change your AAP (or GT) center?

[Anonymous]

does anyone here have experience with changing your home-based GT center? how hard is it? or it is completely impossible? there are 2 gt centers close to us. the one we dont belong to is closer and nicer.

thanks for sharing your info.

[Anonymous]

No experience here - ours are at the AAP center school. Is your DC slated for Level 4 or Level 3 services. If they are eligible for classes at a center, it shouldn't be an issue to change although at mid-year they may discourage it if classes are pretty full at the center.

[Anonymous]

I think the OP means trying to transfer to a center other than the one they are zoned to attend.

I have never heard of this, but probably the FCAG Yahoo group is the place to ask.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it happens. If if did, all of the Vienna parents would be at Kilmer instead of Jackson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it happens. If if did, all of the Vienna parents would be at Kilmer instead of Jackson.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Because it's closer and many of them don't like the diversity of Jackson and have chosen to forego GT for honors at Thoreau.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because it's closer and many of them don't like the diversity of Jackson and have chosen to forego GT for honors at Thoreau.

I don't think it's about being closer at all, but more about the exposure to diversity. Vienna parents don't want that.

Common among FCPS is if the school is underenrolled, is to either put an IB or GT program there (e.g. Stuart, Marshall, Jackson, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it's closer and many of them don't like the diversity of Jackson and have chosen to forego GT for honors at Thoreau.

I don't think it's about being closer at all, but more about the exposure to diversity. Vienna parents don't want that.

Common among FCPS is if the school is underenrolled, is to either put an IB or GT program there (e.g. Stuart, Marshall, Jackson, etc.).

It often, but not always, works. Some in Vienna will send their kids to Thoreau rather than the Jackson AAP center, but most send their kids to Jackson. Marshall currently has more transfers from other schools than any other high school in Fairfax County.
And the French immersion program attracts kids to Kent Gardens, which serves the oldest, least affluent part of McLean.

Good luck to Vienna parents if they can't deal with diversity. Even Madison, which is one of the least diverse high schools in the county, is 10% Hispanic now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it's closer and many of them don't like the diversity of Jackson and have chosen to forego GT for honors at Thoreau.

I don't think it's about being closer at all, but more about the exposure to diversity. Vienna parents don't want that.

Common among FCPS is if the school is underenrolled, is to either put an IB or GT program there (e.g. Stuart, Marshall, Jackson, etc.).

It often, but not always, works. Some in Vienna will send their kids to Thoreau rather than the Jackson AAP center, but most send their kids to Jackson. Marshall currently has more transfers from other schools than any other high school in Fairfax County.
And the French immersion program attracts kids to Kent Gardens, which serves the oldest, least affluent part of McLean.

Good luck to Vienna parents if they can't deal with diversity. Even Madison, which is one of the least diverse high schools in the county, is 10% Hispanic now.

More Vienna parents choose to send their AAP kids back to the Thoreau, their base school, instead of Jackson for that diversity issue. That could be a reason why more kids from Thoreau get into TJ compared to Jackson, which has an AAP center. Thoreau is very much more overcapacity compared to Jackson.

Marshall transfers are likely based on this school offering an IB program. It's 5 year projected open enrollment change is 214 open. Without the IB program, there would be a lot fewer transfers into that school. It seems that kids would rather transfer into Marshall for IB rather than Stuart for IB, a school that has even more diversity.

Kent Gardens ES is filled beyond capacity, so underenrollment isn't a reason why they continue to have their French Immersion program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
More Vienna parents choose to send their AAP kids back to the Thoreau, their base school, instead of Jackson for that diversity issue. That could be a reason why more kids from Thoreau get into TJ compared to Jackson, which has an AAP center. Thoreau is very much more overcapacity compared to Jackson.

Marshall transfers are likely based on this school offering an IB program. It's 5 year projected open enrollment change is 214 open. Without the IB program, there would be a lot fewer transfers into that school. It seems that kids would rather transfer into Marshall for IB rather than Stuart for IB, a school that has even more diversity.

Kent Gardens ES is filled beyond capacity, so underenrollment isn't a reason why they continue to have their French Immersion program.

Nope, more kids are admitted to TJ from Jackson than from Thoreau. And that trend will likely increase, as more Vienna parents send their kids to Jackson as reports come back from other Vienna parents with AAP kids that their children haven't been eaten alive. Keep in mind that some Vienna parents didn't want to send their kids to Kilmer when GT kids were reassigned to Kilmer from Longfellow. They got over it then, and they will again.

The IB program does account for the vast majority of the transfers into Marshall. It's currently above-capacity and closed to transfers. The five-year projections are based on an ongoing renovation that will substantially increase the school's capacity based on assumptions of additional growth in and near Tysons.

Under-enrollment may not be a reason to keep the French program at Kent Gardens, but it was likely placed there in the first place because it's not as affluent as other parts of McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
More Vienna parents choose to send their AAP kids back to the Thoreau, their base school, instead of Jackson for that diversity issue. That could be a reason why more kids from Thoreau get into TJ compared to Jackson, which has an AAP center. Thoreau is very much more overcapacity compared to Jackson.

Marshall transfers are likely based on this school offering an IB program. It's 5 year projected open enrollment change is 214 open. Without the IB program, there would be a lot fewer transfers into that school. It seems that kids would rather transfer into Marshall for IB rather than Stuart for IB, a school that has even more diversity.

Kent Gardens ES is filled beyond capacity, so underenrollment isn't a reason why they continue to have their French Immersion program.

