AAP local level 4 versus center

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are is a high SeS school and left for the center also in a high ses area. The center school has smaller classes with only full time kids. The local school had very few children that are full time and places other kids in there to fill the class. The truly full time kids never get the advancement and attention they need

I have difficulty that you are at a high SES school and there were not enough LIII/LIV kids, or what every they are being called now, to form a LLIV class. We were at a MC/UMC ES and there were more then enough kids to create an Advanced Math class, the school didn't have LLIV at the time. Conviently, all the kids in the Advanced Math class were in the LIII pull out, so they were all LIII or LIV students. There were a few kids in the LIII pull out not in the Advanced Math class. The Advanced Math effectively served as the LLIV class at the school.

The school has a cluster model now but that includes a pull out for the LIV identified kids in order to give them more direct instruction.

At our high SES school, almost all the level 4 kids leave for the center. So there is not enough for dedicated classes.

[Anonymous]

When we had this issue, we opted for the center because there are never enough Level 4 kids opting to stay at base school to form a complete classroom. The center advantage is that you are guaranteed a full Level 4 classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When we had this issue, we opted for the center because there are never enough Level 4 kids opting to stay at base school to form a complete classroom. The center advantage is that you are guaranteed a full Level 4 classroom.

Honestly, what is the difference if you have 60 percent Level 4 and 40 percent Level 3? Some of the Level 3 kids outperform the Level 4 kids but for some reason did not get in.

[Anonymous]

Our first kid went to the center, seemed like the thing to do, but had a drastic drop in test scores. So back to the local AAP we went. Second kid stayed local, there were a few non-AAP kids mixed in, but no problems, it was nice having the same group of kids together for most of elementary school. Both kids got high SATs, IB diplomas, and got into their target colleges.

The AAP center PTA was ten times the size of our local AAP, but that kind of sucked the fun out of it. I prefer to volunteer without being micro managed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When we had this issue, we opted for the center because there are never enough Level 4 kids opting to stay at base school to form a complete classroom. The center advantage is that you are guaranteed a full Level 4 classroom.

Honestly, what is the difference if you have 60 percent Level 4 and 40 percent Level 3? Some of the Level 3 kids outperform the Level 4 kids but for some reason did not get in.

Level 4 parents can't fathom that the level 3 kids may be academic peers for their special stars. So they definitely can't believe that there are level 3 kids exceeding level 4 kids academically. I'm so glad my bright level 3 kids can thrive even without a special environment, even when they are in a class with kids below grade level getting all of the attention. My level 3 kids can thrive in any environment:-p

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our first kid went to the center, seemed like the thing to do, but had a drastic drop in test scores. So back to the local AAP we went. Second kid stayed local, there were a few non-AAP kids mixed in, but no problems, it was nice having the same group of kids together for most of elementary school. Both kids got high SATs, IB diplomas, and got into their target colleges.

The AAP center PTA was ten times the size of our local AAP, but that kind of sucked the fun out of it. I prefer to volunteer without being micro managed.

I should mention that the test scores dropped at the AAP center largely due to a horrible teacher, not the center itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child stays local while most of the level 4 kids still go to the center, then they will be in classes mixed with all the kids and the school will pretend like they get "differentiation" but really the kids who need help take all the teachers' time. Not until the split for advanced math (5th grade in some schools, 3rd in others) will your child at least be with mostly level 3 kids. In my experience, even then the math teacher is telling the advanced math 6th grade class that they aren't learning everything they need to skip pre-algebra and not to take algebra 1 in 7th. This is the opposite of our experience with our other child who opted for the center and the majority of the class was expecting to get into Algebra 1, not discouraged by their own teacher.

In my experience with a kid that attended a local level 4 that probably had 1/3 of a class of level 4 students, it was definitely pretend differentiation. It's pretty hard to differentiate between a bunch of groups of students, and they are almost certainly going to focus on the ones that need help than the ones that are likely to pass the SOLs just fine anyway.

It depends on the base school. If the base is one of the super-competitive ones with high scores and a lot of high scoring kids who don't get into AAP, the local cohort will be very strong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our base is a center school. Probably not too common of a problem on this board, but my kid has had a lot more trouble making connections in the AAP classroom than in the earlier grades when it was mixed ability. It appears most of the kids go together to test prep places/native language schools on the weekend, while my kid is more into sports and the like. I've actually been thinking about pulling him out of AAP since there's not much difference in curriculum these days and math is his weakest subject; he doesn't need algebra in 6th. Plus, all of his social invites this year have come from gen ed kids he only somewhat knows from whatever special once a week. I was thinking he could probably make stronger friendships if he saw those kids on a more routine basis.

We are in 6th grade now in a center school from 3rd until now in 6th. I agree with this post above. My kid gets along better with the gen ed kids. A lot of AAP kids/ families are too high strung, into test prep, $$$ tutoring and just to catty in general.

[Anonymous]

Having taught at both a local level and a center school, I agree with the posters who say it is teacher dependent. As a teacher, I like being able to plan with other teachers in my grade level at the center. We can run ideas off of one another. Students also have a larger cohort in a center - they don’t stay with the same kids year after year because there are several classes at the same grade level. With a local level school, there may be only one class per grade level. On the other hand, by transferring to a center you are farther away from your local neighborhood. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. But I stress again that it is really teacher dependent, so it’s kind of a matter of luck getting the right teacher for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having taught at both a local level and a center school, I agree with the posters who say it is teacher dependent. As a teacher, I like being able to plan with other teachers in my grade level at the center. We can run ideas off of one another. Students also have a larger cohort in a center - they don’t stay with the same kids year after year because there are several classes at the same grade level. With a local level school, there may be only one class per grade level. On the other hand, by transferring to a center you are farther away from your local neighborhood. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. But I stress again that it is really teacher dependent, so it’s kind of a matter of luck getting the right teacher for your child.

Teacher at LL4. Everything comes down to the teacher. Center or base.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When we had this issue, we opted for the center because there are never enough Level 4 kids opting to stay at base school to form a complete classroom. The center advantage is that you are guaranteed a full Level 4 classroom.

Honestly, what is the difference if you have 60 percent Level 4 and 40 percent Level 3? Some of the Level 3 kids outperform the Level 4 kids but for some reason did not get in.

Level 4 parents can't fathom that the level 3 kids may be academic peers for their special stars. So they definitely can't believe that there are level 3 kids exceeding level 4 kids academically. I'm so glad my bright level 3 kids can thrive even without a special environment, even when they are in a class with kids below grade level getting all of the attention. My level 3 kids can thrive in any environment:-p

Many are still upset that only a few lower-income areas got the Level 5 pilot.

[Anonymous]

Granted, we don't know what we are missing, but we opted for a local Level IV.

We love it. The kids are all staying in the same classroom for 4 years. They formed tight friendships, likely lifelong. A few were given an opportunity to take Algebra 1 this year, and we are so grateful. Teachers have been tremendous. I don't mind that a few additional kids are placed in the classroom.

Overall great experience, and it saves us 5 hours a week on her commute. No bus, kid is a walker, and a big fish in a big pond actually since the school has 6 parallel classes for each grade.

[Anonymous]

Some centers also do not have enough Level 4 students to have a dedicated class. My understanding is the Forest Edge center in Reston does not have dedicated classes due to many students remaining at base schools.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have experience with full-time AAP at Kent Gardens Elementary (base) vs. Haycock (center)? We are struggling to decide which would be better for our little one. Thank you!