Are you surprised at the kids not in AAP?

[Anonymous]

Fixing the behavior issues in elementary schools is quite simple. When a child throws chairs at a teacher....kick him out!!! Don't be intimidated by the lawyer the parents hired...kick them out! Or better yet, make the parents sit with the child in in-school suspension.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FFX teacher here from a center. Behavior is not considered when screening for AAP. Maybe elsewhere, but not in Fairfax County.

Yes. And thank goodness for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can see the points on both sides of the argument for getting rid of the AAP centers vs. keeping them. For me (the PP with the chronically late bus), the problem could be solved if the bus didn't run a route prior to picking up the AAP kids (or if that route was shortened) so that the bus was not always late picking up the AAP kids at their school. We're getting to the point now where the "price" of AAP for kids at our base school is that you have to drive your kid to AAP and pick them up everyday b/c the bus is so late and unreliable. When your child gets home 1hr. and 20 min. or MORE after the dismissal bell on a regular basis, (and they already start 50 min. later than our neighborhood school), it's not reasonable.

There is a blind child on our street who has a 1.5 hour bus ride each way to her FCPS special ed school. Have some perspective. If you can, drive and pick your kids up. If not, they can at least read on the bus.

Just wait until next year if you think they are late now you haven't seen nothing yet. The school start times are changing and so are the buses!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A couple of super brights at our local school but they chose not to attend AAP. There's always that. Some parents still value a neighborhood school over the benefits of busing for a special curriculum in grade school.

I can see why! Our kids leave the local neighborhood school at 8:10 (if the bus is on time, which it hasn't been yet), and they are supposed to get back at 4:25, but so far they have come back at 5:10, 4:45 and 4:45. We are losing faith in the bus schedule and the system that thinks it's o.k. for an 8 yr. old to get back to his/her base school more than an hour after school gets out. Add another 10 min. on to that to walk home. Basically, our kids riding the AAP bus have a day that starts at 8:00 and ends at 5:00 (if they aren't REALLY late). That's too long and gives us pause in reconsidering our decision to forego the neighborhood school. The AAP school is literally 15 min. away from the neighborhood school... yet these kids are losing 2 hrs. every day just getting to and from the AAP school.

It is going to get a whole lot worse!

[Anonymous]

I am very surprised that more of the AAP kids did not go to TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that the genius special ed kid stayed at the base school for better services. It's a crying shame that kids like that can't be accommodated at an AAP center. We tried an AAP center for my son in 3rd grade, but returned him to the base school when we learned that special ed services at the Center just couldn't compare to the base school. Centers need to do a better job serving the "twice exceptional" student. If a child is accepted into the program on the basis of intelligence, an appropriate education should not be denied because the child also has a disability, whether autism or ADHD, etc. FCPS should really be careful about potential legal action by parents of gifted kids with disabilities.

Nobody is denying the "special 2E" kids anything. Actually, in many cases they are. When schools require a child to fail before services are considered, they are denying that child. When schools do not provide team taught classes for AAP or Honors level classes, they are denying that child.

I just don't understand how their parents make such a fuss and talk about legal action just because THEY don't think the services are the same at the Center. If the services at the home school are the same then why is there an AAP program at all?

Centers are generally bigger and more crowded. It depends.

There are only so many resources to go around. How many special services does one special child need? This is PUBLIC school. If you want multiple special services for your special child, then pay and go private. The number of special services a student needs is dependent on what is required for that child to be able to access the curriculum. Yes, this is a PUBLIC school and that means they have to abide by the laws our society has established for students in PUBLIC school. Our society has determined, by laws that it has enacted, that it is a benefit to our whole society to educate ALL children. (It saves money in the end to have productive independent adults than adults who are dependent on public welfare.) Our society has determined, through laws enacted by our elected officials, that children with special needs are guaranteed a Free Appropriate Public Education. That means that a child with special needs who is intellectually able to access the curriculum in advanced classes should not be denied access to those classes - and any accommodation needed to provide FAPE are to be followed regardless of whether the class is in a self contained special education classroom, a general education classroom or an advanced education classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that the genius special ed kid stayed at the base school for better services. It's a crying shame that kids like that can't be accommodated at an AAP center. We tried an AAP center for my son in 3rd grade, but returned him to the base school when we learned that special ed services at the Center just couldn't compare to the base school. Centers need to do a better job serving the "twice exceptional" student. If a child is accepted into the program on the basis of intelligence, an appropriate education should not be denied because the child also has a disability, whether autism or ADHD, etc. FCPS should really be careful about potential legal action by parents of gifted kids with disabilities.

Nobody is denying the "special 2E" kids anything. Actually, in many cases they are. When schools require a child to fail before services are considered, they are denying that child. When schools do not provide team taught classes for AAP or Honors level classes, they are denying that child.

I just don't understand how their parents make such a fuss and talk about legal action just because THEY don't think the services are the same at the Center. If the services at the home school are the same then why is there an AAP program at all?

Centers are generally bigger and more crowded. It depends.

There are only so many resources to go around. How many special services does one special child need? This is PUBLIC school. If you want multiple special services for your special child, then pay and go private. The number of special services a student needs is dependent on what is required for that child to be able to access the curriculum. Yes, this is a PUBLIC school and that means they have to abide by the laws our society has established for students in PUBLIC school. Our society has determined, by laws that it has enacted, that it is a benefit to our whole society to educate ALL children. (It saves money in the end to have productive independent adults than adults who are dependent on public welfare.) Our society has determined, through laws enacted by our elected officials, that children with special needs are guaranteed a Free Appropriate Public Education. That means that a child with special needs who is intellectually able to access the curriculum in advanced classes should not be denied access to those classes - and any accommodation needed to provide FAPE are to be followed regardless of whether the class is in a self contained special education classroom, a general education classroom or an advanced education classroom.

