One compelling reason centers need to go

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in AAP when it was still called GT. For 6 months during 4th grade I went to the local school and was in gen ed after an inter-county move. Parents thought it would help me to meet the neighborhood kids.

Well, I made alot of friends. But it was obvious to me as a fourth grader that I was not getting challenged and not getting the education I needed.

Closing centers would be bad for the kids. It'd be bad for the county as well, as it would be a disincentive for families with gifted children to move to or stay in Fairfax.

Melodrama much?

I would be more concerned about budget proposals that make it harder for teachers, such as increasing class size and cutting pay via reduced hours.

That would be a disincentive for teachers to find FCPS appealing, which is a bigger problem than a few parents getting snitty about having G/T programs in their home schools rather than getting to say their child is at a center.

+1000
I find it laughable when people use the silly argument, "oh, but families with gifted kids would cease to move to Fairfax!" We've already established AAP isn't a GT program. So families who have highly gifted kids (few and far between) aren't hanging all their hopes on a move to FxCo for its "world-class gifted program". People move to Fairfax for all kinds of reasons - mostly because of the many great job opportunities in the area. Not because of AAP, for crying out loud.

A quick look at the sharp decline in the number of Asian kids the second you cross into Arlington tells you otherwise, as does the very small number of NMSF in APS compared to FCPS. But please keep arguing the same point over and over again. It's like watching a gerbil.

And you are like listening to Forrest Gump. Have you bothered looking at the size differential between the districts? And those horrible, awful property values in Arlington.

This canard that the best and the brightest will flee FCPS if centers are eliminated is just laughable. And really, moving resources back into the schools rather than rearranging logistics and staffing is a non event. Get over yourselves.

[Anonymous]

I find it laughable when people use the silly argument, "oh, but families with gifted kids would cease to move to Fairfax!" We've already established AAP isn't a GT program. So families who have highly gifted kids (few and far between) aren't hanging all their hopes on a move to FxCo for its "world-class gifted program". People move to Fairfax for all kinds of reasons - mostly because of the many great job opportunities in the area. Not because of AAP, for crying out loud.


A quick look at the sharp decline in the number of Asian kids the second you cross into Arlington tells you otherwise, as does the very small number of NMSF in APS compared to FCPS. But please keep arguing the same point over and over again. It's like watching a gerbil.


And you are like listening to Forrest Gump. Have you bothered looking at the size differential between the districts? And those horrible, awful property values in Arlington.

This canard that the best and the brightest will flee FCPS if centers are eliminated is just laughable. And really, moving resources back into the schools rather than rearranging logistics and staffing is a non event. Get over yourselves.
[Report Post]

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in AAP when it was still called GT. For 6 months during 4th grade I went to the local school and was in gen ed after an inter-county move. Parents thought it would help me to meet the neighborhood kids.

Well, I made alot of friends. But it was obvious to me as a fourth grader that I was not getting challenged and not getting the education I needed.

Closing centers would be bad for the kids. It'd be bad for the county as well, as it would be a disincentive for families with gifted children to move to or stay in Fairfax.

Melodrama much?

I would be more concerned about budget proposals that make it harder for teachers, such as increasing class size and cutting pay via reduced hours.

That would be a disincentive for teachers to find FCPS appealing, which is a bigger problem than a few parents getting snitty about having G/T programs in their home schools rather than getting to say their child is at a center.

+1000
I find it laughable when people use the silly argument, "oh, but families with gifted kids would cease to move to Fairfax!" We've already established AAP isn't a GT program. So families who have highly gifted kids (few and far between) aren't hanging all their hopes on a move to FxCo for its "world-class gifted program". People move to Fairfax for all kinds of reasons - mostly because of the many great job opportunities in the area. Not because of AAP, for crying out loud.

A quick look at the sharp decline in the number of Asian kids the second you cross into Arlington tells you otherwise, as does the very small number of NMSF in APS compared to FCPS. But please keep arguing the same point over and over again. It's like watching a gerbil.

I wasn't referring to Asian families. Why are you? Are you the poster who has the fixation on Asians?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in AAP when it was still called GT. For 6 months during 4th grade I went to the local school and was in gen ed after an inter-county move. Parents thought it would help me to meet the neighborhood kids.

Well, I made alot of friends. But it was obvious to me as a fourth grader that I was not getting challenged and not getting the education I needed.

Closing centers would be bad for the kids. It'd be bad for the county as well, as it would be a disincentive for families with gifted children to move to or stay in Fairfax.

Melodrama much?

I would be more concerned about budget proposals that make it harder for teachers, such as increasing class size and cutting pay via reduced hours.

That would be a disincentive for teachers to find FCPS appealing, which is a bigger problem than a few parents getting snitty about having G/T programs in their home schools rather than getting to say their child is at a center.

