APS Intensified MS Classes

[Anonymous]

My oldest is starting 6th grade next year and we've been asked to select classes. Can current parents chime in on what the intensified classes have been like for their kids? What's the main difference? Are they covering more material? Moving faster? Or do they just end up with lots of extra homework and busywork while covering the same material?

[Anonymous]

My kid is in all intensified courses in 6th grade and it isn't a lot of extra work or homework. They say the difference is same material covered, they just go "deeper". One actual example given by the english teacher is in intensified they read the book and in regular english, they read excerpts of the book.

I'm leaving math out of it since you didn't ask about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in all intensified courses in 6th grade and it isn't a lot of extra work or homework. They say the difference is same material covered, they just go "deeper". One actual example given by the english teacher is in intensified they read the book and in regular english, they read excerpts of the book.

I'm leaving math out of it since you didn't ask about that.

Thank you! Do you have any sense of the difference in Social Studies and Science?

[Anonymous]

We were also told that they don’t cover more material or go any faster, but rather go deeper. I don’t have a comparison point but my kid has not found intensified classes particularly difficult, nor has there been a ton of homework (and from what I can tell it doesn’t seem like busy work). Teachers all seem to teach both intensified and regular, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in all intensified courses in 6th grade and it isn't a lot of extra work or homework. They say the difference is same material covered, they just go "deeper". One actual example given by the english teacher is in intensified they read the book and in regular english, they read excerpts of the book.

I'm leaving math out of it since you didn't ask about that.

Thank you! Do you have any sense of the difference in Social Studies and Science?

In 6th grade US history the normal section would go over what happened in the Civil War and answer questions.

In the intensified section they wrote journal entries from the point of view of a person experiencing the Civil War. My kid had to research details to try to create accurate entries consistent with the chronology.

[Anonymous]

Intensified classes are only marginally more work (with the exception of the accelerated math but that is really a different thing altogether). I would not hesitate to put an average student in all intensified classes. At least that was our experience at Gunston.

[Anonymous]

I asked about intensified courses previously. I've talked to other parents and they've said the same thing here about it not being much more work. I did see on the APS website though, that if you are at all interested in things like TJHS, ArlTech, or IB at W-L that you really want to take the intensified courses, especially in 8th grade. Does anyone know how that plays out?

Also, has anyone been turned away from those courses so far? Like, do they make space for all students, or are there kids who don't get them?

Does intensified courses mean your kid is in a different cohort?

[Anonymous]

I think that in order to be eligible for TJ you have to take the most challenges courses available to you with some flex that you do not have to take geometry in 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I asked about intensified courses previously. I've talked to other parents and they've said the same thing here about it not being much more work. I did see on the APS website though, that if you are at all interested in things like TJHS, ArlTech, or IB at W-L that you really want to take the intensified courses, especially in 8th grade. Does anyone know how that plays out?

Also, has anyone been turned away from those courses so far? Like, do they make space for all students, or are there kids who don't get them?

Does intensified courses mean your kid is in a different cohort?

Anyone can get into them (which is not ideal, honestly).

The kids aren't in any kind of different cohort but if this is code for not being with screw up kids, not necessarily. There are plenty of kids who do not give a crap about school and are disruptive with pushy parents who place them in intensified classes and they don't really belong in them.

We didn't see weed out of kids until really sophomore year of high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked about intensified courses previously. I've talked to other parents and they've said the same thing here about it not being much more work. I did see on the APS website though, that if you are at all interested in things like TJHS, ArlTech, or IB at W-L that you really want to take the intensified courses, especially in 8th grade. Does anyone know how that plays out?

Also, has anyone been turned away from those courses so far? Like, do they make space for all students, or are there kids who don't get them?

Does intensified courses mean your kid is in a different cohort?

Anyone can get into them (which is not ideal, honestly).

The kids aren't in any kind of different cohort but if this is code for not being with screw up kids, not necessarily. There are plenty of kids who do not give a crap about school and are disruptive with pushy parents who place them in intensified classes and they don't really belong in them.

We didn't see weed out of kids until really sophomore year of high school.

No, not code for not being with screw up kids. I am more curious if the students become a cohort that is together throughout middle school. Like do they see the same kids and that becomes your friend group?

Although, I would not want kids who don't want to be in those classes there, but I get it. We all want our kids to have the best opportunities.

Does anyone know what percentage of students are in those classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked about intensified courses previously. I've talked to other parents and they've said the same thing here about it not being much more work. I did see on the APS website though, that if you are at all interested in things like TJHS, ArlTech, or IB at W-L that you really want to take the intensified courses, especially in 8th grade. Does anyone know how that plays out?

Also, has anyone been turned away from those courses so far? Like, do they make space for all students, or are there kids who don't get them?

Does intensified courses mean your kid is in a different cohort?

Anyone can get into them (which is not ideal, honestly).

The kids aren't in any kind of different cohort but if this is code for not being with screw up kids, not necessarily. There are plenty of kids who do not give a crap about school and are disruptive with pushy parents who place them in intensified classes and they don't really belong in them.

We didn't see weed out of kids until really sophomore year of high school.

No, not code for not being with screw up kids. I am more curious if the students become a cohort that is together throughout middle school. Like do they see the same kids and that becomes your friend group?

Although, I would not want kids who don't want to be in those classes there, but I get it. We all want our kids to have the best opportunities.

Does anyone know what percentage of students are in those classes?

I think it's above 50% in intensified classes. If you are in all intensified classes and the most advanced math track you seem to have about a 20-30% chance of ending up in some overlapping classes, IME. It's too many kids to create a separate cohort.

[Anonymous]

Are there the same teachers for regular and intensified? I actually hope the kids do still mix. I know they do some sort of pod grouping in middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there the same teachers for regular and intensified? I actually hope the kids do still mix. I know they do some sort of pod grouping in middle school?

The same teachers cover both, except for math.

[Anonymous]

DHMS has teams for the core classes (which overlap with classes that are offered as intensified or not), but each team has intensified and non intensified classes. So your kid could have non-core classes with a mix of kids… homeroom (which could be any kids from the same team, intensified or not) or PE and other electives (with kids from any team, and intensified or not). As others have said math is a whole different ball game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DHMS has teams for the core classes (which overlap with classes that are offered as intensified or not), but each team has intensified and non intensified classes. So your kid could have non-core classes with a mix of kids… homeroom (which could be any kids from the same team, intensified or not) or PE and other electives (with kids from any team, and intensified or not). As others have said math is a whole different ball game.

Perfect - so there's not a intensified team and general population team. I like that.