Does the proposed AAP Changes mean AAP in every MS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the idea is that kids will stay in their pyramids.

With all the split feeders, that doesn't happen now. The pyramids and clusters are mostly for administrative purposes.

[Anonymous]

The change needs to happen at the elementary school level, not middle school. They should simply offer local level IV at EVERY elementary school so everyone stays where they are supposed to go, and then up the standards for center admission, keeping the middle school centers as is or adding just a few. Would help with the overcrowding and transportation issues currently faced

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the idea is that kids will stay in their pyramids.

With all the split feeders, that doesn't happen now. The pyramids and clusters are mostly for administrative purposes.

Yes, we have several split feeder elementary schools in our area. In fact, the center school (Sangster) is a split feeder. Most of the boundary feeds into Lake Braddock, but the immediate neighborhood where Sangster is actually located feeds into West Springfield HS.

How are they going to address those kinds of situations?

It makes zero sense to use the middle/high school argument when reassigning elementary centers, when the general ed elementary students are already split between different middle and high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The change needs to happen at the elementary school level, not middle school. They should simply offer local level IV at EVERY elementary school so everyone stays where they are supposed to go, and then up the standards for center admission, keeping the middle school centers as is or adding just a few. Would help with the overcrowding and transportation issues currently faced

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The change needs to happen at the elementary school level, not middle school. They should simply offer local level IV at EVERY elementary school so everyone stays where they are supposed to go, and then up the standards for center admission, keeping the middle school centers as is or adding just a few. Would help with the overcrowding and transportation issues currently faced

+1000

I think that would be a huge step backward. We have a system in place that works well to educate kids with needs all across the spectrum. The centers have been lifesavers for so many kids who need the education the centers can provide. You just cannot have the same type of peer group in every elementary school.

Without the centers, in both elementary and middle school, the needs of a certain percentage of students simply cannot be met.

[Anonymous]

Being a parent at a base school which is also a center and seeing the overcrowding that is potentially compromising my kids education makes you see things differently. I blame most of it on county standards that aren't high enough, but with local level IV's it wouldn't happen as often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think that would be a huge step backward. We have a system in place that works well to educate kids with needs all across the spectrum. The centers have been lifesavers for so many kids who need the education the centers can provide. You just cannot have the same type of peer group in every elementary school.

Without the centers, in both elementary and middle school, the needs of a certain percentage of students simply cannot be met.

But everyone wants a center, so why not have a Local Level IV center in every middle school as well? Then there can be Level V Centers for the most advanced kids. Then everyone gets what thy want -- Local Level IV at every ES and MS school and it reduces the transportation costs as All Those Kids will not be getting bused around. It will only be the Level V kids.

[Anonymous]

Costs get saved when fcps starts telling ALL parents that if u want your kids in a different school you take them, NOT the taxpayer. Give me a break, too many aap kids are not aap material! And if ur kid really is that exceptional, make the effort to get them there yourself!

[Anonymous]

AMEN!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

I bet class size has had a lot to do with overcrowding as well. I mean when you say it's ok to have 35 children in a class and keep adding till all the rooms are full, the size of the school gets very big quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being a parent at a base school which is also a center and seeing the overcrowding that is potentially compromising my kids education makes you see things differently. I blame most of it on county standards that aren't high enough, but with local level IV's it wouldn't happen as often.

How is the overcrowding compromising your child's education? Sure, it sucks to have lunch and recess at not the greatest times, but I'm not sure that compromises your child's education.

[Anonymous]

How? Just to name a few...art on a cart, instead of an actual art room, the art teacher brings the art supplies to the classroom. Doubt this happens at non center schools. Music is also in the classroom or in a hallway classroom, that is a hallway that now has cubicles that function as walls, lunch at 10am or lunch at 2pm. When chaperoning, you may be asked to provide your own way to the destination due to the number of students, chaperones and seats on a bus. Now, does your school, your non center school have any of these wonderful attributes? No, of course not, but you send about 100 students to a center school and your non center kids benefit with an actual art class, a real music room, a decent lunch time, and ample time for recess. Did I mention how crowded the already too small playground is? Yes, the playground was built for say 500 kids, not the 800 or 900 or more that are currently students. Please, just acknowledge that the non center schools are the winners in all of this. And stop asking such dumb questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How? Just to name a few...art on a cart, instead of an actual art room, the art teacher brings the art supplies to the classroom. Doubt this happens at non center schools. Music is also in the classroom or in a hallway classroom, that is a hallway that now has cubicles that function as walls, lunch at 10am or lunch at 2pm. When chaperoning, you may be asked to provide your own way to the destination due to the number of students, chaperones and seats on a bus. Now, does your school, your non center school have any of these wonderful attributes? No, of course not, but you send about 100 students to a center school and your non center kids benefit with an actual art class, a real music room, a decent lunch time, and ample time for recess. Did I mention how crowded the already too small playground is? Yes, the playground was built for say 500 kids, not the 800 or 900 or more that are currently students. Please, just acknowledge that the non center schools are the winners in all of this. And stop asking such dumb questions.

Kids at both a center school and a non-center school.

Last year, the center school had dedicated music, strings, and art rooms.

The non-center school had art on the stage in the gym, and what sounded like strings occuring in a trailer. I have no idea where the music room was, but I believe it was inside the main school building. A lot of kids moved over the summer, so this year they have an art room.

Our area is fairly transient, so I think enrollment and overcrowding varies year to year based on what types of families are moving in and out of the area on a given year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How? Just to name a few...art on a cart, instead of an actual art room, the art teacher brings the art supplies to the classroom. Doubt this happens at non center schools. Music is also in the classroom or in a hallway classroom, that is a hallway that now has cubicles that function as walls, lunch at 10am or lunch at 2pm. When chaperoning, you may be asked to provide your own way to the destination due to the number of students, chaperones and seats on a bus. Now, does your school, your non center school have any of these wonderful attributes? No, of course not, but you send about 100 students to a center school and your non center kids benefit with an actual art class, a real music room, a decent lunch time, and ample time for recess. Did I mention how crowded the already too small playground is? Yes, the playground was built for say 500 kids, not the 800 or 900 or more that are currently students. Please, just acknowledge that the non center schools are the winners in all of this. And stop asking such dumb questions.

I'm sick to death of hearing about art on a cart. Really? For God's sake!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How? Just to name a few...art on a cart, instead of an actual art room, the art teacher brings the art supplies to the classroom. Doubt this happens at non center schools. Music is also in the classroom or in a hallway classroom, that is a hallway that now has cubicles that function as walls, lunch at 10am or lunch at 2pm. When chaperoning, you may be asked to provide your own way to the destination due to the number of students, chaperones and seats on a bus. Now, does your school, your non center school have any of these wonderful attributes? No, of course not, but you send about 100 students to a center school and your non center kids benefit with an actual art class, a real music room, a decent lunch time, and ample time for recess. Did I mention how crowded the already too small playground is? Yes, the playground was built for say 500 kids, not the 800 or 900 or more that are currently students. Please, just acknowledge that the non center schools are the winners in all of this. And stop asking such dumb questions.

FCPS is avoiding dealing with its overcrowding issue across the board. It affects centers and non-centers alike, and no one has any stomach for doing what needs to be done. But kudos for buying into their divide and conquer approach.