Planning for School Moves 2021

Design &Construction Updates | ATS | Escuela Key  (formerly Key) | Cardinal  (formerly McKinley) | Timeline | Background

All school sites will be open on the first day of school, August 30, 2021.

A cross-departmental team has begun planning for the school moves transition. All staff are dedicated to making these transitions as easy as possible for students and families. Throughout this school moves process, information will be shared about next steps. Below are details about how APS will keep the community informed. Please note that this web page will be updated to include site-specific information when available. Between Spring 2020 and Fall 2021, Planning & Evaluation will coordinate the school moves process  that involves all APS departments, as well as the Principals and school staff of the schools involved: Administrative Services, Design & Construction, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Facilities & Operations, Finance, Human Resources, Information Services, School & Community Relations, and Teaching & Learning.

This  webpage will be updated regularly with information about the overall school moves planning process for 2021-22. Principals of the schools involved will take the lead in sharing communications with their school communities. Members of each school community are asked to submit any questions they may have about the process/timeline to their respective PTAs. Responses sent to the PTA will be posted on this webpage in as feasible a timeframe as possible.

Design and Construction Updates

• Principals and PTA leaders from Key and ATS toured the sites with Design & Construction staff; the principal at the new neighborhood elementary school at the Key site has also toured that building with design and construction staff.
• Documents are now being prepared for bidding the work on
  • Kitchen renovations at the ATS (now Escuela Key), Key (now Innovation) and McKinley (now ATS) buildings
  • Security entrances at ATS (now Escuela Key) and Key (now Innovation) sites
• Update on kitchen renovations (shared Aug. 20 via SchoolTalk):

“Completion of the kitchens at the ATS, Escuela Key and Innovation buildings has been delayed until after the start of the school year. These delays are due to manufacturing and material delivery issues beyond the control of APS and our contractors. The completion dates for each kitchen are dependent on a variety of factors, but we anticipate completion by late October or November.  We are committed to providing free, healthy and nutritious breakfasts and lunches for every student during this time. Breakfast and lunch will be delivered daily, and each school will have reach-in freezers, coolers, milk coolers and tables available for daily food service. Healthy meals will be available to students when school opens on Mon, Aug. 30 through the completion date in October or November. The cafeterias will remain open for student dining. Additional information will be shared by Principals during their orientations and open houses. We apologize for the inconvenience and are committed to ensuring all students receive healthy grab-and-go meals during this time. If you have any additional questions, contact Food Services at 703-228-6130.“

ATS 

ATS was not impacted by the Fall 2020 Boundary Change.

Transportation

• • Transportation is available for students attending option schools/programs. All option school transportation is provided via hub stops. Hub stops are central locations—such as a community center or school—where students from several neighborhoods meet to catch the bus to their school and may be a longer distance from a student’s residence
  • Information about hub stops will be available in late Spring.

Escuela Key (formerly Key)

Impact of Fall 2020 Boundary Process

The following limited changes to the immersion feeder school structure for Escuela Key and Claremont will take effect for the 2021-22 school year:

• • Students who live in Ashlawn’s new attendance zone (effective 2021-22) will be assigned to Escuela Key

• • • Grade K-4 students who currently attend Claremont and live in Ashlawn’s new attendance zone (effective 2021-22) will have the option of continuing at Claremont for 2021-22 school year. A decision about whether these students can continue at Claremont beyond 2021-22 will be made following completion of the visioning process and review of enrollment, projections and capacity.
    • Grade K-4 students who currently attend Claremont and live in a planning unit in Ashlawn’s attendance zone that was reassigned to Arlington Science Focus School (effective 2021-22) will have the option of continuing at Claremont for the 2021-22 school year. A decision about whether these students can continue at Claremont beyond 2021-22 will be made following completion of the visioning process and review of enrollment, projections and capacity.

• • Innovation ES is assigned to the Escuela Key feeder zone

• • • • All of these students are currently assigned to Escuela Key as part of the current feeder school structure (ASFS is their neighborhood school for 2020-21 and is in the Escuela Key feeder zone)

Transportation

• Transportation is available for students attending option schools/programs. All option school transportation is provided via hub stops. Hub stops are central locations—such as a community center or school—where students from several neighborhoods meet to catch the bus to their school and may be a longer distance from a student’s residence
• Information about hub stops will be available in late Spring 

Cardinal (formerly McKinley)

Impact of Fall 2020 Boundary Process

• The majority of Planning Units (PUs) that had been assigned to the McKinley site are moving with the school to the Cardinal site for Fall 2021. These PUs could be reassigned in the Fall 2022 county-wide process to manage elementary school enrollment.
  • Planning units 14100, 14101 and 14110 are reassigned to Ashlawn
• If a Planning Unit remains with its current school, and moves with that school to a different building, this is considered a move and not a reassignment.
  • A Planning Unit that is not reassigned to a different school in the 2020 boundary process could be considered for reassignment in the next process.

  If a Planning Unit is reassigned from its current school to another school, this is considered a reassignment.

  • • APS will seek to avoid reassigning those Planning Units in the next boundary process.

Design and Construction Update

• The stormwater mitigation work conducted by APS and Arlington County Government will happen in two phases:
  • Phase 1: Underground piping will be installed under the site work as part of school construction.
  • Phase 2: Stormwater structure to connect to Phase 1 piping will be installed after school occupancy permit is achieved.
  • Students will have access to outdoor play space when the school opens:
    • New playground and existing playground will be available behind the school.
    • The new half and full basketball courts adjacent to the school will be completed and available.

Planned parking will be completed and available as planned off of McKinley Street as well as behind the library

Overall Timeline for School Moves Transition

This timeline is tentative and subject to change

 Background

On Feb. 6, 2020, as part of Phase 1 of Elementary School Planning for 2021, the School Board adopted the Interim Superintendent’s recommendation to move three schools for the 2021-22 school year. The School Board adoption includes moving:

• The majority of McKinley students to the new school at the Reed site
• The Arlington Traditional School (ATS) program to the current McKinley site
• The Key Immersion program to the current ATS site

• • Note: This recommendation will repurpose the Key site, which currently houses the Key Immersion school, into a new neighborhood school.

On Dec. 3, 2020,  the School Board adopted new elementary school boundaries for 2021-22

For more information about the School Moves and Boundary Process, visit the links below.

• Phase 1: Planning Process (Nov. 2019 through Feb. 6, 2020)
• Phase 2: Planning Unit Data Review  (Apr. through May 2020)
• Phase 3: Fall 2020  Elementary School Boundary process (Sept. through Dec. 3, 2020)
• Phase 4: Implementation (Dec. 2020 through Aug. 2021)