Ann Arbor's Schools of Choice see greatest number of applicants since program began
Previous coverage: Schools of Choice: Ann Arbor opens 25 seats at Skyline High School to boost enrollment
Opening up seats at Skyline High School to incoming freshmen from other districts helped to boost Ann Arbor's Schools of Choice applications for fall, officials said.
The Ann Arbor Public Schools received a total of 183 applications through Schools of Choice this year — the largest number since the district starting offering Schools of Choice four years ago. This is the first time Ann Arbor has opened any slots at the high school level. Superintendent Patricia Green said in March the move was risky and dubbed it an "experiment."
Ann Arbor schools saw its greatest number of Schools of Choice applications in four years of offering seats. District officials say opening up slots at Skyline High School helped attract more students at all grades.
AnnArbor.com file photo
District officials initially did not recommend offering the 25 seats at Skyline High due to concerns about staffing. Administrators were worried about possibly needing to hire additional personnel at the high school to accommodate the extra students, but board members voted to open the Schools of Choice seats anyway and take the risk.
Communications Director Liz Margolis said offering the ninth-grade Schools of Choice seats definitely helped bring in more applications at other grade levels this year as well. The added variety in grade levels allowed families with older and younger children to apply.
AAPS received 136 applications for kindergarten through fifth grade. There were only 110 spots available. There were 50 spots available in sixth grade and 23 applicants.
Seats were open at Abbot, Bryant, Carpenter, Dicken, Eberwhite, Lakewood, Logan, Northside, Pittsfield and Pattengill elementaries, as well as Forsythe, Scarlett and Slauson middle schools. On their applications, students and parents could rank which schools they would like to attend.
"We were able to offer most students the school they requested," Margolis said. "A few were informed that due to staffing concerns at some schools, we will have to confirm with them their seat after we do further class size reviews.
"Parents were asked to identify four schools they would prefer, so we are confident we can place all of the students," Margolis added. "In the past, we have experienced that not all students actually enroll and this, we expect, will occur again this year — which (schools), we won't know until fall."
Twenty-four eighth-graders, out of a possible 25, applied to start their high school careers at Skyline, despite the building's uncertain future. Switching Skyline from a trimester program to a semester program is on the table as a potential budget reduction for the 2013-14 academic year.
The schedule change could cost the school two of its magnet programs, but also could save AAPS $300,000 to be put toward closing the district's $8.67 million budget deficit. The board has until June 30 to pass a balanced budget for the upcoming school year.
Skyline High School has seen fewer freshmen enrolling since it opened in 2008. The decrease in eighth-grade students interested in attending this school has been a concern of the board's.
The issue was brought to light when the number of open-enrollment applications to enter Skyline's freshmen lottery was reported as dropping from 221 in 2008 to 113 in 2012, and when the number of requests for in-district transfers from Skyline to another AAPS high school exceeded those of Pioneer and Huron.
The overall number of Schools of Choice applicants steadily have increased since AAPS first offered seats to out-of-district students prior to the 2010-11 academic year. That year, AAPS opened 150 Schools of Choice slots for kindergarten, first and sixth grades only. The district received 99 applications, with 72 students enrolling and eight students moving into Ann Arbor by fall or shortly thereafter.
The following year, AAPS offered 170 seats and received 133 applications. Ninety-five students enrolled and 11 students changed their residency in 2011-12.
AAPS had 110 students enroll through Schools of Choice for the 2012-13 academic year.
Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.
Comments
jns131
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 2:38 p.m.
Skyline was thought of with great intentions. But sadly because they have to bus children in? This is not considered a local community school. Pioneer and Huron are. Sad but true. With what I have heard about Skyline? I would not send mine there.
Wake Up A2
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 11:03 a.m.
This is interesting since there are kids from out of district at pioneer. In my daughters class there is a girl from out by Belleville in class who Pat Green signed her paperwork to let her in. It is her first year in district. I wonder how many more back door deals have gone down.
Jay Thomas
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 3:19 a.m.
Skyline is a special case because the building was half empty. In general school of choice is being subsidized by Ann Arbor tax payers.
say it plain
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 10:45 a.m.
