APS Neighborhood Elementary School- writing assignments and presentations

[Anonymous]

My oldest is in 3rd and the new ELA curriculum has been fantastic for him coming out of the pandemic 1st grade. I’m seeing huge leaps in the length and complexity of his writing.

Our school has an optional play and a yearbook for 5th graders. Ashlawn focuses on “Global Citizenship”, so our kids do a lot of volunteering and service projects.

I believe Cardinal and ATS focus on performing arts / school play for every grade level, every year.

[Anonymous]

My oldest is in 2nd and we were told that homework starts in 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. Definitely writing assignments. By fifth, they are writing 5 paragraph essays.

And before that they write poems, some schools even have them present them for a Mother’s Day tea. They re-search non-fiction Topics and write a book about it; they write their own myths. In fifth grade, they take a side on an issue like should school serve chocolate milk, and present their persuasive essays to the principal.

This sounds like the old curriculum. The new curriculum is knowledge-based with very specific readings and topics. My 4th grader's first writing assignment this year was an essay about polio. No more chocolate milk essays.

Polio???😱

My fifth grader a persuasive essay last year to the principal.

As was stated in the first response, there's a new curriculum. Last year isn't relevant.

And not all schools did the chocolate milk thing either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you'll find that the curriculum is the same across APS. So you won't find one school that's doing something drastically different. There may be teachers who are stronger spread out through the county, but I wouldn't pick a school based solely on one terrific teacher somewhere.

Also be aware of who is writing the comments. There are a few that love to pretend like Randolph or Drew are terrible schools to be avoided simply because they draw more heavily from a few enormous subsidized housing complexes. The families I know at these schools are all REALLY happy with the teachers and the school community. They run the gamut from Hispanic families living in apartments, to upper/middle class white families living in SFHs. So if you really want to know about a school, ask the people attending the school. Not the people hiding behind anonymous posting on DCUM (including me!).

I don’t know if you’re referencing a comment of mine but I really wish my kid was in Drew (I don’t know much about Randolph). We are zoned for a school with a pretty low FARMS population and it’s way worse than Drew based on my experience substituting in each school. The behavior of the kids is better and they are also doing a much better job bouncing back from the pandemic as far as test scores go.

I don't know much about Drew but I can tell you that Drew's principal, who was the former vice-principal in my kids school is excellent. We were sad to see her go but happy for her as well!

OP to answer your question, I'm really happy with the new ELA curriculum that APS has rolled out. It is appropriately challenging and knowledge based. For the lower grades APS has made great strides with focusing on phonics and phonemic awareness. I'm not sure if you are aware of the reading wars, but APS's former curriculum was not evidence based. It's new one is. There is also now a renewed focus on writing and I believe it is an issue that the board plans to tackle this year.

My kids school, ATS, assigns homework but I don't think its the norm for most schools in APS. I like it as it reinforces many of the concepts they learned in school. To be honest,

Regarding APS schools, no I don't think all schools are the same. Some schools are clearly better than others. I have heard horror stories about Oakridge for example - the third grade class didn't have a teacher for the entire first half of the year and the substitutes kept changing. There are rampant bullying and behavioral issues. But overall, most elementary schools seem to be quite good. I am more worried about middle school which seems to be a shitshow. High schools seem to be good overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you'll find that the curriculum is the same across APS. So you won't find one school that's doing something drastically different. There may be teachers who are stronger spread out through the county, but I wouldn't pick a school based solely on one terrific teacher somewhere.

Also be aware of who is writing the comments. There are a few that love to pretend like Randolph or Drew are terrible schools to be avoided simply because they draw more heavily from a few enormous subsidized housing complexes. The families I know at these schools are all REALLY happy with the teachers and the school community. They run the gamut from Hispanic families living in apartments, to upper/middle class white families living in SFHs. So if you really want to know about a school, ask the people attending the school. Not the people hiding behind anonymous posting on DCUM (including me!).

I don’t know if you’re referencing a comment of mine but I really wish my kid was in Drew (I don’t know much about Randolph). We are zoned for a school with a pretty low FARMS population and it’s way worse than Drew based on my experience substituting in each school. The behavior of the kids is better and they are also doing a much better job bouncing back from the pandemic as far as test scores go.

I don't know much about Drew but I can tell you that Drew's principal, who was the former vice-principal in my kids school is excellent. We were sad to see her go but happy for her as well!

