AAP school experience

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:In my experience, it's parents of the gen ed kids who cause the most strife. They pass their jealousy off to their kids, which is nonsense if AAP is the lousy program they claim it is. If that were true, why would it matter what class your kid was in?

Agree! They have an inferiority complex.

Respectfully, you're full of crap. Parents could remain completely silent about anything AAP-related, and the Gen Ed kids would still be getting the message from AAP kids in some instances that the AAP kids are "gifted" and the Gen Ed kids are "lesser than." It's a predictable consequence of the structure FCPS has created and the early age at which kids are screened and separated. One need only read Golding or Orwell to know this.

Exactly. This is human nature and FCPS has seen fit to foster this environment by creating this enormous monster (AAP) and labeling kids at the age of seven. It truly turns my stomach. Which isn't to say there shouldn't be advanced classes - there absolutely should. But ALL kids should be able to cycle into and out of them as needed. I think teachers would be quite astounded at exactly who is advanced when given the chance to perform. And this is why you see so many kids leaping ahead in high school - because they're finally "allowed" to take advanced classes. They should have been allowed the entire time.

+1This is fundamentally wrong. And the irony is that the kids in AAP are on the most part average students. Then you have some overly trained, overly supplemented ones who appear smart but only due to outside tutors, parents, and classes. Then you only truly have 1-2% who are gifted academics who want to learn for learning’s sake. The program has been a ruse and a disappointment in implementation.

We used to live in a high FARMs area and there was a huge difference when my child went to the AAP center. All the smart kids from 10+ schools went to an AAP center and the cohort of kids was excellent. We then moved to a wealthier area and the AAP peer group has also been positive. Of course the bottom kids at AAP are just average and some smart kids who should have gotten in didn’t get in but for the most part, the peer group is great.

DP. Do you hear yourself? FYI, there were plenty of smart kids who remained at their base schools and/or didn't get into AAP.

Well they weren’t able to get into the top 30% of fcps to get into AAP.

It is fine if your kid didn’t get in. It is fine to feel bad about it. You don’t need to say how smart they are compared to the kids who are in the program.

That there are actually 30% of students in this bloated program says it all. What a joke!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:In my experience, it's parents of the gen ed kids who cause the most strife. They pass their jealousy off to their kids, which is nonsense if AAP is the lousy program they claim it is. If that were true, why would it matter what class your kid was in?

Oh, please. When your kid comes home from school in tears because all of their friends told them they just "weren't smart enough" to join them in AAP, get back to us. I never said anything at all to my DC about AAP, other than to reassure them after being hurt by these obnoxious kids.

Calling them “obnoxious“ really bolsters your argument that you’re not jealous.

DP but gee, I wonder where these children are getting their "we're better than you" attitude from. In talking to neighbors, all the bright kids end up in the same AP classes in high school anyway, so why should anyone care?

Here's the thing: Parents without kids in AAP spout all the time that "kids are all together in MS honors" or "end up in the same AP classes high school anyway."

If that is the truth, turn the question back on yourselves: Why should anyone care?

I'm so sick of parents trying to cut down a program just because their kid wasn't selected. Grow up.

I just posted above that my kid is a high stat kid. I don’t know all the kids from all the other schools. I do know most of the kids that my kids went to elementary school with. Many kids who didn’t get into AAP switched to private school, the ones who probably would have done well in honors or AP classes. There are new kids who moved in middle and high school who were never in AAP that do great too. There is not some huge population of non AAP kids who do significantly better than the AAP kids and end up at Harvard or Yale.

You're right, you don't know all the kids from all the other schools so your weird anecdote is totally false. AAP is not the huge indicator of success that you think it is.

I didn’t grow up around here. I did attend a magnet high school and DH and I are both ivy educated. I really don’t care about AAP or what college others go to. I definitely don’t care if another person’s kid is in AAP or not. I only care about my kids and I like their peer group in AAP.

I meant the other elementary schools feeding into Cooper/Langley when referring to other schools. From our elementary, most of the smart kids were in AAP. It felt like half of Cooper was AAP so this isn’t some difficult group to be in.

