Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Links to FOIAed documents

https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/Survey%20monkey.pdf?token=AWyB2auV5tGNwp1B8WiOBZfVkiNe440-ivCrfputYmPaRajpCRpbgVxf7AHlzu6-u6XUO2cseSnMlt3J8WZt2rQFjyvbaPf9S5IgoaPI1UhTVnFDybxCUXX-UFPnhWQSY3dScr_7gqVUD8epqJd-KzN6ER321jxHjYO2wzQOnSoW4Q

https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/AB%20Day%20Schedule%20with%20Monday%20Periods%201-7.pdf?token=AWxfm4g8R_78IoOjAVUB3w6jNCSbxdFVgLGb1BIuvLN67hcMYQsihJK7tcxmMvyeI-1SIY5bVIhBJzvs8oWOh5rM4lCHVaDikpOw4Mlw327XyINu7nyloZo6teOHkIGMkpeNhytbwA69DV1S28lWFxiDNoZqDXQMxtWHwRp0RQNstQ

The A/B schedule seems to work the best and be the most popular.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a pretty important letter posted to the Arlington Education Matters group on Facebook about the block controversy at Williamsburg MS yesterday. It's a closed group, though, though there are about 1,300 members.

Letter basically said that documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act point to a lack of "stakeholder buy-in" among parents and teachers. There's no way to link to it, unfortunately.

I don't know, that parent is definitely starting to sound a little fanatical about it. I get that he's upset and has invested a lot of time, but it all seems a little over-the-top, both the letter and his posts/comment responses on Facebook. As a parent who doesn't fully understand the pros and cons, it's hard to trust the position of someone who now seems totally personally invested in the issue and letting it color his perceptions of other people.

I agree. I posted a few times about how block scheduling had worked well for me 3in a high school setting, and he blasted me right back each time I posted. I gave up trying to convince him that maybe there were some positives to the idea.

Anonymous wrote:
I agree. I posted a few times about how block scheduling had worked well for me 3in a high school setting, and he blasted me right back each time I posted. I gave up trying to convince him that maybe there were some positives to the idea.

Anonymous wrote:Links to FOIAed documents

https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/Survey%20monkey.pdf?token=AWyB2auV5tGNwp1B8WiOBZfVkiNe440-ivCrfputYmPaRajpCRpbgVxf7AHlzu6-u6XUO2cseSnMlt3J8WZt2rQFjyvbaPf9S5IgoaPI1UhTVnFDybxCUXX-UFPnhWQSY3dScr_7gqVUD8epqJd-KzN6ER321jxHjYO2wzQOnSoW4Q

https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/AB%20Day%20Schedule%20with%20Monday%20Periods%201-7.pdf?token=AWxfm4g8R_78IoOjAVUB3w6jNCSbxdFVgLGb1BIuvLN67hcMYQsihJK7tcxmMvyeI-1SIY5bVIhBJzvs8oWOh5rM4lCHVaDikpOw4Mlw327XyINu7nyloZo6teOHkIGMkpeNhytbwA69DV1S28lWFxiDNoZqDXQMxtWHwRp0RQNstQ

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And I still don't understand how this differs from what is happening at the other middle schools in APS. Don't they all have some form of block scheduling? If it's such a bad idea for the kids of WMS, why isn't it a bad idea generally? What makes the students at WMS different? Why aren't all the schools employing the same schedules? They allegedly have the same curriculum, no?

One school has it for 6th graders but not 7th and 8th.

Swanson tried block scheduling years ago and went back to a standard schedule.

Our kids aren't zoned for Williamsburg and I don't know the parent who's taking the lead on this, but I don't feel inclined to criticize him for objecting to a major change that he thinks is not in the interests of the children and which APS has been unable to defend. That inability to defend it only becomes more infuriating when there's this sort of Theatre of Community Buy-In in which administrators pretend to be interested in what teachers and parents have to say, then proceed to do what they were going to do anyway.

And I don't want to hear that change is hard or you can't please everyone. The point is, this is a change for no reason, with no benefit, and the people who are unhappy are the people most affected by it and their parents.

If the teachers had been pushing for it, I think the idea would have a lot more support. APS teachers are fantastic.

I'm not one who has criticized him. I just want to know which schools in APS are already doing it and why, and whether there is any way to measure whether teachers and/or student performance has been affected by various schedules. If block scheduling is bad policy, then it's bad policy for APS, not just for the students at WMS. I want to know, because I may want to apply for a transfer for our kids out of our zoned school (which I believe does employ some sort of block scheduling) to one that isn't on any block scheduling if it could affect my children's educational attainment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And I still don't understand how this differs from what is happening at the other middle schools in APS. Don't they all have some form of block scheduling? If it's such a bad idea for the kids of WMS, why isn't it a bad idea generally? What makes the students at WMS different? Why aren't all the schools employing the same schedules? They allegedly have the same curriculum, no?

One school has it for 6th graders but not 7th and 8th.

Swanson tried block scheduling years ago and went back to a standard schedule.

Our kids aren't zoned for Williamsburg and I don't know the parent who's taking the lead on this, but I don't feel inclined to criticize him for objecting to a major change that he thinks is not in the interests of the children and which APS has been unable to defend. That inability to defend it only becomes more infuriating when there's this sort of Theatre of Community Buy-In in which administrators pretend to be interested in what teachers and parents have to say, then proceed to do what they were going to do anyway.

