I agree wholeheartedly with this - besides safety (which isn't a concern at any FCPS in the neighborhoods I've lived in), I really don't think ES matter all that much. My kids will get high test scores no matter the teachers and school because of my household. Unfortunately, a lot of parents refuse to believe the obvious and this impacts me... as a homeowner. I want strong local schools because it directly helps my property value. I contribute time, effort and money to my PTA not to help my kid but to try and help the kids who are straddling the fail/no fail zone on the SOLs. I'm doing this because I'm economically self interested. |
PP, I'm a Shrevewood parent who has the opportunity to send her kids to Lemon Road. I want to address a couple of your statements: 1. Your elementary school was one of the most valuable experiences? Wow, surprising to hear, but impressed that you must have teachers who were so phenomenal that elementary school surpassed your college experience. 2. Your numbers are off of the LLIV number of students in the classroom are off. (my kids are in LLIV at Shrevewood) Further, your explanation of Shrevewood or any LLIV vs. Lemon Road or Center is solely based on your experience. I can tell you that my kids experience both 3rd and 4th grade has been no different than other kids experiences at the center. I have kids in my neighborhood who attend LR; the parents and I have compared notes. I can tell you that my kids have benefited from the smaller classroom size. I don't need to explain this in detail too much as it's pretty straightforward. Smaller class more attention from the instructor, able to navigate the curriculum faster and able to do more hands on projects. Furthermore, don't hate on the parents "peeling" away students from the Centers. In FCPS we are extremely fortunate to have options, there are obvious reasons, why parents are deciding to keep their kids in the LLIV school. One last thought. Why is that Shrevewood has certified AAP teachers in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grade while LR has one certified teacher??? I know certification does not equal teaching abilities/skills. LR has been a Center now for 2 years, what's the hold up with these teachers in obtaining their certification?? 3. Test scores, don't kid yourself and everyone else. ALL Administrators want their test scores up. This is the first year that FCPS is allowing kids to re-take SOLs in order to give schools an opportunity to get this test scores up. 4. Greatschools scores. This is where you completely lost me PP. Please do not mis-guide people. Greatschools ratings are not a reflection of the schools, they are merely similar to "Yelp" reviews. You go in you like what you get; you write up a good review. If you don't like what you get or you don't like the Administration, teachers, etc. you give that school a lower rating because in your opinion they did not serve your needs. Now, your explanation of LR having a "7" rating and now having a "10" rating after the Center has been established is baloney! You and I both know that either the Principal or the PTA asked a bunch of parents to go out to GreatSchools and provide positive feedback for the school. |
You are idiotic, great schools rating are based on sol scores |
Don't count on either of these schools having a smaller classroom size than the other. It's all a matter of what grade the principal decides should have the least amount of children in any given year. FCPS class sizes are large to begin with. |
Why so snarky about the PP having such great memories of his or her ES experience? Because he/she went to Haycock? Anyway, you are confusing Great Schools "stars" (one star to four) with the numerical ratings (1-10). The "stars" are like Yelp, based on anonymous reviews. The 1-10 ratings are based on prior SOL results (with perhaps some lag) and aren't like Yelp reviews at all. PP was exactly right when he/she noted that Lemon Road improved from a 7 to a 10 after the SOL scores of AAP students got added to the mix. |
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I can't believe that people who are so strident can't go and do a bit of simple research. Here are some facts for the PP who was interested in a larger mass of students for an AAP school-within-a-school approach.
1. Shrevewood only started its LLIV two years ago and current has LLIV for 3rd and 4th; will have 5th LLIV next year and 6th the year after. 2. the AAPAC report posted in the other thread has current AAP enrollment as of Jan 2015 for all three schools, Lemon Road, Westgate and Shrevewood. School 3rd / 4th / 5th / 6th Westgate: 12 (4) / 18 (4) / 12 (0) / 17 (1) Shrevewood: 18 (13) / 30 (14) / 30 (0) / 19 (0) Lemon Road base: 13 / 8 / 9 / 5 (#) = number of those kids staying at the base school Lemon Road Center: 26 / 39 / 51 / 40 3. numbers show that Shrevewood parents are keeping their kids at the base school once LLIV opened up. Furthermore, an increasing % of Shrevewood parents are doing so. 4. most parents at Westgate choose to send them to LR. 5. if all Shrevewood AAP kids stayed at the base school, it would have a bigger AAP population than the center at Lemon Road. 6. therefore, if you are in the Shrevewood base school boundary, have a kid starting AAP, and you are interested in a larger mass of AAP students, then your best bet would be to keep the child at Shrevewood. |
There are still less children in AAP at Shrevewood than at the Lemon Road center. yes, there are more AAP kids eligible than at Lemon Road in 2nd, but in 3rd, there are more kids at Lemon Road. 26 in 3rd at Lemon Road is greater than 13 at Shrevewood for 3rd grade. I'm assuming if you keep your child at Shrevewood, then there is a class of LLIV and LLIII children in one class? I don't know. |
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Actually, I don't know what these numbers are. Is 18 the students found eligible at Shrevewood and 13 the number of kids who stayed at Shrevewood in 3rd?
Westgate: 12 (4) / 18 (4) / 12 (0) / 17 (1) Shrevewood: 18 (13) / 30 (14) / 30 (0) / 19 (0) |
Yes. |
Well, if all 18 stayed then it would be 18 vs 21 in 3rd grade. I know it's a big leap to say 'well if all 18 stayed' - but it looks like the Shrevewood community increasingly wants their kids at the base school and has faith in the LLIV program. Also 18 kids is a down year for Shrevewood. Prior years had up to 30 kids. And LR had an up year in the number of its own AAP kids. If 2015-2016 reverts to average at both SW and LR, and Shrevewood continues to keep an increasing percentage of their kids, then I expect both schools to have the same AAP class size. |
For the LLIV class at Shrevewood, it is only the LLIV students in one class but they may combine for specials (PE, music, etc.). |
How is that possible? 13 in one class? The average is 27 students to 1 teacher in FCPS. Why would an AAP class have only 13 students? |
| Shrevewood sounds very shady if they are purposefully making an AAP class of less than 20 students. |
It is ridiculously unfair to the other students but the principal promised as an inducement for families to stay that their children would not have to rub elbows with the great unwashed gen pop kids (except for specials, because I guess they can slum it for those). Not sure how she has gotten away with this, but she has. |
That is INSANE! She should be fired. |