FCPS comprehensive boundary review

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe the comprehensive review is necessary or wanted by community members. That said, I think that people who are trying to save their own kids at the expense of others by arguing for boundary changes and grandfathering are engaged in a morally bankrupt attempt to throw other Fcps students under the bus.

If you want your kids to be grandfathered, then you should be opposed to the comprehensive review altogether.

I respectfully disagree. I think if you allow grandfathering of students, you then allow people who - for example, might have one year left in a school to finish out rather than to cause a disruption in their lives and then over time course correct attendance at schools.
For those that are opposed to it overall, the argument seems to be property value. For those that think grandfathering is a good compromise, I think we are most concerned about supporting effective change but also protecting current studetns from too much disruption in their education, sports, extracurriculars, etc.

I'm all for grandfathering of students at the final years of a particular school. However, no sibling transfer requests should be honored. 12th grade, 8th, 6th/5th.

FCPS also needs to be transparent with the current transfers. How many are sibling transfers? How many are hardship with child care? Emotional issues?

So as a parent, I have my kids going to multiple different schools and having to figure out how to get them to activities and events at different schools? Ridiculous. Grandfather families - if you have a kid in the school, let the siblings finish there as well for continuity. Just don't grandfather the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

[Anonymous]

AP is a la cart classes designed by the College Board to be equivalent to college classes.

IB an international program designed as an integrated curriculum. Classes can be taken a la cart, but that's not the way the program is designed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

Lewis just started offering AP classes within the last few years, I think, because there was demand for it and the IB program wasn't/isn't attracting students. But they don't have a lot of AP classes there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

Lewis just started offering AP classes within the last few years, I think, because there was demand for it and the IB program wasn't/isn't attracting students. But they don't have a lot of AP classes there.

Lewis has been offering AP Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Government, and AP CS for about a decade now. There was a thread last year from someone claiming they received inside knowledge that Lewis was going to be converted entirely to an AP school. There did seem to be some truth to their post because a few months later the FCPS Insys course catalog showed a full listing of all AP subjects available at Lewis starting 2024-25. However Lewis is still an IB school, so there might be some delay in moving fully to AP or something else going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

Lewis just started offering AP classes within the last few years, I think, because there was demand for it and the IB program wasn't/isn't attracting students. But they don't have a lot of AP classes there.

Lewis has been offering AP Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Government, and AP CS for about a decade now. There was a thread last year from someone claiming they received inside knowledge that Lewis was going to be converted entirely to an AP school. There did seem to be some truth to their post because a few months later the FCPS Insys course catalog showed a full listing of all AP subjects available at Lewis starting 2024-25. However Lewis is still an IB school, so there might be some delay in moving fully to AP or something else going on.

There are too many IB schools near each other. Close several and feed the IB students to one school. That is what worked with Marshall and to some extent South Lakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

AP - Developed by a US body (College Board). Individual classes designed to be the equivalent of intro-level college courses. Students can pick and choose which AP courses they want to take. Scores on end-of-year exams earn college credits at many schools.

IB - Developed by a Geneva-based body (IBO). Designed as an integrated program with distribution requirements culminating in an IB "diploma." Students can take individual IB courses if they wish. Scores on end-of-year exams earn college credits at many schools, but fewer schools than accept AP credits.

AP courses tend to cover more material and to be more "foundational." IB courses tend to cover less material, but in greater depth and with a heavy emphasis on writing.

FCPS has 17 high schools that focus on AP and eight that focus on IB. None of the 17 AP-focused schools offer IB courses (the IBO does not allow a school to offer IB courses without offering the full IB diploma curriculum); some of the IB schools (including Lewis) offer a few AP courses (the College Board allows schools to offer as few or as many AP courses as they want).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

Lewis just started offering AP classes within the last few years, I think, because there was demand for it and the IB program wasn't/isn't attracting students. But they don't have a lot of AP classes there.

Lewis has been offering AP Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Government, and AP CS for about a decade now. There was a thread last year from someone claiming they received inside knowledge that Lewis was going to be converted entirely to an AP school. There did seem to be some truth to their post because a few months later the FCPS Insys course catalog showed a full listing of all AP subjects available at Lewis starting 2024-25. However Lewis is still an IB school, so there might be some delay in moving fully to AP or something else going on.

