Kilmer vs Longfellow middle. Similarities/differences?

[Anonymous]

Wondering how these compare. How are academics? Percent of student acceptances to TJ? Class size? Other factors? Any insight that you can provide is appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how these compare. How are academics? Percent of student acceptances to TJ? Class size? Other factors? Any insight that you can provide is appreciated.

I believe longfellow usually sends more kids to TJ than Kilmer, especially after Luther Jackson siphoned off a few of the GT kids who would have stayed at Kilmer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how these compare. How are academics? Percent of student acceptances to TJ? Class size? Other factors? Any insight that you can provide is appreciated.

I believe longfellow usually sends more kids to TJ than Kilmer, especially after Luther Jackson siphoned off a few of the GT kids who would have stayed at Kilmer.

I'm familiar with both schools. For people who aspire to send their kids to TJ, I'd say Longfellow is probably better. It's not just that Longfellow sends more kids to TJ (which it does), but also that the school has a larger AAP program and a greater emphasis on the academic achievement of its students.

OTOH, if you prefer a more relaxed environment, Kilmer has a less competitive vibe. Some people at Longfellow feel like the Level IV/AAP program there is treated like the "crown jewel," whereas at Kilmer it's just one academic program among several.

[Anonymous]

The comments about Longfellow and TJ are correct. Part of that is the math program at Longfellow is unbelievably strong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how these compare. How are academics? Percent of student acceptances to TJ? Class size? Other factors? Any insight that you can provide is appreciated.

I believe longfellow usually sends more kids to TJ than Kilmer, especially after Luther Jackson siphoned off a few of the GT kids who would have stayed at Kilmer.

I'm familiar with both schools. For people who aspire to send their kids to TJ, I'd say Longfellow is probably better. It's not just that Longfellow sends more kids to TJ (which it does), but also that the school has a larger AAP program and a greater emphasis on the academic achievement of its students.

OTOH, if you prefer a more relaxed environment, Kilmer has a less competitive vibe. Some people at Longfellow feel like the Level IV/AAP program there is treated like the "crown jewel," whereas at Kilmer it's just one academic program among several.

We are zoned for Kilmer, and I so happy to hear this. We prefer a less competitive environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how these compare. How are academics? Percent of student acceptances to TJ? Class size? Other factors? Any insight that you can provide is appreciated.

I believe longfellow usually sends more kids to TJ than Kilmer, especially after Luther Jackson siphoned off a few of the GT kids who would have stayed at Kilmer.

I'm familiar with both schools. For people who aspire to send their kids to TJ, I'd say Longfellow is probably better. It's not just that Longfellow sends more kids to TJ (which it does), but also that the school has a larger AAP program and a greater emphasis on the academic achievement of its students.

OTOH, if you prefer a more relaxed environment, Kilmer has a less competitive vibe. Some people at Longfellow feel like the Level IV/AAP program there is treated like the "crown jewel," whereas at Kilmer it's just one academic program among several.

We are zoned for Kilmer, and I so happy to hear this. We prefer a less competitive environment.

Me too! We will be coming from Haycock AAP and I've had enough of the competitive craziness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how these compare. How are academics? Percent of student acceptances to TJ? Class size? Other factors? Any insight that you can provide is appreciated.

I believe longfellow usually sends more kids to TJ than Kilmer, especially after Luther Jackson siphoned off a few of the GT kids who would have stayed at Kilmer.

I'm familiar with both schools. For people who aspire to send their kids to TJ, I'd say Longfellow is probably better. It's not just that Longfellow sends more kids to TJ (which it does), but also that the school has a larger AAP program and a greater emphasis on the academic achievement of its students.

OTOH, if you prefer a more relaxed environment, Kilmer has a less competitive vibe. Some people at Longfellow feel like the Level IV/AAP program there is treated like the "crown jewel," whereas at Kilmer it's just one academic program among several.

We are zoned for Kilmer, and I so happy to hear this. We prefer a less competitive environment.

I made the comment about Longfellow sending more kids to TJ. My child attended Kilmer and thoroughly enjoyed the environment there...and will be attending TJ this Falls.

[Anonymous]

14:22 here - get the sense that some thought it was a put-down of Kilmer to say it was "less competitive" than Longfellow. Really was just trying to give my impression of how the two schools felt as a parent. At Kilmer, the AAP kids just were treated as one team among several at the school. For sure, some got into TJ, but there was no sense that the administration took any more pride in them than the other kids. Longfellow is a very well-run school, and the level of communication to parents was definitely greater than at Kilmer, but the focus on academic achievement was simply more intense and the celebration of awards and academic accolades more pronounced. if someone felt Haycock AAP was too competitive, I think they might well feel the same way about Longfellow AAP.

[Anonymous]

I am not familiar with Kilmer, but had two kids at Longfellow in recent years. The school recognizes academic achievement and wishes to inspire kids to do well. As was mentioned above, Longfellow has a strong math program and within in an accelerated track where interested kids take advance geometry and algebra 2/trigonometry. Most of the these kids end up going to TJ. Although the school offers support (in the form of after-school academic competitions) for a small group of motivated kids (about 10% of the student population), the majority of Longfellow students are not put in a position, either directly or indirectly, to compete against each other. Simply put, the school does not have a competitive vibe for most kids. But, it is academically focuses and students are expectation to do well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not familiar with Kilmer, but had two kids at Longfellow in recent years. The school recognizes academic achievement and wishes to inspire kids to do well. As was mentioned above, Longfellow has a strong math program and within in an accelerated track where interested kids take advance geometry and algebra 2/trigonometry. Most of the these kids end up going to TJ. Although the school offers support (in the form of after-school academic competitions) for a small group of motivated kids (about 10% of the student population), the majority of Longfellow students are not put in a position, either directly or indirectly, to compete against each other. Simply put, the school does not have a competitive vibe for most kids. But, it is academically focuses and students are expectation to do well.

