If we're going to dissolve a school, why not dissolve ATS? If it's not really anything unique. Why dissolve any neighborhood school that has a ready community of walkers, particularly one in an area of growth in the county?

Montessori is moving to Henry. That is set in stone. Folks may think it would make more sense to move it to Tuckahoe, but the decision has been made. I'll never be surprised by craven things the Board does, but I really don't think they'll reconsider this one. The Staff has been very clear.

I'm not sure about the demand for Montessori. We are a Montessori family and I've always heard the demand drops off after PK. OTOH I've seen a lot of interest lately at meetings. Makes me wonder if it's due to Henry parents worried about getting zoned out of Fleet and trying to get into Montessori as an alternative. Total speculation on my part though.

IMO Key to ATS and ATS to Tuckahoe makes sense. ATS is a nice choice option for the county to have, I guess, but in reality it is just another elementary without a geographic "hook" like either immersion (better for it to be near the heavier Spanish-speaking populations) or Campbell (garden/nature center) that seems to require those schools have particular locations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in S Arlington and would drive to Tuckahoe for ATS. That’s what the N Arlington folks are talking about on the other thread oh and how North west Arlington deserves a choice school.

ATS can stay where it is now. It serves no one to move it to Tuckahoe.
If you must move a choice program to Tuckahoe, consider moving Montessori there, since they want to move and *will* move anyways in two years.
Maybe there is more space at Tuckahoe for expansion of the Montessori program. The location on the NW corner of the county is not ideal for any countywide program by any means, but they may want that trade off for more space, because the Henry site does not have a lot of space and no possibility of expansion.

Yeah, I think demand for Montessori is prob same or greater than immersion, which has two buildings. I'd guess some non Spanish speaking SA families students at Claremont immersion are there mostly to avoid their neighborhood school, and learning Spanish to do so is kind of a bonus/cover for that reality.

Anonymous wrote:I live in S Arlington and would drive to Tuckahoe for ATS. That’s what the N Arlington folks are talking about on the other thread oh and how North west Arlington deserves a choice school.

ATS can stay where it is now. It serves no one to move it to Tuckahoe.
If you must move a choice program to Tuckahoe, consider moving Montessori there, since they want to move and *will* move anyways in two years.
Maybe there is more space at Tuckahoe for expansion of the Montessori program. The location on the NW corner of the county is not ideal for any countywide program by any means, but they may want that trade off for more space, because the Henry site does not have a lot of space and no possibility of expansion.

I live in S Arlington and would drive to Tuckahoe for ATS. That’s what the N Arlington folks are talking about on the other thread oh and how North west Arlington deserves a choice school.

Anonymous wrote:If APS moves one of the option schools, which are the only sources of SES diversity in this segregated county, north of Lee Highway there is going to be a full scale revolution. That is absurd!

You are wrong. South Arlington parents have shown they will travel for a good program. THey want seats and a strong peer group. Being close to a school is an acceptable sacrifice. It’s a small county.

If APS moves one of the option schools, which are the only sources of SES diversity in this segregated county, north of Lee Highway there is going to be a full scale revolution. That is absurd!

Anonymous wrote:We don't consider ourselves part of any attrition or escape. Both our families are from Mexico, and it was important for us that our children be able to learn in our family's language.

Right, but the fact of the matter is that a choice school like Claremont has a vastly different socio-economic makeup than the neighborhood schools around it. Parents from all over Arlington who likely have more financial resources, and the ability to be more engaged, are by default going to result in a potentially better educational environment. Claremont is not the equivalent of Drew or Randolph or Carlin Springs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a very active PTA at our S. Arlington school. We have some SAHMs but most appear to be dual income families. We had a party this morning and out of 24 kids I think 12 had parents there? Maybe more? Some both parents. So it is not that crazy to have lots of parents involved (we are a choice school though)

Oakridge?

No, Claremont. There is an insane amount of parental involvement and activities (almost overwhelming!).

Agree. As two working parents we want to be involved as much as we can, but Claremont can be overwhelming (in a good way.) Between Science Night, Museum Night, International Day, Movie Nights, a couple Fun Runs and parties in the classroom ...we can barely keep up. And a PP who said there's far more after school enrichment classes in N Arlington: I can't imagine. We have a hard enough time trying to choose between the dozens of robotics, chess, yoga, nature etc etc classes offered each year...

Please. Please stop talking about Claremont. no one here is talking about the choice schools. Of course your experience is fantastic, family is part of the umc attrition that is hurting the neighborhood schools we are taking about.

