Staying at LLIV instead of center

[Anonymous]

Is anyone on this board still on the fence about staying at LLIV (like Stenwood ES, for example) or going to the center? Is there anything you need to hear or want to discuss before you make your final decisions? Maybe we could get a discussion going on this board to help encourage more and more people to stay...

[Anonymous]

Different school but still on the fence about LLIV vs. center. I'm leaning LLIV. For me, the question is how many other kids are choosing LLIV to help me decide. I'd like a decent size peer group for my child.

[Anonymous]

It looks like we have less than 10 committed to staying although there isn't a lot of cross-talk unfortunately among the families. I'd like to think that 10 is enough but it'd be great to get more.

I'd like to hear what motivates people to go instead of staying besides numbers. If it's just numbers, it could be a simple matter of everyone communicating with each other and committing to one another to stay. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

Apart from numbers, some people like the prestige of saying their kid is at a center. Often the name of the center alone yells "AAP." Some have kids already there so they want their kids together. Some think the teachers are better at a center. Some think the curriculum is better at a center. Some think centers handle 2E kids better.

[Anonymous]

For ourselves, we have a kid at the center and one trying to decide now (our third is entering kindergarten at the base school, so we're a two-school family no matter what). We honestly don't know what our final decision will be but if more people stayed that would make staying a whole lot easier.

Maybe I'm naïve, but I really hope people don't use prestige as a reason for making this decision - can't really understand that one. As far as teachers, curriculum, etc., I've seen no evidence that the center school is better than the base school. Certainly not enough to justify going and spending 40 minutes on the bus both ways every day. I guess it really just comes down to numbers, then. At least for us.

[Anonymous]

DS says he will refuse to go to school if he has to leave his friends and change schools.

[Anonymous]

The best thing about LLIV is that most of those schools start earlier.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I am new to AAP, but what are the pros and the cons? This week both our base school and the center have orientations, on different days, so I plan on going, but I would love to hear the different opinions here as well. My kids will change schools regardless this year because we moved, but I honestly don't know which is better. Is the curriculum the same? Are the base classes smaller, because theoretically a lot of kids went to the center? TIA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, I am new to AAP, but what are the pros and the cons? This week both our base school and the center have orientations, on different days, so I plan on going, but I would love to hear the different opinions here as well. My kids will change schools regardless this year because we moved, but I honestly don't know which is better. Is the curriculum the same? Are the base classes smaller, because theoretically a lot of kids went to the center? TIA!

There is so much information on this I could write a novel. Do some reading on this board and you'll find more info than you ever wanted to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, I am new to AAP, but what are the pros and the cons? This week both our base school and the center have orientations, on different days, so I plan on going, but I would love to hear the different opinions here as well. My kids will change schools regardless this year because we moved, but I honestly don't know which is better. Is the curriculum the same? Are the base classes smaller, because theoretically a lot of kids went to the center? TIA!

It's too school specific to give general answers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to hear what motivates people to go instead of staying besides numbers.

The Center teachers and staff have more experience working with and supporting 2E students like my child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, I am new to AAP, but what are the pros and the cons? This week both our base school and the center have orientations, on different days, so I plan on going, but I would love to hear the different opinions here as well. My kids will change schools regardless this year because we moved, but I honestly don't know which is better. Is the curriculum the same? Are the base classes smaller, because theoretically a lot of kids went to the center? TIA!

It's really something you have to ask comparing LLIV and Centers individually. Because LLIV X may be awesome compared to Center A, but LLIV Y could be horrible compared to it's Center B. The curriculum's are the same but it all comes down to implementation which is affected by administration and teachers. As for class sizes, usually LLIV class sizes are smaller, but not always. Again it depends on what LLIV and what center. But even if it is smaller, it's usually the difference of 5-7 kids.

We chose LLIV because we found the teachers at both to be qualified qualified and inspiring. So it came down to extracurriculars for us. Extracurriculars are a big part of our son's life. He's a shy kid who derives a lot of self esteem from his activities outside of school. The late end time and long bus ride would cause him to miss the start times of a few of his activities and it wasn't worth it to us. Plus, in our area the center is a bit intense for our liking in elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Wait...I thought the deadline to decide was last week?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, I am new to AAP, but what are the pros and the cons? This week both our base school and the center have orientations, on different days, so I plan on going, but I would love to hear the different opinions here as well. My kids will change schools regardless this year because we moved, but I honestly don't know which is better. Is the curriculum the same? Are the base classes smaller, because theoretically a lot of kids went to the center? TIA!

It's really something you have to ask comparing LLIV and Centers individually. Because LLIV X may be awesome compared to Center A, but LLIV Y could be horrible compared to it's Center B. The curriculum's are the same but it all comes down to implementation which is affected by administration and teachers. As for class sizes, usually LLIV class sizes are smaller, but not always. Again it depends on what LLIV and what center. But even if it is smaller, it's usually the difference of 5-7 kids.

We chose LLIV because we found the teachers at both to be qualified qualified and inspiring. So it came down to extracurriculars for us. Extracurriculars are a big part of our son's life. He's a shy kid who derives a lot of self esteem from his activities outside of school. The late end time and long bus ride would cause him to miss the start times of a few of his activities and it wasn't worth it to us. Plus, in our area the center is a bit intense for our liking in elementary school.

We were the same. Getting home at 5 pm was a no-go for us. Many practices and clubs start at 4:30 pm and for those that start after 5 pm, getting home so late still eats into dinner time and homework time that we utilized before a practice/club would start. We see ES as a time to be focused on rounding a child out. It's not just about academics and to us. Church, clubs and sports are equally important at this age in terms of EQ, physical fitness, self esteem, and building relationships with peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait...I thought the deadline to decide was last week?!

Nope. The 29th