How is Kent Gardens if you opt out of French Immersion

[Anonymous]

I hear unfavorable things about the principal. Students that want more academic challenges go the Churchill Road Elementary School Advanced Academic Program. Many parents are elated to be out of KG because offers more academic challenges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear unfavorable things about the principal. Students that want more academic challenges go the Churchill Road Elementary School Advanced Academic Program. Many parents are elated to be out of KG because offers more academic challenges.

It's funny how people are making comments based on what they "hear," and not what they've experienced first hand.

FYI, students just don't "go to Churchill Road AAP if they want more academic challenges." There is actually a screening process just like what Chesterbrook, Haycock, Franklin Sherman, Spring Hill, Great Falls, and other elementary schools have when thoee schools don't meet the level of academic challenges for their students. I'm sure parents of Chesterbrook, Haycock, Franklin Sherman, Great Falls, and Spring Hill are elated when their kids are out of the general program and can find greater academic challenges elsewhere too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:can't see why anyone would want to speak french anyway.
Maybe Spanish, Latin, & of course Chinese is becoming important. Japanese, German I can see, they're important countries. But French? What the heck is it good for, really?

What is Latin and German good for?

What is Spanish good for unless you're ordering at McDonalds or work as a landscaper?

Because no one that is a Spanish speaker is an educated professional, right?

You'll only need that if you worked in Latin America or Spain. Otherwise, it'd be a waste.

or California.

For fast food.

[Anonymous]

I think one of the worst assumptions that a parent can make is if he/she assumes that a school can provide a high quality, rigorous academic environment for all kids in the school just b/c it's an AAP center or if it provides in house Local IV services.

The fact of the matter is that the focus and resources are probably geared primarily towards the GT students there.

Therefore, to assume that your kid is getting rigorous academic challenges at a GT school if your kid isn't in the GT program is probably wrong, and could be quite the opposite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think one of the worst assumptions that a parent can make is if he/she assumes that a school can provide a high quality, rigorous academic environment for all kids in the school just b/c it's an AAP center or if it provides in house Local IV services.

The fact of the matter is that the focus and resources are probably geared primarily towards the GT students there.

Therefore, to assume that your kid is getting rigorous academic challenges at a GT school if your kid isn't in the GT program is probably wrong, and could be quite the opposite.

Agreed that no one should make "assumptions."

OTOH, it's also the case that, at SOME schools, having a GT/AAP program tends to raise the bar across the board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think one of the worst assumptions that a parent can make is if he/she assumes that a school can provide a high quality, rigorous academic environment for all kids in the school just b/c it's an AAP center or if it provides in house Local IV services.

The fact of the matter is that the focus and resources are probably geared primarily towards the GT students there.

Therefore, to assume that your kid is getting rigorous academic challenges at a GT school if your kid isn't in the GT program is probably wrong, and could be quite the opposite.

Agreed that no one should make "assumptions."

OTOH, it's also the case that, at SOME schools, having a GT/AAP program tends to raise the bar across the board.

I'm not sure that can be easily quantified, especially with classes getting larger and larger. I don't see the bar being raised because focus is on the GT kids, not stragglers from the regular program.

The GT kids lift the overall average of the school when it comes to standardized testing, so you assume that the school as a whole is doing better, which is again, another assumption.

The non GT kids[u] at GT schools are probably the real "second class citizens," but with the parents of the former, ignorance is bliss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OTOH, it's also the case that, at SOME schools, having a GT/AAP program tends to raise the bar across the board.

I agree, especially with extra-curricular activities such as chess club, math competitions, Odyssey of the Mind, FIRST LEGO League, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OTOH, it's also the case that, at SOME schools, having a GT/AAP program tends to raise the bar across the board.

I agree, especially with extra-curricular activities such as chess club, math competitions, Odyssey of the Mind, FIRST LEGO League, etc.

Most of these activities are dominated by the GT kids though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OTOH, it's also the case that, at SOME schools, having a GT/AAP program tends to raise the bar across the board.

I agree, especially with extra-curricular activities such as chess club, math competitions, Odyssey of the Mind, FIRST LEGO League, etc.

Most of these activities are dominated by the GT kids though.

I do not know how sign ups for these activities work at your school, but at our school, it is first-come, first-served. So there are some GT kids but also non-GT kids in the activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure that can be easily quantified, especially with classes getting larger and larger. I don't see the bar being raised because focus is on the GT kids, not stragglers from the regular program.

The GT kids lift the overall average of the school when it comes to standardized testing, so you assume that the school as a whole is doing better, which is again, another assumption.

The non GT kids[u] at GT schools are probably the real "second class citizens," but with the parents of the former, ignorance is bliss.

