Concentrations of AAP Students at Selected Schools

[Anonymous]

Greenbriar West feeds into Rocky Run MS, which has the highest concentration of AAP students of any middle school in the county - nearly 50%.

I don't live in that area, but my guess is that these stats may already drive many families with kids who aren't likely to be AAP-eligible to places like Ashburn and South Riding in Loudoun.

[Anonymous]

Some people bought their houses before the school became a center or the school has grown in AAP size since then.

[Anonymous]

Greenbriar West will likely have changes to AAP for the start of the 2014 school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people bought their houses before the school became a center or the school has grown in AAP size since then.

I suspect the number that bought before the schools became centers is low. Most of the centers are pretty well established, especially the ones that people complain about the concentration the most (not naming names).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind that the center schools will have a higher percentage because the kids come from several schools. That's the nature of a center. I'm not sure how the neighborhood parents can complain about that since they bought in boundary for a center. That's what a center is. I guess they probably thought their kids would qualify now they are upset that they don't.

Do you really think people know the ratio of AAP to GE kids in a school before they even go there? This whole are is transient. My family moved here from overseas. We bought a house we could afford in what we thought was a good school. I never imagined I would need to drill down to the individual class ratios to determine if my kid would be an academic minority. Yes, we are very annoyed the center is now taking over the school and would love more Local Level IV programs.

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain why both Shrevewood and Lemon Road have 3rd grade classes in the teens for the AAP classes when other cluster 2 schools have classes in the 30's? Seems entirely unfair. Does the needs based staffing ratio count some AAP kids as more than one kid too or something?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still too many AAP kids in relation to the Gen Ed population.

That doesn't even make sense. Surely you don't think there's some optimal ratio? Presumably if the kids are smart enough to handle it, it could be 100%. Or does that not make the program elite enough for you?

Yes, it makes sense. The optimal ratio would be equal or lower numbers of AAP to GE. It's not about the program being elite enough, it is about balance in the school. The GE kids are made to feel like they are weird and dumb since so many of the students in their school are AAP.

Exactly. AAP numbers are so excessively high in this area, it's completely ridiculous. Even at a center, AAP kids should not be outnumbering the Gen Ed kids. And to the poster who suggested we shouldn't have bought a house in a center school district, our school was built after we bought our home. We were hoping for just a nice, community school without all the AAP nonsense, but what we got was a center. Remember, a center is also a neighborhood school for many families. The whole off-kilter dynamic (4 AAP classes/2 GE) changes that. If there need to be centers, make them AAP-only so that the Gen Ed kids can shine in their own neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why both Shrevewood and Lemon Road have 3rd grade classes in the teens for the AAP classes when other cluster 2 schools have classes in the 30's? Seems entirely unfair. Does the needs based staffing ratio count some AAP kids as more than one kid too or something?

Shrevewood has one LLIV class and it's in the teens because the principal was trying to entice parents to stay rather than go to Lemon Road so the new program would succeed. The people who should be upset are the Gen Ed parents whose kids are in classes of over 25 with a fair number of ESOL and other kids that need attention. Meanwhile, the LLIV class, which has students that, in theory, should be able to hold their own in a larger class because they are very bright, has an unbelievable ratio.

Lemon Road has classes in the teens for the same reason -- to entice parents to send their kids to the new center. When those kids were split out of Haycock, the parents were promised the new center would have "critical mass," which most people agreed was 2 classes. The assumption would be that would be 50 kids per grade. It isn't but the parents were promised there would be 2 classes, hence the small classes.

Which Cluster 2 schools have AAP classes in the 30's? If you're referring to West Briar, just be aware that West Briar and all of the other Cluster 2 schools were supposed to go to Lemon Road as well, but the parents vehemently opposed it, so FCPS caved and West Briar got a center. If the other Cluster 2 kids had gone to Lemon Road, it would have been more like a regular sized center -- but then the Lemon Road parents would be complaining that the AAP/Gen Ed proportion was off. The bottom line is that there is a lot of resentment about AAP. FCPS needs to find a way to give the AAP students that need extra what they need, but make Gen Ed a good enough program that the parents aren't gaming the system to get their kids in AAP because there is no challenge left in Gen Ed. The whole thing is messed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind that the center schools will have a higher percentage because the kids come from several schools. That's the nature of a center. I'm not sure how the neighborhood parents can complain about that since they bought in boundary for a center. That's what a center is. I guess they probably thought their kids would qualify now they are upset that they don't.

