How to improve AAP and General Ed Together

[Anonymous]

OP again. I made a suggestion about integrating lunch and recess as an example because someone asked me to give a suggestion. I asked for reasons why to or why not to implement this and no one wrote in to say there would be a problem. People did write back saying it would help AAP and general ed integration, so without any problem noted, I came to the conclusion that this is something FCPS can integrate into all schools. I'm looking for more suggestions like this that can help fix the current situation especially at the schools where there are problems. I don't need to be the author of the suggestions though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I have no agenda other than to end the arguing and make FCPS better. As I said, our experience is close to great at our school. It's integrated. Level 2 and 3 students get extra enrichment most years and the only reason they don't some years is because of lack of funds which I hope can be fixed. Level 4 students have an advanced curriculum most of the day with additional enrichment for some. Special ed needs some work at our school, but that is a separate issue. I'm just tired of hearing all the back and forth accusations and I'm tired of FCPS not doing anything about the situation. The arguments that start out "You don't understand.... are pointless. I believe everyone understands what each side wants. They just don't seem to be willing to work together. All I'm looking for is for the back and forth accusations to end.

I just wanted people to write in their suggestions. I support change A because it will help AAP here and it will help general ed here. I'm willing to listen to any suggestions and hope others are too.

You really need to identify your school. Then you need to write your own suggestion, backed up with the kind of evidence you expect from others. You also need to allow others to vent, with the hope that they will identify their own school. Sounds like your school is doing OK, my school also is doing OK. These problems are not system wide. The Gen Ed folks experiencing the problems are likely to have their own ideas and not care much about making AAP better. Why would they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I made a suggestion about integrating lunch and recess as an example because someone asked me to give a suggestion. I asked for reasons why to or why not to implement this and no one wrote in to say there would be a problem. People did write back saying it would help AAP and general ed integration, so without any problem noted, I came to the conclusion that this is something FCPS can integrate into all schools. I'm looking for more suggestions like this that can help fix the current situation especially at the schools where there are problems. I don't need to be the author of the suggestions though.

Have you seriously read any of the responses on this thread? Or only the ones that parroted what you said?

Plenty of posters shared logistical reasons why open lunch time and seating based off grade would NOT work. Reasons given by many posters included cafeteria time, time and logistic constraints, most schools not having mixed homerooms in the middle of the day, and several other reasons.

Very few people said open lunch seating was a practical idea that should be implemented distric wide. In fact, most of the posts advocating open lunch times were by you alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I made a suggestion about integrating lunch and recess as an example because someone asked me to give a suggestion. I asked for reasons why to or why not to implement this and no one wrote in to say there would be a problem. People did write back saying it would help AAP and general ed integration, so without any problem noted, I came to the conclusion that this is something FCPS can integrate into all schools. I'm looking for more suggestions like this that can help fix the current situation especially at the schools where there are problems. I don't need to be the author of the suggestions though.

Have you seriously read any of the responses on this thread? Or only the ones that parroted what you said?

Plenty of posters shared logistical reasons why open lunch time and seating based off grade would NOT work. Reasons given by many posters included cafeteria size, time and logistic constraints, most schools not having mixed homerooms in the middle of the day, and several other reasons.

Very few people said open lunch seating was a practical idea that should be implemented distric wide. In fact, most of the posts advocating open lunch times were by you alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I made a suggestion about integrating lunch and recess as an example because someone asked me to give a suggestion. I asked for reasons why to or why not to implement this and no one wrote in to say there would be a problem. People did write back saying it would help AAP and general ed integration, so without any problem noted, I came to the conclusion that this is something FCPS can integrate into all schools. I'm looking for more suggestions like this that can help fix the current situation especially at the schools where there are problems. I don't need to be the author of the suggestions though.

Have you seriously read any of the responses on this thread? Or only the ones that parroted what you said?

Plenty of posters shared logistical reasons why open lunch time and seating based off grade would NOT work. Reasons given by many posters included cafeteria size, time and logistic constraints, most schools not having mixed homerooms in the middle of the day, and several other reasons.

Very few people said open lunch seating was a practical idea that should be implemented distric wide. In fact, most of the posts advocating open lunch times were by you alone.

I didn't write in advocating for the mixed lunch other than making the suggestion and describing how it would help AAP and general ed students. Someone wrote in that their school had 1000 students and it worked, so that negated the one poster who thought cafeteria size was an issue. I think there is only one elementary at 1000 students and the rest are all smaller, often much smaller. Others also wrote in that the AAP students mixed and the general ed students mixed and they all ate at the same time but just separately. I don't see the logistical challenge in those classrooms mixing. Specials are often in the middle of the day and all schools now mix for them, so why would mixing for lunch and recess pose a problem? There is no academic issue to deal with. Right now a good number of center and LLIV schools mix for lunch and recess. Some of them don't but it's more likely that they don't because there has been no pressure to do so. Not because of a logistical challenge. If there are any, maybe FCPS could ask them to do something else to help with integration, but it just seems like more schools could mix based on the feedback given.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I made a suggestion about integrating lunch and recess as an example because someone asked me to give a suggestion. I asked for reasons why to or why not to implement this and no one wrote in to say there would be a problem. People did write back saying it would help AAP and general ed integration, so without any problem noted, I came to the conclusion that this is something FCPS can integrate into all schools. I'm looking for more suggestions like this that can help fix the current situation especially at the schools where there are problems. I don't need to be the author of the suggestions though.

