1502 is moving.

People are upset bc they think they will lose priority admission to IB, but the SB is planning on revisiting transfer policies. It should not be a surprise if they even the playing field for IB admission.

Anonymous wrote:ArlNow has an article up now. Arlington Forest parents have been emailing, seems like. https://www.arlnow.com/2016/11/02/superintendent-to-present-high-school-boundary-recommendations/

(cross posting from another thread)

instead of fighting the move, AF families need to focus on this: demand busing out a significant # of WF FARMs kids to YT. SB owes you one and will want to make it up for you guys. I would not bank on renovating Barrett.

Anonymous wrote:
We are in the new Yorktown option. I am not very pleased. W-L is more than a mile closer than Yorktown.

So your kid used to walk but now has to take a bus? I thought APS wasn't going to do that. Granted, I'm basing that on the video of the meeting at which they had the information wrong, so . . .

What would be the effect if they moved the high school level of the Spanish immersion program to Yorktown? That would give an opportunity for lots of kid to attend Yorktown who otherwise would be zoned to Wakefield or W-L. I'm sure the answer depends a lot upon how well attended the program is and if it currently benefits Wakefield to draw out of boundary kids in through the magnet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why they created an additional option for Yorktown but not for Wakefield?

I think the demographics/economics really limit their options for on the Wakefield front. In particular - it is my suspicion that the staff is operating under an implicit mandate to not make Wakefield more minority and/or more FARMs. I think the only way they can meet that goal is to reach north of 50.

Thank god. I had hoped that would be the case and am really heartened to see this. Of course all of this handwringing about FARMS kids would go away, if they would bus 10% of Wakefield's current impoverished population to Yorktown. It would put all three schools much more closely aligned demographically and be much more reflective of the county as a whole.

We are in the new Yorktown option. I am not very pleased. W-L is more than a mile closer than Yorktown.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS has said they won't move IB because 1) W-L originally started the IB program and 2) it is the school that is IB accredited (not the school system, I guess, but that particular school?)

Then get rid of AP there. There is no reason to favor W-L with more options than the other two schools and it's one more factor that leads to overcrowding at W-L.

I really cannot believe how incompetent APS can be. They build new schools that don't have enough seats; plan boundary changes that assume disparities in the programs available at the three schools; and then initially screw up the number of planning units that need to be moved.

I'm not going to argue that APS is a paragon of competence. But this complaint of yours is just strange. We currently have boundaries even those we have disparities in the programs available at the three schools. Next year, we will have somewhat different boundaries and we will still have the same disparities in the programs available. Nothing will have changed, the lines will just be in slightly different places. I don't see how this is indicative of incompetence on APS's part. Maybe you don't like that some schools have programs that others don't have, but that issue has nothing to do with boundary drawing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
They can take one or two IB classes, which might be easier than the closest AP classes.

That is not how IB works.

You can get a diploma or you can take individual IB classes. You are the one who doesn't understand how IB works.

It's beyond stupid for APS to start moving kids around without fully considering what has driven W-L's growth, including the fact that W-L, alone among the high schools, is allowed to offer both AP and IB. But if you're not on the block to get moved to Wakefield, I'm sure having more choices than other schools is fine with you.

I don't think this makes much sense. APS has capped the number of kids that can transfer to W-L for IB. So they know how many out-of-boundary IB kids are contributing to W-L's enrollment numbers.

If you are moved to Wakefield, you have as much choice as any other Wakefield family does. Your kid can apply for IB transfer to W-L.

You seem very interested in IB, but I'm wondering how deep that interest is. If the IB program were moved to Wakefield, would you transfer your kid there (or stay at Wakefield if your planning unit were reassigned)?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
They can take one or two IB classes, which might be easier than the closest AP classes.

That is not how IB works.

You can actually take just one IB class, you don't have to be pursuing the diploma to take an IB class.

My kid took both AP and IB classes, and he did not find that IB classes were easier than AP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
They can take one or two IB classes, which might be easier than the closest AP classes.

That is not how IB works.

You can get a diploma or you can take individual IB classes. You are the one who doesn't understand how IB works.

It's beyond stupid for APS to start moving kids around without fully considering what has driven W-L's growth, including the fact that W-L, alone among the high schools, is allowed to offer both AP and IB. But if you're not on the block to get moved to Wakefield, I'm sure having more choices than other schools is fine with you.

Anonymous wrote:09:31 has it right. McK is more Yorktown than W-L, but not by a ton. However, 1502 is an oddball that sits in a Yorktown neighborhood.

Wut? Do you live in 1502? It's Yorktown to the North and West and Washington-Lee to the South and East. That's not really a Yorktown neighborhood; it's divided. PP is right that Washington Boulevard borders it to the south, but our kids cross that all the time to get to Lacey Woods anyway.

Anonymous wrote:
They can take one or two IB classes, which might be easier than the closest AP classes.

That is not how IB works.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS has said they won't move IB because 1) W-L originally started the IB program and 2) it is the school that is IB accredited (not the school system, I guess, but that particular school?)

Then get rid of AP there. There is no reason to favor W-L with more options than the other two schools and it's one more factor that leads to overcrowding at W-L.

I really cannot believe how incompetent APS can be. They build new schools that don't have enough seats; plan boundary changes that assume disparities in the programs available at the three schools; and then initially screw up the number of planning units that need to be moved.

Simmah down there. The IB program isn't a fit for a lot of kids who can manage at least one AP class by senior year.

They can take one or two IB classes, which might be easier than the closest AP classes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS has said they won't move IB because 1) W-L originally started the IB program and 2) it is the school that is IB accredited (not the school system, I guess, but that particular school?)

Then get rid of AP there. There is no reason to favor W-L with more options than the other two schools and it's one more factor that leads to overcrowding at W-L.

I really cannot believe how incompetent APS can be. They build new schools that don't have enough seats; plan boundary changes that assume disparities in the programs available at the three schools; and then initially screw up the number of planning units that need to be moved.

Simmah down there. The IB program isn't a fit for a lot of kids who can manage at least one AP class by senior year.

Anonymous wrote:APS has said they won't move IB because 1) W-L originally started the IB program and 2) it is the school that is IB accredited (not the school system, I guess, but that particular school?)

Then get rid of AP there. There is no reason to favor W-L with more options than the other two schools and it's one more factor that leads to overcrowding at W-L.

I really cannot believe how incompetent APS can be. They build new schools that don't have enough seats; plan boundary changes that assume disparities in the programs available at the three schools; and then initially screw up the number of planning units that need to be moved.

Anonymous wrote:APS has said they won't move IB because 1) W-L originally started the IB program and 2) it is the school that is IB accredited (not the school system, I guess, but that particular school?)

Yes, and teachers have to get trained to teach IB. So either all those teachers would have to move to Wakefield or they would have to spend money to train the teachers as Wakefield as well.