On the chopping block: AAP Centers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good. It's about time. It's a tremendous waste of money and resources.

"Base kid" is a common taunt at our center school.

The AAP students are so segregated and operate in their own rarefied air beginning as young as third grade.

Very much an "us v. them" mentality fueled by hyper-competitive parents.

Enough!

The ugly reality is that FCPS is back to ersatz segregation, with the "elites" getting preferential treatment and in some center schools, "base kids" are the minority.

Interesting to note that some of the FCPS center schools HAD to become centers to avoid permanent closure.

LA


School?

Are you saying this happened at Louise Archer? That is different than the school my DD finished at. She had numerous friends in both programs (LA is our base). If it is happening, go to the principal. She is responsive to bullying issues (we had one that was a kid teasing my DD about my cancer).

This happens all the time at Colvin Run too. Those of you who have kids in AAP will continue denying that this happens at "your" school, because you aren't in a position to see it or hear about it. Why? Because your kid is in AAP! Also, it's convenient for you to pretend it's not happening since AAP parents love the whole idea of AAP and don't want to see it go away or become a smaller program. Why would any of this affect you? If you have a child in Gen Ed, then you know this is happening, regardless of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good. It's about time. It's a tremendous waste of money and resources.

"Base kid" is a common taunt at our center school.

The AAP students are so segregated and operate in their own rarefied air beginning as young as third grade.

Very much an "us v. them" mentality fueled by hyper-competitive parents.

Enough!

The ugly reality is that FCPS is back to ersatz segregation, with the "elites" getting preferential treatment and in some center schools, "base kids" are the minority.

Interesting to note that some of the FCPS center schools HAD to become centers to avoid permanent closure.

You poor thing. You are carrying around an awful lot of baggage.

Not the PP, but your remark is a prime example of the AAP parent attitude. "Oh, that's happening to your kid? So sorry. But since it doesn't affect my kid, not my problem!"

So thanks for making our point so beautifully.

[Anonymous]

So glad it is widely accepted that some schools are a horrible environment for a certain segment of the population that has no choice but to attend and be subjected to this nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So glad it is widely accepted that some schools are a horrible environment for a certain segment of the population that has no choice but to attend and be subjected to this nonsense.

Me, too. Because it once again highlights how some schools are working beautifully for the entire school community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good. It's about time. It's a tremendous waste of money and resources.

"Base kid" is a common taunt at our center school.

The AAP students are so segregated and operate in their own rarefied air beginning as young as third grade.

Very much an "us v. them" mentality fueled by hyper-competitive parents.

Enough!

The ugly reality is that FCPS is back to ersatz segregation, with the "elites" getting preferential treatment and in some center schools, "base kids" are the minority.

Interesting to note that some of the FCPS center schools HAD to become centers to avoid permanent closure.

LA


School?

Are you saying this happened at Louise Archer? That is different than the school my DD finished at. She had numerous friends in both programs (LA is our base). If it is happening, go to the principal. She is responsive to bullying issues (we had one that was a kid teasing my DD about my cancer).

This happens all the time at Colvin Run too. Those of you who have kids in AAP will continue denying that this happens at "your" school, because you aren't in a position to see it or hear about it. Why? Because your kid is in AAP! Also, it's convenient for you to pretend it's not happening since AAP parents love the whole idea of AAP and don't want to see it go away or become a smaller program. Why would any of this affect you? If you have a child in Gen Ed, then you know this is happening, regardless of the school.

I have three kids in general ed at a Center school and what you describe is not happening at my school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So glad it is widely accepted that some schools are a horrible environment for a certain segment of the population that has no choice but to attend and be subjected to this nonsense.

Me, too. Because it once again highlights how some schools are working beautifully for the entire school community.

says you

You people really don't get it, do you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So glad it is widely accepted that some schools are a horrible environment for a certain segment of the population that has no choice but to attend and be subjected to this nonsense.

Me, too. Because it once again highlights how some schools are working beautifully for the entire school community.

says you

You people really don't get it, do you?

True. "You people" really don't get it either.

[Anonymous]

^^But I am the Great Unwashed because I don't live in McLean, Vienna, or Great Falls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^But I am the Great Unwashed because I don't live in McLean, Vienna, or Great Falls.

You pay to play

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^But I am the Great Unwashed because I don't live in McLean, Vienna, or Great Falls.