And I don't want to hear that change is hard or you can't please everyone. The point is, this is a change for no reason, with no benefit, and the people who are unhappy are the people most affected by it and their parents.

If the teachers had been pushing for it, I think the idea would have a lot more support. APS teachers are fantastic.

I don't have a problem with anyone objecting to a change. But now this guy is on a vendetta, so I'm less inclined to trust what he says.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And I still don't understand how this differs from what is happening at the other middle schools in APS. Don't they all have some form of block scheduling? If it's such a bad idea for the kids of WMS, why isn't it a bad idea generally? What makes the students at WMS different? Why aren't all the schools employing the same schedules? They allegedly have the same curriculum, no?

One school has it for 6th graders but not 7th and 8th.

Swanson tried block scheduling years ago and went back to a standard schedule.

Our kids aren't zoned for Williamsburg and I don't know the parent who's taking the lead on this, but I don't feel inclined to criticize him for objecting to a major change that he thinks is not in the interests of the children and which APS has been unable to defend. That inability to defend it only becomes more infuriating when there's this sort of Theatre of Community Buy-In in which administrators pretend to be interested in what teachers and parents have to say, then proceed to do what they were going to do anyway.

And I don't want to hear that change is hard or you can't please everyone. The point is, this is a change for no reason, with no benefit, and the people who are unhappy are the people most affected by it and their parents.

If the teachers had been pushing for it, I think the idea would have a lot more support. APS teachers are fantastic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a pretty important letter posted to the Arlington Education Matters group on Facebook about the block controversy at Williamsburg MS yesterday. It's a closed group, though, though there are about 1,300 members.

Letter basically said that documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act point to a lack of "stakeholder buy-in" among parents and teachers. There's no way to link to it, unfortunately.

I don't know, that parent is definitely starting to sound a little fanatical about it. I get that he's upset and has invested a lot of time, but it all seems a little over-the-top, both the letter and his posts/comment responses on Facebook. As a parent who doesn't fully understand the pros and cons, it's hard to trust the position of someone who now seems totally personally invested in the issue and letting it color his perceptions of other people.

Anonymous wrote:
I don't have a problem with anyone objecting to a change. But now this guy is on a vendetta, so I'm less inclined to trust what he says.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And I still don't understand how this differs from what is happening at the other middle schools in APS. Don't they all have some form of block scheduling? If it's such a bad idea for the kids of WMS, why isn't it a bad idea generally? What makes the students at WMS different? Why aren't all the schools employing the same schedules? They allegedly have the same curriculum, no?

One school has it for 6th graders but not 7th and 8th.

Swanson tried block scheduling years ago and went back to a standard schedule.

Our kids aren't zoned for Williamsburg and I don't know the parent who's taking the lead on this, but I don't feel inclined to criticize him for objecting to a major change that he thinks is not in the interests of the children and which APS has been unable to defend. That inability to defend it only becomes more infuriating when there's this sort of Theatre of Community Buy-In in which administrators pretend to be interested in what teachers and parents have to say, then proceed to do what they were going to do anyway.

And I don't want to hear that change is hard or you can't please everyone. The point is, this is a change for no reason, with no benefit, and the people who are unhappy are the people most affected by it and their parents.

If the teachers had been pushing for it, I think the idea would have a lot more support. APS teachers are fantastic.

Anonymous wrote:
And I still don't understand how this differs from what is happening at the other middle schools in APS. Don't they all have some form of block scheduling? If it's such a bad idea for the kids of WMS, why isn't it a bad idea generally? What makes the students at WMS different? Why aren't all the schools employing the same schedules? They allegedly have the same curriculum, no?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a pretty important letter posted to the Arlington Education Matters group on Facebook about the block controversy at Williamsburg MS yesterday. It's a closed group, though, though there are about 1,300 members.

Letter basically said that documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act point to a lack of "stakeholder buy-in" among parents and teachers. There's no way to link to it, unfortunately.

I don't know, that parent is definitely starting to sound a little fanatical about it. I get that he's upset and has invested a lot of time, but it all seems a little over-the-top, both the letter and his posts/comment responses on Facebook. As a parent who doesn't fully understand the pros and cons, it's hard to trust the position of someone who now seems totally personally invested in the issue and letting it color his perceptions of other people.

And I still don't understand how this differs from what is happening at the other middle schools in APS. Don't they all have some form of block scheduling? If it's such a bad idea for the kids of WMS, why isn't it a bad idea generally? What makes the students at WMS different? Why aren't all the schools employing the same schedules? They allegedly have the same curriculum, no?

This is a great question. Can anyone explain?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a pretty important letter posted to the Arlington Education Matters group on Facebook about the block controversy at Williamsburg MS yesterday. It's a closed group, though, though there are about 1,300 members.

Letter basically said that documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act point to a lack of "stakeholder buy-in" among parents and teachers. There's no way to link to it, unfortunately.

I don't know, that parent is definitely starting to sound a little fanatical about it. I get that he's upset and has invested a lot of time, but it all seems a little over-the-top, both the letter and his posts/comment responses on Facebook. As a parent who doesn't fully understand the pros and cons, it's hard to trust the position of someone who now seems totally personally invested in the issue and letting it color his perceptions of other people.

And I still don't understand how this differs from what is happening at the other middle schools in APS. Don't they all have some form of block scheduling? If it's such a bad idea for the kids of WMS, why isn't it a bad idea generally? What makes the students at WMS different? Why aren't all the schools employing the same schedules? They allegedly have the same curriculum, no?