FCPS email: AAP Level IV Centers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about Carson but I do know that GBW is very over crowded. I can't see the AAP center there being closed down but what if parents of schools that have level IV AAP had to stay at their school. Poplar Tree will have gr 3 level IV next year. I bet if Colin Powell and Poplar Tree had to stay at their schools for their own Level IV it would make a big difference at GBW.

And this is what so many parents have been advocating - that students with LLIV already in their base school stay there instead of being bused to centers. It makes perfect sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about Carson but I do know that GBW is very over crowded. I can't see the AAP center there being closed down but what if parents of schools that have level IV AAP had to stay at their school. Poplar Tree will have gr 3 level IV next year. I bet if Colin Powell and Poplar Tree had to stay at their schools for their own Level IV it would make a big difference at GBW.

And this is what so many parents have been advocating - that students with LLIV already in their base school stay there instead of being bused to centers. It makes perfect sense.

I'm glad to hear this. Then, why do so many who have the option to stay at their base school for LLIV still opt to go,to a center such as GBW? I keep hearing that happens. Should it even be an option when the service is available?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Should it even be an option when the service is available?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about Carson but I do know that GBW is very over crowded. I can't see the AAP center there being closed down but what if parents of schools that have level IV AAP had to stay at their school. Poplar Tree will have gr 3 level IV next year. I bet if Colin Powell and Poplar Tree had to stay at their schools for their own Level IV it would make a big difference at GBW.

And this is what so many parents have been advocating - that students with LLIV already in their base school stay there instead of being bused to centers. It makes perfect sense.

I'm glad to hear this. Then, why do so many who have the option to stay at their base school for LLIV still opt to go,to a center such as GBW? I keep hearing that happens. Should it even be an option when the service is available?

Because all in certain ethnic communities feel it is the Ctr or nothing....One has to be able to say that their child is in "GT". GBW is so overcrowded that
Kids have lunch at 1030 after starting school at 915 and some days they don' t get recess because of specials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about Carson but I do know that GBW is very over crowded. I can't see the AAP center there being closed down but what if parents of schools that have level IV AAP had to stay at their school. Poplar Tree will have gr 3 level IV next year. I bet if Colin Powell and Poplar Tree had to stay at their schools for their own Level IV it would make a big difference at GBW.

And this is what so many parents have been advocating - that students with LLIV already in their base school stay there instead of being bused to centers. It makes perfect sense.

I'm glad to hear this. Then, why do so many who have the option to stay at their base school for LLIV still opt to go,to a center such as GBW? I keep hearing that happens. Should it even be an option when the service is available?

Because all in certain ethnic communities feel it is the Ctr or nothing....One has to be able to say that their child is in "GT". GBW is so overcrowded that
Kids have lunch at 1030 after starting school at 915 and some days they don' t get recess because of specials.

This is NOT true, at least for me. I'm not in a certain ethnic community and I am sending my child to the center next year. I don't even discuss with anyone that my child is going to the center next year. My child is going to the center because I believe my child be better served at the center. At my school there are NO pullouts for K-2. Our AART is only part-time. Homework has been minimal. So far I have not been impressed with my child's base school. The center that my child will be going to will have many more after school activities that would interest my child. Sure, these same programs could be implemented in the base school, but there would not be the number of other interested students. Additionally, there is no way my school will have enough students to fill a LLIV class. So then who are the kids placed in them? I also worried about my child always being known as being in "the smart class" and possibly being teased for that. At a center there are several "smart classes" so my child is not going to stand out.

In my opinion, I think Fairfax County should have "magnet" elementary schools that are only for kids in the Level IV program. Local Level IV's should be eliminated. I can't imagine the amount of pressure the principal is under to pupil place the other students to fill a full class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about Carson but I do know that GBW is very over crowded. I can't see the AAP center there being closed down but what if parents of schools that have level IV AAP had to stay at their school. Poplar Tree will have gr 3 level IV next year. I bet if Colin Powell and Poplar Tree had to stay at their schools for their own Level IV it would make a big difference at GBW.

