On the chopping block: AAP Centers

[Anonymous]

Actually, several different AAP posters have said a slightly smaller cohort of around two classes is ideal.

For elementary school, I would be perfectly thrilled with that number of AAP classrooms per grade for my child, especially if they were mixing for centers and activities. I don't view rotating between a group of 60-70 students in a cohort as a bad thing at all and would consider that situation close to ideal. It is a smaller version of the team system they use in middle school.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Yes, I just troll, too....

when I fought like hell this past year to get the school board to change a decision re: our school. Wrote multiple letters, showed up at meetings, etc. And believe it or not, they did actually change their original position based on our input.

Thanks for playing this game.

I absolutely believe they did. But not because you posed anonymously on DCUM. Because you became actively involved IRL. There's a huge difference.

Not the PP, but isn't that what every single one of us is doing here (including you) - venting our frustrations on an anonymous message board? As another PP said, why shouldn't we come here vent AND be involved "in real life" in changing policies? It's so ridiculous to call someone a troll simply because you disagree with their opinion.

As the mom of two GE students who attend a center school, you'd better believe I'm also going to post on this forum whenever I feel like it. I think AAP parents pay a lot of lip service to the whole "we're all one big happy family/school" mantra, but when it comes to the GE parents discussing their experiences at center schools, the AAP parents love to shoot them down with moronic statements like, "Why are you here? It's kind of creepy for a non-AAP parent to be "trolling" or posting here". Kind of exemplifies the whole AAP parent mentality.

But I don't see the AAP parents consistently demonize the GE parents as we're often characterized as being driven, misdirected, self-serving. You don't see that?

GE parents aren't the ones insisting on special schools, programs, and busing for their kids. They don't act as if a public school system is there for one purpose only - to focus on the education of a select sub-group of kids. Why should GE parents be demonized? If anything, their kids aren't getting half the attention and resources that AAP kids are getting. And if your children were in this situation, you'd be speaking up too.

What resources, besides busing, are AAP kids getting? The AART spends most of their time preparing 2nd grade packets and doing pull outs with Level I-III kids. The AAP kids often have significantly larger class sizes, especially in Centers (DCs 4th grade class was 34 kids) and the classes are taught by a single teacher. They don't go on extra field trips or get extras in the classroom, like their own laptop or tablet. Laptop carts are shared by an entire grade's team. Academic extracurriculars in our school are PTA sponsored and open to all (and lots of GE kids participate). The teachers get some extra training, but AAP is a special Ed program, and all special Ed teachers get this. So, please tell me, what resources is my AAP DC getting from the school that your Gen Ed DC, or a Special Ed DC is not?

The bolded, above, is just so ludicrous there are no words. At one time, perhaps GT was considered a "special ed" program. Today? Absolutely no way. Why do teachers need special training to teach utterly mainstream kids?

But some kids in each classroom are. Or maybe you'd like to have an LLIV program (no Centers!!) with one classroom per grade for just those you deem truly worthy-- all 2-3 of them. The problem with all the make the LLIV only include only a small fraction of the current kids dogma is that you end up with one teacher and 2-3 kids. Which really does take resources from Gen Ed. Remember, this debate started because they need to cut costs, not because they have star money around to lots of new teachers. It sucks when ideology runs head First into economic reality, doesn't it?

[Anonymous]

^^ that would be extra money to hire new teachers. Typing on an iPad also sucks.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Just because parents choose to be cordial doesn't mean the school situation is healthy

Exactly. Most of the parents saying their school is just fine, has no problems with AAP/GE, etc. are, in fact, AAP parents. Of course they don't see the problems! And, as PP says, parents are generally going to be cordial and polite in person. You're probably never going to hear anything negative from a parent at your school if they feel what they have to say is going to be received negatively. That's why it was very interesting to read the comments on the FCPS message board, when they opened it up for discussion. Many parents were upset over centers and the way AAP is administered, and spoke freely in those comments - because it was anonymous.

I think the FCPS' User Voice suggestion of assigning some neighborhood schools to be all AAP is a good suggestion. There are some parts of the county where schools are located in close proximity to one another. Just take entire schools in various locations across the county and make them all AAP. There would be no need for Advanced Academic Resource Teachers in the base schools, either.

I don't think that is a bad idea.