I knew from your first post that you were a Langley parent. So obvious.

DP. Um, I'm a Langley parent also and have been rolling my eyes at the above poster. No need to paint everyone with the same brush.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

I knew a teacher who was really exasperated about one of those 2E kids in her classroom who threw screaming fits frequently. The kind where the rest of the class had to leave while the child exploded screaming. And, the irony: the kid really wasn't that smart. The mom pushed for it.

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it sounds a whole lot like frustration that students with disabilities can also be gifted.

Sorry that challenges your belief in eugenics

Do you even know what that means? That had nothing to do with the comment.

But, if the teacher did not think the child was gifted, why do you think that? You do know that parents who complain and push frequently get their kids admitted.

This surely demonstrates your ignorance about the program. Parents can’t “push” their kids into it. They have to be selected by a committee.

DP. Wrong. At our center, parents who were friends with the principal asked the principal to place their kids in the AAP classes. It's called "principal placing" and pushy parents use it to their advantage all the time.

Then your school isn’t a center. That would be a local level IV school. Principals cannot pupil place kids into center AAP classes.

Hi. I'm the PP. And my school is indeed a center school. The principal can - and does - place kids into AAP classes as they see fit. Please stop putting out false information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This happens at every thread. AAP parents are in complete denial about their children's entitlement and bad behavior. They're in AAP because they're better than everyone else, surely they could never be bullies. Sorry parents, some of them are. Not all of them, of course, but some of them are. And no, general ed parents aren't jealous, they're pissed because your kids are being jerks.

Precisely this.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

I knew a teacher who was really exasperated about one of those 2E kids in her classroom who threw screaming fits frequently. The kind where the rest of the class had to leave while the child exploded screaming. And, the irony: the kid really wasn't that smart. The mom pushed for it.

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it sounds a whole lot like frustration that students with disabilities can also be gifted.

Sorry that challenges your belief in eugenics

Do you even know what that means? That had nothing to do with the comment.

But, if the teacher did not think the child was gifted, why do you think that? You do know that parents who complain and push frequently get their kids admitted.

This surely demonstrates your ignorance about the program. Parents can’t “push” their kids into it. They have to be selected by a committee.

DP. Wrong. At our center, parents who were friends with the principal asked the principal to place their kids in the AAP classes. It's called "principal placing" and pushy parents use it to their advantage all the time.

Then your school isn’t a center. That would be a local level IV school. Principals cannot pupil place kids into center AAP classes.

DP but yes they can to round out class sizes. Otherwise you could have huge differences in class sizes between AAP and General Ed. You just can't have an AAP class that is 35 kids or two that are 17 when the general ed classes are 25. They pull from general education to even out class sizes.

You are completely wrong. In a center school, principals cannot round out class sizes to their liking. They can only do this at a local level IV school. In fact, that’s why many kids choose the center school - the class cannot be padded with Gen Ed kids. All the kids are committee placed only.

Do you even know what the difference is between a center school and a local level IV school?

DP. This is absolute BS. How do I know that? Because OUR CENTER SCHOOL does exactly this. Please stop lecturing others about the reality of their own schools - which you clearly know nothing about. It is YOU who is completely wrong.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

I knew a teacher who was really exasperated about one of those 2E kids in her classroom who threw screaming fits frequently. The kind where the rest of the class had to leave while the child exploded screaming. And, the irony: the kid really wasn't that smart. The mom pushed for it.

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it sounds a whole lot like frustration that students with disabilities can also be gifted.

Sorry that challenges your belief in eugenics

Do you even know what that means? That had nothing to do with the comment.

But, if the teacher did not think the child was gifted, why do you think that? You do know that parents who complain and push frequently get their kids admitted.

This surely demonstrates your ignorance about the program. Parents can’t “push” their kids into it. They have to be selected by a committee.

DP. Wrong. At our center, parents who were friends with the principal asked the principal to place their kids in the AAP classes. It's called "principal placing" and pushy parents use it to their advantage all the time.

Then your school isn’t a center. That would be a local level IV school. Principals cannot pupil place kids into center AAP classes.