OP to answer your question, I'm really happy with the new ELA curriculum that APS has rolled out. It is appropriately challenging and knowledge based. For the lower grades APS has made great strides with focusing on phonics and phonemic awareness. I'm not sure if you are aware of the reading wars, but APS's former curriculum was not evidence based. It's new one is. There is also now a renewed focus on writing and I believe it is an issue that the board plans to tackle this year.

My kids school, ATS, assigns homework but I don't think its the norm for most schools in APS. I like it as it reinforces many of the concepts they learned in school. To be honest,

Regarding APS schools, no I don't think all schools are the same. Some schools are clearly better than others. I have heard horror stories about Oakridge for example - the third grade class didn't have a teacher for the entire first half of the year and the substitutes kept changing. There are rampant bullying and behavioral issues. But overall, most elementary schools seem to be quite good. I am more worried about middle school which seems to be a shitshow. High schools seem to be good overall.

PP again. Sorry I forgot to answer the rest of your questions. There seem to be many afterschool clubs though most of them are for upper elementary. Lots of chances for public speaking throughout the year and each class performs a class play. This is at ATS but I'm assuming the rest of the schools are similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you'll find that the curriculum is the same across APS. So you won't find one school that's doing something drastically different. There may be teachers who are stronger spread out through the county, but I wouldn't pick a school based solely on one terrific teacher somewhere.

Also be aware of who is writing the comments. There are a few that love to pretend like Randolph or Drew are terrible schools to be avoided simply because they draw more heavily from a few enormous subsidized housing complexes. The families I know at these schools are all REALLY happy with the teachers and the school community. They run the gamut from Hispanic families living in apartments, to upper/middle class white families living in SFHs. So if you really want to know about a school, ask the people attending the school. Not the people hiding behind anonymous posting on DCUM (including me!).

I don’t know if you’re referencing a comment of mine but I really wish my kid was in Drew (I don’t know much about Randolph). We are zoned for a school with a pretty low FARMS population and it’s way worse than Drew based on my experience substituting in each school. The behavior of the kids is better and they are also doing a much better job bouncing back from the pandemic as far as test scores go.

I don't know much about Drew but I can tell you that Drew's principal, who was the former vice-principal in my kids school is excellent. We were sad to see her go but happy for her as well!

OP to answer your question, I'm really happy with the new ELA curriculum that APS has rolled out. It is appropriately challenging and knowledge based. For the lower grades APS has made great strides with focusing on phonics and phonemic awareness. I'm not sure if you are aware of the reading wars, but APS's former curriculum was not evidence based. It's new one is. There is also now a renewed focus on writing and I believe it is an issue that the board plans to tackle this year.

My kids school, ATS, assigns homework but I don't think its the norm for most schools in APS. I like it as it reinforces many of the concepts they learned in school. To be honest,

Regarding APS schools, no I don't think all schools are the same. Some schools are clearly better than others. I have heard horror stories about Oakridge for example - the third grade class didn't have a teacher for the entire first half of the year and the substitutes kept changing. There are rampant bullying and behavioral issues. But overall, most elementary schools seem to be quite good. I am more worried about middle school which seems to be a shitshow. High schools seem to be good overall.

PP here and fun fact: we are at oakridge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you'll find that the curriculum is the same across APS. So you won't find one school that's doing something drastically different. There may be teachers who are stronger spread out through the county, but I wouldn't pick a school based solely on one terrific teacher somewhere.

Also be aware of who is writing the comments. There are a few that love to pretend like Randolph or Drew are terrible schools to be avoided simply because they draw more heavily from a few enormous subsidized housing complexes. The families I know at these schools are all REALLY happy with the teachers and the school community. They run the gamut from Hispanic families living in apartments, to upper/middle class white families living in SFHs. So if you really want to know about a school, ask the people attending the school. Not the people hiding behind anonymous posting on DCUM (including me!).

I don’t know if you’re referencing a comment of mine but I really wish my kid was in Drew (I don’t know much about Randolph). We are zoned for a school with a pretty low FARMS population and it’s way worse than Drew based on my experience substituting in each school. The behavior of the kids is better and they are also doing a much better job bouncing back from the pandemic as far as test scores go.

I don't know much about Drew but I can tell you that Drew's principal, who was the former vice-principal in my kids school is excellent. We were sad to see her go but happy for her as well!

OP to answer your question, I'm really happy with the new ELA curriculum that APS has rolled out. It is appropriately challenging and knowledge based. For the lower grades APS has made great strides with focusing on phonics and phonemic awareness. I'm not sure if you are aware of the reading wars, but APS's former curriculum was not evidence based. It's new one is. There is also now a renewed focus on writing and I believe it is an issue that the board plans to tackle this year.