Nope, more kids are admitted to TJ from Jackson than from Thoreau. And that trend will likely increase, as more Vienna parents send their kids to Jackson as reports come back from other Vienna parents with AAP kids that their children haven't been eaten alive. Keep in mind that some Vienna parents didn't want to send their kids to Kilmer when GT kids were reassigned to Kilmer from Longfellow. They got over it then, and they will again.

The IB program does account for the vast majority of the transfers into Marshall. It's currently above-capacity and closed to transfers. The five-year projections are based on an ongoing renovation that will substantially increase the school's capacity based on assumptions of additional growth in and near Tysons.

Under-enrollment may not be a reason to keep the French program at Kent Gardens, but it was likely placed there in the first place because it's not as affluent as other parts of McLean.

Jackson has two more kids going to TJ compared to Thoreau. 10 to 8. Probably a few of those 8 were admitted to Jackson but their parents declined.

http://www.fcag.org/documents/tj/attachment4b.pdf

Take away the IB program from Marshall and Stuart and lot fewer students will be transferring to those schools.

As unaffluent as the Kent Gardens area is compared to other parts of McLean, it's pretty much on par with other areas in NoVA such as most parts of Vienna, so it's relative. Most parents at Kent Gardens would probably be happy for the French Immersion program to go away to reduce the size of the school. The student teacher ratio there seems to be a lower than quite a few other high performing schools in NoVA despite its size.

Based on your theory, it would make sense to relocate the French Immersion program to another school since there are a lot of other areas less "affluent" than the Kent Gardens boundary such as the Town of Vienna, Annandale, Centreville, Chantilly, Herndon, Fairfax, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As unaffluent as the Kent Gardens area is compared to other parts of McLean, it's pretty much on par with other areas in NoVA such as most parts of Vienna, so it's relative. Most parents at Kent Gardens would probably be happy for the French Immersion program to go away to reduce the size of the school. The student teacher ratio there seems to be a lower than quite a few other high performing schools in NoVA despite its size.

Based on your theory, it would make sense to relocate the French Immersion program to another school since there are a lot of other areas less "affluent" than the Kent Gardens boundary such as the Town of Vienna, Annandale, Centreville, Chantilly, Herndon, Fairfax, etc.

FCPS spreads out the special programs so people in McLean don't complain about being short-changed because of their affluence. The other areas get special programs, too (i.e., Cunningham Park in the Town of Vienna is a "priority school," several Annandale schools get extra resources because they are Title I schools, other schools in Herndon, etc. have their own language immersion programs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

As unaffluent as the Kent Gardens area is compared to other parts of McLean, it's pretty much on par with other areas in NoVA such as most parts of Vienna, so it's relative. Most parents at Kent Gardens would probably be happy for the French Immersion program to go away to reduce the size of the school. The student teacher ratio there seems to be a lower than quite a few other high performing schools in NoVA despite its size.

Based on your theory, it would make sense to relocate the French Immersion program to another school since there are a lot of other areas less "affluent" than the Kent Gardens boundary such as the Town of Vienna, Annandale, Centreville, Chantilly, Herndon, Fairfax, etc.

FCPS spreads out the special programs so people in McLean don't complain about being short-changed because of their affluence. The other areas get special programs, too (i.e., Cunningham Park in the Town of Vienna is a "priority school," several Annandale schools get extra resources because they are Title I schools, other schools in Herndon, etc. have their own language immersion programs).

Nope, if FCPS cared about spreading programs, then McLean, West Falls Church, and Great Falls wouldn't be the last areas to get full day kindergarten.

This "short changing" decision is based strictly on affluence of the area, according to FCPS, which probably doesn't care as much about "short changing" as you think.

And, surely none of these 3 areas nor their schools need to be designated as a priority school nor title I, no matter how people think these are affluent areas or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
More Vienna parents choose to send their AAP kids back to the Thoreau, their base school, instead of Jackson for that diversity issue. That could be a reason why more kids from Thoreau get into TJ compared to Jackson, which has an AAP center. Thoreau is very much more overcapacity compared to Jackson.

Marshall transfers are likely based on this school offering an IB program. It's 5 year projected open enrollment change is 214 open. Without the IB program, there would be a lot fewer transfers into that school. It seems that kids would rather transfer into Marshall for IB rather than Stuart for IB, a school that has even more diversity.

Kent Gardens ES is filled beyond capacity, so underenrollment isn't a reason why they continue to have their French Immersion program.

Nope, more kids are admitted to TJ from Jackson than from Thoreau. And that trend will likely increase, as more Vienna parents send their kids to Jackson as reports come back from other Vienna parents with AAP kids that their children haven't been eaten alive. Keep in mind that some Vienna parents didn't want to send their kids to Kilmer when GT kids were reassigned to Kilmer from Longfellow. They got over it then, and they will again.

The IB program does account for the vast majority of the transfers into Marshall. It's currently above-capacity and closed to transfers. The five-year projections are based on an ongoing renovation that will substantially increase the school's capacity based on assumptions of additional growth in and near Tysons.

Under-enrollment may not be a reason to keep the French program at Kent Gardens, but it was likely placed there in the first place because it's not as affluent as other parts of McLean.

Here is some information about kids at McLean elementary schools that qualify for Free or Reduced lunch:

Franklin Sherman - 3.13%
Chesterbrook - 2.94%
Spring Hill - 2.36%
Kent Gardens - 2.29%
Churchill Road - 1.24%