How is Westbriar ES AAP program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happened to the westbriar mom with the LA kid? She hasn't answered some questions re. LA..?

Sorry for the delay in response. Not a regular reader. Originally I came looking to see if letters had been mailed.

LA is a great school. I feel it has met my child's needs and then some. I am not as involved with Archer as I am with Westbriar, I have guilt over it, but realistically it's easier to get to your neighborhood school - it's in the neighborhood. I share the feeling with many parents in my boat; that we feel like we've got one foot in one boat and the other in the other boat and it's difficult to split your time as a parent volunteer. In addition to that, all of MY friends are still in this neighborhood too with their kids either getting on the bus with my kid or their kids still at Westbriar.

My child has participated in some of the after school programs there and all of them have been wonderful. I have nothing negative to say about Archer as a school.

Thanks for answering and providing feedback - I take it you have another one at Westbriar so that splits your time. I am wondering since I may be in the same boat (if we opt for Archer). Is your child happy at Archer? How are the teachers? I wonder if most kids are in the same situation- new to Archer for AAP so making friends becomes a little easier?

My child is happy at LA, went over with a significant number of students that were friends, and has made many more friends since being there. Fortunately, my child has maintained all the neighborhood friendships too (important when they just want to go out and play). It's our experience that the beginning of the transition into a new school is at first stressful, but most, if not all, adjusted just fine by the end of the school year, and had made new friends.

There have been mixed reviews on the teachers. I would take some of that with a grain of salt. It's difficult on some children leaving what's familiar to begin something new; routine, friends, ramped up expectations. All the stress a child feels in that transition can't be blamed on the teachers. Some kids transitioned just fine, and I would guess that if you asked those parents what they thought of the teachers, they would give nothing but praise.

I would also venture a guess that all of this is not true just for LA, but any time a child leaves their base school to start at an AAP Center.

[Anonymous]

Westbriar to Louise Archer does not exist as an option anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Westbriar to Louise Archer does not exist as an option anymore.

PP was answering about her child who is a 4th grader (or above, not sure)- so *before* it became an AAP center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just moved to Stenwood communiy this year. We have been overseas until now. I did not go looking for aap placement, my kids were "selected" based on testing done by the school. Stenwood has a "new" part time level 4 aap for 3rd graders now and is supposed to expand it for 4th grade and grow with them. Sure, I feel my kids are mature for their age and could use some challenge as they are often bored and coast thru school. But at what cost?

5th grader is offered Colvin run,(for next year) my 3 rd grader Westbriar for full time level 4 OR Stenwood for full or part time level 4.
my youngest is not yet "identified" and will stay at our local school for second grade, Stenwood, it has a great community feel and some awesome teachers.

3 kids at 3 schools?!
This is a mess and I wonder if it's worth it as the "Aap" teachers and programs may all be similar , no matter where I place my child for 4th grade.

My kids say the current "aap" options available in class consist of games like apples to apples.....

It may just come to logistics of bus time and after school activities.
Any feedback on Westbriar much appreciated.

Three kids at three schools, especially three elementary schools would be a non-starter for me. We moved here from overseas years back and my oldest was steered to AAP the next year after testing. I was happy he and his siblings could start out at our neighborhood school, however, since it helped me get to know the parents in my local community. I never really got to know the parents at Louise Archer as my son went there as a 5th grader. He enjoyed the school, but I never felt the sense of belonging that I did at our local school.

Stenwood is a nice local school that has a community feel like Westbriar. I don't know how Westbriar is as a center as it's new. Colvin Run, on the other hand, is less friendly and not particularly welcoming to new students at the upper ages from what I have heard. I have a friend who sent her daughter there this year as a 5th grader. The girl hates it and the mom wishes she had kept her at Stenwood, which is her home school. One option to keep in mind is that once your kid has qualified for AAP, they can enter any time until 8th grade. I know several parents whose kids wanted to stay with local friends so they didn't put them in AAP until middle school. Personally, that's when I think it has the biggest benefits, getting kids ready for high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just moved to Stenwood communiy this year. We have been overseas until now. I did not go looking for aap placement, my kids were "selected" based on testing done by the school. Stenwood has a "new" part time level 4 aap for 3rd graders now and is supposed to expand it for 4th grade and grow with them. Sure, I feel my kids are mature for their age and could use some challenge as they are often bored and coast thru school. But at what cost?

