APS middle school - accelerated English and Science
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Anonymous
"Social differentiator"??!!! Is that how you choose classes for your child? Your child should take the classes that are most appropriate for THEM regardless of what other kids are taking. Taking a too-challenging course (especially something like math) just because the other kids are does not serve a child well. Both of my kids were "gifted" in math but chose to stay with the grade-level pathway progression. Math isn't their passion and they preferred to challenge themselves in subjects of greater interest to them. They were still friends with their peers who took the accelerated math pathway. |
Anonymous
Parents at certain middles schools want kids to be in intensified classes to they can self-segregate from the general population. Same reason a lot of folks pick choice schools. It's the thought that kids from these schools will come from involved families, good home life, not be the kids picking fights or doing drugs. That sort of thing. |
Anonymous
It has nothing to do with kids from "involved families". Just trying to get a feel for how many kids who are capable of intensified classes are actually taking the intensified classes. My kid is drawn to nerdier kids. Will he meet any in the regular classes? Or are they all taking intensified? If he didn't struggle to get assignments in on time, etc. I wouldn't hesitate to put him in intensified. But he does and we are trying to determine if it's "worth it" to take on extra load for little benefit. |
Anonymous
Thanks. Do you get the sense that most "gifted" kids do challenge themselves in APS middle schools? Are your kids going to do intensified next year? |
Anonymous
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Not sure if my 7th grader is gifted per se, but I know that she doesn't get enough HW and fairly easily earns As in every subject but math. She seems to blow through her assigned homework in under an hour each school night, so we hire English and math tutors to give her more work, bribe her to read beyond the curriculum, enroll her in heritage language classes on weekends and have her doing several music lessons for which she must practice a week.
We don't want her goofing off after school with her abundant free time due to the homework deficit at her APS MS. On a bright note, her 7th grade teachers seem good (a couple great) across the board and, yes, her good student pals also seemed to have signed up for a full menu of 8th grade intensified classes. |
Anonymous
My "sense" is (1) that a lot of parents think their kids truly are gifted and (2) many understand that "gifted" doesn't really mean what it used to mean and getting them identified as such is the only way to make sure they don't get overlooked and under-served because the kids in the middle often seem to be ill-served. Personally, I don't think APS middle schools are particularly rigorous in general. We're done with middle school now; so I can't speak to the new efforts with actually having intensified classes. Nevertheless, my "sense" and experience has been that parents and teachers both kind of push some kids into accelerated math regardless of how the student feels about it. On the other hand, our experience also is that if your above-average intelligence child has an IEP and isn't a straight-A student, they don't necessarily encourage an appropriate level of intellectual challenge and don't recommend them for AP World History or even intensified (for example) going into high school. Parents need to advocate for the appropriate level of academic challenge for their kids; and that, for us, went in both directions: no, keep child in grade level math; and, don't you think at least intensified history is appropriate for this child's knowledge and interests and will perhaps be more engaging than the general ed class? Both of my children have/are ultimately pursued/pursuing the challenges they each feel are appropriate and of relevance for them, their goals, and their interests. Both have taken various intensified and AP classes. One is graduating this year; the other is planning to take 3 AP classes and an intensified class next year - notably, including an AP class they never had interest in pursuing, likely due to lack of confidence and concerns about time management (both of which have been alleviated by pursuing appropriate levels of challenge, succeeding when they pushed their boundaries, talking with students who have taken the various courses, and having very good teachers who have made their classes interesting and have helped develop their skills and confidence in their abilities. I apologize for the lengthy response. Bottom line is that I think students generally challenge themselves to the extent the school offers challenge and/or to the extent parents push them with extra "enrichment" and learning opportunities outside of school. Middle school during our time there did not pose much academic challenge; but we were fortunate to have a few specific great teachers who encouraged and prepared them well for greater challenges in and throughout high school. (FWIW, we are a Title I elementary to TJ to Wakefield pyramid family). Middle school, IMO, was the weak leak. |
Anonymous
I don't understand why this is a criteria for you. If other capable kids are not challenging themselves, you would not encourage your child to challenge himself? And if they are over-challenging themselves, would you encourage him to over-challenge himself? Nevertheless, I'll say this: my son was not a good student, didn't like school generally, did the work when he was interested in it and didn't if he wasn't. As far as grades are concerned, which class level he was in wouldn't have made (and for the most part did not make) a bit of difference BUT! being in the intensified classes whenever possible was absolutely better for him. The slow - and I mean S L O W - pace of general ed classes is unbearable for a bright kid and does not generally have much of a possibility of sparking any interest, just making school even more boring. So, I don't know your kid; but if he's intellectually ready for the intensified version, that's what he's probably best taking. He may or may not continue to not turn his work in on time, but he'll learn more. |
Anonymous
PP here. I'll also add that I really don't think (esp in middle school) that the intensified will be that much of a heavier load. APS isn't big on homework and most work gets done in class. |
Anonymous
Thanks to the PPs for the last few posts. Very helpful. We will think through it more - there are certainly advantages to having DS be challenged. And work on EF skills. As for the social aspect, we were concerned that if he's meeting a bunch of kids who probably won't be intensified in HS he'll have to make a whole new set of friends then. It's just a lot of social change in a few years so hoping to line him up with some possible friends who he'd be around for the next few years. But obviously friend groups aren't strictly academic and they can shift over the years so it probably doesn't really matter. |
Anonymous
What school are you looking at? We are at Swanson and each grade is divided into three cohorts of about 100 kids each, I don't know if other schools do it this way as well. They are a mix of kids in terms of academic ability, IEPs, GT, etc. Beyond that, they mix during electives such as band, art, foreign language and of course extracurriculars. |
Anonymous
Absolutely. This is going to happen anyway. Some of those friends may go to an option program in high school. Of my son's social group of 6 or 7 kids in 8th grade, only one other ended up at our neighborhood high school with him. While they did start out with one class together (world language continued from middle school), they otherwise didn't see or interact with each other and the other kid dropped the class mid-year. There is no guarantee your son will be in any classes with any of his friends - or even have the same lunch period - when he starts high school. If he is interested in a sport or band that starts practice in the summer before school begins, that's the #1 best way to start high school. Especially band where you have band camp for a few weeks and get to know several kids from every grade level, increasing the chances of seeing a familiar and friendly face throughout the building throughout your day when school begins. Again, based on our experience with intensified and gen ed classes, I'd recommend the intensified. |
Anonymous
Other middle schools do this, too. If you're Wakefield bound, they divide freshmen into "houses" that each have their basic team of teachers. Kind of continues the middle school approach and keeps you with a core group of classmates, at least for your core classes. But a freshman class is so big anyway, it's not like you're following the same kids from class to class. Can't stress extracurricular activities - a sport, band, or club of great interest - enough! |