Does the proposed AAP Changes mean AAP in every MS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, glad I happened on this. I have a 4 th grader at White oaks center ( not our base school.) This is the first I have heard about this study. Could not make out what is going on but am I right that it said 5 year plan or do I need to worry about this? How did everyone know this was happening? I am pretty involved parent and there are at least 7 parents at our bus stop who are also involved, we share a lot, and no one has even mentioned a MS re- design or white oaks closing center. Yikes.

Yes.

Worry enough to let your school administration and teachers know that you are aware that this plan is in the works. Let the other parents know so they can also look into it. The last thing you want is to find out your child is changing schools next year and your center is disappearing, after it is too late to make your voice heard.

I have asked around, and have heard conflicting stories from the school and the AAP office. One says that currently enrolled kids will be grandfathered and allowed to stay in place until they finish 6th grade. The other said that only current 5th graders will be grandfathered and all other students will have to switch to their new centers next year. FYI, my child is not at one of the big overcrowded centers, but another center near White Oaks. Perhaps the schools in our neck of the woods will be on a gradual implementation compared to Haycock and crew.

Do your research and spread the word to other parents.

I completely agree with this poster!!!! The administration is making plans NOW. They will present this to the school board very soon. Email the administration. Email the school board. Make your views known now, before it's too late. Don't wait for the so-called public process. That will be a chance for parents to bitch, but the decision will already be made by then and waiting for the school board's rubber stamp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, based on the pdf document, Mantua ES will no longer be a AAP CENTER. Am I reading that right? So the 119 kids who are in mantua (who did not comefrom feeder schools) will have to go to CanterBury Woods ES?

Correct - that is what is in the draft recommendation. The draft recommendation is just that - a draft. You have the opportunity now to let your School Board members know your opinion.

[Anonymous]

This whole plan is crazy and will cost millions for some needless reshuffling of kids. The FCPS staff is simply out of their minds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Marshall Road is a local level IV school. Why wouldn't most of the students be staying at the school regardless of where it's AAP center is?

For the same reason that other students at local level IV schools select the center. It's a different peer group and is generally stronger academically. But regardless of whether 99% choose the center school or 99% choose to stay at their local level IV school, the school still has to be assigned to a center school just like every other school in the district is.

[Anonymous]

Are they proposing to put a center in every MS or are they just going to turn all the AAP kids loose with open enrollment honors courses?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are they proposing to put a center in every MS or are they just going to turn all the AAP kids loose with open enrollment honors courses?

This

[Anonymous]

I just don't see how this will be put into effect. Middle school centers take a lot of students from other schools. If they go back to their own schools, will the center school be then be very underpopulated and the base middle schools become crowded? Lake Braddock, for example, is the center for kids from the surrounding area. What will happen to all the empty seats at Lake Braddock if all those kids go back to their base middle schools? Do the non-center schools even have the physical capacity to house the additional students? I realize that it depends upon the school and the numbers involved, but I do wonder what happens to a school like Lake Braddock that has quite a number of students from the surrounding are.

[Anonymous]

If some parents feel strongly about wanting to attend their local MS school, and other parents want to stay in a center MS AA program, why not give parents the option to send their child to either school, similar to how the decision is handled at the elementary school level.

My oldest daughter attends a center-based middle school of excellent quality and my younger daughter is receiving level IV services at her local elementary school. We have been happy at the center based MS school, and would like to continue with a proven methodology for success. However, other parents may have reasons to try a new program in their local school and, given time, perhaps the local MS will develop a first-rate program.

FCPS offers all types of choices at all school levels -- IB programs, Magnet schools for the Arts and Sciences, Immersion Programs -- and parents are given the choice to find a fit that they believe is best suited for their child. All of these choices are what makes this school district one of the best in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If some parents feel strongly about wanting to attend their local MS school, and other parents want to stay in a center MS AA program, why not give parents the option to send their child to either school, similar to how the decision is handled at the elementary school level.

I agree! They should establish Local Level IV at every middle school and allow parents to make the choice. It follows the elementary school model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If some parents feel strongly about wanting to attend their local MS school, and other parents want to stay in a center MS AA program, why not give parents the option to send their child to either school, similar to how the decision is handled at the elementary school level.