There are too many IB schools near each other. Close several and feed the IB students to one school. That is what worked with Marshall and to some extent South Lakes.

I have Marshall kids. Both are STEM focused, and neither was/is a full IB student but rather took IB classes a la carte. I would have preferred AP, but did not want to deal with the transportation for pupil-placement. That said, there is a strong IB cohort at Marshall so maybe it makes sense to stay there. Just not certain how many parents would voluntarily choose IB if AP was also a choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

AP is far more desirable for transient communities in this area, such as military families, because it is flexible and a la carte. AP is also better for schools with large ESOL communities.

If you came from a base where.the schools.had limited math, but your kid is smart, they can slide right into AP English or History while catching up on math and science. PCS into an area Junior or senior year? No problem, you can seamlessly take AP classes. This is much more difficult with IB which is a set, multi year program, with some classes requiring 2 years to complete. Good at science and math but hate writing? You can load up on math and science AP classes and just take honors for the other requirements. Not as easy in IB, which is heavily centered on writing with not as rigorous or varied of a math or science curriculum. Are you new to the country, but a brilliant math kid who still hasn't fully mastered English? You can still take the AP math classes, without worrying about the heavy writing requirements of IB.
AP is portable, easy to cater to your strengths, flexible, cheaper and offered at far more schools across the US than IB.

IB is considered "better" because of the writing and the fact that it.is European instead of American. It has a bit of a snob factor appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe the comprehensive review is necessary or wanted by community members. That said, I think that people who are trying to save their own kids at the expense of others by arguing for boundary changes and grandfathering are engaged in a morally bankrupt attempt to throw other Fcps students under the bus.

If you want your kids to be grandfathered, then you should be opposed to the comprehensive review altogether.

I respectfully disagree. I think if you allow grandfathering of students, you then allow people who - for example, might have one year left in a school to finish out rather than to cause a disruption in their lives and then over time course correct attendance at schools.
For those that are opposed to it overall, the argument seems to be property value. For those that think grandfathering is a good compromise, I think we are most concerned about supporting effective change but also protecting current studetns from too much disruption in their education, sports, extracurriculars, etc.

I'm all for grandfathering of students at the final years of a particular school. However, no sibling transfer requests should be honored. 12th grade, 8th, 6th/5th.

FCPS also needs to be transparent with the current transfers. How many are sibling transfers? How many are hardship with child care? Emotional issues?

So as a parent, I have my kids going to multiple different schools and having to figure out how to get them to activities and events at different schools? Ridiculous. Grandfather families - if you have a kid in the school, let the siblings finish there as well for continuity. Just don't grandfather the neighborhood.

You aren’t reading the tea leaves. FCPS has long generously grandfathered kids at their i schools affected by boundary changes, but not younger siblings. Now the question is whether the current grandfathering will be eliminated or scaled back, such that kids might have to change high schools as rising sophomores and juniors. They certainly aren’t going to start grandfathering siblings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

Lewis just started offering AP classes within the last few years, I think, because there was demand for it and the IB program wasn't/isn't attracting students. But they don't have a lot of AP classes there.

Lewis' AP program is newer, but if you look at the pass rates on the school profile, they are quite low.

Lewis is a fledgling program, that based on very low pass rates, has a bit of growth needed before it can even remotely offer the same quality of program as neighboring schools.

Lewis needs a few solid years of building its AP program and instructional quality and depth in AP, before FCPS can reasonably claim that rezoned WSHS kids are not having their high school trajectory and college preparation completely destroyed.

FCPS should eliminate IB from Lewis, then spend the next few years standing up an AP program at Lewis, then reassess and look at if rezoning is necessary in 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

Lewis just started offering AP classes within the last few years, I think, because there was demand for it and the IB program wasn't/isn't attracting students. But they don't have a lot of AP classes there.

