Picking classes for Yorktown

[Anonymous]

This is for a rising 9th grader. How hard are the intensified classes? Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED. They are in all regular now except math. Getting all A's for the most part. Should they take intensified or is it better to get all A's or you really need to take APs to get into a good college these days?

[Anonymous]

My kid takes all intensified as a current 9th grader. It's not super hard for him but (since this is anonymous I'll say it) he's smart and motivated and organized. He finishes a lot of the work at school. He's always been like that he uses his school time really well. He studies for tests at home for sure. He reports to me a lot of kids don't do well in intensified classes but he says they put in no effort. If you put in no effort, it won't go great.

It's not true the regular classes are SPED. Plenty of kids in them.

Only highly selective colleges care about rigor. I don't know what your definition of "good college" is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is for a rising 9th grader. How hard are the intensified classes? Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED. They are in all regular now except math. Getting all A's for the most part. Should they take intensified or is it better to get all A's or you really need to take APs to get into a good college these days?

I think going from no intensified to all intensified could be an adjustment and so you would need to be prepared for maybe a rocky beginning to high school. I think it really depends on your kid. What are the work habits and what is the motivation. Is he working for the As at all or totally bored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is for a rising 9th grader. How hard are the intensified classes? Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED. They are in all regular now except math. Getting all A's for the most part. Should they take intensified or is it better to get all A's or you really need to take APs to get into a good college these days?

I think going from no intensified to all intensified could be an adjustment and so you would need to be prepared for maybe a rocky beginning to high school. I think it really depends on your kid. What are the work habits and what is the motivation. Is he working for the As at all or totally bored.

They are in between. They will study, but the MS really doesn't push them too much IMO. The math intensified they are in does have a lot of homework. It's not hard, just a lot.

[Anonymous]

"Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED"

You can thank the WMS counselors for this sentiment. They put the pressure on these kids starting in 7th grade with getting all A's on classes that will be on the HS transcript. The Yorktown counselors, in our experience, are much more reasonable about what YOUR kid actually needs to take.

FWIW my kid does take all (available) intensified classes but dropped one to regular (Geometry) mid year. HS was a big adjustment b/c WMS was a breeze. Sophomore year they went back up to intensified with As.

[Anonymous]

YHS counselors will tell you that college admissions officers are not as focused on 3 vs 4 intensified classes freshman year. APs/intensified are more important later on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is for a rising 9th grader. How hard are the intensified classes? Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED. They are in all regular now except math. Getting all A's for the most part. Should they take intensified or is it better to get all A's or you really need to take APs to get into a good college these days?

I think going from no intensified to all intensified could be an adjustment and so you would need to be prepared for maybe a rocky beginning to high school. I think it really depends on your kid. What are the work habits and what is the motivation. Is he working for the As at all or totally bored.

They are in between. They will study, but the MS really doesn't push them too much IMO. The math intensified they are in does have a lot of homework. It's not hard, just a lot.

Our middle school tells kids who aren't sure to try intensified classes in their areas of interest. I'm not sure it makes sense to go from none to all. Why didn't they take any in MS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is for a rising 9th grader. How hard are the intensified classes? Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED. They are in all regular now except math. Getting all A's for the most part. Should they take intensified or is it better to get all A's or you really need to take APs to get into a good college these days?

I think going from no intensified to all intensified could be an adjustment and so you would need to be prepared for maybe a rocky beginning to high school. I think it really depends on your kid. What are the work habits and what is the motivation. Is he working for the As at all or totally bored.

They are in between. They will study, but the MS really doesn't push them too much IMO. The math intensified they are in does have a lot of homework. It's not hard, just a lot.

Our middle school tells kids who aren't sure to try intensified classes in their areas of interest. I'm not sure it makes sense to go from none to all. Why didn't they take any in MS?

I agree with this. I would go to one more plus math and see how it goes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED"

You can thank the WMS counselors for this sentiment. They put the pressure on these kids starting in 7th grade with getting all A's on classes that will be on the HS transcript. The Yorktown counselors, in our experience, are much more reasonable about what YOUR kid actually needs to take.

FWIW my kid does take all (available) intensified classes but dropped one to regular (Geometry) mid year. HS was a big adjustment b/c WMS was a breeze. Sophomore year they went back up to intensified with As.

This is what I'm worried about. I've heard Geometry is hard and I know an 8th grader who did Geometry in 7th and then again in 8th. My kid has been suggested for geometry intensified. Should I just have them do regular? I can't imagine they will ever be doing Geometry in real life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is for a rising 9th grader. How hard are the intensified classes? Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED. They are in all regular now except math. Getting all A's for the most part. Should they take intensified or is it better to get all A's or you really need to take APs to get into a good college these days?