HOWEVER there are going to be many EXTREMELY unhappy base school parents who are pleased with their school and happy to be able to have, for example, one kid in GE and a sibling in AAP, who are going to be furious when they are going to get reassigned to a different school so there school can be turned into a center only school.

I would bet money that there are far more people who would be upset by this and that there are many more people who would prefer the status quo over such an idea.

That is a can of worms fcps does not want to open.

PPs in this thread with Gen Ed kids have said that all Gen Ed parents are unhappy with with being at a Center school. So they should be fine with leaving. And that they would welcome redistricting if it meant getting rid of AAP kids. (But I imagine they meant they would be happy If OTHER PEOPLES KIDS were redistricted, not theirs). So how about it Gen Ed parents: you're okay with AAP kids being sent to different schools. You think it's fine to make up the difference by having other kids redistricted to make up the difference. You've talked the talk. Can you walk the walk? Are you also oaky with letting your school become all AAP, and having your kids redistricted?

Also, in response to PPs above, base schools would still need an AART. The play a big role in screening 2nd graders, and do the pull outs of Level I-III kids, and things like Young scholars. In our school, the AART's only interaction with LLIV kids is to do an hour a week in 5th & 6th grades with kids who need differentiation in math above standard compacted math. Maybe it is different in other schools?

Wait a minute. We're "ok with AAP kids being sent to different schools"? Oh, you mean THEIR OWN SCHOOLS? The whole point so many of us are trying to make is that every student - whether Gen Ed or AAP - should attend their own base school. Schools should be returned to their communities and centers should be a thing of the past. LLIV should be put in place at every elementary school. What about this do you not understand?

Who came up with the idea to have "all AAP schools"? Certainly not me.

What I do not understand is how such a broad brush approach is equitable across the county, when there are some schools with 50+ Level IV Center-eligible students per grade and others with 2 Level IV Center-eligible students per grade?

The county is too big and too diverse to have a broad brush approach work at all schools.

The goal should be 2 classes per grade level of Level IV Center-eligible students. This probably means a tiered approach where some parts of the county have LLIV (2 classes per grade) and other parts of the county do not have LLIV and instead have Centers (with 2 classes per grade).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Actually, it is fair. Every child is given the same opportunity to qualify for center-based Level IV services based on one of two different test scores. That's a fact. The whole purpose of the process is to identify some range of the top scorers. It's also a fact that that means the majority of children will not meet the threshold for identification and will not be selected for Level IV services. That doesn't make it unfair. It's just the nature of the process, which is to identify the top range of students. The process then goes even further by allowing parents or teachers to refer children who they believe should be considered even though they didn't make the test score cut-offs. Level IV AAP students are not given the option to switch schools just because they don't like the color of the walls or the playground equipment at their base school; they're given the opportunity to go to a center to an AAP center because that is how FCPS meets the rmandates of Virginia law that requires each school system to identify some top range of gifted students and to provide services that help them reach their potential. Given the size and diversity of the school system, I think FCPS does a pretty good job meeting that legal obligation.

Regarding the bolded, above - yes, FCPS is mandated by the state to provide gifted services. They are not, in any way, shape, or form, mandated to provide special center schools for identified students. Arlington Co. - also mandated by the state to provide gifted services - does so within the walls of each assigned school. LLIV should be provided at every base school and centers should be a thing of the past.

Arlington County is much more homogenous than Fairfax County. What works in one will not necessarily work in another. Our FCPS base school has a LLIV program, but the school can't fill even half a class with Level IV-eligible students. Our center school combines kids from three different base schools (plus the center itself) to make up just one or two classes per grade. That is why center schools exist. And that is why LLIV does not work in all schools, even if it does in Arlington County.

Arlington County is about as diverse as they come. Homogeneous? Not quite. If they can make it work without the nonsense and divisiveness of centers, then so can FCPS.

At our center, there are three and four AAP classes per grade. More than the General Ed classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, several different AAP posters have said a slightly smaller cohort of around two classes is ideal.

For elementary school, I would be perfectly thrilled with that number of AAP classrooms per grade for my child, especially if they were mixing for centers and activities. I don't view rotating between a group of 60-70 students in a cohort as a bad thing at all and would consider that situation close to ideal. It is a smaller version of the team system they use in middle school.