And this is what so many parents have been advocating - that students with LLIV already in their base school stay there instead of being bused to centers. It makes perfect sense.

I'm glad to hear this. Then, why do so many who have the option to stay at their base school for LLIV still opt to go,to a center such as GBW? I keep hearing that happens. Should it even be an option when the service is available?

Because all in certain ethnic communities feel it is the Ctr or nothing....One has to be able to say that their child is in "GT". GBW is so overcrowded that
Kids have lunch at 1030 after starting school at 915 and some days they don' t get recess because of specials.

That isn't unusual. We have lunches start at 10:30 as well. I have to believe the lack of recess is likely rare, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about Carson but I do know that GBW is very over crowded. I can't see the AAP center there being closed down but what if parents of schools that have level IV AAP had to stay at their school. Poplar Tree will have gr 3 level IV next year. I bet if Colin Powell and Poplar Tree had to stay at their schools for their own Level IV it would make a big difference at GBW.

And this is what so many parents have been advocating - that students with LLIV already in their base school stay there instead of being bused to centers. It makes perfect sense.

I'm glad to hear this. Then, why do so many who have the option to stay at their base school for LLIV still opt to go,to a center such as GBW? I keep hearing that happens. Should it even be an option when the service is available?

Because all in certain ethnic communities feel it is the Ctr or nothing....One has to be able to say that their child is in "GT". GBW is so overcrowded that
Kids have lunch at 1030 after starting school at 915 and some days they don' t get recess because of specials.

This is NOT true, at least for me. I'm not in a certain ethnic community and I am sending my child to the center next year. I don't even discuss with anyone that my child is going to the center next year. My child is going to the center because I believe my child be better served at the center. At my school there are NO pullouts for K-2. Our AART is only part-time. Homework has been minimal. So far I have not been impressed with my child's base school. The center that my child will be going to will have many more after school activities that would interest my child. Sure, these same programs could be implemented in the base school, but there would not be the number of other interested students. Additionally, there is no way my school will have enough students to fill a LLIV class. So then who are the kids placed in them? I also worried about my child always being known as being in "the smart class" and possibly being teased for that. At a center there are several "smart classes" so my child is not going to stand out.

In my opinion, I think Fairfax County should have "magnet" elementary schools that are only for kids in the Level IV program. Local Level IV's should be eliminated. I can't imagine the amount of pressure the principal is under to pupil place the other students to fill a full class.

God, no. Some AAP parents are so insufferable already. I can't imagine how awful they and their kids would be if they were tracked in stand-alone AAP academies starting in third grade.

[Anonymous]

So 10:02, you don't want your child to go to school with those awful AAP kids and their tiger parents.

You don't want them to be placed into a separate magnet school where you never need to see or talk to them.

You don't want a center in YOUR child's school.

You do however want the local level IV in every school, but only if your child is one of the kids principal placed into the local level IV.

If your child is not selected for local level IV, then you don't want that in your school either.

In fact, your preference is for no gifted or differentiated education whatsoever. Everyone the same, no one does any more or any less.

Well, perhaps you would be okay with a very small class of 10 or fewer "truly gifted" students receiving gifted services. That is "truly gifted" as defined by you, not by trained educators, nationally recognized and respected tests, testing standards that are far more rigorous than standards at almost every single other school district in the country (if you understood how the tests are scored this would be crystal clear to you), and a process that has multiple checks and balances along the way.

Not your selection criteria of what you deem to be gifted based off your biased observations of your own child and thay child's classmates.

Hmmm.

Do you realize how silly you sound?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So 10:02, you don't want your child to go to school with those awful AAP kids and their tiger parents.

You don't want them to be placed into a separate magnet school where you never need to see or talk to them.

You don't want a center in YOUR child's school.

You do however want the local level IV in every school, but only if your child is one of the kids principal placed into the local level IV.

If your child is not selected for local level IV, then you don't want that in your school either.

In fact, your preference is for no gifted or differentiated education whatsoever. Everyone the same, no one does any more or any less.