Lewis has been offering AP Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Government, and AP CS for about a decade now. There was a thread last year from someone claiming they received inside knowledge that Lewis was going to be converted entirely to an AP school. There did seem to be some truth to their post because a few months later the FCPS Insys course catalog showed a full listing of all AP subjects available at Lewis starting 2024-25. However Lewis is still an IB school, so there might be some delay in moving fully to AP or something else going on.

Their AP pass rates are around 10%

I thought that was because it was a very new program, and because they were filled with B and C students (with the advanced kids doing IB)

It would be nice if FCPS provided more transparent info, such as pass rate by class so parents can compare classes between the 2 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

Lewis just started offering AP classes within the last few years, I think, because there was demand for it and the IB program wasn't/isn't attracting students. But they don't have a lot of AP classes there.

Lewis has been offering AP Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Government, and AP CS for about a decade now. There was a thread last year from someone claiming they received inside knowledge that Lewis was going to be converted entirely to an AP school. There did seem to be some truth to their post because a few months later the FCPS Insys course catalog showed a full listing of all AP subjects available at Lewis starting 2024-25. However Lewis is still an IB school, so there might be some delay in moving fully to AP or something else going on.

Their AP pass rates are around 10%

I thought that was because it was a very new program, and because they were filled with B and C students (with the advanced kids doing IB)

It would be nice if FCPS provided more transparent info, such as pass rate by class so parents can compare classes between the 2 schools.

Fcps won’t do that because they like to pretend that all their schools are equivalent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

Lewis just started offering AP classes within the last few years, I think, because there was demand for it and the IB program wasn't/isn't attracting students. But they don't have a lot of AP classes there.

Lewis' AP program is newer, but if you look at the pass rates on the school profile, they are quite low.

Lewis is a fledgling program, that based on very low pass rates, has a bit of growth needed before it can even remotely offer the same quality of program as neighboring schools.

Lewis needs a few solid years of building its AP program and instructional quality and depth in AP, before FCPS can reasonably claim that rezoned WSHS kids are not having their high school trajectory and college preparation completely destroyed.

FCPS should eliminate IB from Lewis, then spend the next few years standing up an AP program at Lewis, then reassess and look at if rezoning is necessary in 5 years.

This is the right answer. I’m not sure this School Board has any capacity to engage in such medium-term planning. But they should cut the cord on IB at Lewis now. If needed, arrange for transportation to Annandale or Edison for the small number of rising seniors who want to complete the IB diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody...explain it like it's 5 to me...the difference in IB and AP?
And why some are only offered at some schools? When I was in HS, I took a few AP courses and then took the test for college credit.
Is AP not offered at Lewis?

Lewis just started offering AP classes within the last few years, I think, because there was demand for it and the IB program wasn't/isn't attracting students. But they don't have a lot of AP classes there.

Lewis' AP program is newer, but if you look at the pass rates on the school profile, they are quite low.

Lewis is a fledgling program, that based on very low pass rates, has a bit of growth needed before it can even remotely offer the same quality of program as neighboring schools.

Lewis needs a few solid years of building its AP program and instructional quality and depth in AP, before FCPS can reasonably claim that rezoned WSHS kids are not having their high school trajectory and college preparation completely destroyed.

FCPS should eliminate IB from Lewis, then spend the next few years standing up an AP program at Lewis, then reassess and look at if rezoning is necessary in 5 years.

This is the right answer. I’m not sure this School Board has any capacity to engage in such medium-term planning. But they should cut the cord on IB at Lewis now. If needed, arrange for transportation to Annandale or Edison for the small number of rising seniors who want to complete the IB diploma.

There were only 6 lewis seniors attempting the IB diploma for class of 2023, and only 3 who successfully completed it.

FCPS could easily transport a half dozen or fewer students to Edison, perhaps even less if the kids drive their own cars.

I have an average student who will be taking some of those 4 Lewis AP classes listed above.

Even if the Lewis AP classes do not have the top tier students enrolled, a 10% pass rate is completely unacceptable to me.

I would not expect my average student to earn all 4s and 5s like higher achieving siblings did, but at a minimum, I would expect my average kid finishing the year prepared with enough knowledge to earn a 3 on the exam.

If they did not, I would feel like something is wrong with the program quality.