Have you seriously read any of the responses on this thread? Or only the ones that parroted what you said?

Plenty of posters shared logistical reasons why open lunch time and seating based off grade would NOT work. Reasons given by many posters included cafeteria size, time and logistic constraints, most schools not having mixed homerooms in the middle of the day, and several other reasons.

Very few people said open lunch seating was a practical idea that should be implemented distric wide. In fact, most of the posts advocating open lunch times were by you alone.

I didn't write in advocating for the mixed lunch other than making the suggestion and describing how it would help AAP and general ed students. Someone wrote in that their school had 1000 students and it worked, so that negated the one poster who thought cafeteria size was an issue. I think there is only one elementary at 1000 students and the rest are all smaller, often much smaller. Others also wrote in that the AAP students mixed and the general ed students mixed and they all ate at the same time but just separately. I don't see the logistical challenge in those classrooms mixing. Specials are often in the middle of the day and all schools now mix for them, so why would mixing for lunch and recess pose a problem? There is no academic issue to deal with. Right now a good number of center and LLIV schools mix for lunch and recess. Some of them don't but it's more likely that they don't because there has been no pressure to do so. Not because of a logistical challenge. If there are any, maybe FCPS could ask them to do something else to help with integration, but it just seems like more schools could mix based on the feedback given.

One poster saying her huge school mixes lunch does not negate all the other posters saying it wpuld not work at their schools.

The schools are not universal, not in size, student body, parenting types, achievement and certainly not building size/cafeterias.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I have no agenda other than to end the arguing and make FCPS better. As I said, our experience is close to great at our school. It's integrated. Level 2 and 3 students get extra enrichment most years and the only reason they don't some years is because of lack of funds which I hope can be fixed. Level 4 students have an advanced curriculum most of the day with additional enrichment for some. Special ed needs some work at our school, but that is a separate issue. I'm just tired of hearing all the back and forth accusations and I'm tired of FCPS not doing anything about the situation. The arguments that start out "You don't understand.... are pointless. I believe everyone understands what each side wants. They just don't seem to be willing to work together. All I'm looking for is for the back and forth accusations to end.

I just wanted people to write in their suggestions. I support change A because it will help AAP here and it will help general ed here. I'm willing to listen to any suggestions and hope others are too.

You really need to identify your school. Then you need to write your own suggestion, backed up with the kind of evidence you expect from others. You also need to allow others to vent, with the hope that they will identify their own school. Sounds like your school is doing OK, my school also is doing OK. These problems are not system wide. The Gen Ed folks experiencing the problems are likely to have their own ideas and not care much about making AAP better. Why would they?

I've already identified enough about the school. It attempts to integrate. It attempts to teach everyone at the most advanced level they can handle. It attempts to help students who are struggling. It's not a perfect school though and not all schools work the same way so I don't want people to get hung up on those details. FCPS also has other issues than just AAP that muddy why AAP and general ed don't always work well.

I don't know why parents in FCPS don't want all students to do well. I guess I'm just hoping there are enough parents with kids both in AAP and general ed or who just care about making the system work for everyone and have some good suggestions and are willing to be flexible. My kids don't attend a center, so I can't make suggestions for schools I don't have enough details on. It's obvious there are some problems though that could be fixed with some tweaks to the boundaries and the way the program is implemented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I made a suggestion about integrating lunch and recess as an example because someone asked me to give a suggestion. I asked for reasons why to or why not to implement this and no one wrote in to say there would be a problem. People did write back saying it would help AAP and general ed integration, so without any problem noted, I came to the conclusion that this is something FCPS can integrate into all schools. I'm looking for more suggestions like this that can help fix the current situation especially at the schools where there are problems. I don't need to be the author of the suggestions though.

Have you seriously read any of the responses on this thread? Or only the ones that parroted what you said?

Plenty of posters shared logistical reasons why open lunch time and seating based off grade would NOT work. Reasons given by many posters included cafeteria size, time and logistic constraints, most schools not having mixed homerooms in the middle of the day, and several other reasons.

Very few people said open lunch seating was a practical idea that should be implemented distric wide. In fact, most of the posts advocating open lunch times were by you alone.

I didn't write in advocating for the mixed lunch other than making the suggestion and describing how it would help AAP and general ed students. Someone wrote in that their school had 1000 students and it worked, so that negated the one poster who thought cafeteria size was an issue. I think there is only one elementary at 1000 students and the rest are all smaller, often much smaller. Others also wrote in that the AAP students mixed and the general ed students mixed and they all ate at the same time but just separately. I don't see the logistical challenge in those classrooms mixing. Specials are often in the middle of the day and all schools now mix for them, so why would mixing for lunch and recess pose a problem? There is no academic issue to deal with. Right now a good number of center and LLIV schools mix for lunch and recess. Some of them don't but it's more likely that they don't because there has been no pressure to do so. Not because of a logistical challenge. If there are any, maybe FCPS could ask them to do something else to help with integration, but it just seems like more schools could mix based on the feedback given.

