By the start of the 2015 school year, Oakridge Elementary School is projected to be the county’s largest elementary school with almost 800 students. It is projected to be at 117% capacity with seven incoming Kindergarten classes. The anticipated rate of growth for Oakridge far exceeds every other elementary school in the county. By 2024, enrollment projections show our school exceeding capacity by 30% more than all other schools.  Oakridge needs immediate and long-term solutions to alleviate their capacity burdens.

Given that the County Board has rejected “for now” a new elementary school at the Thomas Jefferson site, we implore the School Board to move quickly to identify options that will provide capacity relief for Oakridge Elementary School. We need solutions other than adding more relocatables.  The common space areas of Oakridge are unable to accommodate our current population, so while relocatables may temporarily provide classroom space, they do not address overcrowding issues in the cafeteria, gym, library, etc.

We ask that the Arlington School Board start a conversation with our residents concerning the future of Oakridge Elementary School.  Please include our school staff, our PTA, and our civic associations in the efforts to find solutions to our capacity problem.  We must find solutions now before the number of students becomes greater than our neighborhood school can accommodate.