+1000
I find it laughable when people use the silly argument, "oh, but families with gifted kids would cease to move to Fairfax!" We've already established AAP isn't a GT program. So families who have highly gifted kids (few and far between) aren't hanging all their hopes on a move to FxCo for its "world-class gifted program". People move to Fairfax for all kinds of reasons - mostly because of the many great job opportunities in the area. Not because of AAP, for crying out loud.

A quick look at the sharp decline in the number of Asian kids the second you cross into Arlington tells you otherwise, as does the very small number of NMSF in APS compared to FCPS. But please keep arguing the same point over and over again. It's like watching a gerbil.

And you are like listening to Forrest Gump. Have you bothered looking at the size differential between the districts? And those horrible, awful property values in Arlington.

This canard that the best and the brightest will flee FCPS if centers are eliminated is just laughable. And really, moving resources back into the schools rather than rearranging logistics and staffing is a non event. Get over yourselves.

Exactly. Those who insist that eliminating centers will somehow spell the demise of FCPS (as if it hasn't already been heading south) are simply frantic that they'll no longer be able to say their kid attends one.

Eliminating centers and reallocating those resources back to the base schools will only strengthen FCPS.

[Anonymous]

What resources? If 22 former AAP students were forced back into your neighborhood school, the only resource they'd bring with them is another teacher. How do you think your child would benefit from increased enrollment at the neighborhood school? If you are imagining the differences in academic achievement between children would be less noticeable when they're all in the same building, you've got a wild imagination.

As for the complaint that curriculum for advanced kids gets all the attention, this is simply not true. Staff have determined which materials, etc are appropriate for general education students already. That decision won't change just because your school becomes more crowded and there are some advanced kids in a classroom down the hall.

You are motivated by pure envy - not by wanting what is best for children - your own or your neighbor's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What resources? If 22 former AAP students were forced back into your neighborhood school, the only resource they'd bring with them is another teacher. How do you think your child would benefit from increased enrollment at the neighborhood school? If you are imagining the differences in academic achievement between children would be less noticeable when they're all in the same building, you've got a wild imagination.

As for the complaint that curriculum for advanced kids gets all the attention, this is simply not true. Staff have determined which materials, etc are appropriate for general education students already. That decision won't change just because your school becomes more crowded and there are some advanced kids in a classroom down the hall.

You are motivated by pure envy - not by wanting what is best for children - your own or your neighbor's.

Envy of what? I have two children in AAP. So take your assumptions and your frantic desperation to keep your kid in a center elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

You didn't answer my questions.
What resources?
How would general education students benefit from having advanced students down the hall rather than in another buildong?

Oh - here's a few more:

How much would redrawing boundaries to adjust for moving students back to their neighborhoods cost?
Do parents advocating for this change realize it might require moving their children to different schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You didn't answer my questions.
What resources?
How would general education students benefit from having advanced students down the hall rather than in another buildong?

Oh - here's a few more:

How much would redrawing boundaries to adjust for moving students back to their neighborhoods cost?
Do parents advocating for this change realize it might require moving their children to different schools?

I'm not the PP, but I think most Level IV programs are run where the high performing GE students can push into the classes. Bringing back the Level IV students would provide a peer group for the high performing GE students. The curriculm would be more of a continuum, less of a divide between GE and AAP, and more like how high schools are run.

Moving the Level IV students out of the centers would also add balance to the centers. Many schools have issues with the AAP vs. GE divide. Whether actual or perceived, GE students feel like they are less smart than AAP. My GE kid told me he used to think he was smart until he found out he wasn't in AAP. We have to actively work on his academic self-esteem. Since five classes in his grade are AAP and only two are GE, it can be difficult to get him to understand he is still smart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You didn't answer my questions.
What resources?
How would general education students benefit from having advanced students down the hall rather than in another buildong?

Oh - here's a few more:

How much would redrawing boundaries to adjust for moving students back to their neighborhoods cost?
Do parents advocating for this change realize it might require moving their children to different schools?

I'm not the PP, but I think most Level IV programs are run where the high performing GE students can push into the classes. Bringing back the Level IV students would provide a peer group for the high performing GE students. The curriculm would be more of a continuum, less of a divide between GE and AAP, and more like how high schools are run.

Moving the Level IV students out of the centers would also add balance to the centers. Many schools have issues with the AAP vs. GE divide. Whether actual or perceived, GE students feel like they are less smart than AAP. My GE kid told me he used to think he was smart until he found out he wasn't in AAP. We have to actively work on his academic self-esteem. Since five classes in his grade are AAP and only two are GE, it can be difficult to get him to understand he is still smart.

Ummm. We have a strong LLIV program in DD's ES. There is a huge divide between the one AAP class and the 4 GE classes. Everyone knows which kids are in the smart class and which are not. There is no continuum.