You pay to play

And evidently get overcrowded schools with ersatz segregation. So thankful I don't Pay To Play. Much prefer my more normal school in my part of the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^But I am the Great Unwashed because I don't live in McLean, Vienna, or Great Falls.

You pay to play

Not the PP, but I live in Vienna/Great Falls/McLean and am definitely "paying". However, my kids aren't in AAP. So I'm not sure what it is my family is getting out of living in this area, since my kids have to attend a center school, yet don't benefit from it at all.

I guess the point is, it really doesn't matter what part of the county you live in; if your kids are in Gen Ed, yet still have to attend a center, it's the worst of all worlds. Whatever happened to the smallish, neighborhood school? Certainly, when we moved to this area, we weren't expecting our kids to have to attend a center. That came to us, after we had been living here for several years. We'd be thrilled if there were no more centers, at least in this part of the county where there is no need for them whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^But I am the Great Unwashed because I don't live in McLean, Vienna, or Great Falls.

You pay to play

Not the PP, but I live in Vienna/Great Falls/McLean and am definitely "paying". However, my kids aren't in AAP. So I'm not sure what it is my family is getting out of living in this area, since my kids have to attend a center school, yet don't benefit from it at all.

I guess the point is, it really doesn't matter what part of the county you live in; if your kids are in Gen Ed, yet still have to attend a center, it's the worst of all worlds. Whatever happened to the smallish, neighborhood school? Certainly, when we moved to this area, we weren't expecting our kids to have to attend a center. That came to us, after we had been living here for several years. We'd be thrilled if there were no more centers, at least in this part of the county where there is no need for them whatsoever.

Ah yes, the 'we moved here and then our school became a center' belly-acher. If it really is POW camp you make it out to be then I would move heaven and earth to get my kids out of there. Our GE kid was in a weak school and we moved, yes, we moved into a much stronger school. We figured our child was going to attend for years so bit the bullet. We lost money on the sale of our house, the commutes to work are long and we live in a house that is far from a dream home.

How about stop hand-wringing here and move your child to a better school.

[Anonymous]

right, let's all move - that seems like the sane solution.

I'm not the person you accuse of being a belly-acher, but we CANNOT move right now. I'm so glad that you can actually weather losing money, but a lot of us cannot. We bought several years ago and our income has gone down rather than up and the areas we would want to move to are more expensive than the one we currently live in (which actually is one of the cheapest SFH communities in the county).

I hate this "well, MY school isn't like that" nonsense. It definitely is an "I've got mine, screw everyone else" mentality. I have a GenEd child with an LD in one of the 2 schools that were mentioned above as a toxic environment for non-AAP children. While her teachers have been fantastic, the separation between the base GenEd and the AAP students is so blatant. Why should ANY child in our system be made to feel lesser? Just because YOUR child doesn't feel that way, it doesn't mean it isn't happening.

[Anonymous]

My friend has 2 kids at a center school (Sangster) but they are in the gen ed part and I don't think she has experienced what you (PP) seem to assume is universal. She's been quite happy with it.

I have a child at a center school (AAP) --- I can't say for certain how the base parents feel, but I think they probably support having the center there b/c it brings parents who run a lot of the activities and create demand for the extras after school. Also, the center seems to influence the teaching expectations/curriculum/programs for the non-center students. If the center wasn't there, there would definitely be re-districting since the center is 50+% of the school. Without the center, the school would be seriously under-capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^But I am the Great Unwashed because I don't live in McLean, Vienna, or Great Falls.

You pay to play

Not the PP, but I live in Vienna/Great Falls/McLean and am definitely "paying". However, my kids aren't in AAP. So I'm not sure what it is my family is getting out of living in this area, since my kids have to attend a center school, yet don't benefit from it at all.

I guess the point is, it really doesn't matter what part of the county you live in; if your kids are in Gen Ed, yet still have to attend a center, it's the worst of all worlds. Whatever happened to the smallish, neighborhood school? Certainly, when we moved to this area, we weren't expecting our kids to have to attend a center. That came to us, after we had been living here for several years. We'd be thrilled if there were no more centers, at least in this part of the county where there is no need for them whatsoever.

My kids are in gen ed at Canterbury Woods (not in Vienna/Great Falls/McLean) and it is not "the worst of all worlds."