Does this mean "goodbye" to GT Centers in Fairfax County?

[Anonymous]

Monday's all day work session includes an agenda item about the Annandale Regional Planning Study, Non-Boundary Solutions. Staff has provided a document (posted on BoardDocs):

http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/8EMSWK7131C7/$file/Annandale%20Matrix%20Comments%20%286%29%20%282%29.pdf

On page 6 of 9, for Option 1.c. -- described as "Reconfigure pyramid structure to 7-8 MSs"
- Holmes, Poe, Glasgow 7-8
- 6th grade added to all elementaries
- Annandale remains 9-12
- Add AAP to Poe or Holmes
- Boundary changes needed at AHS

there is a note under "Instructional Impact":

Adding an AAP center to Poe or Holmes is contrary to our current focus on full Honors being a Level IV service and creates another middle school center.


Does this mean that FCPS is ending GT centers in middle school?

[Anonymous]

No. It just means they do not want to add another center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. It just means they do not want to add another center.

So what is the difference between "full Honors = Level IV service" and GT Center? Aren't the GT Center middle school students in the same full Honors classes?

[Anonymous]

I just hope they don't add 6th grade to middle school. I know parents in MD & Loudon Co who are so envious because Fairfax Co school don't send their 6th graders off with the middle schoolers.

[Anonymous]

There are already GT centers at Frost and Glasgow, which are near Poe and Holmes. I think the GT/AAP students who otherwise would attend Poe and Holmes now probably go to those schools instead, and would continue to do so. So not adding a GT program to Poe or Holmes doesn't mean saying "goodbye" to GT centers in FFX.

In addition, Poe and Holmes already have 6th graders attending them. One question being considered as part of the Annandale study and the construction of Lacey Elementary is whether they should go back to being middle schools for just 7th-8th graders. It doesn't mean students in other parts of the county would be sent to middle school for 6th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In addition, Poe and Holmes already have 6th graders attending them. One question being considered as part of the Annandale study and the construction of Lacey Elementary is whether they should go back to being middle schools for just 7th-8th graders. It doesn't mean students in other parts of the county would be sent to middle school for 6th grade.

Thanks for your informative post. Why would they make a new elementary school go to only 5th grade? The rest of the county's middle schools are for 7th and 8th graders.

[Anonymous]

So what is the difference between "full Honors = Level IV service" and GT Center? Aren't the GT Center middle school students in the same full Honors classes?

Full Honors are GT equivilent classes that are open to any student in the school. GT Center programs are limited to GT students only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for your informative post. Why would they make a new elementary school go to only 5th grade? The rest of the county's middle schools are for 7th and 8th graders.

They would make Lacey a K-5 elementary school if it's already surrounded by other K-5 elementary schools that feed into middle schools (Poe, Glasgow, Holmes) that currently have 6-8 graders. On the other hand, if Lacey relieves the overcrowding at the nearby elementary schools, they might turn them back into K-6 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for your informative post. Why would they make a new elementary school go to only 5th grade? The rest of the county's middle schools are for 7th and 8th graders.

They would make Lacey a K-5 elementary school if it's already surrounded by other K-5 elementary schools that feed into middle schools (Poe, Glasgow, Holmes) that currently have 6-8 graders. On the other hand, if Lacey relieves the overcrowding at the nearby elementary schools, they might turn them back into K-6 schools.

Thank you! I sure hope they stick with having all the middle schools for 7th-8th grade, including Poe, Glasgow and Holmes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So what is the difference between "full Honors = Level IV service" and GT Center? Aren't the GT Center middle school students in the same full Honors classes?

Full Honors are GT equivilent classes that are open to any student in the school. GT Center programs are limited to GT students only.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

When my child was in 6th grade, we were told that full honors is not the same as GT. We were told that if we wanted our children to have a truly challenging curriculum (for them), we should choose the GT center over full honors.
We were shown completely different syllabi for the classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my child was in 6th grade, we were told that full honors is not the same as GT. We were told that if we wanted our children to have a truly challenging curriculum (for them), we should choose the GT center over full honors.
We were shown completely different syllabi for the classes.

How many years ago / how recent was this? What are the differences in syllabi between GT and honors/advanced classes in elementary and middle school? Our kids are in grade 1,2 and I have heard a lot about cutoffs and how to get into the GT streams etc... but not much really is said about how what they would learn is different - even if the peer group would be different - how is the curriculum different?

[Anonymous]

This was for last year. The example that comes to mind is that the English classes were reading different selections, with the GT choices being more advanced. We were also told that the GT teachers move through the curriculum more quickly than the Honors teachers.