This hasn't been our experience at a middle school in Fairfax with one of the county's largest AAP programs. It may just be that this school serves a demanding community where the parents wouldn't let the non-GT kids get the short end of the stick, but I don't think you can generalize. In some cases, it may be insecure parents worrying about their non-GT kids or resenting the fact that kids are tracked, more than a failure on the part of the schools.

There's no doubt that the school makes a big deal when a GT kid/team takes top honors in a math competition, but the teachers of the honors/regular classes still have high expectations for the other students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure that can be easily quantified, especially with classes getting larger and larger. I don't see the bar being raised because focus is on the GT kids, not stragglers from the regular program.

The GT kids lift the overall average of the school when it comes to standardized testing, so you assume that the school as a whole is doing better, which is again, another assumption.

The non GT kids[u] at GT schools are probably the real "second class citizens," but with the parents of the former, ignorance is bliss.

This hasn't been our experience at a middle school in Fairfax with one of the county's largest AAP programs. It may just be that this school serves a demanding community where the parents wouldn't let the non-GT kids get the short end of the stick, but I don't think you can generalize. In some cases, it may be insecure parents worrying about their non-GT kids or resenting the fact that kids are tracked, more than a failure on the part of the schools.

There's no doubt that the school makes a big deal when a GT kid/team takes top honors in a math competition, but the teachers of the honors/regular classes still have high expectations for the other students.

First of all, I wouldn't call a parent "insecure" who takes an active interest in his/her child's education. That's called being a good parent.

Second, if the school is in a wealthy area where the parents are more likely to be educated, then the kids generally will be bright anyway.

Finally, I don't know how you define "high expectations." If a kid is in a regular class, I assume the teacher expects the kid to take an interest in the work, complete their assignments, and participate. This is normal, not a "high expectation."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
First of all, I wouldn't call a parent "insecure" who takes an active interest in his/her child's education. That's called being a good parent.

Second, if the school is in a wealthy area where the parents are more likely to be educated, then the kids generally will be bright anyway.

Finally, I don't know how you define "high expectations." If a kid is in a regular class, I assume the teacher expects the kid to take an interest in the work, complete their assignments, and participate. This is normal, not a "high expectation."

Agree with all of this, but if this is taking place at a school with respect to non-GT students, there's not really any reason to whine about those students being "second-class citizens."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
First of all, I wouldn't call a parent "insecure" who takes an active interest in his/her child's education. That's called being a good parent.

Second, if the school is in a wealthy area where the parents are more likely to be educated, then the kids generally will be bright anyway.

Finally, I don't know how you define "high expectations." If a kid is in a regular class, I assume the teacher expects the kid to take an interest in the work, complete their assignments, and participate. This is normal, not a "high expectation."

Agree with all of this, but if this is taking place at a school with respect to non-GT students, there's not really any reason to whine about those students being "second-class citizens."

Nobody is whining about those non-GT kids being second class citizens. What I'm saying is that these non-GT kids are more likely, if it happens, to be second class citizens compared to non immersion kids at Kent Gardens or other language immersion schools. There are teachers at these centers that teach both GT level and regular level classes. A teacher can only expend so much energy on students.

At Kent Gardens, there are primarily dedicated French vs. Non French students, so there's little overlap in a lot of the primary subjects. For example, a regular math teacher isn't going to be teaching math to french immersion kids. This dumps into the trash the idea that those non immersion kids at KG are treated like second class citizens and are a "dumping ground" for the less well behaved.

[Anonymous]

My kids don't go to KG and are not in an immersion program, and we don't speak a word of French in our house, so I am not defending KG or their particular immersion program, but I still think it's really sad to read how many of you just see NO value in children learning a second language! In most of the developed world, learning another language is part of the school curriculum from the early years. Only in the US do we still fail to see the importance of it and view it as an "extra" rather than an essential component of education.

It's shocking, frankly, that so many people still don't understand that the benefits go far beyond just being able to communicate with other speakers of that language. Learning a second language has tremendous all-around benefits for the brain, especially for children. Putting aside the great value of exposing children to another culture, children who learn to speak two languages have better memories, can focus better on other school subjects, perform better in math, learn additional languages much more easily, have less age-related mental decline when they are older, and so on. Learning a second language at an early age gives kids big cognitive advantages that transfer to many other areas of their lives, both in school and beyond. So for anyone who thinks it's a silly waste of time for children to learn French, do some research please before you advocate getting rid of the language programs in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

I see your point 10:29. I am all for acquiring a 2nd language but how about we provide that experience for everyone. I think a lot of the animosity on this thread is that the immersion program is not available to everyone so it creates this "us vs them" mentality.