Serious effort to remove IB from FCPS?

[Anonymous]

Starting a new conversation from a point within the Boundary Review discussion. I teach in an FCPS IB school and have taken a 40 hour course with teachers from around the world as well as trainings with in-county teachers. I'm amazed at what can be done in flexible, smaller schools and agree it can be an amazing program for students. That said, it does not work within our huge district: just some of the factors that inhibit it are large CLTs of several teachers in a content area needing to plan and stay on pace together (and never having planning or time off with teachers of other content areas), testing and SOLS, goals of equity among hundreds of schools, etc. etc. etc.

In addition, schools pay IB for accreditation based on how many teams/teachers are passing on complicated rubrics to students, how many cross-curriciular projects are happening (however surface...has your FCPS child in an IB school done any meaningful cross-subject learning??) and it's obviously within IB's interest to "pass"/approve them.

Is there any serious discussion in FCPS of eliminating IB? A working group? School Board members looking into it? Parent groups? Petitions? Anything?

[Anonymous]

Lewis attempted to get rid of it last year but they got a bunch of push back.

[Anonymous]

I am not aware of a serious attempt although I really wish we did eliminate it. It costs a lot of money and most kids do not get anything special from it or pursue the full program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Starting a new conversation from a point within the Boundary Review discussion. I teach in an FCPS IB school and have taken a 40 hour course with teachers from around the world as well as trainings with in-county teachers. I'm amazed at what can be done in flexible, smaller schools and agree it can be an amazing program for students. That said, it does not work within our huge district: just some of the factors that inhibit it are large CLTs of several teachers in a content area needing to plan and stay on pace together (and never having planning or time off with teachers of other content areas), testing and SOLS, goals of equity among hundreds of schools, etc. etc. etc.

In addition, schools pay IB for accreditation based on how many teams/teachers are passing on complicated rubrics to students, how many cross-curriciular projects are happening (however surface...has your FCPS child in an IB school done any meaningful cross-subject learning??) and it's obviously within IB's interest to "pass"/approve them.

Is there any serious discussion in FCPS of eliminating IB? A working group? School Board members looking into it? Parent groups? Petitions? Anything?

Thank you for your post. Would you consider bringing your concerns to your school board reps or speaking publicly at a school board meeting on the topic? You’ve got a unique and powerful perspective on this.

The BRAC is starting to consider scenarios now, so it’d be good to get this in front of the superintendent and the school board asap.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully some former Woodson parents can weigh in. They successfully pushed back when the School Board tried to make Woodson an IB school. I remember when it happened but my kids were young at the time and that's not our zoned high school. I realize it's not the same thing as removing IB from the county or even from schools that already have it but they obviously made convincing arguments that got a lot of community support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lewis attempted to get rid of it last year but they got a bunch of push back.

Pushback from who? They barely have anyone in the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lewis attempted to get rid of it last year but they got a bunch of push back.

They got a bunch of push back because 200-300 Lewis zoned kids are using IB to transfer to AP schools.

[Anonymous]

My kids are zoned for an IB school. Although we now understand IB more than before we still wish we looked at houses within a non-IB high school instead. I have a child who is not well rounded but super talented in math and science but weak in writing. IB diploma is not fair for kids like my daughter and others like her. They will do so much better at an AP school where they can focus on subjects they are enthusiastic. IB is the same BS as the holistic review in AAP or TJ essay writing or whatever FCPS calls it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lewis attempted to get rid of it last year but they got a bunch of push back.

They got a bunch of push back because 200-300 Lewis zoned kids are using IB to transfer to AP schools.

I think they would get push back from Annandale parents who have their kids at Lake Braddock too

[Anonymous]

The school board and a lot of FCPS bigwigs love IB. They love the buzzwords. Lifelong learners, global citizens. “A school within a school.” Blah blah blah. It’s too entrenched in FCPS at these certain schools and they’ll never dump it, even though they should.

Let it stay at 1 school that becomes the “IB magnet” for the whole county and then put AP back in everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Love IB for our senior. We pupil placed for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school board and a lot of FCPS bigwigs love IB. They love the buzzwords. Lifelong learners, global citizens. “A school within a school.” Blah blah blah. It’s too entrenched in FCPS at these certain schools and they’ll never dump it, even though they should.

Let it stay at 1 school that becomes the “IB magnet” for the whole county and then put AP back in everywhere.

Yep. Good use for Lewis. Doesn’t have to be a magnet. Just require students to commit to doing the full IB diploma. Can probably be open admissions judging from the total number of IB diplomas getting awarded but make it a lottery if needed. Families should be responsible for transportation just like with a language immersion program. And let the kids play on the sports teams of their base schools just like HB Woodlawn kids can in APS.

[Anonymous]

My kids are younger, but I would pupil place for IB, and not to escape the zoned school. I’m not from Europe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love IB for our senior. We pupil placed for it.

Heard it all before. Doesn’t change the fact that we are currently wasting money on eight under-subscribed IB programs that will complicate any effort to adjust boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are zoned for an IB school. Although we now understand IB more than before we still wish we looked at houses within a non-IB high school instead. I have a child who is not well rounded but super talented in math and science but weak in writing. IB diploma is not fair for kids like my daughter and others like her. They will do so much better at an AP school where they can focus on subjects they are enthusiastic. IB is the same BS as the holistic review in AAP or TJ essay writing or whatever FCPS calls it.

I think a common misconception is that you cannot take IB courses in areas of strength only. My middle child just graduated last year and had an IEP for autism and ADHD. She took IB in Japanese and Literature, but took team-taught or General Ed in subjects she was weaker in. My youngest is graduating this year, and is taking a mix of IB and dual enrollment because she wanted to have more flexibility than doing full IB allowed due to her college aspirations.