Also, AAP can be considered a "special program" for "special children" too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am very surprised that more of the AAP kids did not go to TJ.

Very, very few kids - AAP or otherwise - are actually qualified to go to TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can see the points on both sides of the argument for getting rid of the AAP centers vs. keeping them. For me (the PP with the chronically late bus), the problem could be solved if the bus didn't run a route prior to picking up the AAP kids (or if that route was shortened) so that the bus was not always late picking up the AAP kids at their school. We're getting to the point now where the "price" of AAP for kids at our base school is that you have to drive your kid to AAP and pick them up everyday b/c the bus is so late and unreliable. When your child gets home 1hr. and 20 min. or MORE after the dismissal bell on a regular basis, (and they already start 50 min. later than our neighborhood school), it's not reasonable.

There is a blind child on our street who has a 1.5 hour bus ride each way to her FCPS special ed school. Have some perspective. If you can, drive and pick your kids up. If not, they can at least read on the bus.

Just wait until next year if you think they are late now you haven't seen nothing yet. The school start times are changing and so are the buses!

What do you mean? Our school is a later start school (9:15)- earlier or (please no) later?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am very surprised that more of the AAP kids did not go to TJ.

Very, very few kids - AAP or otherwise - are actually qualified to go to TJ.

+1

Not all students -- including well qualified ones -- want to go to TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can see the points on both sides of the argument for getting rid of the AAP centers vs. keeping them. For me (the PP with the chronically late bus), the problem could be solved if the bus didn't run a route prior to picking up the AAP kids (or if that route was shortened) so that the bus was not always late picking up the AAP kids at their school. We're getting to the point now where the "price" of AAP for kids at our base school is that you have to drive your kid to AAP and pick them up everyday b/c the bus is so late and unreliable. When your child gets home 1hr. and 20 min. or MORE after the dismissal bell on a regular basis, (and they already start 50 min. later than our neighborhood school), it's not reasonable.

There is a blind child on our street who has a 1.5 hour bus ride each way to her FCPS special ed school. Have some perspective. If you can, drive and pick your kids up. If not, they can at least read on the bus.

Just wait until next year if you think they are late now you haven't seen nothing yet. The school start times are changing and so are the buses!

What do you mean? Our school is a later start school (9:15)- earlier or (please no) later?

They are going to change the HS start times to be after 8:00am. Depending on which option they choose, it may affect the start times of the ES schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can see the points on both sides of the argument for getting rid of the AAP centers vs. keeping them. For me (the PP with the chronically late bus), the problem could be solved if the bus didn't run a route prior to picking up the AAP kids (or if that route was shortened) so that the bus was not always late picking up the AAP kids at their school. We're getting to the point now where the "price" of AAP for kids at our base school is that you have to drive your kid to AAP and pick them up everyday b/c the bus is so late and unreliable. When your child gets home 1hr. and 20 min. or MORE after the dismissal bell on a regular basis, (and they already start 50 min. later than our neighborhood school), it's not reasonable.

There is a blind child on our street who has a 1.5 hour bus ride each way to her FCPS special ed school. Have some perspective. If you can, drive and pick your kids up. If not, they can at least read on the bus.

Just wait until next year if you think they are late now you haven't seen nothing yet. The school start times are changing and so are the buses!

What do you mean? Our school is a later start school (9:15)- earlier or (please no) later?

They are going to change the HS start times to be after 8:00am. Depending on which option they choose, it may affect the start times of the ES schools.

Your first post seemed to indicate the times WERE changing next year for AAP kids...now it is they "may" change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can see the points on both sides of the argument for getting rid of the AAP centers vs. keeping them. For me (the PP with the chronically late bus), the problem could be solved if the bus didn't run a route prior to picking up the AAP kids (or if that route was shortened) so that the bus was not always late picking up the AAP kids at their school. We're getting to the point now where the "price" of AAP for kids at our base school is that you have to drive your kid to AAP and pick them up everyday b/c the bus is so late and unreliable. When your child gets home 1hr. and 20 min. or MORE after the dismissal bell on a regular basis, (and they already start 50 min. later than our neighborhood school), it's not reasonable.

There is a blind child on our street who has a 1.5 hour bus ride each way to her FCPS special ed school. Have some perspective. If you can, drive and pick your kids up. If not, they can at least read on the bus.

Just wait until next year if you think they are late now you haven't seen nothing yet. The school start times are changing and so are the buses!

What do you mean? Our school is a later start school (9:15)- earlier or (please no) later?

They are going to change the HS start times to be after 8:00am. Depending on which option they choose, it may affect the start times of the ES schools.

Your first post seemed to indicate the times WERE changing next year for AAP kids...now it is they "may" change.

For one thing, we are not the same poster. I said "may" because there is a chance that some ES schools start times may not change.

[Anonymous]

The current "preferred option" has elementary start times not changing at all or only very slightly: http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/9NNQTN6516CF/$file/Blueprint%20for%20Change%20Presentation%20Revised.pdf

High schools start 8-8:15. Middle schools get the worst of it by moving to 7:30. Which is actually a positive change for us because our kids' currently starts earlier than that!