Do you really think people know the ratio of AAP to GE kids in a school before they even go there? This whole are is transient. My family moved here from overseas. We bought a house we could afford in what we thought was a good school. I never imagined I would need to drill down to the individual class ratios to determine if my kid would be an academic minority. Yes, we are very annoyed the center is now taking over the school and would love more Local Level IV programs.

You can easily find out the ratio by looking on the school profile on the FCPS website. It's actually not that hard. The problem is that certain schools have boosters in sites like this who talk about how great the school is and everyone blindly follows their advice without thinking critically about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why both Shrevewood and Lemon Road have 3rd grade classes in the teens for the AAP classes when other cluster 2 schools have classes in the 30's? Seems entirely unfair. Does the needs based staffing ratio count some AAP kids as more than one kid too or something?

Shrevewood has one LLIV class and it's in the teens because the principal was trying to entice parents to stay rather than go to Lemon Road so the new program would succeed. The people who should be upset are the Gen Ed parents whose kids are in classes of over 25 with a fair number of ESOL and other kids that need attention. Meanwhile, the LLIV class, which has students that, in theory, should be able to hold their own in a larger class because they are very bright, has an unbelievable ratio.

Lemon Road has classes in the teens for the same reason -- to entice parents to send their kids to the new center. When those kids were split out of Haycock, the parents were promised the new center would have "critical mass," which most people agreed was 2 classes. The assumption would be that would be 50 kids per grade. It isn't but the parents were promised there would be 2 classes, hence the small classes.

Which Cluster 2 schools have AAP classes in the 30's? If you're referring to West Briar, just be aware that West Briar and all of the other Cluster 2 schools were supposed to go to Lemon Road as well, but the parents vehemently opposed it, so FCPS caved and West Briar got a center. If the other Cluster 2 kids had gone to Lemon Road, it would have been more like a regular sized center -- but then the Lemon Road parents would be complaining that the AAP/Gen Ed proportion was off. The bottom line is that there is a lot of resentment about AAP. FCPS needs to find a way to give the AAP students that need extra what they need, but make Gen Ed a good enough program that the parents aren't gaming the system to get their kids in AAP because there is no challenge left in Gen Ed. The whole thing is messed up.

I don't understand what you're talking about. Cluster 2 includes Louise Archer and its feeders, and some of the feeders to Mosby Woods, too. They weren't all supposed to go to Lemon Road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind that the center schools will have a higher percentage because the kids come from several schools. That's the nature of a center. I'm not sure how the neighborhood parents can complain about that since they bought in boundary for a center. That's what a center is. I guess they probably thought their kids would qualify now they are upset that they don't.

Do you really think people know the ratio of AAP to GE kids in a school before they even go there? This whole are is transient. My family moved here from overseas. We bought a house we could afford in what we thought was a good school. I never imagined I would need to drill down to the individual class ratios to determine if my kid would be an academic minority. Yes, we are very annoyed the center is now taking over the school and would love more Local Level IV programs.

You can easily find out the ratio by looking on the school profile on the FCPS website. It's actually not that hard. The problem is that certain schools have boosters in sites like this who talk about how great the school is and everyone blindly follows their advice without thinking critically about it.

Doesn't the website state the total percentage AAP? You'd have to extrapolate the 3-6 grades. I don't even know that now! I only know for my kid's grade. I guess if one knew to look. Pick a school for your kid shouldn't necessitate that. The real problem is creating center schools that overwhelm the GE population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why both Shrevewood and Lemon Road have 3rd grade classes in the teens for the AAP classes when other cluster 2 schools have classes in the 30's? Seems entirely unfair. Does the needs based staffing ratio count some AAP kids as more than one kid too or something?

Shrevewood has one LLIV class and it's in the teens because the principal was trying to entice parents to stay rather than go to Lemon Road so the new program would succeed. The people who should be upset are the Gen Ed parents whose kids are in classes of over 25 with a fair number of ESOL and other kids that need attention. Meanwhile, the LLIV class, which has students that, in theory, should be able to hold their own in a larger class because they are very bright, has an unbelievable ratio.

Lemon Road has classes in the teens for the same reason -- to entice parents to send their kids to the new center. When those kids were split out of Haycock, the parents were promised the new center would have "critical mass," which most people agreed was 2 classes. The assumption would be that would be 50 kids per grade. It isn't but the parents were promised there would be 2 classes, hence the small classes.