DP but yes they can to round out class sizes. Otherwise you could have huge differences in class sizes between AAP and General Ed. You just can't have an AAP class that is 35 kids or two that are 17 when the general ed classes are 25. They pull from general education to even out class sizes.

You are completely wrong. In a center school, principals cannot round out class sizes to their liking. They can only do this at a local level IV school. In fact, that’s why many kids choose the center school - the class cannot be padded with Gen Ed kids. All the kids are committee placed only.

Do you even know what the difference is between a center school and a local level IV school?

Also - "padded with Gen Ed kids"?? Do you even hear yourself? So it's perfectly ok for Gen Ed classes to be "padded with SPED kids," but those AAP kids somehow deserve to have classes all to themselves? Honestly, the more I read this thread, the more I sincerely hope FCPS gets a clue and does away with center schools. Unreal.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

I knew a teacher who was really exasperated about one of those 2E kids in her classroom who threw screaming fits frequently. The kind where the rest of the class had to leave while the child exploded screaming. And, the irony: the kid really wasn't that smart. The mom pushed for it.

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it sounds a whole lot like frustration that students with disabilities can also be gifted.

Sorry that challenges your belief in eugenics

Do you even know what that means? That had nothing to do with the comment.

But, if the teacher did not think the child was gifted, why do you think that? You do know that parents who complain and push frequently get their kids admitted.

This surely demonstrates your ignorance about the program. Parents can’t “push” their kids into it. They have to be selected by a committee.

DP. Wrong. At our center, parents who were friends with the principal asked the principal to place their kids in the AAP classes. It's called "principal placing" and pushy parents use it to their advantage all the time.

Then your school isn’t a center. That would be a local level IV school. Principals cannot pupil place kids into center AAP classes.

DP but yes they can to round out class sizes. Otherwise you could have huge differences in class sizes between AAP and General Ed. You just can't have an AAP class that is 35 kids or two that are 17 when the general ed classes are 25. They pull from general education to even out class sizes.

You are completely wrong. In a center school, principals cannot round out class sizes to their liking. They can only do this at a local level IV school. In fact, that’s why many kids choose the center school - the class cannot be padded with Gen Ed kids. All the kids are committee placed only.

Do you even know what the difference is between a center school and a local level IV school?

I feel bad for these people who just can’t accept that some kids may test better. I’m not sure how defensive I would be if my kid does not get in.

I have a current second grader. If she doesn’t get in, I would not on and on about how she will sit next to the same AAP kids in high school and that she will be more successful in life. I would accept she did not get in and move on. Kids drift apart when one group moves up in gymnastics, dance, soccer, baseball, etc.

My friend’s daughter is a talented gymnast and she got a lot of hate from both the girls and moms. There was a lot of drama for birthdays, sleepovers, etc. My friend’s daughter was not the mean one. It was the jealous girls. So cliche.

If you actually do have a current second grader, I wish you both well if she doesn't get into AAP - especially if she attends a center school. Too funny that you're announcing how you would feel when your kid hasn't even been in that situation yet.
DP

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

I knew a teacher who was really exasperated about one of those 2E kids in her classroom who threw screaming fits frequently. The kind where the rest of the class had to leave while the child exploded screaming. And, the irony: the kid really wasn't that smart. The mom pushed for it.

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it sounds a whole lot like frustration that students with disabilities can also be gifted.

Sorry that challenges your belief in eugenics

Do you even know what that means? That had nothing to do with the comment.

But, if the teacher did not think the child was gifted, why do you think that? You do know that parents who complain and push frequently get their kids admitted.

This surely demonstrates your ignorance about the program. Parents can’t “push” their kids into it. They have to be selected by a committee.

DP. Wrong. At our center, parents who were friends with the principal asked the principal to place their kids in the AAP classes. It's called "principal placing" and pushy parents use it to their advantage all the time.

Then your school isn’t a center. That would be a local level IV school. Principals cannot pupil place kids into center AAP classes.