The issue is FCPS does not have enough seats for all students PERIOD -- be they general ed, AAP, special ed, etc. They need to create more classrooms to meet growing demand.

All this other stuff is merely rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Actually, it is fair. Every child is given the same opportunity to qualify for center-based Level IV services based on one of two different test scores. That's a fact. The whole purpose of the process is to identify some range of the top scorers. It's also a fact that that means the majority of children will not meet the threshold for identification and will not be selected for Level IV services. That doesn't make it unfair. It's just the nature of the process, which is to identify the top range of students. The process then goes even further by allowing parents or teachers to refer children who they believe should be considered even though they didn't make the test score cut-offs. Level IV AAP students are not given the option to switch schools just because they don't like the color of the walls or the playground equipment at their base school; they're given the opportunity to go to a center to an AAP center because that is how FCPS meets the rmandates of Virginia law that requires each school system to identify some top range of gifted students and to provide services that help them reach their potential. Given the size and diversity of the school system, I think FCPS does a pretty good job meeting that legal obligation.

Regarding the bolded, above - yes, FCPS is mandated by the state to provide gifted services. They are not, in any way, shape, or form, mandated to provide special center schools for identified students. Arlington Co. - also mandated by the state to provide gifted services - does so within the walls of each assigned school. LLIV should be provided at every base school and centers should be a thing of the past.

Arlington County is much more homogenous than Fairfax County. What works in one will not necessarily work in another. Our FCPS base school has a LLIV program, but the school can't fill even half a class with Level IV-eligible students. Our center school combines kids from three different base schools (plus the center itself) to make up just one or two classes per grade. That is why center schools exist. And that is why LLIV does not work in all schools, even if it does in Arlington County.

Arlington County is about as diverse as they come. Homogeneous? Not quite. If they can make it work without the nonsense and divisiveness of centers, then so can FCPS.

At our center, there are three and four AAP classes per grade. More than the General Ed classes.

Arlington may diverse, but it is nearly all high SES, highly educated parents (and if it's not, please point out where-- I'd love to be able to afford a house that close in). In FCPS, you have McLean and Vienna on one hand and Bailey's and Herndon (the Dogwood ES part, not the Franklin Farm part) on the other. What works in McLean in terms of LLIV will not work at Baileys and Dogwood. And if anyone doesn't need resources diverted from Gen Ed to create a special program for a small handfull of kids, it's Baileys and Dogwood.

[Anonymous]

Arlington may diverse, but it is nearly all high SES, highly educated parents (and if it's not, please point out where-- I'd love to be able to afford a house that close in). In FCPS, you have McLean and Vienna on one hand and Bailey's and Herndon (the Dogwood ES part, not the Franklin Farm part) on the other. What works in McLean in terms of LLIV will not work at Baileys and Dogwood. And if anyone doesn't need resources diverted from Gen Ed to create a special program for a small handfull of kids, it's Baileys and Dogwood.


South Arlington is not all high SES.

I agree Baileys and Dogwood don't need to divert funds to a special program for a handful of kids, but those handfuls of kids should go to a center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Actually, it is fair. Every child is given the same opportunity to qualify for center-based Level IV services based on one of two different test scores. That's a fact. The whole purpose of the process is to identify some range of the top scorers. It's also a fact that that means the majority of children will not meet the threshold for identification and will not be selected for Level IV services. That doesn't make it unfair. It's just the nature of the process, which is to identify the top range of students. The process then goes even further by allowing parents or teachers to refer children who they believe should be considered even though they didn't make the test score cut-offs. Level IV AAP students are not given the option to switch schools just because they don't like the color of the walls or the playground equipment at their base school; they're given the opportunity to go to a center to an AAP center because that is how FCPS meets the rmandates of Virginia law that requires each school system to identify some top range of gifted students and to provide services that help them reach their potential. Given the size and diversity of the school system, I think FCPS does a pretty good job meeting that legal obligation.

Regarding the bolded, above - yes, FCPS is mandated by the state to provide gifted services. They are not, in any way, shape, or form, mandated to provide special center schools for identified students. Arlington Co. - also mandated by the state to provide gifted services - does so within the walls of each assigned school. LLIV should be provided at every base school and centers should be a thing of the past.