Which Cluster 2 schools have AAP classes in the 30's? If you're referring to West Briar, just be aware that West Briar and all of the other Cluster 2 schools were supposed to go to Lemon Road as well, but the parents vehemently opposed it, so FCPS caved and West Briar got a center. If the other Cluster 2 kids had gone to Lemon Road, it would have been more like a regular sized center -- but then the Lemon Road parents would be complaining that the AAP/Gen Ed proportion was off. The bottom line is that there is a lot of resentment about AAP. FCPS needs to find a way to give the AAP students that need extra what they need, but make Gen Ed a good enough program that the parents aren't gaming the system to get their kids in AAP because there is no challenge left in Gen Ed. The whole thing is messed up.

I don't understand what you're talking about. Cluster 2 includes Louise Archer and its feeders, and some of the feeders to Mosby Woods, too. They weren't all supposed to go to Lemon Road.

That's right. The kids that fed into Louise Archer will go to the Westbriar center, but the older kids were grandfathered in, unlike the kids at Haycock. The third graders that would eventually feed into Kilmer and Marshall from Louise Archer are at Westbriar this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind that the center schools will have a higher percentage because the kids come from several schools. That's the nature of a center. I'm not sure how the neighborhood parents can complain about that since they bought in boundary for a center. That's what a center is. I guess they probably thought their kids would qualify now they are upset that they don't.

Do you really think people know the ratio of AAP to GE kids in a school before they even go there? This whole are is transient. My family moved here from overseas. We bought a house we could afford in what we thought was a good school. I never imagined I would need to drill down to the individual class ratios to determine if my kid would be an academic minority. Yes, we are very annoyed the center is now taking over the school and would love more Local Level IV programs.

You can easily find out the ratio by looking on the school profile on the FCPS website. It's actually not that hard. The problem is that certain schools have boosters in sites like this who talk about how great the school is and everyone blindly follows their advice without thinking critically about it.

Doesn't the website state the total percentage AAP? You'd have to extrapolate the 3-6 grades. I don't even know that now! I only know for my kid's grade. I guess if one knew to look. Pick a school for your kid shouldn't necessitate that. The real problem is creating center schools that overwhelm the GE population.

So perhaps the answer is a center only school or two, akin to the GT magnets in MoCo, but the school board is very opposed to that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why both Shrevewood and Lemon Road have 3rd grade classes in the teens for the AAP classes when other cluster 2 schools have classes in the 30's? Seems entirely unfair. Does the needs based staffing ratio count some AAP kids as more than one kid too or something?

Shrevewood has one LLIV class and it's in the teens because the principal was trying to entice parents to stay rather than go to Lemon Road so the new program would succeed. The people who should be upset are the Gen Ed parents whose kids are in classes of over 25 with a fair number of ESOL and other kids that need attention. Meanwhile, the LLIV class, which has students that, in theory, should be able to hold their own in a larger class because they are very bright, has an unbelievable ratio.

Lemon Road has classes in the teens for the same reason -- to entice parents to send their kids to the new center. When those kids were split out of Haycock, the parents were promised the new center would have "critical mass," which most people agreed was 2 classes. The assumption would be that would be 50 kids per grade. It isn't but the parents were promised there would be 2 classes, hence the small classes.

Which Cluster 2 schools have AAP classes in the 30's? If you're referring to West Briar, just be aware that West Briar and all of the other Cluster 2 schools were supposed to go to Lemon Road as well, but the parents vehemently opposed it, so FCPS caved and West Briar got a center. If the other Cluster 2 kids had gone to Lemon Road, it would have been more like a regular sized center -- but then the Lemon Road parents would be complaining that the AAP/Gen Ed proportion was off. The bottom line is that there is a lot of resentment about AAP. FCPS needs to find a way to give the AAP students that need extra what they need, but make Gen Ed a good enough program that the parents aren't gaming the system to get their kids in AAP because there is no challenge left in Gen Ed. The whole thing is messed up.

I don't understand what you're talking about. Cluster 2 includes Louise Archer and its feeders, and some of the feeders to Mosby Woods, too. They weren't all supposed to go to Lemon Road.

That's right. The kids that fed into Louise Archer will go to the Westbriar center, but the older kids were grandfathered in, unlike the kids at Haycock. The third graders that would eventually feed into Kilmer and Marshall from Louise Archer are at Westbriar this year.

Cluster 2 is more than the Marshall pyramid, and in any event there are some kids zoned for Kilmer and Marshall for whom Archer, not Westbriar or Lemon Road, remains the assigned AAP school.

[Anonymous]

OP - where are you seeing this info. It doesn't look like the dashboard is updated?