I really don't get why you believe the building is half empty. That's not what I hear from people who go there at all.
JRW
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 1:58 a.m.
"Skyline High School has seen fewer freshmen enrolling since it opened in 2008. The decrease in eighth-grade students interested in attending this school has been a concern of the board's. The issue was brought to light when the number of open-enrollment applications to enter Skyline's freshmen lottery was reported as dropping from 221 in 2008 to 113 in 2012, and when the number of requests for in-district transfers from Skyline to another AAPS high school exceeded those of Pioneer and Huron." It seems to me that the BOE needs to find out WHY this is occurring. A brand new school? More in-district transfer students want out? The freshman lottery dropped by half? Something is wrong with this picture. Unless the district does more than wring its hands, the reasons won't be determined and addressed.
TryingToBeObjective
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 3:04 a.m.
Part of WHY this is occurring is moving to North Carolina.
JRW
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 1:54 a.m.
"There were 50 spots available in sixth grade and 23 applicants." Why am I not surprised? Forsythe, Slauson and Scarlett are the choices.
TryingToBeObjective
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 1:59 a.m.
If Che Carter had gone back to Forsythe, it would have made a big difference.
towncryer
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 9:23 p.m.
@Superior Mother, personally I think too many students whose parents aren't as "invested" as other parents would just skip going in to school if there was no morning bus, especially if it is cold, rainy, etc... It seems half the battle of underperforming students is getting them there and with no morning bus, that will only make it harder, imo.
Basic Bob
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 12:44 a.m.
I think it shows the school district is not invested in these children and their families, but of course they will strenuously object if they take their state money with them to another school. More affluent families can arrange their schedules around dropping off and picking up children from school or hire a nanny, but if you have a fixed start time and end time you are stuck with a hard choice.
towncryer
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 9:24 p.m.
Oops, that was suppose to go under DonBee's comment.
Haran Rashes
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 9:20 p.m.
Liz Margolis sent out an announcement this afternoon that Skyline's new Principal will be Mr. Cory McElmeel. According to the announcement, Mr. McElmeel currently serves as the Principal of Ypsilanti's New Tech High School, a project-based learning high school in the Ypsilanti district. Mr. McElmeel is also one of the Interim Principals for the Ypsilanti district during the consolidation plans. Solely based on a few AnnArbor.Com articles I could find, he sounds like a good fit for Skyline. I hope that AAPS allowed current staff to have some say in his hire, as I believe a good working relationship between faculty and the principal goes a long way towards making a school successful. See: http://www.annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/ypsilanti-middle-school-to-adopt-new-tech-education-model/
TryingToBeObjective
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 3:02 a.m.
Nowhere to go but up. Give the man a chance.
aa_k_student
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 8:57 p.m.
Do you have any information on how many grade K positions offered to out-of-district students by school? We live in AAPS school district and requested an in-district transfer during in-district transfer period in March. We were denied this request stating the there were no openings. I am very disappointed to know that we were not given any preference over the out-of-district students. Is there any way you will be able to investigate this?
AMOC
Thu, Jun 13, 2013 : 10:43 a.m.
aa_k-student - Aside from the children of AAPS employees who are enrolled through a completely different process, there are no out-of-AAPS students participating in this schools of choice program. All the students who seek to change school assignments must be living inside the district boundaries at the time they apply.
Catbus
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 8:40 p.m.
I was told there was only one Kindergarten spot available at Eberwhite, and was not given a "we'll see how it shakes out in the fall" option. Maybe there were additional spots available in other grades. I understand that it is what it is and there is limited space. That being said, I'd sure be curious to see some numbers regarding schools students are transferring to and from using in-district transfers and how many school of choice spots were offered at each of the elementary schools.
ThinkingOne
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 2:38 p.m.
I do not know the answer to your question, but perhaps it was 'at least one'. This would allow the district to accept only one if the classes are almost full, and more if they aren't too full.
JRW
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 2 a.m.
Catbus, that is important data that should be public.
longtimer
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 7:59 p.m.
