DC will most likely get into AAP - base school or center?

[Anonymous]

If you DC is most likely going to be accepted into AAP or if you have a DC in AAP, how do you plan/did you choose whether or not to stay at your base school or go to your local center?

My oldest will most likely get in for next year and I have another DC starting K next year. So, as 2 f/t working parents, with a DH that works late most nights, I am struggling with the decision on whether to split them up into different schools or keep the oldest at our base school. The AART has already said she hopes we keep DC at the base school. I will attend the orientations at both schools, which will probably help make the final decision but will juggling 2 school schedules/events drive me batty or will staying at the base school really not provide the real support DC needs.

[Anonymous]

We stayed at base for local level Iv. We were much more impressed by the local Iv presentation. A full level Iv class stayed at the base, none of Her friend's chose center, and did not want 2 different schedules that were significantly different. Center school has a much later schedule which would not have worked with after school activities and honestly it would have reduced the whole family's quality of life. Also, I have 2 others at base. All in all, I am very happy (thrilled) with the education and teacher she got at the local level Iv.

[Anonymous]

You can look at the numbers of how many other AAP kids from your school stay at base or move to the center if you're interested. In any case, in your situation, in fact in most situations I can think of, I'd keep the AAP kid at the base school. No need to do any crazy juggling before it's necessary. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. I didn't know you could see the stats of kids that moved vs stayed. I'll check that out

My inclination is to stay, but I wasn't sure if all of the AAP kids were put into one class or if they were all mixed in the regular classes and a then just taught the AAP curriculum. I guess I mean just differentiated in the classroom like they get now in 2nd grade. I don't think that's what is best for this DC so that would be a big factor behind my decision.

[Anonymous]

We have AAP in our base school so DC will stay. DC is not good with changes as it is so we'd rather stick with one place at a time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the advice. I didn't know you could see the stats of kids that moved vs stayed. I'll check that out

My inclination is to stay, but I wasn't sure if all of the AAP kids were put into one class or if they were all mixed in the regular classes and a then just taught the AAP curriculum. I guess I mean just differentiated in the classroom like they get now in 2nd grade. I don't think that's what is best for this DC so that would be a big factor behind my decision.

I'm facing the same situation- our level IV also does pull outs similar (but obviously more frequently) than now in 2nd grade. I don't think that works well for my DC either. We have to drive to see DC's friends (not immediate neighbors/spread out neighborhood with no kids DC's age).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the advice. I didn't know you could see the stats of kids that moved vs stayed. I'll check that out

My inclination is to stay, but I wasn't sure if all of the AAP kids were put into one class or if they were all mixed in the regular classes and a then just taught the AAP curriculum. I guess I mean just differentiated in the classroom like they get now in 2nd grade. I don't think that's what is best for this DC so that would be a big factor behind my decision.

I thought local level IV meant all the AAP kids were in the same classroom. Do they only have level III services at your school? That's a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the advice. I didn't know you could see the stats of kids that moved vs stayed. I'll check that out

My inclination is to stay, but I wasn't sure if all of the AAP kids were put into one class or if they were all mixed in the regular classes and a then just taught the AAP curriculum. I guess I mean just differentiated in the classroom like they get now in 2nd grade. I don't think that's what is best for this DC so that would be a big factor behind my decision.

I thought local level IV meant all the AAP kids were in the same classroom. Do they only have level III services at your school? That's a big difference.

The schools says they have level IV at our base school but I wasn't sure if all Level IV kids were put into the same class or if they were spread out within the grade and the teachers just taught the different curriculum and maybe some pull outs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the advice. I didn't know you could see the stats of kids that moved vs stayed. I'll check that out

My inclination is to stay, but I wasn't sure if all of the AAP kids were put into one class or if they were all mixed in the regular classes and a then just taught the AAP curriculum. I guess I mean just differentiated in the classroom like they get now in 2nd grade. I don't think that's what is best for this DC so that would be a big factor behind my decision.

I thought local level IV meant all the AAP kids were in the same classroom. Do they only have level III services at your school? That's a big difference.

The schools says they have level IV at our base school but I wasn't sure if all Level IV kids were put into the same class or if they were spread out within the grade and the teachers just taught the different curriculum and maybe some pull outs.

Our school is level IV and they all do the same curriculum except level IV students get pull outs for LA and math. I'm with the OP that I don't know if this approach works well.

[Anonymous]

From what I know if there is a Local Level IV at your school the kids are all grouped in that. If they don't have enough students for a full class the Principal can select other students to be placed in your class.

If my child gets in we are planning to go to the center. Next year would be my school's first year with a Local Level IV and I'm hesitant to have my child be in the program the first year at our school. Additionally the center school has more after school activities that my child would be interested in than our base school provides. Finally, I'd like my child to have exposure to lots of different kids 3-6 instead of being with the same kids every year.

