Academic Rigor of APS Middle Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mom of a straight A kid at Gunston who also does ZERO outside work. He also doesn't seem to be challenged in his courses but also isn't bothered by it.

Same.

I think APS can do great job on the margins (I have an older child who is 2E, and they are on top of that kid), but the students who can coast are allowed to do just that. Which isn't optimal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t worry. The high school will be a joke too.

Nope. My HS takes all intensified/AP and has homework every night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS does a great job in so many areas, such as cultural enrichment.

Plus, I feel APS, as a whole, gets an A+ in ESOL and equity. At least as far as their effort.

[Anonymous]

My APS middle school daughter is in 7th grade Algebra intensified and is still coasting. It ended up not being that hard after all.
My other child at private has math instruction, grammar, and science homework every night. It’s not even close on how much better private middle school is compared to APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My APS middle school daughter is in 7th grade Algebra intensified and is still coasting. It ended up not being that hard after all.
My other child at private has math instruction, grammar, and science homework every night. It’s not even close on how much better private middle school is compared to APS.

Which private? Thinking of switching...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:7th grader at HBW - almost never has homework. Says he does it at school, but somehow also has time for 7-eleven slurpee runs and hanging out with friends, so I suspect he isn't assigned much homework. But I actually have no idea what he's doing at school.

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are focused on the wrong thing. My kid is a junior and many kids who were pushed into early Algebra just weren't ready and the algebra was a bit watered down which was ok.

But the students got to high school and the just weren't prepared because the high school teachers assumed a level of mastery that wasn't there and they had to remediate. This was true even in the intensified level classes.

Forcing math early is probably the biggest mistake some parents make. Instead I would argue that parents need to push middle schools to teach something far more basic which is reading and writing including grammar, vocabulary, and how to write basic paragraphs and essays.

I'm one of the PPs that mentioned my kid isn't challenged right now. Even though I don't think she's challenged in most classes right now, I do agree with this poster's points. My DD's math placement is a good fit - not the highest, but that's okay. I agree that pushing too much in math is a huge mistake and sets kids up for failure later on. It happened to me and resulted in my hating math.

OP here. You are actually validating my point. Even though DC is taking "higher level" classes, I worry about the level of mastery. And I didn't push my child into anything. This was the path that was recommended based on test scores and grades and also seems to be a good fit for my child. DC did mention there are some kids in class who are struggling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Algebra in 8th grade is very advanced. Your kid is way ahead, OP.

It's not advanced, it's pretty standard for APS MS.

Agree with this. We attended an open house for BASIS in Mclean. They said all of their students start at Algebra II in 9th grade. Coming from APS, that means that you need to have taken Alg 1 in 7th and Geometry in 8th, but only a small number of students are allowed into that math track (at least that's the case at Swanson). Most do Alg 1 in 8th grade and I guess are behind private school students. Not sure what that means for college admissions down the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t worry. The high school will be a joke too.

Nope. My HS takes all intensified/AP and has homework every night.

So did my coaster and it was all finished during school. Never did homework at home. It’s not at all challenging for a bright kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Algebra in 8th grade is very advanced. Your kid is way ahead, OP.

It's not advanced, it's pretty standard for APS MS.

Agree with this. We attended an open house for BASIS in Mclean. They said all of their students start at Algebra II in 9th grade. Coming from APS, that means that you need to have taken Alg 1 in 7th and Geometry in 8th, but only a small number of students are allowed into that math track (at least that's the case at Swanson). Most do Alg 1 in 8th grade and I guess are behind private school students. Not sure what that means for college admissions down the road.

It means they end up at nova clearly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t worry. The high school will be a joke too.

Nope. My HS takes all intensified/AP and has homework every night.

So did my coaster and it was all finished during school. Never did homework at home. It’s not at all challenging for a bright kid.

Cool story, bro

Each school and each teacher is different.

[Anonymous]

My niece is at Basis Mclean and there are 6th graders coming from FFX in algebra 1. She feels like the lower end of the class taking Pre-algebra in 6th. This shows that if APS would actually challenge our bright students, they would probably be able to soar. Unfortunately, they have brainwashed parents to pick lower levels of math to avoid a challenge. I feel like a chump paying so much to live here for such a poor public school education.

[Anonymous]

So fascinating that within a few posts on a thread about APS MS, there are two different references to basis mcclean...🙄

[Anonymous]

Why are people equating homework with rigor/quality of instruction?

[Anonymous]

If you are interested in what your kid is learning in middle school, you can sign up for an observer canvas account. It lets you see what the teacher posts in canvas but not assignments they link to in google docs or other systems. I find it easier to sit down periodically with my middle schooler and his iPad and have him show me what he’s doing in each subject.