Well, perhaps you would be okay with a very small class of 10 or fewer "truly gifted" students receiving gifted services. That is "truly gifted" as defined by you, not by trained educators, nationally recognized and respected tests, testing standards that are far more rigorous than standards at almost every single other school district in the country (if you understood how the tests are scored this would be crystal clear to you), and a process that has multiple checks and balances along the way.

Not your selection criteria of what you deem to be gifted based off your biased observations of your own child and thay child's classmates.

Hmmm.

Do you realize how silly you sound?

You seem a bit over-caffeinated, to put it charitably. I believe a scaled-back AAP program housed in schools that also have other students attending their neighborhood school is the best way to go, as do many others. Encouraging large numbers of parents to believe their children are such special snowflakes that they need their own buildings from third grade on is, IMHO, really bad policy. The bubbles around here are already way too big.

[Anonymous]

It is definitely true that some families, particularly immigrants, want that center name or think they do. It's probably just due to a lack of knowledge that there are other options that could give the same outcome. Sitting at lunch at preschool, two Asian families next to me were talking about how their older children were going to a special school next year. When I asked about the new school thinking it was some magnet program or private school they said it was a public gifted center and how their children were very gifted and so very lucky to have been selected. They were also complaining that the younger child couldn't go to the center and would need to be bussed separately to the local school. I think they just didn't realize how large the program is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So 10:02, you don't want your child to go to school with those awful AAP kids and their tiger parents.

You don't want them to be placed into a separate magnet school where you never need to see or talk to them.

You don't want a center in YOUR child's school.

You do however want the local level IV in every school, but only if your child is one of the kids principal placed into the local level IV.

If your child is not selected for local level IV, then you don't want that in your school either.

In fact, your preference is for no gifted or differentiated education whatsoever. Everyone the same, no one does any more or any less.

Well, perhaps you would be okay with a very small class of 10 or fewer "truly gifted" students receiving gifted services. That is "truly gifted" as defined by you, not by trained educators, nationally recognized and respected tests, testing standards that are far more rigorous than standards at almost every single other school district in the country (if you understood how the tests are scored this would be crystal clear to you), and a process that has multiple checks and balances along the way.

Not your selection criteria of what you deem to be gifted based off your biased observations of your own child and thay child's classmates.

Hmmm.

Do you realize how silly you sound?

You seem a bit over-caffeinated, to put it charitably. I believe a scaled-back AAP program housed in schools that also have other students attending their neighborhood school is the best way to go, as do many others. Encouraging large numbers of parents to believe their children are such special snowflakes that they need their own buildings from third grade on is, IMHO, really bad policy. The bubbles around here are already way too big.

And you sound a little bitter.

If those kids are at a different school, then you don't have to deal with what you determine is their "insufferable" self worth.

I think that making fun of other people's children, talking about how "awful" these "special snowflakes" are says a lot about you, your objectivity and your agenda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So 10:02, you don't want your child to go to school with those awful AAP kids and their tiger parents.

You don't want them to be placed into a separate magnet school where you never need to see or talk to them.

You don't want a center in YOUR child's school.

You do however want the local level IV in every school, but only if your child is one of the kids principal placed into the local level IV.

If your child is not selected for local level IV, then you don't want that in your school either.

In fact, your preference is for no gifted or differentiated education whatsoever. Everyone the same, no one does any more or any less.

Well, perhaps you would be okay with a very small class of 10 or fewer "truly gifted" students receiving gifted services. That is "truly gifted" as defined by you, not by trained educators, nationally recognized and respected tests, testing standards that are far more rigorous than standards at almost every single other school district in the country (if you understood how the tests are scored this would be crystal clear to you), and a process that has multiple checks and balances along the way.

Not your selection criteria of what you deem to be gifted based off your biased observations of your own child and thay child's classmates.

Hmmm.

Do you realize how silly you sound?

You seem a bit over-caffeinated, to put it charitably. I believe a scaled-back AAP program housed in schools that also have other students attending their neighborhood school is the best way to go, as do many others. Encouraging large numbers of parents to believe their children are such special snowflakes that they need their own buildings from third grade on is, IMHO, really bad policy. The bubbles around here are already way too big.