DP but yes they can to round out class sizes. Otherwise you could have huge differences in class sizes between AAP and General Ed. You just can't have an AAP class that is 35 kids or two that are 17 when the general ed classes are 25. They pull from general education to even out class sizes.

You are completely wrong. In a center school, principals cannot round out class sizes to their liking. They can only do this at a local level IV school. In fact, that’s why many kids choose the center school - the class cannot be padded with Gen Ed kids. All the kids are committee placed only.

Do you even know what the difference is between a center school and a local level IV school?

You sound ridiculous when you talk about “kids” choosing centers. The parents typically make the decision.

Or do you think a lot of second graders really worry about being in a LLIV classroom at a non-center school where some kids may have been principal-placed?

“Oh, mommy, I must go to Mantua to avoid having a Gen Ed kid who may stunt my intellectual development in my class!”

+100
It's absolutely the parents choosing whether or not to send their kid to a center.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

I knew a teacher who was really exasperated about one of those 2E kids in her classroom who threw screaming fits frequently. The kind where the rest of the class had to leave while the child exploded screaming. And, the irony: the kid really wasn't that smart. The mom pushed for it.

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it sounds a whole lot like frustration that students with disabilities can also be gifted.

Sorry that challenges your belief in eugenics

Do you even know what that means? That had nothing to do with the comment.

But, if the teacher did not think the child was gifted, why do you think that? You do know that parents who complain and push frequently get their kids admitted.

This surely demonstrates your ignorance about the program. Parents can’t “push” their kids into it. They have to be selected by a committee.

DP. Wrong. At our center, parents who were friends with the principal asked the principal to place their kids in the AAP classes. It's called "principal placing" and pushy parents use it to their advantage all the time.

Then your school isn’t a center. That would be a local level IV school. Principals cannot pupil place kids into center AAP classes.

DP but yes they can to round out class sizes. Otherwise you could have huge differences in class sizes between AAP and General Ed. You just can't have an AAP class that is 35 kids or two that are 17 when the general ed classes are 25. They pull from general education to even out class sizes.

You are completely wrong. In a center school, principals cannot round out class sizes to their liking. They can only do this at a local level IV school. In fact, that’s why many kids choose the center school - the class cannot be padded with Gen Ed kids. All the kids are committee placed only.

Do you even know what the difference is between a center school and a local level IV school?

You sound ridiculous when you talk about “kids” choosing centers. The parents typically make the decision.

Or do you think a lot of second graders really worry about being in a LLIV classroom at a non-center school where some kids may have been principal-placed?

“Oh, mommy, I must go to Mantua to avoid having a Gen Ed kid who may stunt my intellectual development in my class!”

With a kid getting ready to apply to college, you will see a big difference between all the kids. This disappointment in second grade is just one of many. I always tell my kids not to feel bad for failing. It teaches them grit.

Blaming parents of kids sending their kids to an AAP center is not the answer. You hear similar type complaints and jealous comments when Johnny gets in T10 while Bobby is going to XYZ state school. Lots of comments about Johnny is a legacy or his parents set him up with this internship or that. It is tiring. I don’t participate.

DP. Analogy fail. That has nothing to do with FCPS allowing certain kids to choose "special" schools if they score well enough on a test. Especially the FCPS that is constantly braying about "equity."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

I knew a teacher who was really exasperated about one of those 2E kids in her classroom who threw screaming fits frequently. The kind where the rest of the class had to leave while the child exploded screaming. And, the irony: the kid really wasn't that smart. The mom pushed for it.

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it sounds a whole lot like frustration that students with disabilities can also be gifted.

Sorry that challenges your belief in eugenics

Do you even know what that means? That had nothing to do with the comment.

But, if the teacher did not think the child was gifted, why do you think that? You do know that parents who complain and push frequently get their kids admitted.

This surely demonstrates your ignorance about the program. Parents can’t “push” their kids into it. They have to be selected by a committee.

DP. Wrong. At our center, parents who were friends with the principal asked the principal to place their kids in the AAP classes. It's called "principal placing" and pushy parents use it to their advantage all the time.

Then your school isn’t a center. That would be a local level IV school. Principals cannot pupil place kids into center AAP classes.