I have had kids at both schools, which was the basis for my prior comments. All I can say is that, as a parent, I thought that Longfellow felt more academically focused and competitive than Kilmer. I don't if kids would perceive a difference, and none of my kids attended both schools.

At Longfellow, there were more frequent communications to parents than at Kilmer, and the "lead story," if you will, was typically which Longfellow kids had won recent awards or would be competing at something like the Science Olympiad. It felt as if the administration felt duty-bound to offer this type of information up constantly to keep the parents satisfied that Longfellow was one of the best schools in the county. At Kilmer, the communications were more sporadic, and the information about the academic awards was more subdued. At things like musical performances at Longfellow, some parents would ignore the performances by other kids, and then cheer loudly and rush the stage to tape the performance when their own kids performed. At the same type of performance at Kilmer, parents would interact more with each other, and then applaud politely after each performance, as if it were not much different than a soccer match among a bunch of seven-year-olds.

If I had to boil it down for the OP, I'd say that we probably liked the teachers and administrators at Longfellow better, but found more of the fellow parents at Longfellow off-putting. Of course, YMMV.

[Anonymous]

What is the sequence of math at these middle schools? I thought trigonometry was part of precalculus which I thought was the basic level for 11th or 12 grade with an honors track in either 10th or 11th grade. Do these kids then complete calculus Freshman or Sophmore year? What do they do for the remaining years? Just curious. I would think you'd have to go to TJ just to be able to move on in math with that sequence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not familiar with Kilmer, but had two kids at Longfellow in recent years. The school recognizes academic achievement and wishes to inspire kids to do well. As was mentioned above, Longfellow has a strong math program and within in an accelerated track where interested kids take advance geometry and algebra 2/trigonometry. Most of the these kids end up going to TJ. Although the school offers support (in the form of after-school academic competitions) for a small group of motivated kids (about 10% of the student population), the majority of Longfellow students are not put in a position, either directly or indirectly, to compete against each other. Simply put, the school does not have a competitive vibe for most kids. But, it is academically focuses and students are expectation to do well.

I have had kids at both schools, which was the basis for my prior comments. All I can say is that, as a parent, I thought that Longfellow felt more academically focused and competitive than Kilmer. I don't if kids would perceive a difference, and none of my kids attended both schools.

At Longfellow, there were more frequent communications to parents than at Kilmer, and the "lead story," if you will, was typically which Longfellow kids had won recent awards or would be competing at something like the Science Olympiad. It felt as if the administration felt duty-bound to offer this type of information up constantly to keep the parents satisfied that Longfellow was one of the best schools in the county. At Kilmer, the communications were more sporadic, and the information about the academic awards was more subdued. At things like musical performances at Longfellow, some parents would ignore the performances by other kids, and then cheer loudly and rush the stage to tape the performance when their own kids performed. At the same type of performance at Kilmer, parents would interact more with each other, and then applaud politely after each performance, as if it were not much different than a soccer match among a bunch of seven-year-olds.

If I had to boil it down for the OP, I'd say that we probably liked the teachers and administrators at Longfellow better, but found more of the fellow parents at Longfellow off-putting. Of course, YMMV.

These are the types of parents we have encountered at Haycock. The kind with an apparent "my kid has to be first/best/fastest/ahead of your kid" attitude. Our family operates on competely different principles, and it makes me afraid that Longfellow and especially TJ are just more of the same cutthroat step-on-whoever-I-have-to nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the sequence of math at these middle schools? I thought trigonometry was part of precalculus which I thought was the basic level for 11th or 12 grade with an honors track in either 10th or 11th grade. Do these kids then complete calculus Freshman or Sophmore year? What do they do for the remaining years? Just curious. I would think you'd have to go to TJ just to be able to move on in math with that sequence.

At Longfellow, courses in the accelerated math program include Algebra I, two geometry classes (one of them is for more advanced students) and Algebra II/Trigonometry. Most AAP kids take Algebra I in 7th grade and one of the two geometry classes in 8th grade. A few kids take both geometry and algebra 2/trig in 8th grade. Kids who have taken Algebra II/Trig automatically enroll in precalc at TJ and can take AP Calculus BC as a sophomore. Although, there are kids who bypass precalc altogether and take AP Calculus BC in the freshman year. There are other advanced math classes (multivariable calculus, linear algebra and differential equations comes to mind) available to TJ kids for junior or senior years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

These are the types of parents we have encountered at Haycock. The kind with an apparent "my kid has to be first/best/fastest/ahead of your kid" attitude. Our family operates on competely different principles, and it makes me afraid that Longfellow and especially TJ are just more of the same cutthroat step-on-whoever-I-have-to nonsense.

Most of the kids that I have gotten to know in the past 4 years at Longfellow and TJ are kind and cooperative. This perceived cut-throat culture is not what kids are actually experiencing at these schools. Based on my experience, no kid is tabbing the peers in the back to get ahead. I cannot comment on the attitude of the parents, because I don't know most of them. Even if there are parents that fit the above stereotype, their impact on my kids' education at Longfellow and TJ has been negligible.

[Anonymous]

Which elementary schools are known to prepare the students for longfellow's advanced math track? Assuming not just haycock aap? Also, is there a part of Longfellow that is zoned for langley?