5th grader is offered Colvin run,(for next year) my 3 rd grader Westbriar for full time level 4 OR Stenwood for full or part time level 4.
my youngest is not yet "identified" and will stay at our local school for second grade, Stenwood, it has a great community feel and some awesome teachers.

3 kids at 3 schools?!
This is a mess and I wonder if it's worth it as the "Aap" teachers and programs may all be similar , no matter where I place my child for 4th grade.

My kids say the current "aap" options available in class consist of games like apples to apples.....

It may just come to logistics of bus time and after school activities.
Any feedback on Westbriar much appreciated.

Three kids at three schools, especially three elementary schools would be a non-starter for me. We moved here from overseas years back and my oldest was steered to AAP the next year after testing. I was happy he and his siblings could start out at our neighborhood school, however, since it helped me get to know the parents in my local community. I never really got to know the parents at Louise Archer as my son went there as a 5th grader. He enjoyed the school, but I never felt the sense of belonging that I did at our local school.

Stenwood is a nice local school that has a community feel like Westbriar. I don't know how Westbriar is as a center as it's new. Colvin Run, on the other hand, is less friendly and not particularly welcoming to new students at the upper ages from what I have heard. I have a friend who sent her daughter there this year as a 5th grader. The girl hates it and the mom wishes she had kept her at Stenwood, which is her home school. One option to keep in mind is that once your kid has qualified for AAP, they can enter any time until 8th grade. I know several parents whose kids wanted to stay with local friends so they didn't put them in AAP until middle school. Personally, that's when I think it has the biggest benefits, getting kids ready for high school.

I disagree with the bolded. We had our AAP kids stay at their base school for middle school. They took honors classes and are doing wonderfully in high school. AAP really has nothing to do with "getting your kids ready for high school".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just moved to Stenwood communiy this year. We have been overseas until now. I did not go looking for aap placement, my kids were "selected" based on testing done by the school. Stenwood has a "new" part time level 4 aap for 3rd graders now and is supposed to expand it for 4th grade and grow with them. Sure, I feel my kids are mature for their age and could use some challenge as they are often bored and coast thru school. But at what cost?

5th grader is offered Colvin run,(for next year) my 3 rd grader Westbriar for full time level 4 OR Stenwood for full or part time level 4.
my youngest is not yet "identified" and will stay at our local school for second grade, Stenwood, it has a great community feel and some awesome teachers.

3 kids at 3 schools?!
This is a mess and I wonder if it's worth it as the "Aap" teachers and programs may all be similar , no matter where I place my child for 4th grade.

My kids say the current "aap" options available in class consist of games like apples to apples.....

It may just come to logistics of bus time and after school activities.
Any feedback on Westbriar much appreciated.

Three kids at three schools, especially three elementary schools would be a non-starter for me. We moved here from overseas years back and my oldest was steered to AAP the next year after testing. I was happy he and his siblings could start out at our neighborhood school, however, since it helped me get to know the parents in my local community. I never really got to know the parents at Louise Archer as my son went there as a 5th grader. He enjoyed the school, but I never felt the sense of belonging that I did at our local school.

Stenwood is a nice local school that has a community feel like Westbriar. I don't know how Westbriar is as a center as it's new. Colvin Run, on the other hand, is less friendly and not particularly welcoming to new students at the upper ages from what I have heard. I have a friend who sent her daughter there this year as a 5th grader. The girl hates it and the mom wishes she had kept her at Stenwood, which is her home school. One option to keep in mind is that once your kid has qualified for AAP, they can enter any time until 8th grade. I know several parents whose kids wanted to stay with local friends so they didn't put them in AAP until middle school. Personally, that's when I think it has the biggest benefits, getting kids ready for high school.

I disagree with the bolded. We had our AAP kids stay at their base school for middle school. They took honors classes and are doing wonderfully in high school. AAP really has nothing to do with "getting your kids ready for high school".

It depends on the after-school activities.

Often times (but not always) AAP Center middle schools have a wider variety of after-school activities than base middle schools.

When you compare from school to school, the differences are clearly evident.