DP but yes they can to round out class sizes. Otherwise you could have huge differences in class sizes between AAP and General Ed. You just can't have an AAP class that is 35 kids or two that are 17 when the general ed classes are 25. They pull from general education to even out class sizes.

You are completely wrong. In a center school, principals cannot round out class sizes to their liking. They can only do this at a local level IV school. In fact, that’s why many kids choose the center school - the class cannot be padded with Gen Ed kids. All the kids are committee placed only.

Do you even know what the difference is between a center school and a local level IV school?

It depends on the school. Our base school is the center school and the teacher confirmed to me personally in the fall that around half the class was principal placed. There's another AAP class in the same grade that's entirely level IV. All of the classes in this grade have around the same number of students. If they had not done that, they would have needed another gen ed teacher.

It does not depend on the school. The teacher is uninformed or lying. Center placement is by committee only.

- Signed, ES Principal

+100 the parents claiming that at their “center” school kids are principal placed are idiots. Must not be a center school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

I knew a teacher who was really exasperated about one of those 2E kids in her classroom who threw screaming fits frequently. The kind where the rest of the class had to leave while the child exploded screaming. And, the irony: the kid really wasn't that smart. The mom pushed for it.

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it sounds a whole lot like frustration that students with disabilities can also be gifted.

Sorry that challenges your belief in eugenics

Do you even know what that means? That had nothing to do with the comment.

But, if the teacher did not think the child was gifted, why do you think that? You do know that parents who complain and push frequently get their kids admitted.

This surely demonstrates your ignorance about the program. Parents can’t “push” their kids into it. They have to be selected by a committee.

DP. Wrong. At our center, parents who were friends with the principal asked the principal to place their kids in the AAP classes. It's called "principal placing" and pushy parents use it to their advantage all the time.

Then your school isn’t a center. That would be a local level IV school. Principals cannot pupil place kids into center AAP classes.

DP but yes they can to round out class sizes. Otherwise you could have huge differences in class sizes between AAP and General Ed. You just can't have an AAP class that is 35 kids or two that are 17 when the general ed classes are 25. They pull from general education to even out class sizes.

You are completely wrong. In a center school, principals cannot round out class sizes to their liking. They can only do this at a local level IV school. In fact, that’s why many kids choose the center school - the class cannot be padded with Gen Ed kids. All the kids are committee placed only.

Do you even know what the difference is between a center school and a local level IV school?

It depends on the school. Our base school is the center school and the teacher confirmed to me personally in the fall that around half the class was principal placed. There's another AAP class in the same grade that's entirely level IV. All of the classes in this grade have around the same number of students. If they had not done that, they would have needed another gen ed teacher.

+1
Our base school, which is also unfortunately the center school, does this as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And I’m pretty sure central committee decides if your kid gets into LIV AAP. We have been told that people from our actual school do not make the final decision on acceptance. The packet gets sent to this committee.

The principal can also place students. This happens every year at our center school.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

I knew a teacher who was really exasperated about one of those 2E kids in her classroom who threw screaming fits frequently. The kind where the rest of the class had to leave while the child exploded screaming. And, the irony: the kid really wasn't that smart. The mom pushed for it.

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it sounds a whole lot like frustration that students with disabilities can also be gifted.

Sorry that challenges your belief in eugenics

Do you even know what that means? That had nothing to do with the comment.

But, if the teacher did not think the child was gifted, why do you think that? You do know that parents who complain and push frequently get their kids admitted.

This surely demonstrates your ignorance about the program. Parents can’t “push” their kids into it. They have to be selected by a committee.

DP. Wrong. At our center, parents who were friends with the principal asked the principal to place their kids in the AAP classes. It's called "principal placing" and pushy parents use it to their advantage all the time.

Then your school isn’t a center. That would be a local level IV school. Principals cannot pupil place kids into center AAP classes.

DP but yes they can to round out class sizes. Otherwise you could have huge differences in class sizes between AAP and General Ed. You just can't have an AAP class that is 35 kids or two that are 17 when the general ed classes are 25. They pull from general education to even out class sizes.

