carson compared with longfellow gt program

[Anonymous]

Folks - we have moved to n. va. and are renting in reston and commuting into rockville. Our DC is in gt in grade 4. Since we are looking to buy a house, we are still researching schools etc... So with that as context, I have been looking at previous threads and know that everyone would agree that TJ is a strong program. Some also are equally in agreement that longfellow middle school has an excellent gt program especially in math. There are quite a few students going into TJ from both longfellow and carson. BUT, I don't see much being written about how strong the gt program is at carson. And particularly, since comparing may be easier in this area - in math for instance, how do you think carson compares with longfellow? what about in english/writing and other areas? Any thoughts?
Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks - we have moved to n. va. and are renting in reston and commuting into rockville. Our DC is in gt in grade 4. Since we are looking to buy a house, we are still researching schools etc... So with that as context, I have been looking at previous threads and know that everyone would agree that TJ is a strong program. Some also are equally in agreement that longfellow middle school has an excellent gt program especially in math. There are quite a few students going into TJ from both longfellow and carson. BUT, I don't see much being written about how strong the gt program is at carson. And particularly, since comparing may be easier in this area - in math for instance, how do you think carson compares with longfellow? what about in english/writing and other areas? Any thoughts?
Thanks.

Both are great GT schools. You're comparing apples to apples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks - we have moved to n. va. and are renting in reston and commuting into rockville. Our DC is in gt in grade 4. Since we are looking to buy a house, we are still researching schools etc... So with that as context, I have been looking at previous threads and know that everyone would agree that TJ is a strong program. Some also are equally in agreement that longfellow middle school has an excellent gt program especially in math. There are quite a few students going into TJ from both longfellow and carson. BUT, I don't see much being written about how strong the gt program is at carson. And particularly, since comparing may be easier in this area - in math for instance, how do you think carson compares with longfellow? what about in english/writing and other areas? Any thoughts?
Thanks.

It's easier to commute to Rockville from McLean/Falls Church than from Herndon, and Longfellow should be completely renovated by the time your DC hits middle school.

[Anonymous]

I can't comment on Longfellow, but do have a child at the Carson GT. The math so far is top-notch, honors geometry is a true high school level honors course. The science is fine, but the English and particularly Civics seem weak to me. They are doing crossword puzzles, cut and paste and fill in the blank worksheets for Civics. I was hoping they'd be reading the Federalist Papers or something - it is supposed to be a gifted class, but I'm not seeing evidence of that yet.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks that's very helpful - wife is working in fairfax hitech area so carson and longfellow are both equally good from commute point of view.

Any other comments - is the TJ math team composed only of longfellow students or do the carson kids do well in the more difficult amc-8-type math contests?

On english - how is longfellow given PP review of carson?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks that's very helpful - wife is working in fairfax hitech area so carson and longfellow are both equally good from commute point of view.

Any other comments - is the TJ math team composed only of longfellow students or do the carson kids do well in the more difficult amc-8-type math contests?

On english - how is longfellow given PP review of carson?

I have a nephew who went to TJ and he said Longfellow, which he did not attend, is known as the best MS in NoVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't comment on Longfellow, but do have a child at the Carson GT. The math so far is top-notch, honors geometry is a true high school level honors course. The science is fine, but the English and particularly Civics seem weak to me. They are doing crossword puzzles, cut and paste and fill in the blank worksheets for Civics. I was hoping they'd be reading the Federalist Papers or something - it is supposed to be a gifted class, but I'm not seeing evidence of that yet.

The problem with the gifted classes is that not all the students are gifted. They are enrolled in the classes but the system has been gamed by parents to broaden the net to include average to above average students. Gifted classes should be for extraordinary students. Thus, many teachers realize that they must start the school year at an average curriculum pacing until they are able to discern the true gifted capacity of the overall class. In addition, while it would not interesting to review the Federalist Papers, but because 8th Grade Civics is an SOL benchmark test, the curriculum is rigidly guided.

[Anonymous]

The number of middle school admittances to TJHSST for the 2009-10 school year were: (only 10 or greater shown below)

68 - Carson
66 - Longfellow
45 - Rocky Run
34 - Kilmer
31 - Frost
23 - Lake Braddock
14 - Hughes
10- Jackson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't comment on Longfellow, but do have a child at the Carson GT. The math so far is top-notch, honors geometry is a true high school level honors course. The science is fine, but the English and particularly Civics seem weak to me. They are doing crossword puzzles, cut and paste and fill in the blank worksheets for Civics. I was hoping they'd be reading the Federalist Papers or something - it is supposed to be a gifted class, but I'm not seeing evidence of that yet.

The problem with the gifted classes is that not all the students are gifted. They are enrolled in the classes but the system has been gamed by parents to broaden the net to include average to above average students. Gifted classes should be for extraordinary students. Thus, many teachers realize that they must start the school year at an average curriculum pacing until they are able to discern the true gifted capacity of the overall class. In addition, while it would not interesting to review the Federalist Papers, but because 8th Grade Civics is an SOL benchmark test, the curriculum is rigidly guided.

Don't blame the parents, blame the system.

It's the teachers and admins who review the projects, grades, GBIRs, etc, that decide if the kid goes or not. It's not just the test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The number of middle school admittances to TJHSST for the 2009-10 school year were: (only 10 or greater shown below)

68 - Carson
66 - Longfellow
45 - Rocky Run
34 - Kilmer
31 - Frost
23 - Lake Braddock
14 - Hughes
10- Jackson

Do you know the %?

68/x total 8th graders at carson and
66/x total 8th graders at longfellow

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't comment on Longfellow, but do have a child at the Carson GT. The math so far is top-notch, honors geometry is a true high school level honors course. The science is fine, but the English and particularly Civics seem weak to me. They are doing crossword puzzles, cut and paste and fill in the blank worksheets for Civics. I was hoping they'd be reading the Federalist Papers or something - it is supposed to be a gifted class, but I'm not seeing evidence of that yet.

The problem with the gifted classes is that not all the students are gifted. They are enrolled in the classes but the system has been gamed by parents to broaden the net to include average to above average students. Gifted classes should be for extraordinary students. Thus, many teachers realize that they must start the school year at an average curriculum pacing until they are able to discern the true gifted capacity of the overall class. In addition, while it would not interesting to review the Federalist Papers, but because 8th Grade Civics is an SOL benchmark test, the curriculum is rigidly guided.

Don't blame the parents, blame the system.

It's the teachers and admins who review the projects, grades, GBIRs, etc, that decide if the kid goes or not. It's not just the test scores.

The parent have co-opted and re-created the system. Too many students are re-engineered to become GT on paper. Administrators and principals acquiesce to keep parents happy, who can then stand on the soccer field sidelines and confirm that their kids are indeed enrolled in down-streamed GT programs (down-streamed because the standards have been sufficiently broadened to select a maximum pool). Welcome to FFX CTY where the even average student is above-average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The number of middle school admittances to TJHSST for the 2009-10 school year were: (only 10 or greater shown below)

68 - Carson
66 - Longfellow
45 - Rocky Run
34 - Kilmer
31 - Frost
23 - Lake Braddock
14 - Hughes
10- Jackson

Do you know the %?

68/x total 8th graders at carson and
66/x total 8th graders at longfellow

Approximately 11% for both Carson and Longfellow...difference is statistically insignificant.