My kids school, ATS, assigns homework but I don't think its the norm for most schools in APS. I like it as it reinforces many of the concepts they learned in school. To be honest,

Regarding APS schools, no I don't think all schools are the same. Some schools are clearly better than others. I have heard horror stories about Oakridge for example - the third grade class didn't have a teacher for the entire first half of the year and the substitutes kept changing. There are rampant bullying and behavioral issues. But overall, most elementary schools seem to be quite good. I am more worried about middle school which seems to be a shitshow. High schools seem to be good overall.

ATS’s former AP went to fleet Drew

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. Definitely writing assignments. By fifth, they are writing 5 paragraph essays.

And before that they write poems, some schools even have them present them for a Mother’s Day tea. They re-search non-fiction Topics and write a book about it; they write their own myths. In fifth grade, they take a side on an issue like should school serve chocolate milk, and present their persuasive essays to the principal.

This sounds like the old curriculum. The new curriculum is knowledge-based with very specific readings and topics. My 4th grader's first writing assignment this year was an essay about polio. No more chocolate milk essays.

Polio???😱

My fifth grader a persuasive essay last year to the principal.

As was stated in the first response, there's a new curriculum. Last year isn't relevant.

My kid is in 5th this year and is writing a persuasive essay but it is on Einstein..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you'll find that the curriculum is the same across APS. So you won't find one school that's doing something drastically different. There may be teachers who are stronger spread out through the county, but I wouldn't pick a school based solely on one terrific teacher somewhere.

Also be aware of who is writing the comments. There are a few that love to pretend like Randolph or Drew are terrible schools to be avoided simply because they draw more heavily from a few enormous subsidized housing complexes. The families I know at these schools are all REALLY happy with the teachers and the school community. They run the gamut from Hispanic families living in apartments, to upper/middle class white families living in SFHs. So if you really want to know about a school, ask the people attending the school. Not the people hiding behind anonymous posting on DCUM (including me!).

I don’t know if you’re referencing a comment of mine but I really wish my kid was in Drew (I don’t know much about Randolph). We are zoned for a school with a pretty low FARMS population and it’s way worse than Drew based on my experience substituting in each school. The behavior of the kids is better and they are also doing a much better job bouncing back from the pandemic as far as test scores go.

I don't know much about Drew but I can tell you that Drew's principal, who was the former vice-principal in my kids school is excellent. We were sad to see her go but happy for her as well!

OP to answer your question, I'm really happy with the new ELA curriculum that APS has rolled out. It is appropriately challenging and knowledge based. For the lower grades APS has made great strides with focusing on phonics and phonemic awareness. I'm not sure if you are aware of the reading wars, but APS's former curriculum was not evidence based. It's new one is. There is also now a renewed focus on writing and I believe it is an issue that the board plans to tackle this year.

My kids school, ATS, assigns homework but I don't think its the norm for most schools in APS. I like it as it reinforces many of the concepts they learned in school. To be honest,

Regarding APS schools, no I don't think all schools are the same. Some schools are clearly better than others. I have heard horror stories about Oakridge for example - the third grade class didn't have a teacher for the entire first half of the year and the substitutes kept changing. There are rampant bullying and behavioral issues. But overall, most elementary schools seem to be quite good. I am more worried about middle school which seems to be a shitshow. High schools seem to be good overall.

PP here and fun fact: we are at oakridge.

Then you should do some digging on why there is not currently an AP at Oakridge…..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you'll find that the curriculum is the same across APS. So you won't find one school that's doing something drastically different. There may be teachers who are stronger spread out through the county, but I wouldn't pick a school based solely on one terrific teacher somewhere.

Also be aware of who is writing the comments. There are a few that love to pretend like Randolph or Drew are terrible schools to be avoided simply because they draw more heavily from a few enormous subsidized housing complexes. The families I know at these schools are all REALLY happy with the teachers and the school community. They run the gamut from Hispanic families living in apartments, to upper/middle class white families living in SFHs. So if you really want to know about a school, ask the people attending the school. Not the people hiding behind anonymous posting on DCUM (including me!).

I don’t know if you’re referencing a comment of mine but I really wish my kid was in Drew (I don’t know much about Randolph). We are zoned for a school with a pretty low FARMS population and it’s way worse than Drew based on my experience substituting in each school. The behavior of the kids is better and they are also doing a much better job bouncing back from the pandemic as far as test scores go.

I don't know much about Drew but I can tell you that Drew's principal, who was the former vice-principal in my kids school is excellent. We were sad to see her go but happy for her as well!

