Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m interested in other ways to relieve Gunston that don’t involve busing my kid to Williamsburg. And I understand that things may not work in my favor, but I want to be honest and open about trying other solutions that could work.

If I’m looking at the documents correctly, moving Immersion immediately solves Gunston’s overcrowding, correct? Sticking it at Kenmore (which has space but not enough for all of Immersion) means that some Kenmore kids need to go to other middle schools which creates this cascade effect, correct?

We need to not just say “don’t bus my kid when he can walk” but also “here’s what you can do instead.”

I also think high school alignment is an issue here.

If my child has to be bused, I can live with it as long as our planning units are not the only ones moved and he’s isolated from the majority of Taylor. If they’re going to split us up, they need to move a critical mass.

It looks like they could move Immersion to Williamsburg, tweak a few units with alignment issues, and then be done. No walk zones broken. Almost everyone moved with the school when Key moved despite dire warnings otherwise. People who are dedicated to the program will travel for it.

I’m not sure about this. They can’t run Immersion at all without enough native Spanish speakers. Williamsburg seems like the worst middle school to pick for Immersion, based on geography and where people are likely to live.

But it's okay because Ethan will still get to walk to Hamm this way.

Anonymous wrote:It is unlikely that they will reintroduce noncontiguous island again for Rosslyn just to accommodate Hamm walk zone. Some posters are self advocating their own convenience in disguise of diversity, but don't forget that continuity is another primary factor in the boundary process.

Anonymous wrote:It is unlikely that they will reintroduce noncontiguous island again for Rosslyn just to accommodate Hamm walk zone. Some posters are self advocating their own convenience in disguise of diversity, but don't forget that continuity is another primary factor in the boundary process.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry but Hamm people getting mad about going to Williamsburg kinda reminds me of Nottingham people getting mad about going to Jamestown or Discovery.

There’s really no pleasing some people.

That is a stupid comparison. They are closing Nottingham, and this instance, they are leaving Hamm open and replacing walkers with other students who were being bussed elsewhere already

It's really the same thing. They are leaving Nottingham open, just using it for different students who will be bused there while sending kids who can walk to Nottingham elsewhere. They aren't shutting down the Nottingham building.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m interested in other ways to relieve Gunston that don’t involve busing my kid to Williamsburg. And I understand that things may not work in my favor, but I want to be honest and open about trying other solutions that could work.

If I’m looking at the documents correctly, moving Immersion immediately solves Gunston’s overcrowding, correct? Sticking it at Kenmore (which has space but not enough for all of Immersion) means that some Kenmore kids need to go to other middle schools which creates this cascade effect, correct?

We need to not just say “don’t bus my kid when he can walk” but also “here’s what you can do instead.”

I also think high school alignment is an issue here.

If my child has to be bused, I can live with it as long as our planning units are not the only ones moved and he’s isolated from the majority of Taylor. If they’re going to split us up, they need to move a critical mass.

It looks like they could move Immersion to Williamsburg, tweak a few units with alignment issues, and then be done. No walk zones broken. Almost everyone moved with the school when Key moved despite dire warnings otherwise. People who are dedicated to the program will travel for it.

This is a dumb plan and I hope people speak out against this as an idea. It would kill the immersion program.

That’s exactly what you said about the Key move.

Key moved to a Central part of the county in an area with spanish speakers.

Do you remember the rhetoric? The move would destroy the program, families wouldn’t be able to move to the new building so the new neighborhood school would be crowded anyway, etc etc.

Williamsburg is a bad choice for location, but no one wants to be moved there. Why should neighborhood kids get moved instead of an option program that is optional?

It doesn't make any sense. The native Spanish speaking (majority low income) families in the southern part of the county aren't going to be able to get to Williamsburg. And it makes no sense to have a Williamsburg --> Wakefield feeder pattern. The kids moved to Williamsburg should be within the Yorktown boundary.

If your goal is to kill the Immersion program, then keep making this proposal.

Why shouldn’t that be the goal? What does immersion do for the County?[/quote

It educates its children.
And it provides a better educational start for many non-English speaking students and first generation English speaking students.

+1. Most US public schools start foreign language way too late. Immersion isn’t for everyone but it’s really the only option school that I think is actually worthy/useful/sufficiently unique to justify the cost (sorry HBW).

If it matters, no, we aren’t an Immersion family. But I see tremendous value in educating students in Spanish and English if they are willing to commit to Immersion.