Recommendations needed for great FCPS elementary school that is NOT a center school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hunt Valley or Orange Hunt.

Great neighborhoods, great people with smart kids that seemingly could care less about AAP.

Wow, the anti-AAP attitude on DCUM is finally becoming, "I want to avoid any chance of my child being in a school with an AAP center even if my child is in general ed." Without regard for the quality of the general ed in that school, or the overall "community feel." Yes, center schools are also community schools with community involvement.

Seriously, OP, look at any school as a whole. AAP students are just kids, and in four years when my child has been in an AAP center I haven't seen the kind of elitism or crazed intensity that DCUM posters constantly claim exists in the kids and the parents. I just never saw it, and I spent a lot of time in the school every week working directly with kids and teachers.

Don't make assumptions about an entire school just because it has a center or Level IV classes, and don't dismiss a school outright for just that reason. You might be denying your child a very good general ed program just because it is under the same roof as a center.

I think you are misunderstanding what PP is saying about OH and HV.

Many of the people at those schools have kids at the base school and center. It is just not a big deal in that community, whether or not the kids are at a center because all the schools are outstanding. Virtually no AAP drama in that community. People like their schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow OP. I've never heard of what you're going through. The most I've heard is that the parents do this. Very strange to see children do this especially the first year. If your child is K, give it a little bit more time. It's only been a couple of weeks.

I actually have heard this and experienced it. Here is the thing - kids are observant. At any school they are noticing who is in which reading or math group, who goes to the reading specialist, etc. It is human nature to take note of one's environment and "place" yourself within the levels that you see. At AAP center schools, especially, kids are very aware of who is in which class. I do not hear mean or degrading comments but I do hear a lot of comments about who "is smartest" and even a few who "works harder".

An AAP child at ds's bus stop told ds that he could be in AAP if he would "grow a bigger brain and work harder". Nice.

Yes, it happens, but that kid would probably be a pill whether or not he was in AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hunt Valley or Orange Hunt.

Great neighborhoods, great people with smart kids that seemingly could care less about AAP.

+1 we love Orange Hunt!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Terra Centre

Is that the school where it's underground and has no windows?

That school always fascinates me, especially when they started digging up the front this summer. Not to derail the discussion, but how did they start school this year with half of the front missing?

Is it like the hatch from LOST?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Terra Centre

Is that the school where it's underground and has no windows?

That school always fascinates me, especially when they started digging up the front this summer. Not to derail the discussion, but how did they start school this year with half of the front missing?

Is it like the hatch from LOST?

It is this:

http://www.google.com/search?q=terra+centre+elementary&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=cxs5Uru-HYSW2AWqzoGYCA&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=658&dpr=1#facrc=_&imgrc=l1zT8KDfVX2wDM%3A%3BkdjfXO1zeQbb8M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fphotos.wikimapia.org%252Fp%252F00%252F01%252F70%252F74%252F28_big.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwikimapia.org%252F505019%252FTerra-Centre-Elementary-School%3B640%3B480

When we drive by, my kids always ask how they go to school without windows

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Terra Centre

Is that the school where it's underground and has no windows?

That school always fascinates me, especially when they started digging up the front this summer. Not to derail the discussion, but how did they start school this year with half of the front missing?

Is it like the hatch from LOST?

It is this:

http://www.google.com/search?q=terra+centre+elementary&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=cxs5Uru-HYSW2AWqzoGYCA&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=658&dpr=1#facrc=_&imgrc=l1zT8KDfVX2wDM%3A%3BkdjfXO1zeQbb8M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fphotos.wikimapia.org%252Fp%252F00%252F01%252F70%252F74%252F28_big.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwikimapia.org%252F505019%252FTerra-Centre-Elementary-School%3B640%3B480

When we drive by, my kids always ask how they go to school without windows

I'd go crazy not seeing the light of day for 7 hours a day. Under all that flurouscent lighting. I'm surprised nobody has protested this. It might have a rain garden on it's roof, but doesn't seem very earthy otherwise.

