Luther Jackson or Thoreau?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a crime that Thoreau is 400 students under capacity, while nearby Kilmer and Luther Jackson are overcrowded. FCPS needs to get it's act together and adjust this imbalance ASAP. If that means some AAP kids and their parents lose their Goldilocks status and don't get to evaluate several schools before they deign to attend one, so be it. Middle school is two freaking years out of a 12/13 year education. The vast majority of kids spend more of this time trying to figure out where they fit in the social hierarchy than worrying about how much they're learning in school. Mostly it's the parents who seem to have forgotten what it's like to be a teenager who are to blame for our current unequal system.

Take a chill pill, please! Your brilliant kid, if he or she is truly that special will have an equal chance of getting into TJ from any one of these good schools. If not, it really doesn't matter which school they attend.

--signed, a mom whose AAP and non-AAP kids are currently attending the same top university.

Thoreau is under capacity because they just finished (or are finishing) a renovation. It is not a crime; it is that Thoreau was not under capacity until this year. In a year or two, Thoreau will be a center, and LJ kids from madison will not have a choice.

There is no reason why Thoreau should not be a center next year. The overcrowding at Kilmer in particularly is beyond the pale. Why should some kids be crammed into one school and others living the life of Riley so that poor little snowflakes and their over involved parents have a couple of years to adjust. A couple of years will be the entire middle school experience for some kids and I am so sick of the overinflated AAP calling the shots for everyone. These kids are not that special and in need of so much coddling.

There are very few kids at Kilmer for AAP who have Thoreau as their base school. Kilmer did have a lot of AAP kids from Great Falls, and they will all be back at Cooper in a few more years. The bigger issue at Kilmer has been growth within its base boundaries, which Marshall is also experiencing. The solution ought to be for FCPS to move most of the Tysons apartments to Cooper/Langley.

[Anonymous]

LOL Like that will happen

[Anonymous]

Cuz it's anonymous....I'll say it...my son is brilliant, I mean, I cannot keep up with him brilliant, perfect scores on standardized test, IQ >150 brilliant.. He is at a center school now and happy. Academics are his life. He's tried various sports but has a lot of balance issues and just does not feel passionate about it. He stands on 3rd base and does math in his head for fun and misses balls flying straight at him. He has a heart of gold. He helps other and stands up to bullies on behalf of his friends. He also spills his dinner on his shirt every night. He is....who he is, and my god I love him. With that said, he's 11. We are going to send him to Thoreau. Chief reasons: 800 kids vs. 1400 kids at LJ; we like the teachers at Thoreau.; we like the "less rattled/less busy" feel at Thoreau; we like the quieter area of town it's in, we like that he will meet a cohort he's going to go to Madison with. I do not believe the "academic rigor" of LJ can trump all of these real-life factors. And academic rigor is coming for these kids...it's all coming in due time....he only gets to be a kid once........anyway, for better or worse, that's where we are coming from....we are excited for Thoreau, and so is he.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cuz it's anonymous....I'll say it...my son is brilliant, I mean, I cannot keep up with him brilliant, perfect scores on standardized test, IQ >150 brilliant.. He is at a center school now and happy. Academics are his life. He's tried various sports but has a lot of balance issues and just does not feel passionate about it. He stands on 3rd base and does math in his head for fun and misses balls flying straight at him. He has a heart of gold. He helps other and stands up to bullies on behalf of his friends. He also spills his dinner on his shirt every night. He is....who he is, and my god I love him. With that said, he's 11. We are going to send him to Thoreau. Chief reasons: 800 kids vs. 1400 kids at LJ; we like the teachers at Thoreau.; we like the "less rattled/less busy" feel at Thoreau; we like the quieter area of town it's in, we like that he will meet a cohort he's going to go to Madison with. I do not believe the "academic rigor" of LJ can trump all of these real-life factors. And academic rigor is coming for these kids...it's all coming in due time....he only gets to be a kid once........anyway, for better or worse, that's where we are coming from....we are excited for Thoreau, and so is he.