I agree! They should establish Local Level IV at every middle school and allow parents to make the choice. It follows the elementary school model.

Ok, but if you travel away from your home school, you provide your kid's transportation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If some parents feel strongly about wanting to attend their local MS school, and other parents want to stay in a center MS AA program, why not give parents the option to send their child to either school, similar to how the decision is handled at the elementary school level.

I agree! They should establish Local Level IV at every middle school and allow parents to make the choice. It follows the elementary school model.

Ok, but if you travel away from your home school, you provide your kid's transportation.

That's what it sounds like they will require in McLean.

[Anonymous]

I believe that providing your own transportation is consistent with what is required if you enroll your child in an immersion, IB or other program (I'm not sure about the magnet schools). Unfortunately, it is not ideal or fair to the parents of two working families as you may be effectively eliminating their choice and may, or may not, be forcing them into a non-performing school, which is what is fueling some of the discrimination lawsuits against FCPS. In my personal situation, if providing your own transportation is consistent with how other programs are handled in FCPS, than it would be something I could live in order to have the choice to make the best decision based on my child's needs.

[Anonymous]

I believe there has always been a choice between the base school and the center school.
The children at my child's elementary school were offered the choice between the middle school center or the base middle school they were assigned to (which also happened to be in a different HS pyramid). The base middle school did have an open honors program but it was made very clear to the parents that honors classes were not the same as center classes. We could make our own choice, but we were told that generally the center classes are more challenging for kids who are used to AAP classes and that they might miss the challenge if they were to only have the honors classes available to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are proposing AAP Centers in the 14 that don't have them. I'm not sure if this means the 14 pyramids that don't have the chance to go to an AAP middle school, or the 14 middle schools that don't offer AAP level classes?

It means an AAP Center at every middle school. So for middle schools that have no AAP Center, the students at the feeder elementary schools would not go to the assigned AAP Center any longer but would go to the new AAP Center at their base middle school.

For example, see the chart posted by centers and feeder schools:
http://www.fcag.org/documents/level_iv_task_force_recs/aap_enr_by_ctr_fdr.pdf

So the 16 6th grade Center-eligible students in the Mount Vernon pyramid would attend the new AAP Center at Whitman MS instead of attending Sandburg MS' AAP Center.

Fort Belvoir: 3
Mount Vernon Woods: 2
Riverside: 6
Washington Mill: 1
Woodlawn: 3
Woodley Hills: 1

Is this saying that there is one child from the entire Washington mills school that is aap.....one child...that seems far fetched. That is not a bad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are proposing AAP Centers in the 14 that don't have them. I'm not sure if this means the 14 pyramids that don't have the chance to go to an AAP middle school, or the 14 middle schools that don't offer AAP level classes?

It means an AAP Center at every middle school. So for middle schools that have no AAP Center, the students at the feeder elementary schools would not go to the assigned AAP Center any longer but would go to the new AAP Center at their base middle school.

For example, see the chart posted by centers and feeder schools:
http://www.fcag.org/documents/level_iv_task_force_recs/aap_enr_by_ctr_fdr.pdf

So the 16 6th grade Center-eligible students in the Mount Vernon pyramid would attend the new AAP Center at Whitman MS instead of attending Sandburg MS' AAP Center.

Fort Belvoir: 3
Mount Vernon Woods: 2
Riverside: 6
Washington Mill: 1
Woodlawn: 3
Woodley Hills: 1

Is this saying that there is one child from the entire Washington mills school that is aap.....one child...that seems far fetched. That is not a bad school.

Seems pretty consistent over time. Note the data provided to the School Board during the July 2009 retreat. This chart compares Local Level IV and Center placements for students that are AAP eligible:

http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/legacy-content/86789J2271B7/$FILE/AttachmentA.pdf

At that time, Washington Mill Elementary had a total of 7 AAP Center eligible students across 3rd through 6th grades.

3rd grade: 2 selected Local Level IV, 2 selected the Center, 2 deferred placement
4th grade: 0 selected Local Level IV, 1 selected the Center, 0 deferred placement
5th grade: there was no option for Local Level IV, 0 selected the Center, 0 deferred placement
5th grade: there was no option for Local Level IV, 0 selected the Center, 0 deferred placement

for total = 7:
2 selected Local Level IV, 3 selected the Center, 2 deferred placement