Local Level IV vs. Center
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Anonymous
| Our base school has level IV classrooms but is not a center. So many of you on this board are experts on all things AAP. Is it any different (harder, easier) to get into a base school with level IV versus a center? My DC is totally on the bubble and I am wondering whether our chances are any different given that he will not be going to a center. Is the application process any different? I am new to all this, so any input would be appreciated. |
Anonymous
IME, it makes no difference. You are either accepted into AAP LIV or you are not. If a child is accepted into AAP level IV, he/she can have the choice between LLIV and an AAP Center. Some LLIVs are very strong and some are not. You can tell which schools have strong LLIV if they retain a majority of their LIV AAP students. However, the way our local school handles LLIV is that children who qualify for LLIII are in some of the LLIV classes. For example, if you have a child who is really great at science and math but not so much in English. He/She may be placed in the AAP math and science classes but not in the English and History classes. At least that is how it has worked at our school. It is also that way at the Middle School. I know several children who take AAP classes for some core subjects but not for all. |
Anonymous
| I am curious too. Anyone know plusses and minuses between Chesterbrook LLIV and Haycock Center? (other than the over crowding at Haycock?) |
Anonymous
| We are in a similar boat, with Local Level IV at our school. How do people choose? Are the statistics of which kids that are accepted to Level IV available of how many choose to go to Center and how many choose to stay at their base school? How much time will we have to decide once we find out (assuming of course DC is accepted)? |
Anonymous
|
You know your school, the teachers and possibly, the cohort of kids who plan to stay (reach out to other parents!). Talk to parents of older kids who went the center route -- find out what their experience is. Look at after-school and enrichment programs, at your own schedule, and how important such programs are for your family, the length of the commute to a center (and your kid's interest in other extracurricular activities).
Also look at the center -- where does it recruit from, how cohesive is the parent organization, what do you do when your kid's BFF ends up being across town? If you have more than one, what happens if only one kid is identified -- are you willing to be an active parent in two schools? Then figure out how those experiences would jive with your kid... there is no one-size-fits -all. My kid has a hard time with transitions, and she deeply values some afternoon playtime. I would likely NOT send her to a center, given the option. But that is also because I know and like our home school and they tend to produce large batches of AAP kids each year. So the advantage of a center definitely does not outweigh the loss of continuity in our situation. Without such a strong home school, we would be in a bind, as she definitely needs the faster pace in an AAP program. Other situations may well be different. Important issue -- don;t take some opinion as a one-size-fits all, figure out your own situation! Schools that have local Level IV tend to have a pretty involved parents community (which is how they got that program!) and enough smart kids to feed that program. My personal opinion is that a local LIV is a great resource, and I would take it in a heartbeat -- unless I really disliked the home school and *needed* to get out of there. Elementary age kids will still benefit more from their local community than from being sent to a 'center', you have more say in the school management and every kid that stays brings additional resources to your home school.... |
Anonymous
| Center is only aap kids. Lliv is aap and general students together, not only aap kids. That is the big difference. |
Anonymous
| Our LLIV program has over 30 children in a class. Too much for one class, but not enough for a 2nd. |
Anonymous
|
Not clear to me about the choice you feel you have to make -- if your child qualifies for level 4 services, you have a choice between a center and your local level 4 classes if you school has them -- and yours does. You mention, "Is it any different (harder, easier) to get into a base school with level IV versus a center?" but you don't have to "get into" anything -- if he qualifies for level 4, you get to choose whether he stays at the base school and does get level 4 classes; stays at the base and does general education classes and not level 4; or goes to an AAP center. What is the concern about "getting into" a school? Do you maybe mean just qualifying for AAP?
I have a kid in an AAP center, sixth grade. Friends have kids in schools with local level 4 classes. One down side they mention (which can also have its positives....) is that in their schools there are few level 4 classes, so the same group of kids is together for four years, third through sixth grades. So if one child has an issue with another...they're stuck together again in the next grade. That was an issue for one family I know -- the fact that the same kids had too much togetherness year after year. But one parent said the up side was that the families of all the level 4 kids got to know each other well and cooperated well and had a "family" feel. In our AAP center there are four classes of AAP (and new kids entering it each year as some parents bring their kids from local level 4 to the center in grades four, five and six), so there is more variety in classroom makeup from year to year. That works well for my kid and the program, I think, but others might want the smaller environment of a local level 4 where there is a smaller group overall. So the mix of kids is something to think about as you make a choice. We've been very happy with the center, and I know others who have been equally happy with local level 4. Remember, if your child qualifies for AAP, you can move your child to a center in any school year up to eighth grade, if you decide later than the local school isn't working out, so you are not saying no to the center option forever if you say no to it in third grade. |
Anonymous
| That was a helpful post, PP. My fourth grader is in Local Level IV and there is only one class. She's having significant social problems with some of the other girls, who are slated to be in her class through grade six. I'm toying with the idea of moving her to the center so that she can "start over" but am really torn about whether this will be putting her in a more difficult situation than she's already in, being that she'd be "the new kid" in fifth grade. Do you have any thoughts? Thanks. |
Anonymous
| P.S. For what it's worth, my girls' social issues seem to stem from that fact the she's quite, shall we say, "quirky," which the queen bees interpret as "totally weird." That said, she is extremely kind and loyal, once you get to know her, but is quite quiet (not shy, more "self contained") and not really into a lot of the "silliness" and "chatter" that bonds most fourth grade girls. |
Anonymous
I would attend both open houses and decide from there. You can also get a sense for how many students are Level IV Center eligible that opt to stay at the base (Local Level IV) school by using Dashboard. Just use the Elementary School Enrollment Dashboard link and you can see how many students are in each grade now. There will be a blue section of the bar that indicates the number of Level IV Center eligible students. Obviously that would be the number of students this year and not the number for next school year. http://www.fcps.edu/fts/dashboard/enrollment/esenroll.html |
Anonymous
Those are both good choices. The only issue is with the overcrowding whether they will decide to eliminate the center at Haycock and your child would end up having to change schools again. To be clear, that hasn't been proposed and it's hard to predict whether it's likely, but Jane Strauss mentioned that she would eliminate the center before she would redistrict the base school. |
Anonymous
| All, you are omitting the fact that LLIV is not just AAP kids. If ony 12 AAP elgible kids stay at the base school for LLIV, then the school has to add 15 non-AAP kids to the class. LLIV are not small classes, they are regular class-sized and have a mix (gen and aap) kids. PP, if your DC is "quirky", know that most center kids are going to be "quirky", too. Also, one of DCs BBF this year is a transfer in to the center from another school, The child transfered into 5th grade and is part of DCs group of 5, close-knit kids. So, dont worry about that too much. |
Anonymous
| At my son's school there is 1 LLIV class per grade. This year, the classes hit the cutoff for gaining another 5th grade class. I am uncertain how many children are center eligible in his class, but they did not remove a single child from his class, while the others lost 7+ children. They said that most of the children in the LLIV class, regardless of their status had been in this group for 2+ years, and they did not see how they could pull them out now. I saw their point, but would have really appreciated a smaller class size for DS, wouldn't we all? |
Anonymous
Haycock is about to undergo an extensive renovation. They are currently trying to figure out how the kids will have recess for the next two years while all the green space is covered with yet more trailers. If you have a LLIV option, I'd use it until after the renovation. |