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Arlington & Lakeland’s Community Newspaper
theview
.com
December 2016 / January 2017
New Schools, Residential Growth Spur Rezoning for
Arlington Schools
By Terry Louderback
On December 13, the Arlington
Community Schools Board of
Education approved a rezoning plan
for Arlington Elementary School and
Donelson Elementary School that
will go into effect for the 2017-18
School Year.
At an earlier
community meeting on November
29 at Arlington High School, ACS
Superintendent Tammy Mason
described six month planning
process for the draft proposal that
included input from parents and
principals, as well as representatives
from transportation, facilities, and
academics.
With the opening of Lakeland
Middle Preparatory School (grades 5
-8), Lakeland residents who were
previously zoned for Arlington
Middle School will be assigned to
LMPS. According to Shared
Services Planner Nedra Jones,
approximately 347 current 6th and
7th graders at AMS will be
impacted. As a result, enrollment for
the 2017-18 school year at Arlington
Middle is anticipated to be around
1000 students.
As well, approximately 150
Lakeland
residents
previously
assigned to attend Donelson
Elementary School will be rezoned
for Lakeland Elementary School.
That leaves DES with an enrollment
of 600 students, and approximately
60% utilization, well below the 8085% range that Jones described as
“ideal”.
Jones explained to the attendees
that this shift in students away from
Donelson, as well as the location of
current residential development in
Arlington in the east and north of the
town along Milton Wilson Blvd, and
Forrest St., created the need to
rebalance the attendance zones.
According to Jones, 460 lots are
planned for development in the
current Arlington Elementary zone
compared to five in the existing
Donelson Elementary zone.
The proposed plan shifts 247
students in grades pre-K through 4th
from Arlington Elementary School to
Inside this edition...
Donelson
Elementary.
All
kindergarten through 5th grade
students currently zoned to Arlington
Elementary and residing in the area
north of Interstate 40, south of
Highway 70, east of State Route 385
and west of Airline Road and Harrell
Road will be rezoned to Donelson
Elementary. This area includes the
following subdivisions: Villages of
Summer Meadows, Snyder Grove,
Summer Meadows, Harrell’s Ridge,
and Hall Creek Apartments. With the
rezoning, both elementary schools
will have enrollments close to 800
students.
Additional information about the
rezoning proposal may be found on
the Arlington Community Schools
website at www.acsk-12.org.
Happenings, p.2
Business News, p. 4
Lakeland Sets Start Times for 2017-18
In November, the Lakeland School System Board of Education approved
the following school start times for 2017-18:
Lakeland Middle Preparatory School - 8 AM
Lakeland Elementary School - 9 AM
Due to the lack of pedestrian accessibility to the new middle school, bus
transportation will be provided for all Lakeland students in grades 5-8
beginning in 2017. The parent responsibility zone will remain the same for
students in grades K-4 attending Lakeland Elementary School.
”Poking in the Pond” Camp, p. 6
School News, starts on p. 7
Views from 38002, p. 12