APS Defines Scope and Timing of Fall 2018 Elementary School Boundary Process

Initial process will involve 11 schools, followed by a second boundary adjustment slated for Fall 2020

Arlington Public Schools (APS) has defined the scope and timeline of the Fall 2018 Elementary Schools Boundary Process that will develop attendance zones for new schools and adjust boundaries to balance enrollment across 11 elementary schools. In Fall 2020, APS will initiate a second boundary process that involves 14 elementary schools.

The Fall 2018 Elementary Boundary Process will involve elementary students beginning in the 2019-20 school year from the attendance zones of the following schools:

• Abingdon
• Arlington Science Focus (ASFS)
• Ashlawn
• Barcroft
• Drew
• Henry (Fleet)
• Hoffman-Boston
• Long Branch
• Oakridge
• Randolph, and
• Taylor

An overview of the boundary process is available in a June 7 School Board meeting staff presentation. A School Board Work Session will be held August 28 and a Public Hearing is tentatively scheduled for November 27 (date to be confirmed).

The School Board will vote on new elementary school boundaries on December 6, 2018, and these will take effect in September 2019, when Alice W. Fleet Elementary School opens and Drew Model Elementary School becomes a full neighborhood school upon the Montessori program’s move to the Patrick Henry Elementary School building.

“Whenever APS opens a new school or has a school with projected enrollment that’s expected to be significantly over capacity, School Board policy requires that we adjust boundaries,” said Lisa Stengle, Executive Director, APS Planning and Evaluation. “We worked with community members this past spring in reviewing elementary school locations and walk zones, and we will continue to inform and engage stakeholders throughout this boundary process.”

The second boundary process in Fall 2020 will create an attendance zone for the new elementary school at the Reed site and balance enrollment through boundary adjustments that will take effect in Fall 2021. The following schools will be included in the Fall 2020 boundary process: Abingdon, Ashlawn, Barcroft, Barrett, Carlin Springs, Discovery, Glebe, Jamestown, McKinley, Long Branch, Nottingham, Reed, Taylor, and Tuckahoe. A school may be involved in both boundary processes, but a specific planning unit will only be impacted once to minimize the number of times that individual students who have continued to reside in a particular attendance area are impacted by the boundary change.

Community engagement activities during this process will include web updates, community meetings, social media, podcasts and more. Staff will hold an Open Office Hours session from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Tue, Aug. 7 and the first Community Meeting on Wed, Sept. 26; both events will be held at Kenmore Middle School (200 S. Carlin Springs Rd.).

For more information about the Fall 2018 Elementary School Boundary Process, visit https://aps2016.apsva.us/elementary-school-boundary-change/.