Louise Archer AAP closed to new rising 4th graders???

[Anonymous]

Who'll want to send their kid to school at an elementary school inside Capital One or some other office tower in Tysons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feel free to spearhead that discussion. We definitely need more capacity, particularly in the Tysons area where FCPS and the county will continue to lowball the projected numbers for new students until our kids are being taught in parking lots.

As for boundary changes....agree they would ease some of the overcrowding at some schools and are probably inevitable eventually given the growth in this area, but if you think it got ugly during the recent AAP adjustments, that will be nothing compared to when they start redistricting neighborhoods.

I agree that boundary changes will be ugly but I'm shocked at how ridiculously this capacity issue is being handled. They have to do something before it's a crisis in every single school in the area. they are just shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. I'm a Cluster 2 parent and when they changed the boundaries out of Haycock for our kids, I was constantly reminded that boundaries change and no one is guaranteed a certain school. . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who'll want to send their kid to school at an elementary school inside Capital One or some other office tower in Tysons?

I would if it was a good school. I don't have romantic notions of what a good grade school should look like. If it's a great education, atmosphere and culture, my kid could go to school in a tent for all I care. I'll bet a new school in an office building would be much nicer than some of the run down 1950's era grade schools in our area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feel free to spearhead that discussion. We definitely need more capacity, particularly in the Tysons area where FCPS and the county will continue to lowball the projected numbers for new students until our kids are being taught in parking lots.

As for boundary changes....agree they would ease some of the overcrowding at some schools and are probably inevitable eventually given the growth in this area, but if you think it got ugly during the recent AAP adjustments, that will be nothing compared to when they start redistricting neighborhoods.

I agree that boundary changes will be ugly but I'm shocked at how ridiculously this capacity issue is being handled. They have to do something before it's a crisis in every single school in the area. they are just shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. I'm a Cluster 2 parent and when they changed the boundaries out of Haycock for our kids, I was constantly reminded that boundaries change and no one is guaranteed a certain school. . . .

I think you're right. Sorry you got the short end in your boundary change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who'll want to send their kid to school at an elementary school inside Capital One or some other office tower in Tysons?

I would if it was a good school. I don't have romantic notions of what a good grade school should look like. If it's a great education, atmosphere and culture, my kid could go to school in a tent for all I care. I'll bet a new school in an office building would be much nicer than some of the run down 1950's era grade schools in our area.

The 1950s era grade schools get renovated eventually but the office building schools will always look like some corporate daycare center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feel free to spearhead that discussion. We definitely need more capacity, particularly in the Tysons area where FCPS and the county will continue to lowball the projected numbers for new students until our kids are being taught in parking lots.

As for boundary changes....agree they would ease some of the overcrowding at some schools and are probably inevitable eventually given the growth in this area, but if you think it got ugly during the recent AAP adjustments, that will be nothing compared to when they start redistricting neighborhoods.

I agree that boundary changes will be ugly but I'm shocked at how ridiculously this capacity issue is being handled. They have to do something before it's a crisis in every single school in the area. they are just shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. I'm a Cluster 2 parent and when they changed the boundaries out of Haycock for our kids, I was constantly reminded that boundaries change and no one is guaranteed a certain school. . . .

I think you're right. Sorry you got the short end in your boundary change.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. The option is to go to the new centers that FCPS is opening, or in the case of 4th graders and up, to decide if the other options like Colvin Run work for you. Otherwise, most of these older children can stay at their base school since many of them have been there for 4 years already. It's not a perfect option, but at the risk of sounding harsh, for a minority of AAP parents to expect the other 80 percent of a public school system to jump through hoops to ensure that the porridge is just right for their little darlings is ridiculous.

At least at our school, the capacity problem is the neighborhood population, not the Center. We consistently have 5 K classes now hen it used to be 3. Your rude statement is also wrong.

[Anonymous]

sorry you feel that way and that your base school is so overcrowded. ours is as well - as a lot of them now are. I think you misunderstand me, but whether you think my comment is rude or not it is the truth. If you read it closely you'll see that the specific kids I'm citing are in the higher grades, not necessarily ones new to the system either, but sometimes kids whose parents have pushed year after year to get them out of their base schools truly stretching the idea that their needs can't be met there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not just the town's opposition to trailers. It's a safety and even comfort issue of filtering all those kids to and from Louise Archer and through tiny hallways to get around the what was never that big of a school. Unless you just want to have all the kids eat lunch and have art, P.E. and maybe pretend recess in their classrooms. Though I'm sure some posters on here would suggest no sacrifice is to small to ensure their child gets the advanced curriculum they "need." Who cares how it affects other students or the neighborhood around it. Wake up and move on people! There's a reason the school board made the decision to reduce the number of new kids coming into LA and Haycock from other schools.

I agree with the need for space for the kids to move around and have specials. However, please keep in mind there is quite a difference in what the base schools are able to provide for students. Meaning some base schools have more ability to deal with students of varying learning levels because of bigger size or more resources. If LLIV were an option for us then of course we wouldn't be trying to push our kids into a crowded school. If more of the base schools had programs like Wolftrap or Freedom Hill then probably fewer students would go to the Center. They are moving in that direction with adding more LLIV, but for now, for some of the students, the Center is the best option. With my own DC, we tried the LLIII at the base school in 3rd grade and that's why DC is in this predicament of being pushed out of LA, because DC didn't start there in 3rd grade last year. LLIII was not a good fit--DC felt singled out and didn't like how the other students saw DC as one of the kids who gets special classes, special homework, etc. So we opted for the Center for next year, but now DC can't go to LA like all of the other neighborhood kids (including my other DC) and is being only given the option of Colvin Run.