[Anonymous]

Have there been challenges with the first year implementation (2013-2014) of the AAP center at Westbriar? I heard that one parent chose to pull their child from Westbriar's AAP program after one year because it did not seem to provide any benefits over enrolling at a local base school. At the May 12, 2014 AAP orientation meeting for parents, the principal (Lisa Pilson) seemed a bit evasive and defensive in answering some parents' questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just moved to Stenwood communiy this year. We have been overseas until now. I did not go looking for aap placement, my kids were "selected" based on testing done by the school. Stenwood has a "new" part time level 4 aap for 3rd graders now and is supposed to expand it for 4th grade and grow with them. Sure, I feel my kids are mature for their age and could use some challenge as they are often bored and coast thru school. But at what cost?

5th grader is offered Colvin run,(for next year) my 3 rd grader Westbriar for full time level 4 OR Stenwood for full or part time level 4.
my youngest is not yet "identified" and will stay at our local school for second grade, Stenwood, it has a great community feel and some awesome teachers.

3 kids at 3 schools?!
This is a mess and I wonder if it's worth it as the "Aap" teachers and programs may all be similar , no matter where I place my child for 4th grade.

My kids say the current "aap" options available in class consist of games like apples to apples.....

It may just come to logistics of bus time and after school activities.
Any feedback on Westbriar much appreciated.

Three kids at three schools, especially three elementary schools would be a non-starter for me. We moved here from overseas years back and my oldest was steered to AAP the next year after testing. I was happy he and his siblings could start out at our neighborhood school, however, since it helped me get to know the parents in my local community. I never really got to know the parents at Louise Archer as my son went there as a 5th grader. He enjoyed the school, but I never felt the sense of belonging that I did at our local school.

Stenwood is a nice local school that has a community feel like Westbriar. I don't know how Westbriar is as a center as it's new. Colvin Run, on the other hand, is less friendly and not particularly welcoming to new students at the upper ages from what I have heard. I have a friend who sent her daughter there this year as a 5th grader. The girl hates it and the mom wishes she had kept her at Stenwood, which is her home school. One option to keep in mind is that once your kid has qualified for AAP, they can enter any time until 8th grade. I know several parents whose kids wanted to stay with local friends so they didn't put them in AAP until middle school. Personally, that's when I think it has the biggest benefits, getting kids ready for high school.

I disagree with the bolded. We had our AAP kids stay at their base school for middle school. They took honors classes and are doing wonderfully in high school. AAP really has nothing to do with "getting your kids ready for high school".

It depends on the after-school activities.

Often times (but not always) AAP Center middle schools have a wider variety of after-school activities than base middle schools.

When you compare from school to school, the differences are clearly evident.

I guess I don't see the benefit to so many after-school activities in the first place. I prefer my kids to come straight home from school and have downtime before starting homework. Even if they attended a school with lots of after-school activities, I wouldn't want them choosing more than one. Plenty of time for all that in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have there been challenges with the first year implementation (2013-2014) of the AAP center at Westbriar? I heard that one parent chose to pull their child from Westbriar's AAP program after one year because it did not seem to provide any benefits over enrolling at a local base school. At the May 12, 2014 AAP orientation meeting for parents, the principal (Lisa Pilson) seemed a bit evasive and defensive in answering some parents' questions.

Do you know any specific reason why they are pulling out from Westbriar?

[Anonymous]

One person I know pulled from Westbriar mid year. Reasons were unresponsive teacher, over crowded classroom, long commute and too much homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One person I know pulled from Westbriar mid year. Reasons were unresponsive teacher, over crowded classroom, long commute and too much homework.

oh really? I got a complaint from another parent saying homework is too less. May be this kid was in another AAP class. Currently they have only 2 3rd grade AAP classes.

[Anonymous]

I would imagine homework would be same/similar across
the 2 AAP classes at Westbriar. Homework at our base school is next to nothing. Maybe b/w commute, extra-curriculars and homework it was all too much.

[Anonymous]

love westbriar!!!! Amazing community it's, happy teachers and communicative and friendly principal and admin staff. Mr Hunt is incredible and he's leading a fabulous program, and a fabulous team. but it's not just the curriculum, it's how it's impemented. Aap at westbriar is a true gem!