Canterbury Woods AAP

Anonymous
Anyone with insight into Canterbury Woods AAP program? Considering move from WFES, which we really love, to AAP at CW.
Anonymous
DC is in 6th grade AAP at Canterbury Woods -- what would you like to know?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:DC is in 6th grade AAP at Canterbury Woods -- what would you like to know?


What do you like/dislike about the program?

Did your son transfer to CW from another school? What was the transition like for him/her?

Is the program challenging enough? How much homework per night?

Anything else you would care to share about your experience at CW.

Thank You!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:DC is in 6th grade AAP at Canterbury Woods -- what would you like to know?


What do you like/dislike about the program?

Did your son transfer to CW from another school? What was the transition like for him/her?

Is the program challenging enough? How much homework per night?

Anything else you would care to share about your experience at CW.

Thank You!


DC transferred to CWES from another school. The transition to CWES went very, very well. The teachers and the school counselor worked hard to get all the kids welcomed and introduced into their new community. The counselor set up lunch bunches with the students so everyone got to know each other. At CWES, the students are grouped for specials (art, PE and music) so all the students in the grade get mixed together. My DC made more friends outside of AAP that way.

The program is quite challenging but not overly so. DC didn't have to work at school prior to starting in AAP. But now in AAP, there is now a little more effort required to get things done and to get good grades. Homework load is not bad at all. It is heavier in 6th grade than it was in 3rd and 4th grades (in particular) but nothing exceeding 45 minutes. The transition from easy homework in 2nd grade at our base school to more challenging homework in 3rd grade was interesting but it was an issue for maybe the first few weeks of school.

CWES has a great music program with kids able to start strings in 4th grade and band in 5th grade. The AAP students are again mixed in with all the other kids in strings, band, as well as chorus, so there are friendships with many kids (not just AAP) in each grade.

The AAP teachers that we've had at CWES have been absolutely top notch. Each of the teachers knows some of the unique challenges that AAP kids can present (perfectionism and procrastination as a couple of examples) and they work with parent/student to address issues throughout the school year. The school counselor, in particular, is fabulous with these sort of things as well. She works with the teachers to address problems, including in lessons she does for the class.

The only thing that I dislike is that CWES is currently undergoing a renovation. The school principal has done a great job of planning around the expected disruptions that go with any renovation. But moving classrooms around is not on anyone's "like" list. The renovation is going quite well, though, and should be completed next school year (or maybe it's December 2103? I'm not sure).

We are quite pleased with the program. Oh, one more thing -- the PTA is great, too. The PTA is very welcoming to AAP parents. It's not "this is our school and not yours" thing as it seems other AAP schools in Fairfax County have going on.
Anonymous
Thank you for the detailed reply and for sharing your experience. -- OP
Anonymous
How challenging is the work? One year above grade level or more? What makes it more challenging?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:How challenging is the work? One year above grade level or more? What makes it more challenging?


My DC is good at math but is not in the uber-high math group; DC is only in the one-year-above grade level group. Some of the AAP 6th graders take Algebra 1 at Frost MS as they are beyond the 7th grade math taught in the AAP classes.

In language arts, students self-select what books they want to read for reading groups. Last year many of the 5th graders had finished The Hunger Games and were starting with Lord of the Rings. But it is self-selected.

In 6th grade AAP, the students have a homeroom teacher and then switch off between two classes. Math and science are taught by one teacher; language arts and social studies are taught by the other teacher. Each of the teachers scaffolds based on the needs of groups.
Anonymous
If class size is important to you, check out the numbers. The AAP math classes are very large at CWES.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:If class size is important to you, check out the numbers. The AAP math classes are very large at CWES.


I'm the PP with a 6th grader in AAP at CWES. 6th grade AAP has two homeroom teachers -- they swap off so when one class is in math and science, the other is in with the bother teacher for language arts and social studies. One has 32 students and the other has 31.
Anonymous
CWES has larger class sizes than WFES. CWES emphasizes creative thinking and language arts. My DS switched and was very happy there. Very challenging academically and my child is thriving. Both are very good schools. It was important to me to guarantee my DS was with other Level IV kids. I wouldn't change my decision.
Anonymous
CWES has larger class sizes than WFES. CWES emphasizes creative thinking and language arts. My DS switched and was very happy there. Very challenging academically and my child is thriving. Both are very good schools. It was important to me to guarantee my DS was with other Level IV kids. I wouldn't change my decision.
Anonymous
I am interested in this discussion. My child is at WFES AAP and it is certainly more challenging than his base school. But in between, he did a year of AAP at Mantua (a center) which seemed way more challending. (we moved recently) I kind of think of WFES as AAP lite. This has been fine with us, because it is challenging enough for my child. And it gives more time for his 2 instruments and a foreign language. I am interested to hear if others have been in LLIV and AAP centers and notice the difference.
Anonymous
and the class size is much smaller at WFES, compared to some centers, including Mantua. (though it can vary by year)
Anonymous
I do think WFES Level IV is lighter and AAP watered down and less true Level IV. many of the classes lottery in other kids that are not Level IV. It bothers me they can't guarantee a true Level IV class.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:It bothers me they can't guarantee a true Level IV class.


I agree. Our base school is a feeder to CWES and the Local Level IV there had five Center-eligible students. The rest of the class was filled by the principal. We just switched to CWES this month (after winter break).
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