than for an elementary school that needs space for recess. Nice try, though.

A soccer field is definitely enough space for recess. And if a parent thinks there's not enough anything then don't go there. It's a choice school.

PP you are confused. At this point, Wilson is proposed to be a neighborhood school, and as all the other middle schools are overenrolled and HB Woodlawn is very competative, there are really no other choices.

When was the last time APS created a brand new school? This is a huge endeavor and middle schools are hard enough for students. This really needs to be mapped out and other successful urban schools need to be consulted.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i'm sure there're other APS programs that can use the extra space without expanding HB. or, move ATS there and make current ATS site a neighborhood school.

Urban school with little green space works better for a program like HB, that sends kids to the other schools for most sports anyhow, than for an elementary school that needs space for recess. Nice try, though.

A soccer field is definitely enough space for recess. And if a parent thinks there's not enough anything then don't go there. It's a choice school.

Is there any talk of extending immersion options at the new middle school? The commute to Gunston is something we'd rather avoid when DD hits middle school.

I think the bottom line is people are afraid of an urban school. How does NYC survive with its multitude of schools in the middle of a city? some quite well. I like that APS is thinking creatively in a county where there is very limited resources.

And 'open fields' of Swanson? Makes it sound like a bucolic space out of the opening scene of Little House on the Prairie. Ha - my kids have soccer practice there. There isn't much of an open field there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is worth remembering that H-B Woodlawn shares its building with the Stratford Program (for SN kids). Much as I admire the H-B philosophy, I don't think it's worth much if it can't survive transplantation. But decisions about what to do with the site need to give very careful consideration to what's best for the Stratford Program.

There is NO QUESTION that H-B can survive transplantation. What it may not survive is significant expansion in enrollment.

I am a big supporter of H-B but I simply do not understand those who claim it needs to stay in its current location in order to function. Please do not talk to me about student "artwork" on the walls. It gets painted over eventually anyway so current students can make their own marks.

i'm sure there're other APS programs that can use the extra space without expanding HB. or, move ATS there and make current ATS site a neighborhood school.

Urban school with little green space works better for a program like HB, that sends kids to the other schools for most sports anyhow, than for an elementary school that needs space for recess.

Nice try, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is worth remembering that H-B Woodlawn shares its building with the Stratford Program (for SN kids). Much as I admire the H-B philosophy, I don't think it's worth much if it can't survive transplantation. But decisions about what to do with the site need to give very careful consideration to what's best for the Stratford Program.

There is NO QUESTION that H-B can survive transplantation. What it may not survive is significant expansion in enrollment.

I am a big supporter of H-B but I simply do not understand those who claim it needs to stay in its current location in order to function. Please do not talk to me about student "artwork" on the walls. It gets painted over eventually anyway so current students can make their own marks.

i'm sure there're other APS programs that can use the extra space without expanding HB. or, move ATS there and make current ATS site a neighborhood school.