OP to answer your question, I'm really happy with the new ELA curriculum that APS has rolled out. It is appropriately challenging and knowledge based. For the lower grades APS has made great strides with focusing on phonics and phonemic awareness. I'm not sure if you are aware of the reading wars, but APS's former curriculum was not evidence based. It's new one is. There is also now a renewed focus on writing and I believe it is an issue that the board plans to tackle this year.

My kids school, ATS, assigns homework but I don't think its the norm for most schools in APS. I like it as it reinforces many of the concepts they learned in school. To be honest,

Regarding APS schools, no I don't think all schools are the same. Some schools are clearly better than others. I have heard horror stories about Oakridge for example - the third grade class didn't have a teacher for the entire first half of the year and the substitutes kept changing. There are rampant bullying and behavioral issues. But overall, most elementary schools seem to be quite good. I am more worried about middle school which seems to be a shitshow. High schools seem to be good overall.

PP here and fun fact: we are at oakridge.

Then you should do some digging on why there is not currently an AP at Oakridge…..

Didn’t know this. Is that the Hispanic AP? She was there when our kids attended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you'll find that the curriculum is the same across APS. So you won't find one school that's doing something drastically different. There may be teachers who are stronger spread out through the county, but I wouldn't pick a school based solely on one terrific teacher somewhere.

Also be aware of who is writing the comments. There are a few that love to pretend like Randolph or Drew are terrible schools to be avoided simply because they draw more heavily from a few enormous subsidized housing complexes. The families I know at these schools are all REALLY happy with the teachers and the school community. They run the gamut from Hispanic families living in apartments, to upper/middle class white families living in SFHs. So if you really want to know about a school, ask the people attending the school. Not the people hiding behind anonymous posting on DCUM (including me!).

I don’t know if you’re referencing a comment of mine but I really wish my kid was in Drew (I don’t know much about Randolph). We are zoned for a school with a pretty low FARMS population and it’s way worse than Drew based on my experience substituting in each school. The behavior of the kids is better and they are also doing a much better job bouncing back from the pandemic as far as test scores go.

I don't know much about Drew but I can tell you that Drew's principal, who was the former vice-principal in my kids school is excellent. We were sad to see her go but happy for her as well!

OP to answer your question, I'm really happy with the new ELA curriculum that APS has rolled out. It is appropriately challenging and knowledge based. For the lower grades APS has made great strides with focusing on phonics and phonemic awareness. I'm not sure if you are aware of the reading wars, but APS's former curriculum was not evidence based. It's new one is. There is also now a renewed focus on writing and I believe it is an issue that the board plans to tackle this year.

My kids school, ATS, assigns homework but I don't think its the norm for most schools in APS. I like it as it reinforces many of the concepts they learned in school. To be honest,

Regarding APS schools, no I don't think all schools are the same. Some schools are clearly better than others. I have heard horror stories about Oakridge for example - the third grade class didn't have a teacher for the entire first half of the year and the substitutes kept changing. There are rampant bullying and behavioral issues. But overall, most elementary schools seem to be quite good. I am more worried about middle school which seems to be a shitshow. High schools seem to be good overall.

PP here and fun fact: we are at oakridge.

Then you should do some digging on why there is not currently an AP at Oakridge…..

Didn’t know this. Is that the Hispanic AP? She was there when our kids attended.

Nope. She left at the end of last year. And her replacement lasted a few months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you'll find that the curriculum is the same across APS. So you won't find one school that's doing something drastically different. There may be teachers who are stronger spread out through the county, but I wouldn't pick a school based solely on one terrific teacher somewhere.

Also be aware of who is writing the comments. There are a few that love to pretend like Randolph or Drew are terrible schools to be avoided simply because they draw more heavily from a few enormous subsidized housing complexes. The families I know at these schools are all REALLY happy with the teachers and the school community. They run the gamut from Hispanic families living in apartments, to upper/middle class white families living in SFHs. So if you really want to know about a school, ask the people attending the school. Not the people hiding behind anonymous posting on DCUM (including me!).

I don’t know if you’re referencing a comment of mine but I really wish my kid was in Drew (I don’t know much about Randolph). We are zoned for a school with a pretty low FARMS population and it’s way worse than Drew based on my experience substituting in each school. The behavior of the kids is better and they are also doing a much better job bouncing back from the pandemic as far as test scores go.

I don't know much about Drew but I can tell you that Drew's principal, who was the former vice-principal in my kids school is excellent. We were sad to see her go but happy for her as well!