Arlington County is much more homogenous than Fairfax County. What works in one will not necessarily work in another. Our FCPS base school has a LLIV program, but the school can't fill even half a class with Level IV-eligible students. Our center school combines kids from three different base schools (plus the center itself) to make up just one or two classes per grade. That is why center schools exist. And that is why LLIV does not work in all schools, even if it does in Arlington County.

Arlington County is about as diverse as they come. Homogeneous? Not quite. If they can make it work without the nonsense and divisiveness of centers, then so can FCPS.

At our center, there are three and four AAP classes per grade. More than the General Ed classes.

It's easy to say "make it work without nonsense and divisiveness." But that's sort of like Donald Trump saying I'll fix that my first week in office. It's a tough problem without an easy solution. So, here you go. You have a class of 115 3rd graders. 16 are AAP qualified. You have 4 teachers allotted under the staffing formula and no budget for new ones (BTW-- this was the situation in DC's 3rd grade class in an affluent school). So go ahead -- make it work.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Just because parents choose to be cordial doesn't mean the school situation is healthy

Exactly. Most of the parents saying their school is just fine, has no problems with AAP/GE, etc. are, in fact, AAP parents. Of course they don't see the problems! And, as PP says, parents are generally going to be cordial and polite in person. You're probably never going to hear anything negative from a parent at your school if they feel what they have to say is going to be received negatively. That's why it was very interesting to read the comments on the FCPS message board, when they opened it up for discussion. Many parents were upset over centers and the way AAP is administered, and spoke freely in those comments - because it was anonymous.

I think the FCPS' User Voice suggestion of assigning some neighborhood schools to be all AAP is a good suggestion. There are some parts of the county where schools are located in close proximity to one another. Just take entire schools in various locations across the county and make them all AAP. There would be no need for Advanced Academic Resource Teachers in the base schools, either.

I don't think that is a bad idea.

HOWEVER there are going to be many EXTREMELY unhappy base school parents who are pleased with their school and happy to be able to have, for example, one kid in GE and a sibling in AAP, who are going to be furious when they are going to get reassigned to a different school so there school can be turned into a center only school.

I would bet money that there are far more people who would be upset by this and that there are many more people who would prefer the status quo over such an idea.

That is a can of worms fcps does not want to open.

Maybe though they could pilot it with one of the schools that dcum says flier in this thread who have is nothing but problems...perhaps Louise Archer.

Turn that school into a 3-6 AAP only magnet and reassign all the other kids to neighboring schools and see how it goes.

LA gen ed/anti AAP parent posting here, what say you? Could you get behind such an idea?

AAP parent, and I like that DC goes to school with a mix of kids. She doesn't need all AAP peers (although she does need enough for at least 2 classes, which almost no base schools have). Also, this seems like you are setting up a TJ situation, with parents griping about kids having access to an elite super school and get busing there. But, there are certainly GE parents earlier in this thread who said they would welcome redistricting if it meant their kids didn't have to go to the same school as AAP kids. So presumably, they would nOT mind if there kids were sent to a different school so the local Center could become all AAP.

PPs -- you raise good points.

I like the idea of a pilot "all AAP" school.

I seem to recall Greenbriar West did a survey of parents prior to the Poplar Tree change. Maybe survey the Louise Archer parents and ask for their feedback?

If PPs are as unhappy with having their kids with AAP kids as they say, they should jump at the chance to send their kids somewhere else. Problem solved (I suspect not. I'm sure GE parents would hate this solution too).

To my knowledge, no one has said they are unhappy with having AAP kids at their school. The problem arises when AAP kids become the majority, such as at several center schools, and the GE kids are now the minority, going through years with the same peers. It's interesting that AAP parents cry foul when their kids don't have a "peer group," but it's perfectly ok in their book for the GE kids to be stuck with the same classmates year after year.

Having LLIV in every base school would ensure there is not a huge block of AAP kids at one school (centers). They would be dispersed among all the base schools. I'm not sure why some of you are trying to make this so difficult. It's a much simpler solution than the current one of having multiple schools feed into centers, and providing busing from all of those schools (for free, no less).