You are completely wrong. In a center school, principals cannot round out class sizes to their liking. They can only do this at a local level IV school. In fact, that’s why many kids choose the center school - the class cannot be padded with Gen Ed kids. All the kids are committee placed only.

Do you even know what the difference is between a center school and a local level IV school?

DP. This is absolute BS. How do I know that? Because OUR CENTER SCHOOL does exactly this. Please stop lecturing others about the reality of their own schools - which you clearly know nothing about. It is YOU who is completely wrong.

Name your school. Only local level IV AAP schools can pupil place. Center schools cannot. You are clearly confused on what a center school actually is.

Question to you - how many AAP classes are at your school? How many schools does your “center” pull from to make their AAP classes?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

I knew a teacher who was really exasperated about one of those 2E kids in her classroom who threw screaming fits frequently. The kind where the rest of the class had to leave while the child exploded screaming. And, the irony: the kid really wasn't that smart. The mom pushed for it.

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it sounds a whole lot like frustration that students with disabilities can also be gifted.

Sorry that challenges your belief in eugenics

Do you even know what that means? That had nothing to do with the comment.

But, if the teacher did not think the child was gifted, why do you think that? You do know that parents who complain and push frequently get their kids admitted.

This surely demonstrates your ignorance about the program. Parents can’t “push” their kids into it. They have to be selected by a committee.

DP. Wrong. At our center, parents who were friends with the principal asked the principal to place their kids in the AAP classes. It's called "principal placing" and pushy parents use it to their advantage all the time.

Then your school isn’t a center. That would be a local level IV school. Principals cannot pupil place kids into center AAP classes.

DP but yes they can to round out class sizes. Otherwise you could have huge differences in class sizes between AAP and General Ed. You just can't have an AAP class that is 35 kids or two that are 17 when the general ed classes are 25. They pull from general education to even out class sizes.

You are completely wrong. In a center school, principals cannot round out class sizes to their liking. They can only do this at a local level IV school. In fact, that’s why many kids choose the center school - the class cannot be padded with Gen Ed kids. All the kids are committee placed only.

Do you even know what the difference is between a center school and a local level IV school?

Also - "padded with Gen Ed kids"?? Do you even hear yourself? So it's perfectly ok for Gen Ed classes to be "padded with SPED kids," but those AAP kids somehow deserve to have classes all to themselves? Honestly, the more I read this thread, the more I sincerely hope FCPS gets a clue and does away with center schools. Unreal.

Ah but if the center kids come back to your school, it will bump those non deserving gen ed kids from those level IV spots. No way are AAP parents going to be forced into local level IV AND have the Gen Ed padding the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m okay with it though, going this direction. His AAP class moves fine with 33 kids, although the room is small and crowded. As a high school teacher, I am happy to push my AP and honors classes to 35, but it doesn’t work in my on level classes. They need more support and more management, and anything over 25 is hard to meet needs (they cap at 30/push up to 32 sometimes, but once in a while I get a magical class of 24 and it’s phenomenal). Assuming it is the same at elementary, I’m glad gen ed classes are smaller. If it went the other way (tiny AAP), I’d hope they’d place kids to balance it so the gen ed teachers didn’t have classes of 30+.

I thought there were limits to AP class size.

But, in any case, some schools have larger GenEd than AAP.

That is another problem with AAP, it makes staffing more difficult to even out the numbers. It means it is harder to keep class sizes even.

Multiple posters have said the class sizes are not even. At our school, it is never even. My kid had 2 AAP classes with over 30 kids and then there were 3 gen ed classes with 20 kids each. I don’t think it is any different with staffing than when those few extra kindergartners gets one extra teacher and all the class sizes are smaller. I know my son had 26-27 kids in first and then my other son had 20. This is the same whether it is AAP or not, having enough kids or not enough for the extra staff.

You just cited an example. 120 kids and 5 teachers. If there were no AAP, the classes would be 24 each.

+1
No AAP centers, just flexible grouping per grade with AAP/GT/Advanced groups open to all to cycle into as needed. That's what FCPS needs.