We don't consider ourselves part of any attrition or escape. Both our families are from Mexico, and it was important for us that our children be able to learn in our family's language.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a very active PTA at our S. Arlington school. We have some SAHMs but most appear to be dual income families. We had a party this morning and out of 24 kids I think 12 had parents there? Maybe more? Some both parents. So it is not that crazy to have lots of parents involved (we are a choice school though)

Oakridge?

No, Claremont. There is an insane amount of parental involvement and activities (almost overwhelming!).

Agree. As two working parents we want to be involved as much as we can, but Claremont can be overwhelming (in a good way.) Between Science Night, Museum Night, International Day, Movie Nights, a couple Fun Runs and parties in the classroom ...we can barely keep up. And a PP who said there's far more after school enrichment classes in N Arlington: I can't imagine. We have a hard enough time trying to choose between the dozens of robotics, chess, yoga, nature etc etc classes offered each year...

Please. Please stop talking about Claremont. no one here is talking about the choice schools. Of course your experience is fantastic, family is part of the umc attrition that is hurting the neighborhood schools we are taking about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a very active PTA at our S. Arlington school. We have some SAHMs but most appear to be dual income families. We had a party this morning and out of 24 kids I think 12 had parents there? Maybe more? Some both parents. So it is not that crazy to have lots of parents involved (we are a choice school though)

Oakridge?

No, Claremont. There is an insane amount of parental involvement and activities (almost overwhelming!).

Agree. As two working parents we want to be involved as much as we can, but Claremont can be overwhelming (in a good way.) Between Science Night, Museum Night, International Day, Movie Nights, a couple Fun Runs and parties in the classroom ...we can barely keep up. And a PP who said there's far more after school enrichment classes in N Arlington: I can't imagine. We have a hard enough time trying to choose between the dozens of robotics, chess, yoga, nature etc etc classes offered each year...

The PP was making a comparison between a title 1 South Arlington school like Randolph, not an option/oasis/escape like Claremont, which creams the best resources families from nearby struggling schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a very active PTA at our S. Arlington school. We have some SAHMs but most appear to be dual income families. We had a party this morning and out of 24 kids I think 12 had parents there? Maybe more? Some both parents. So it is not that crazy to have lots of parents involved (we are a choice school though)

Oakridge?

No, Claremont. There is an insane amount of parental involvement and activities (almost overwhelming!).

Agree. As two working parents we want to be involved as much as we can, but Claremont can be overwhelming (in a good way.) Between Science Night, Museum Night, International Day, Movie Nights, a couple Fun Runs and parties in the classroom ...we can barely keep up. And a PP who said there's far more after school enrichment classes in N Arlington: I can't imagine. We have a hard enough time trying to choose between the dozens of robotics, chess, yoga, nature etc etc classes offered each year...

Boundary predictions? Mine:

The triangle of DP zoned for Hoffman goes to Randolph.
The triangles south of the pike but north of glebe that go to Henry now both go to Drew.
Arna valley, maybe long branch creek goes to Drew
Some portion of crystal city/pentagon city gets bussed to Hoffman
Not sure about abingdons possible contributions to Drew.

What am I missing?

Anonymous wrote:Former South Arlington parent now a North Arlington parent. We were in one of the title I schools, now at one of the wealthier schools. We moved our daughter between 3rd and 4th grade. She was behind from day 1. She was not "gifted" but did well in her prior school. We spent the first 6 months getting her on track with all the other kids in the class. It was a bit embarrassing. She is fine now, 1.5 years later.

Was this more apparent in some subjects than in others?
And what was “the straw, that broke the camels back”, if you don’t mind me asking? How did you know, you just had to move her?

Anonymous wrote:It isn't just the SOLs. The kids in the wealthier schools in north arlington are generally doing more advanced work. I know all the schools are supposed to teach the same thing, but I keep hearing from friends in north arlington with kids in the same grade about more advanced work. The classroom goes into more depth on the subjects, or starts new subjects earlier. They are ahead and it shows on the advance pass rates on the SOLs. If kids are consistently learning more in wealthier schools than the poorer schools then over time there is a difference that is measureable beyond SOLs.

They have more afterschool enrichment as well. Much much more. More chess, computers, coding, math, science enrichment that add to classroom learning.

Anyone who has ever sat in a classroom will say this: the pace of instruction depends on the classroom's center of gravity. If the median is a kid from a 2-parent, 200k+ household whose grandparents all went to college, the basics get covered pretty quickly. I'm guessing plenty of people reading this have first hand experience of being tracked in elementary school and know this to be true. No use coming up with exceptions to the rule.