Wouldn't that likely give AAP students exactly one small class of kids they spend 4 years with? How is that better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because parents choose to be cordial doesn't mean the school situation is healthy

Exactly. Most of the parents saying their school is just fine, has no problems with AAP/GE, etc. are, in fact, AAP parents. Of course they don't see the problems! And, as PP says, parents are generally going to be cordial and polite in person. You're probably never going to hear anything negative from a parent at your school if they feel what they have to say is going to be received negatively. That's why it was very interesting to read the comments on the FCPS message board, when they opened it up for discussion. Many parents were upset over centers and the way AAP is administered, and spoke freely in those comments - because it was anonymous.

I think the FCPS' User Voice suggestion of assigning some neighborhood schools to be all AAP is a good suggestion. There are some parts of the county where schools are located in close proximity to one another. Just take entire schools in various locations across the county and make them all AAP. There would be no need for Advanced Academic Resource Teachers in the base schools, either.

I don't think that is a bad idea.

HOWEVER there are going to be many EXTREMELY unhappy base school parents who are pleased with their school and happy to be able to have, for example, one kid in GE and a sibling in AAP, who are going to be furious when they are going to get reassigned to a different school so there school can be turned into a center only school.

I would bet money that there are far more people who would be upset by this and that there are many more people who would prefer the status quo over such an idea.

That is a can of worms fcps does not want to open.

Maybe though they could pilot it with one of the schools that dcum says flier in this thread who have is nothing but problems...perhaps Louise Archer.

Turn that school into a 3-6 AAP only magnet and reassign all the other kids to neighboring schools and see how it goes.

LA gen ed/anti AAP parent posting here, what say you? Could you get behind such an idea?

AAP parent, and I like that DC goes to school with a mix of kids. She doesn't need all AAP peers (although she does need enough for at least 2 classes, which almost no base schools have). Also, this seems like you are setting up a TJ situation, with parents griping about kids having access to an elite super school and get busing there. But, there are certainly GE parents earlier in this thread who said they would welcome redistricting if it meant their kids didn't have to go to the same school as AAP kids. So presumably, they would nOT mind if there kids were sent to a different school so the local Center could become all AAP.

PPs -- you raise good points.

I like the idea of a pilot "all AAP" school.

I seem to recall Greenbriar West did a survey of parents prior to the Poplar Tree change. Maybe survey the Louise Archer parents and ask for their feedback?

If PPs are as unhappy with having their kids with AAP kids as they say, they should jump at the chance to send their kids somewhere else. Problem solved (I suspect not. I'm sure GE parents would hate this solution too).

To my knowledge, no one has said they are unhappy with having AAP kids at their school. The problem arises when AAP kids become the majority, such as at several center schools, and the GE kids are now the minority, going through years with the same peers. It's interesting that AAP parents cry foul when their kids don't have a "peer group," but it's perfectly ok in their book for the GE kids to be stuck with the same classmates year after year.

Having LLIV in every base school would ensure there is not a huge block of AAP kids at one school (centers). They would be dispersed among all the base schools. I'm not sure why some of you are trying to make this so difficult. It's a much simpler solution than the current one of having multiple schools feed into centers, and providing busing from all of those schools (for free, no less).

Wouldn't that likely give AAP students exactly one small class of kids they spend 4 years with? How is that better?

For starters, you child is in one being affected, and not PPs, who thinks it is outrageous that his DC is stuck in a school with ONLY 2 gen Ed classes (or 60+ students).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because parents choose to be cordial doesn't mean the school situation is healthy

Exactly. Most of the parents saying their school is just fine, has no problems with AAP/GE, etc. are, in fact, AAP parents. Of course they don't see the problems! And, as PP says, parents are generally going to be cordial and polite in person. You're probably never going to hear anything negative from a parent at your school if they feel what they have to say is going to be received negatively. That's why it was very interesting to read the comments on the FCPS message board, when they opened it up for discussion. Many parents were upset over centers and the way AAP is administered, and spoke freely in those comments - because it was anonymous.

I think the FCPS' User Voice suggestion of assigning some neighborhood schools to be all AAP is a good suggestion. There are some parts of the county where schools are located in close proximity to one another. Just take entire schools in various locations across the county and make them all AAP. There would be no need for Advanced Academic Resource Teachers in the base schools, either.

I don't think that is a bad idea.