I think going from no intensified to all intensified could be an adjustment and so you would need to be prepared for maybe a rocky beginning to high school. I think it really depends on your kid. What are the work habits and what is the motivation. Is he working for the As at all or totally bored.

They are in between. They will study, but the MS really doesn't push them too much IMO. The math intensified they are in does have a lot of homework. It's not hard, just a lot.

Our middle school tells kids who aren't sure to try intensified classes in their areas of interest. I'm not sure it makes sense to go from none to all. Why didn't they take any in MS?

They just kept on the path they were on starting in 6th grade until this year when recommended for Algebra Intensified. Now they are recommending History Intensified as well. Is that reasonable with Biology and a language level 3?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED"

You can thank the WMS counselors for this sentiment. They put the pressure on these kids starting in 7th grade with getting all A's on classes that will be on the HS transcript. The Yorktown counselors, in our experience, are much more reasonable about what YOUR kid actually needs to take.

FWIW my kid does take all (available) intensified classes but dropped one to regular (Geometry) mid year. HS was a big adjustment b/c WMS was a breeze. Sophomore year they went back up to intensified with As.

I'm not sure this is from the counselors, but an observation based on the classes they are in now and who is in those classes. I do have a SPED kid who absolutely will not be taking intensified classes when they get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED"

You can thank the WMS counselors for this sentiment. They put the pressure on these kids starting in 7th grade with getting all A's on classes that will be on the HS transcript. The Yorktown counselors, in our experience, are much more reasonable about what YOUR kid actually needs to take.

FWIW my kid does take all (available) intensified classes but dropped one to regular (Geometry) mid year. HS was a big adjustment b/c WMS was a breeze. Sophomore year they went back up to intensified with As.

I'm not sure this is from the counselors, but an observation based on the classes they are in now and who is in those classes. I do have a SPED kid who absolutely will not be taking intensified classes when they get there.

Honestly it's just mean (but kids are like that). The kids in the regular classes are not all SPED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED"

You can thank the WMS counselors for this sentiment. They put the pressure on these kids starting in 7th grade with getting all A's on classes that will be on the HS transcript. The Yorktown counselors, in our experience, are much more reasonable about what YOUR kid actually needs to take.

FWIW my kid does take all (available) intensified classes but dropped one to regular (Geometry) mid year. HS was a big adjustment b/c WMS was a breeze. Sophomore year they went back up to intensified with As.

I'm not sure this is from the counselors, but an observation based on the classes they are in now and who is in those classes. I do have a SPED kid who absolutely will not be taking intensified classes when they get there.

Honestly it's just mean (but kids are like that). The kids in the regular classes are not all SPED.

Yes, I know since my kid is in them too, but they said the SPED kids are also in them and sometimes they are very disruptive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED"

You can thank the WMS counselors for this sentiment. They put the pressure on these kids starting in 7th grade with getting all A's on classes that will be on the HS transcript. The Yorktown counselors, in our experience, are much more reasonable about what YOUR kid actually needs to take.

FWIW my kid does take all (available) intensified classes but dropped one to regular (Geometry) mid year. HS was a big adjustment b/c WMS was a breeze. Sophomore year they went back up to intensified with As.

This is what I'm worried about. I've heard Geometry is hard and I know an 8th grader who did Geometry in 7th and then again in 8th. My kid has been suggested for geometry intensified. Should I just have them do regular? I can't imagine they will ever be doing Geometry in real life.

Intensified math classes cover more content so you get to calculus sooner. It's not that simple to just jump between intensified and non-intensified. I'd talk to a math coach about your specific child and options.

For all other classes, my understanding is you can jump between intensified and non intensified classes without penalty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Kid says that all of the "regular" classes are for SPED"

You can thank the WMS counselors for this sentiment. They put the pressure on these kids starting in 7th grade with getting all A's on classes that will be on the HS transcript. The Yorktown counselors, in our experience, are much more reasonable about what YOUR kid actually needs to take.

FWIW my kid does take all (available) intensified classes but dropped one to regular (Geometry) mid year. HS was a big adjustment b/c WMS was a breeze. Sophomore year they went back up to intensified with As.

I'm not sure this is from the counselors, but an observation based on the classes they are in now and who is in those classes. I do have a SPED kid who absolutely will not be taking intensified classes when they get there.

Honestly it's just mean (but kids are like that). The kids in the regular classes are not all SPED.

Yes, I know since my kid is in them too, but they said the SPED kids are also in them and sometimes they are very disruptive.

My kid says there are disruptive kids in the intensified classes too. Don't need to be SPED for that.