OP to answer your question, I'm really happy with the new ELA curriculum that APS has rolled out. It is appropriately challenging and knowledge based. For the lower grades APS has made great strides with focusing on phonics and phonemic awareness. I'm not sure if you are aware of the reading wars, but APS's former curriculum was not evidence based. It's new one is. There is also now a renewed focus on writing and I believe it is an issue that the board plans to tackle this year.

My kids school, ATS, assigns homework but I don't think its the norm for most schools in APS. I like it as it reinforces many of the concepts they learned in school. To be honest,

Regarding APS schools, no I don't think all schools are the same. Some schools are clearly better than others. I have heard horror stories about Oakridge for example - the third grade class didn't have a teacher for the entire first half of the year and the substitutes kept changing. There are rampant bullying and behavioral issues. But overall, most elementary schools seem to be quite good. I am more worried about middle school which seems to be a shitshow. High schools seem to be good overall.

PP here and fun fact: we are at oakridge.

Then you should do some digging on why there is not currently an AP at Oakridge…..

can you enlighten us?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you'll find that the curriculum is the same across APS. So you won't find one school that's doing something drastically different. There may be teachers who are stronger spread out through the county, but I wouldn't pick a school based solely on one terrific teacher somewhere.

Also be aware of who is writing the comments. There are a few that love to pretend like Randolph or Drew are terrible schools to be avoided simply because they draw more heavily from a few enormous subsidized housing complexes. The families I know at these schools are all REALLY happy with the teachers and the school community. They run the gamut from Hispanic families living in apartments, to upper/middle class white families living in SFHs. So if you really want to know about a school, ask the people attending the school. Not the people hiding behind anonymous posting on DCUM (including me!).

I don’t know if you’re referencing a comment of mine but I really wish my kid was in Drew (I don’t know much about Randolph). We are zoned for a school with a pretty low FARMS population and it’s way worse than Drew based on my experience substituting in each school. The behavior of the kids is better and they are also doing a much better job bouncing back from the pandemic as far as test scores go.

I don't know much about Drew but I can tell you that Drew's principal, who was the former vice-principal in my kids school is excellent. We were sad to see her go but happy for her as well!

OP to answer your question, I'm really happy with the new ELA curriculum that APS has rolled out. It is appropriately challenging and knowledge based. For the lower grades APS has made great strides with focusing on phonics and phonemic awareness. I'm not sure if you are aware of the reading wars, but APS's former curriculum was not evidence based. It's new one is. There is also now a renewed focus on writing and I believe it is an issue that the board plans to tackle this year.

My kids school, ATS, assigns homework but I don't think its the norm for most schools in APS. I like it as it reinforces many of the concepts they learned in school. To be honest,

Regarding APS schools, no I don't think all schools are the same. Some schools are clearly better than others. I have heard horror stories about Oakridge for example - the third grade class didn't have a teacher for the entire first half of the year and the substitutes kept changing. There are rampant bullying and behavioral issues. But overall, most elementary schools seem to be quite good. I am more worried about middle school which seems to be a shitshow. High schools seem to be good overall.

ATS’s former AP went to fleet Drew

Went to Fleet OR Drew? Which one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. Definitely writing assignments. By fifth, they are writing 5 paragraph essays.

And before that they write poems, some schools even have them present them for a Mother’s Day tea. They re-search non-fiction Topics and write a book about it; they write their own myths. In fifth grade, they take a side on an issue like should school serve chocolate milk, and present their persuasive essays to the principal.

This sounds like the old curriculum. The new curriculum is knowledge-based with very specific readings and topics. My 4th grader's first writing assignment this year was an essay about polio. No more chocolate milk essays.

Polio???😱

My fifth grader a persuasive essay last year to the principal.

As was stated in the first response, there's a new curriculum. Last year isn't relevant.

And not all schools did the chocolate milk thing either.

No one said that. One person gave their experience. PP was a "per my previous email" type.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. Definitely writing assignments. By fifth, they are writing 5 paragraph essays.

And before that they write poems, some schools even have them present them for a Mother’s Day tea. They re-search non-fiction Topics and write a book about it; they write their own myths. In fifth grade, they take a side on an issue like should school serve chocolate milk, and present their persuasive essays to the principal.

This sounds like the old curriculum. The new curriculum is knowledge-based with very specific readings and topics. My 4th grader's first writing assignment this year was an essay about polio. No more chocolate milk essays.

Polio???😱

My fifth grader a persuasive essay last year to the principal.

As was stated in the first response, there's a new curriculum. Last year isn't relevant.

And not all schools did the chocolate milk thing either.

No one said that. One person gave their experience. PP was a "per my previous email" type.

Per you previous post, you are a jerk.