What is the time difference between the two schools? I will still have one at the base school so I will still have to deal with that. I think though if you are fine with the base school then you will be okay. Be sure to ask at orientation how many kids stay for the Local Level. Here are some links that might provide more information:

http://www.fcps.edu/fts/dashboard/enrollment/esenroll.html

http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/docs/sb%20follow%20up%20responses/fy%202014/SBfollow-up14-2-3-4.pdf

http://www.fcag.org/documents/aap_center_data/level_iv_task_force_recs/aap_enr_by_ctr_fdr.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the advice. I didn't know you could see the stats of kids that moved vs stayed. I'll check that out

My inclination is to stay, but I wasn't sure if all of the AAP kids were put into one class or if they were all mixed in the regular classes and a then just taught the AAP curriculum. I guess I mean just differentiated in the classroom like they get now in 2nd grade. I don't think that's what is best for this DC so that would be a big factor behind my decision.

I thought local level IV meant all the AAP kids were in the same classroom. Do they only have level III services at your school? That's a big difference.

The schools says they have level IV at our base school but I wasn't sure if all Level IV kids were put into the same class or if they were spread out within the grade and the teachers just taught the different curriculum and maybe some pull outs.

Our school is level IV and they all do the same curriculum except level IV students get pull outs for LA and math. I'm with the OP that I don't know if this approach works well.

OP here - as much as I want to keep the kids together next year if this is the way it works I will probably transfer DC to center school. She needs to be around more kids like herself. She has other opportunities to work on her social skills with other kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I know if there is a Local Level IV at your school the kids are all grouped in that. If they don't have enough students for a full class the Principal can select other students to be placed in your class.

If my child gets in we are planning to go to the center. Next year would be my school's first year with a Local Level IV and I'm hesitant to have my child be in the program the first year at our school. Additionally the center school has more after school activities that my child would be interested in than our base school provides. Finally, I'd like my child to have exposure to lots of different kids 3-6 instead of being with the same kids every year.

What is the time difference between the two schools? I will still have one at the base school so I will still have to deal with that. I think though if you are fine with the base school then you will be okay. Be sure to ask at orientation how many kids stay for the Local Level. Here are some links that might provide more information:

http://www.fcps.edu/fts/dashboard/enrollment/esenroll.html

http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/docs/sb%20follow%20up%20responses/fy%202014/SBfollow-up14-2-3-4.pdf

http://www.fcag.org/documents/aap_center_data/level_iv_task_force_recs/aap_enr_by_ctr_fdr.pdf

Thanks for the links! I believe the times are really close, but I'm more worried about family event schedules conflicting or just being too many events (i.e. bingo night 2 Friday's in a row). Also worried about the learning experience if she's in regular classes all day except for 2 subjects.

[Anonymous]

I was in your shoes last year OP. My honest, best advice is to do some research-- not all Center schools are equal, and not all LLIV schools are equal. Go to both orientations, talk to other parents, and make the best choice for you.

We have Louise Archer as our Center school-- and I think it has a very strong and well regarded program. But, our home school also has a "solid" LLIV program, and we liked the sense of community, friends, and other intangibles. One thing I looked at very closely though, was the past record of how many of our AAP students were staying at the base school versus going to the Center. I viewed this as mark of what parents thought of the local program... And also it mattered to me because if, for example, 30 kids from my base school got in to AAP, and 29 of them went to the Center, then I felt sure that the LLIV AAP would not truly be AAP level. I found though, that a critical mass of kids routinely stayed at our home school, and I heard really good things from the parents of AAP students at my home school. For this (and some other reasons that were particular to my child-- including not wanting siblings at different schools!), we chose the base school. I'm glad that we did, as it has worked out well for my DC.

By the way, I've been told by many sources that the curriculum is the same for all students (AAP and Gen Ed)-- with the exception of math. The AAP kids simply hit things on a bit deeper level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in your shoes last year OP. My honest, best advice is to do some research-- not all Center schools are equal, and not all LLIV schools are equal. Go to both orientations, talk to other parents, and make the best choice for you.

A thousand times this. Great advice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in your shoes last year OP. My honest, best advice is to do some research-- not all Center schools are equal, and not all LLIV schools are equal. Go to both orientations, talk to other parents, and make the best choice for you.

We have Louise Archer as our Center school-- and I think it has a very strong and well regarded program. But, our home school also has a "solid" LLIV program, and we liked the sense of community, friends, and other intangibles. One thing I looked at very closely though, was the past record of how many of our AAP students were staying at the base school versus going to the Center. I viewed this as mark of what parents thought of the local program... And also it mattered to me because if, for example, 30 kids from my base school got in to AAP, and 29 of them went to the Center, then I felt sure that the LLIV AAP would not truly be AAP level. I found though, that a critical mass of kids routinely stayed at our home school, and I heard really good things from the parents of AAP students at my home school. For this (and some other reasons that were particular to my child-- including not wanting siblings at different schools!), we chose the base school. I'm glad that we did, as it has worked out well for my DC.

By the way, I've been told by many sources that the curriculum is the same for all students (AAP and Gen Ed)-- with the exception of math. The AAP kids simply hit things on a bit deeper level.

This sounds like Wolftrap ES - didn't they change their level IV program to only pull outs for level IV students for LA and Math? This is the second year where this change was implemented (before it was classes of only level IV students).