Am I missing something, or has the district not announced how many in-district open enrollment applications to Skyline were received this year? Every article references the number 113 received in 2012, but I haven't seen the number for 2013. Danielle---do you know the answer to this?
a2citizen
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 6:54 p.m.
Is the increase related to the Willow Run consolidation? The yearly school of choice enrollment increase is not a good sign for a2 demographic trends.
Haran Rashes
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 6:32 p.m.
As a Skyline parent, I do not like the implication of the wording in the above article stating "despite the building's uncertain future." There is no uncertain future at Skyline. Closing Skyline is not on the table, though I think that line implies such. The only "uncertainty" is how the wonderful teaching staff will be going about their duties of educating our students -- on a trimester or semester basis. In fact I think that that decision will have much less, if any impact, on incoming 9th graders. It is the rising 10th, 11th, and 12th graders who will be impacted, both because of the uncertainty in their fall schedules, and because they no longer know if or how they can fit all of the classes they were planning on taking into their schedules next year.
TryingToBeObjective
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 8:06 p.m.
Actually, due to the change in administration at Skyline, and the degree of dissatisfaction with the outgoing principal, Skyline's future is looking up once a replacement is named. Perhaps the new principal will be more vested in the school, and not him or herself. As to class scheduling, the kids will need to be flexible if there is a change to semesters, but it will also be somewhat easier to grab a class at Pioneer or Huron if you can get there to split enroll. I think the biggest impact will be to rising seniors, but again, choices will need to be made. The only required courses for a senior are English and math, the rest will matter based on how many requirements they got out of the way.
DonBee
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 4:04 p.m.
It would be interesting to know which grade schools ranked high in the lists of people who want Schools of Choice. I suspect that some families will not enroll because they got a grade school they did not want. I also suspect that some that are not clued in may leave quickly from a couple of the grade schools - if they end up there. Glad to see the Skyline seats taken. I suspect the outflow of Skyline students to other schools within the district will decrease, now that some personnel changes are happening. The schools of choice may help offset the decrease in high school students from the change in bussing policy.
TryingToBeObjective
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 1:37 a.m.
I wasn't aware that a decision had been made regarding bussing. I believe that they looked at how much savings there would be, and it's not half as much for just one way. It's a shame that none of these children choose to go to one of the numerous after school activities, clubs, sports, extra math help, or whatever is available at their particular school. I've never had my kid get "kicked out into the old" after school. I've also seen a number of kids after school waiting for a ride, without any problems.
SuperiorMother
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 8:11 p.m.
@DonBee, thanks for the thorough reply. I do find it interesting and somewhat perplexing that AAPS is cutting PM busing to the high schools rather than AM busing. It seems much more likely that students would have someone available to drop them off at 7:30ish in the morning than to have someone available to pick them up at 2:30 in the afternoon.
DonBee
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 6:51 p.m.
SuperiorMother - The reason for the concern on loss of students, and I am hearing this from other parents who live in the township is not just the buses going away, but the fact that students have to be out of the building minutes after classes are over, and not allowed in until minutes before classes start. So what I am hearing is - I would rather pay to send them to a private school then let them be stuck out in the cold or be stuck if the parent has an issue getting to the school (e.g. fender bender). Or they are talking about using an Online program like Michigan Virtual, or they are talking about a charter high school, or schools of choice. A couple of families are talking about pooling children and doing a combination of home school and online. In most cases the combination of start and end times make it impossible to work a day job and be there to both drop off and pick up students. Remember about 1/2 the high school students are too young to drive, and most parents don't want to have a 16 year old take younger children in the car with them to school. A number of families also only have 1 vehicle, so they are further constrained on what they can do. Many of the other districts are more flexible in drop off and pick up times, allowing more time (some 15 minutes, some up to an hour) on either end of the day, instead of pushing students out the door immediately after the day is over. I know of at least 20 high school students in my area that will not be back at AAPS if the busing ends. This is an unscientific piece of information, and applies only to families well off the AATA bus runs in the townships. OBTW - according the census bureau the major of growth in school age children is in the townships, not in the city limits of Ann Arbor, so it could have a bigger long term impact. What the real loss number will be is completely unknown - originally I said no more than 20 or 30 students would leave, now I am not sure.
