Benefits of local Level IV versus Center
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Anonymous
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Hello,
At my child's school they are considering opening up a Local Level IV program. There is a parent input meeting coming up. Can you tell me some of the pro's and con's you perceive? One con I see is that Advanced Math could be limited - am I right? At a center the AAP math is broken out into more groups but at a local level IV do you have that opportunity? Another con I see is that our center seems to have more after school activities grade towards AAP students than our current school. If your child goes to a Local Level IV how many of the kids in the class are AAP? Do you feel your child is challenged? How do the non-AAP kids that are in the class feel about being mixed with the AAP kids? I have mixed feelings about a Local Level IV....if my child gets into AAP we will still send our child to the center. But of does not get in to AAP we would want our child as one of the high achievers in the Local Level IV class.. Thanks for your feedback. |
Anonymous
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At our Local Level IV, all the kids in the 3rd grade AAP class are AAP (there are no principal designees) and they were evaluated at the beginning of this school year on 4th grade math to see if they should be accelerated beyond the AAP curriculum.
The kids that demonstrated mastery of 4th grade math at the beginning of 3rd would have received additional instruction if warranted. |
Anonymous
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Actually, I would love it if we had LLIV, but it's not even being considered. Our base school PTA offers a TON of extra activities, everything from math to robotics to cooking to music lessons. Our center, where I have two kids, offers a limited number of after school activities. In some grades, they've switched for math, but other years, they remain in their base classroom. I think it depends on scheduling. My biggest complaint, though, is the 45 minute bus ride to get to the center.
In short, our center is fine, a good school. It offers the AAP curriculum and does a great job doing so. Our base school is an excellent school with a great community feel. Unfortunately, though, it does not offer the curriculum my children need. If it did, I'm sure the teachers there would do a fine job of it. The "feel" at my base school is hands down better than at our center school. I think it is because it is truly a community school, something our center lacks. So, no, I don't necessarily think there are more benefits to a center. It really just depends on the base school and how they choose to implement the LIV curriculum. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Part of my hesitation for sending my child to a local level IV is because it would most likely be our school's first year having one. I am not sure I would want to try it out not knowing what it would be like or how many kids from our school opted for it versus the center. For my younger child I would support it more - also because of that child's personality....that child does not adapt to change as well as my older one. |
Anonymous
| Which school is considering having LLIV? |
Anonymous
| It dpends on the school and the student population at the school. At the ES my children attended, the LLIV was robust enough that there were two advanced math classes. They were populated by the AAP students and the students who were quaoified to take the advanced math. |
Anonymous
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Hi OP, are your children at Eagle View? That's our local school and they are considering opening up a local level IV (just for third grade) next year. We love Eagle View so we are pretty happy that it might be an option if any of our children qualified/needed AAP. I don't really know enough about Willow Springs (the center) to compare though.
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Anonymous
| We kept DC at LLIV for 2 yrs and then moved to the Ctr more for social reasons (much larger pool of kids all going to same middle school unless FCPS makes changes). Did some research and a lot of thinking prior to both decisions. Moving to the Ctr may not have been the best decision. Don't listen to others who say that the Ctr is much better - depends on your school and the LLIV teachers. Our Ctr is overcrowded. Admin could do a lot to make the LLIV program much stronger (ie keep more kids), but unfortunately they don't. On the other hand, the teachers were good (had an amazing 4th grade AAP teacher in LLIV) and I feel DC did better work there. |
Anonymous
+10000 Our base school had a total of 7 students (across all 4 grades!) that stayed for Local Level IV. We stayed for 3rd grade LLIV and it was a mistake. We switched to the Center for 4th grade and found it much better for DC. |
Anonymous
Doesn't it seem kind of pointless to continue the LLIV program with that few students? |
Anonymous
I agree |
Anonymous
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It depends on the Center and it depends on the LLIV. At our local school 2/3s or so AAP students stay for LLIV. Plus, there are many other kids who qualify for Level III.
For our school the pluses of LLIV are that our DC stays where it is possible to walk to school, still keeps most friends, knows the physical school, administration and special teachers already, is less crowded than Center school, more relaxed atmosphere than Center school.... |
Anonymous
Yes, it makes sense to have LLIV when there are a dozen or more kids per grade that are found Center-eligible and opt to stay at the base school. But when there are less than 35-40 total kids found Center-eligible, there shouldn't be LLIV at that school. |
Anonymous
| What schools have more than 35-40 students qualifying for AAP? I can think of maybe Great Falls and Forestville both of which shouldn't be allowed to send their students to another school since they have plenty at their own to make 2 classes worth. Some AAP centers only have 2 classes worth of kids. All other schools I know of easily have less than 35-40 students staying for LLIV. |
Anonymous
Floris too, I think they have two AAP classes each grade, maybe one kid opts to go to center every year out of the 50-60 found eligible. |