One poster saying her huge school mixes lunch does not negate all the other posters saying it wpuld not work at their schools.

The schools are not universal, not in size, student body, parenting types, achievement and certainly not building size/cafeterias.

I think there was one poster who brought up the size of the cafeteria. Maybe there is an issue at some schools, but based on other's feedback, more can be integrated. Can we agree on this?

[Anonymous]

Not every school does specials all in the middle of the day. My kids have had specials anywhere from first thing in the morning, right after morning meeting to the last class of the day and everywhere in between.

FCPS does not need to make everything uniform. The district is too big. What they might need in Hybla Valley is not going to work in McLean. Changing everything to match what is happening in the Rachel Carson/Longfellow/TJ feeders is going to upset the mostly perfectly happy West Springfield/Lake Braddock pyramid schools.

Striving for uniformity district wide is a horrible idea that will not serve the kids well in any program.

The best idea for fcps is to implement programs by pyramid or cluster, not district wide.

We are too big and too diverse to have a one size fits all approach.

[Anonymous]

I've already identified enough about the school. It attempts to integrate. It attempts to teach everyone at the most advanced level they can handle. It attempts to help students who are struggling. It's not a perfect school though and not all schools work the same way so I don't want people to get hung up on those details. FCPS also has other issues than just AAP that muddy why AAP and general ed don't always work well.

I don't know why parents in FCPS don't want all students to do well. I guess I'm just hoping there are enough parents with kids both in AAP and general ed or who just care about making the system work for everyone and have some good suggestions and are willing to be flexible. My kids don't attend a center, so I can't make suggestions for schools I don't have enough details on. It's obvious there are some problems though that could be fixed with some tweaks to the boundaries and the way the program is implemented.

Why would you say this? For someone so vocally against anecdotal evidence, you seem to have no problem relying on it to make insulting generalizations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I've already identified enough about the school. It attempts to integrate. It attempts to teach everyone at the most advanced level they can handle. It attempts to help students who are struggling. It's not a perfect school though and not all schools work the same way so I don't want people to get hung up on those details. FCPS also has other issues than just AAP that muddy why AAP and general ed don't always work well.

I don't know why parents in FCPS don't want all students to do well. I guess I'm just hoping there are enough parents with kids both in AAP and general ed or who just care about making the system work for everyone and have some good suggestions and are willing to be flexible. My kids don't attend a center, so I can't make suggestions for schools I don't have enough details on. It's obvious there are some problems though that could be fixed with some tweaks to the boundaries and the way the program is implemented.

Why would you say this? For someone so vocally against anecdotal evidence, you seem to have no problem relying on it to make insulting generalizations.

Only her annecdotal evidence counts for facts here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I've already identified enough about the school. It attempts to integrate. It attempts to teach everyone at the most advanced level they can handle. It attempts to help students who are struggling. It's not a perfect school though and not all schools work the same way so I don't want people to get hung up on those details. FCPS also has other issues than just AAP that muddy why AAP and general ed don't always work well.

I don't know why parents in FCPS don't want all students to do well. I guess I'm just hoping there are enough parents with kids both in AAP and general ed or who just care about making the system work for everyone and have some good suggestions and are willing to be flexible. My kids don't attend a center, so I can't make suggestions for schools I don't have enough details on. It's obvious there are some problems though that could be fixed with some tweaks to the boundaries and the way the program is implemented.

Why would you say this? For someone so vocally against anecdotal evidence, you seem to have no problem relying on it to make insulting generalizations.

Only her annecdotal evidence counts for facts here.

I'm not against anecdotal evidence. What I am against is venting - there has already been enough on this board - and anecdotal evidence that covers only one side. If you're going to make a suggestion, I just ask that you give at least anecdotal evidence that shows support for both general ed and AAP. Sorry if that was confusing.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Also, I was responding to someone asking me why would general ed parents even care about making AAP better when I wrote "I don't know why parents in FCPS don't want all students to do well." It wasn't a generalization. It was a confusion I had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're going to make a suggestion, I just ask that you give at least anecdotal evidence that shows support for both general ed and AAP. Sorry if that was confusing.

Meet the needs of the student in the program they are receiving services from in the building where it is a best fit for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're going to make a suggestion, I just ask that you give at least anecdotal evidence that shows support for both general ed and AAP. Sorry if that was confusing.

Meet the needs of the student in the program they are receiving services from in the building where it is a best fit for them.

That's a great academic goal. If you add something like "Each building should promote school unity and treat all students within it in an equitable manner" I think you have the gist of what most parents are looking for socially and academically in a school. Students shouldn't be treated the same, but resources should be disseminated fairly based on student's needs.

If this is the goal then, what are the current problems and what are the possible solutions?