And you sound a little bitter.

If those kids are at a different school, then you don't have to deal with what you determine is their "insufferable" self worth.

I think that making fun of other people's children, talking about how "awful" these "special snowflakes" are says a lot about you, your objectivity and your agenda.

Yes, I would be happy if people like you were elsewhere with your AAP kids, around whom the rest of the world is supposed to revolve, but not at the expense of depriving others of their neighborhood schools. It is a big enough mess already.

[Anonymous]

What gave you the idea that the poster you call "bitter" doesn't have a child or children in AAP? Hmmm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about Carson but I do know that GBW is very over crowded. I can't see the AAP center there being closed down but what if parents of schools that have level IV AAP had to stay at their school. Poplar Tree will have gr 3 level IV next year. I bet if Colin Powell and Poplar Tree had to stay at their schools for their own Level IV it would make a big difference at GBW.

And this is what so many parents have been advocating - that students with LLIV already in their base school stay there instead of being bused to centers. It makes perfect sense.

I'm glad to hear this. Then, why do so many who have the option to stay at their base school for LLIV still opt to go,to a center such as GBW? I keep hearing that happens. Should it even be an option when the service is available?

No. That's the point - that this service shouldn't even be offered if a student already has LLIV in their base school. Students who do not have LLIV in their base school could be given the option of attending another base school that does have it, eliminating centers altogether. Centers have outlived their usefulness and are more trouble than they're worth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about Carson but I do know that GBW is very over crowded. I can't see the AAP center there being closed down but what if parents of schools that have level IV AAP had to stay at their school. Poplar Tree will have gr 3 level IV next year. I bet if Colin Powell and Poplar Tree had to stay at their schools for their own Level IV it would make a big difference at GBW.

And this is what so many parents have been advocating - that students with LLIV already in their base school stay there instead of being bused to centers. It makes perfect sense.

I'm glad to hear this. Then, why do so many who have the option to stay at their base school for LLIV still opt to go,to a center such as GBW? I keep hearing that happens. Should it even be an option when the service is available?

Because all in certain ethnic communities feel it is the Ctr or nothing....One has to be able to say that their child is in "GT". GBW is so overcrowded that
Kids have lunch at 1030 after starting school at 915 and some days they don' t get recess because of specials.

This is NOT true, at least for me. I'm not in a certain ethnic community and I am sending my child to the center next year. I don't even discuss with anyone that my child is going to the center next year. My child is going to the center because I believe my child be better served at the center. At my school there are NO pullouts for K-2. Our AART is only part-time. Homework has been minimal. So far I have not been impressed with my child's base school. The center that my child will be going to will have many more after school activities that would interest my child. Sure, these same programs could be implemented in the base school, but there would not be the number of other interested students. Additionally, there is no way my school will have enough students to fill a LLIV class. So then who are the kids placed in them? I also worried about my child always being known as being in "the smart class" and possibly being teased for that. At a center there are several "smart classes" so my child is not going to stand out.

In my opinion, I think Fairfax County should have "magnet" elementary schools that are only for kids in the Level IV program. Local Level IV's should be eliminated. I can't imagine the amount of pressure the principal is under to pupil place the other students to fill a full class.

And for the GE kids, this is precisely the opposite problem they have at centers. There are so many AAP classes, that the remaining few in GE stand out. Imagine being a perfectly normal, bright child, who is not in AAP while most of the other students (just like him or her) are. It's very rough on the psyche to be in that situation. It makes it appear that AAP is "normal" and that the "normal" kids are somehow "less-than" - which they aren't. I'm the parent of such a child and actually agree with you that (if AAP is going to continue to exist) there should be separate schools for the Level IV kids. I think it would be much healthier for my child and other GE students to not have to see this false division every day and wonder why they're not in the classroom next door with their friends.

However, separate schools would almost certainly mean more resources diverted for the Level IV schools. And I am most definitely not in favor of that.