Haran Rashes
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 6:29 p.m.
I think what DonBee is referring to is the very real potential for parents on the outskirts of the district to move their children due to schools of choice. For example, from the corner of Nixon Road and Pontiac Trail (about where AAPS meets the Whitmore Lake boundary) a parent zoned for Skyline has to drive his or her child 6.6 miles to Skyline, while a bus to Whitmore Lake High School picks up nearby and driving there is 6.2 miles away. Some parents may find it is easier to drive to a School of Choice outside AAPS than to drive their child to one of the AAPS High Schools. Many people predict that Dexter, Saline, Whitmore Lake, and Plymouth Canton will benefit from an end to High School Busing and AAPS will lose students and the corresponding state revenue.
a2schoolparent
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 6:05 p.m.
SuperiorMother, I have no idea what DonBee meant, but I myself see at least two scenarios. One, a few students might drop out of high school earlier than if there is transportation. Two, transportation in public schools is an advantage over private and charter schools and some families who are attracted to alternative schools might end up in public schools because of transportation. If they need to arrange their own transportation anyways, they might go for the alternative schools.
SuperiorMother
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 5:53 p.m.
@DonBee, I'm very curious. This is the second time you've mentioned a loss of high school students due to the (potential, not finalized) change in busing policy. Where are those students going to go? I'm not asking this in a snarky or sarcastic manner, I'm truly curious about what options the parents find more suitable than having to arrange/provide transportation for their high school kids.
say it plain
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 5:30 p.m.
I think the reason they chose not to "keep it simple" at Skyline was that there was very high demand for *alternative* education to the comprehensive school. It is why there are still 4 applicants for each slot at Community, and there were many in AAPS who wanted a second such school, which would have reduced the over-crowding at Pioneer and Huron *and* served to meet demand for real alternatives to the bigschool bigsports scene. But alas the forces of reason lost, and while Skyline and its systems might be serving some students better than the other schools, from what I hear it is *not* serving either those looking for alternate education or who want to really benefit from educational opportunities "high-achieving" students tend to thrive on. The magnets were a way to market to those constituencies--the alternative-seekers and the high-achiever-types, but not a well thought out one. The wrench it throws into scheduling as well as other factors also shows that the great 'magnet' scheme has been terribly executed, and in many ways it merely reproduces the frustrations experienced by families wishing to lottery in to Community, not something available to *all* students (something like 1/4 at most of the student body, as I understand it, get in to a magnet, and apparently they use up resources and space that greatly limit what's available to the rest of the student body). The reality is that we never needed a third comprehensive school, but rather an expansion of *alternatives* for students with differing needs and families with differing desires. It's built, but that doesn't need AAPS can't develop the vision to see how the puzzle pieces can be re-arranged to make s better educational experience for *all* AAPS students, and even attract more from outside the district. But they'd have to ignore all the spending on new fieldhouses and astro-turf and so on, and I guess for them the glory of *three* varsity teams per sport?! I don't get it...
Chris
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 5:01 p.m.
I never understood the magnet programs at Skyline. They felt like "we'll do something different to do something different" without clear expectations for the programs or the knowledge of just how much demand/interest there would be for the programs. Same drill with Trimesters. Why? Skyline should have always been a third comprehensive high school, lightening the load on Pioneer, and sold that way. Keep is simple.
say it plain
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 3:06 p.m.
When the seats at Skyline were offered, presumably it was far less clear to applicants that some of the magnet programs would be ended, that trimesters would move to semesters, and that the staffing at the building would be greatly endangered. I would imagine that if the applicants were made aware of the potential changes at Skyline--or even the realities as they've always existed there (among them, as I understand it, being that entry into a magnet program is *by lottery* and chances are fairly low; the vaunted "Smaller Learning Communities" mean essentially *nothing* toward making the students have a more intimate educational experience; "skytime" is not well used and doesn't actually approximate the 'forums' of Community High, etc etc etc)--the number matriculating will be considerably lower. And probably that's good for the students currently trying to make it through Skyline, unless the BOE and Balas decides they have to actually *provide* the education they claim to be offering.