[Anonymous]

OP, you should also get a sense of how competitive the middle and high schools the elementary schools feed into are and how good they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Terra Centre

Is that the school where it's underground and has no windows?

That school always fascinates me, especially when they started digging up the front this summer. Not to derail the discussion, but how did they start school this year with half of the front missing?

Is it like the hatch from LOST?

It is this:

http://www.google.com/search?q=terra+centre+elementary&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=cxs5Uru-HYSW2AWqzoGYCA&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=658&dpr=1#facrc=_&imgrc=l1zT8KDfVX2wDM%3A%3BkdjfXO1zeQbb8M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fphotos.wikimapia.org%252Fp%252F00%252F01%252F70%252F74%252F28_big.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwikimapia.org%252F505019%252FTerra-Centre-Elementary-School%3B640%3B480
II
When we drive by, my kids always ask how they go to school without windows

How is it not a safety issue if there is a fire if there are underground?

[Anonymous]

Well, it is the best place to be during a tornado.

[Anonymous]

Vienna Elementary - great school & community feeling within the town of Vienna.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you have your answer.

It is very clear by the majority of posts that you want to send your kids to either Vienna, or any of the cluster of schools in the West Springfield/Burke area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you have your answer.

It is very clear by the majority of posts that you want to send your kids to either Vienna, or any of the cluster of schools in the West Springfield/Burke area

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Definitely food for thought as we decide on the next step. I appreciate your help!

[Anonymous]

21:45. My friend in Vienna Elementary has had 29 in 1st and 33 in 2nd. At Wolftrap it was 28 in first and then 30/31 in 2nd, now down to 23 with an extra teacher. I would say the schools are pretty comparable with class sizes. They both suck in that regard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Terra Centre

Is that the school where it's underground and has no windows?

That school always fascinates me, especially when they started digging up the front this summer. Not to derail the discussion, but how did they start school this year with half of the front missing?

Is it like the hatch from LOST?

It is this:

http://www.google.com/search?q=terra+centre+elementary&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=cxs5Uru-HYSW2AWqzoGYCA&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=658&dpr=1#facrc=_&imgrc=l1zT8KDfVX2wDM%3A%3BkdjfXO1zeQbb8M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fphotos.wikimapia.org%252Fp%252F00%252F01%252F70%252F74%252F28_big.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwikimapia.org%252F505019%252FTerra-Centre-Elementary-School%3B640%3B480

When we drive by, my kids always ask how they go to school without windows

I'd go crazy not seeing the light of day for 7 hours a day. Under all that flurouscent lighting. I'm surprised nobody has protested this. It might have a rain garden on it's roof, but doesn't seem very earthy otherwise.

There are windows in the school. The school is only built into the ground. It's not completely underground. I was very impressed by how light and bright it was in there when we first visited. The renovations are going to make it one of the most modern, "green (I think it's going to be LEED certified? not sure about that)" schools in the nation.
The school community is very warm and the teachers are great. Scouts, basketball, PTA -- everything is very welcoming and inclusive. We love it there!

[Anonymous]

My list would be (in no paricular order): Oakton (LLIV), Vienna, Marshall Road (LLIV), Cunningham Park, Freedom Hill (LLIV), Shrevewood, Stenwood, Wolftrap (LLIV), Westgate (LLIV)

Westbriar -- now is a center -- not sure what it will be like. Flint Hill has a lot of LLIV classrooms. People have mentioned their concerns about Wolftrap, but we have not heard these from our friends w/ kids there. We have friends (and ours attend one of these) at Vienna, Marshall Road, Freedom Hill, Flint Hill and Cunningham Park. Each of these school communities I would say from our conversations is great but each is different culturally, social-economically, so has a different feel. Having been to these schools when looking for our house I would also caution against just looking at something like Great Schools because boiling things down to one number can hide great things happening in the classroom.