[Anonymous]

I'n still not clear on this, how exactly does closing centers benefit the AAP students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You didn't answer my questions.
What resources?
How would general education students benefit from having advanced students down the hall rather than in another buildong?

Oh - here's a few more:

How much would redrawing boundaries to adjust for moving students back to their neighborhoods cost?
Do parents advocating for this change realize it might require moving their children to different schools?

I'm not the PP, but I think most Level IV programs are run where the high performing GE students can push into the classes. Bringing back the Level IV students would provide a peer group for the high performing GE students. The curriculm would be more of a continuum, less of a divide between GE and AAP, and more like how high schools are run.

Moving the Level IV students out of the centers would also add balance to the centers. Many schools have issues with the AAP vs. GE divide. Whether actual or perceived, GE students feel like they are less smart than AAP. My GE kid told me he used to think he was smart until he found out he wasn't in AAP. We have to actively work on his academic self-esteem. Since five classes in his grade are AAP and only two are GE, it can be difficult to get him to understand he is still smart.

YES to the PP above. I also have a GE child who has five AAP classes in her grade and only two GE. You could be talking about her. The dynamics at these centers are horrendous for the GE kids, who feel that since they're in the only remaining GE classes, they must be "dumb". Nothing could be further from the truth, but try telling a child this when all they see are their peers in multiple AAP classes. If we had known just how bad sending our GE child to a center was going to be, we would have moved long ago. We would be thrilled to send her to a "normal" school, without all of this foolish AAP divisiveness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'n still not clear on this, how exactly does closing centers benefit the AAP students?

I have heard, for SO long, about how the AAP kids "need" this or that, and what can be done to foster their "peer groups," etc. etc., ad nauseum, that at this point I am not at all concerned about what will and will not benefit them. Truly. What I am concerned about, is what kind of education my own children - not in AAP - will receive from here on out.

If FCPS decides, once again, that the focus needs to continue to be on this one group of kids, then I think it's probably time for my family to move to a county in which the educations of all kids are valued.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You didn't answer my questions.
What resources?
How would general education students benefit from having advanced students down the hall rather than in another buildong?

Oh - here's a few more:

How much would redrawing boundaries to adjust for moving students back to their neighborhoods cost?
Do parents advocating for this change realize it might require moving their children to different schools?

I'm not the PP, but I think most Level IV programs are run where the high performing GE students can push into the classes. Bringing back the Level IV students would provide a peer group for the high performing GE students. The curriculm would be more of a continuum, less of a divide between GE and AAP, and more like how high schools are run.

Moving the Level IV students out of the centers would also add balance to the centers. Many schools have issues with the AAP vs. GE divide. Whether actual or perceived, GE students feel like they are less smart than AAP. My GE kid told me he used to think he was smart until he found out he wasn't in AAP. We have to actively work on his academic self-esteem. Since five classes in his grade are AAP and only two are GE, it can be difficult to get him to understand he is still smart.

YES to the PP above. I also have a GE child who has five AAP classes in her grade and only two GE. You could be talking about her. The dynamics at these centers are horrendous for the GE kids, who feel that since they're in the only remaining GE classes, they must be "dumb". Nothing could be further from the truth, but try telling a child this when all they see are their peers in multiple AAP classes. If we had known just how bad sending our GE child to a center was going to be, we would have moved long ago. We would be thrilled to send her to a "normal" school, without all of this foolish AAP divisiveness.

So address the small number of Centers with overly large AAP populations by changing feeders. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'n still not clear on this, how exactly does closing centers benefit the AAP students?

I have heard, for SO long, about how the AAP kids "need" this or that, and what can be done to foster their "peer groups," etc. etc., ad nauseum, that at this point I am not at all concerned about what will and will not benefit them. Truly. What I am concerned about, is what kind of education my own children - not in AAP - will receive from here on out.

If FCPS decides, once again, that the focus needs to continue to be on this one group of kids, then I think it's probably time for my family to move to a county in which the educations of all kids are valued.

I absolutely agree with your It's All About My Own Children approach, and will testify at the public hearing to say so.

Signed,
Parent of three children receiving AAP services

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What resources? If 22 former AAP students were forced back into your neighborhood school, the only resource they'd bring with them is another teacher. How do you think your child would benefit from increased enrollment at the neighborhood school? If you are imagining the differences in academic achievement between children would be less noticeable when they're all in the same building, you've got a wild imagination.

As for the complaint that curriculum for advanced kids gets all the attention, this is simply not true. Staff have determined which materials, etc are appropriate for general education students already. That decision won't change just because your school becomes more crowded and there are some advanced kids in a classroom down the hall.

You are motivated by pure envy - not by wanting what is best for children - your own or your neighbor's.

Envy of what? I have two children in AAP. So take your assumptions and your frantic desperation to keep your kid in a center elsewhere.

And we have a winner!