HOWEVER there are going to be many EXTREMELY unhappy base school parents who are pleased with their school and happy to be able to have, for example, one kid in GE and a sibling in AAP, who are going to be furious when they are going to get reassigned to a different school so there school can be turned into a center only school.

I would bet money that there are far more people who would be upset by this and that there are many more people who would prefer the status quo over such an idea.

That is a can of worms fcps does not want to open.

PPs in this thread with Gen Ed kids have said that all Gen Ed parents are unhappy with with being at a Center school. So they should be fine with leaving. And that they would welcome redistricting if it meant getting rid of AAP kids. (But I imagine they meant they would be happy If OTHER PEOPLES KIDS were redistricted, not theirs). So how about it Gen Ed parents: you're okay with AAP kids being sent to different schools. You think it's fine to make up the difference by having other kids redistricted to make up the difference. You've talked the talk. Can you walk the walk? Are you also oaky with letting your school become all AAP, and having your kids redistricted?

Also, in response to PPs above, base schools would still need an AART. The play a big role in screening 2nd graders, and do the pull outs of Level I-III kids, and things like Young scholars. In our school, the AART's only interaction with LLIV kids is to do an hour a week in 5th & 6th grades with kids who need differentiation in math above standard compacted math. Maybe it is different in other schools?

Wait a minute. We're "ok with AAP kids being sent to different schools"? Oh, you mean THEIR OWN SCHOOLS? The whole point so many of us are trying to make is that every student - whether Gen Ed or AAP - should attend their own base school. Schools should be returned to their communities and centers should be a thing of the past. LLIV should be put in place at every elementary school. What about this do you not understand?

Who came up with the idea to have "all AAP schools"? Certainly not me.

This is just so offensive. And shows that Gen Ed parents do their fair share of us versus them. My DD attends classes, loves her teacher, wears the school t-shirt, make friends, serves as a patrol, competes on an academic team, plays an afternoon sports through the PTA and plays in the strings.She and I go and work in the school garden during the summer. I join the PTA and attend meetings. Her dad coaches said academic team. She shows up and participates, she (and us as parents) contributes to the community. She loves being there. This IS her school.

[Anonymous]

Don't even get me started on that sham of a survey that they did during the GBW/poplar tree process.

I personally don't hate centers. But the overcrowding the center was creating was outrageous. And poplar tree was under enrolled. A redistrict of some sort needed to happen. Sending the poplar tree kids back to their base school was the most logical solution. My personal opinion was that they shouldn't have involved the Brookfield children or cub run (?) and made poplar tree the center for pt and Colin Powell AAP students.

Yes, redistricts suck. But if your school in your neighborhood was overcrowded by 260+ students, and there was an under enrolled school right down the street, what would you want done?

However, I still don't get why it is horrific to suggest kids be moved, especially in the scenario we were facing. I wanted them to go farther and move the rising 5th graders, as they had done a few years before in a non-center related redistrict. But apparently, that was just a step too far according to the school board. Can't overcrowd poor poplar tree - we'll just leave GBW 150+ kids over.

[Anonymous]

Dogwood is in Reston. Stop saying Herndon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't even get me started on that sham of a survey that they did during the GBW/poplar tree process.

I personally don't hate centers. But the overcrowding the center was creating was outrageous. And poplar tree was under enrolled. A redistrict of some sort needed to happen. Sending the poplar tree kids back to their base school was the most logical solution. My personal opinion was that they shouldn't have involved the Brookfield children or cub run (?) and made poplar tree the center for pt and Colin Powell AAP students.

Yes, redistricts suck. But if your school in your neighborhood was overcrowded by 260+ students, and there was an under enrolled school right down the street, what would you want done?

However, I still don't get why it is horrific to suggest kids be moved, especially in the scenario we were facing. I wanted them to go farther and move the rising 5th graders, as they had done a few years before in a non-center related redistrict. But apparently, that was just a step too far according to the school board. Can't overcrowd poor poplar tree - we'll just leave GBW 150+ kids over.

+1 on Greenbriar West being WAY overcrowded. (Dashboard lists it as 262 over capacity!)

Louise Archer is listed as 23 under capacity and Colvin Run as 37 under capacity. (These are last year's numbers, I believe -- I just looked on Dashboard.)

Some other schools mentioned on this thread -- Sangster is 13 over capacity and Canterbury Woods is 61 under capacity.