What standardized test has your 11 year old taken? Do you mean the CogAT? I have never seen a perfect score on one ever and I previously taught in FCPS. If not, what test?

[Anonymous]

We are in same situation and have chosen Thoreau chiefly due to what we perceive to be overcrowding issues at LJ, and socially this will be the group she moves on to Madison with. The Level IV academics at Thoreau seem terrific to us.

[Anonymous]

3 of my son's friends good buddies at his center AAP, as well as my son, are asking to go to Thoreau (base) as opposed to LJ (center) next year. They are in 6th grade now, and I do not know why or how it's become a "topic" at school......but this is the feedback I got from him last week.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3 of my son's friends good buddies at his center AAP, as well as my son, are asking to go to Thoreau (base) as opposed to LJ (center) next year. They are in 6th grade now, and I do not know why or how it's become a "topic" at school......but this is the feedback I got from him last week.....

Good for him and his friends for speaking up. He'll do great at Thoreau and get to meet more future Madison classmates, without being stuck in an AAP school-within-a-school at Jackson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cuz it's anonymous....I'll say it...my son is brilliant, I mean, I cannot keep up with him brilliant, perfect scores on standardized test, IQ >150 brilliant.. He is at a center school now and happy. Academics are his life. He's tried various sports but has a lot of balance issues and just does not feel passionate about it. He stands on 3rd base and does math in his head for fun and misses balls flying straight at him. He has a heart of gold. He helps other and stands up to bullies on behalf of his friends. He also spills his dinner on his shirt every night. He is....who he is, and my god I love him. With that said, he's 11. We are going to send him to Thoreau. Chief reasons: 800 kids vs. 1400 kids at LJ; we like the teachers at Thoreau.; we like the "less rattled/less busy" feel at Thoreau; we like the quieter area of town it's in, we like that he will meet a cohort he's going to go to Madison with. I do not believe the "academic rigor" of LJ can trump all of these real-life factors. And academic rigor is coming for these kids...it's all coming in due time....he only gets to be a kid once........anyway, for better or worse, that's where we are coming from....we are excited for Thoreau, and so is he.

What standardized test has your 11 year old taken? Do you mean the CogAT? I have never seen a perfect score on one ever and I previously taught in FCPS. If not, what test?

Why does it matter? If that's what you're stuck on, you missed the point of her post.

[Anonymous]

Her post had a point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in same situation and have chosen Thoreau chiefly due to what we perceive to be overcrowding issues at LJ, and socially this will be the group she moves on to Madison with. The Level IV academics at Thoreau seem terrific to us.

It'll be a few steps down, but socially your DC will be better, I assume.

TBH, the rigors of LJ AAP are not for most. If you can save face and say TMS is good enough, go for it.

TMS is an easy A, too.

[Anonymous]

Not a fan of schools that feed into falls Church high

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know how many kids in the current 7th grade at LJMS will end up at Madison? Is there a way to track those numbers? I know the Thoreau program expanded a lot for 7th and there are 4 classes of AAP there. I can't remember the exact number but I know it was over 100.

How many AAP kids in 7th that are zoned for Madison could there possibly be?

I think the current 6th grade AAP numbers are smaller than 7th. Anyone know how many kids total are AAP eligible and zoned for Madison.

Anyone know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone know how many kids in the current 7th grade at LJMS will end up at Madison? Is there a way to track those numbers? I know the Thoreau program expanded a lot for 7th and there are 4 classes of AAP there. I can't remember the exact number but I know it was over 100.

How many AAP kids in 7th that are zoned for Madison could there possibly be?

I think the current 6th grade AAP numbers are smaller than 7th. Anyone know how many kids total are AAP eligible and zoned for Madison.

Anyone know?

According to data posted by FCPS, there are currently 49 AAP kids in 7th grade whose base school is Thoreau at LJMS. Most will end up at Madison.

Not sure about the total number of AAP-eligible students zoned for Madison (which would include some of the AAP kids at Kilmer and AAP-eligible kids who chose to stay at Thoreau).

[Anonymous]

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Not all are Madison-some are zoned for Marshall.