FCPS GT Centers vs Local Level 4

[Anonymous]

Our DC is in the 2nd grade pool and our school has a Local Level 4 program. We are trying to anticipate what to do if he is found center eligible. What things would you consider when weighing the options between going to a new school with the GT Center compared to staying at our neighborhood school with the Local Level 4 program?

[Anonymous]

I went through this last year and ended up staying with our local school. Two things factored in for us, the main one being that our GT Center is not considered that strong. If it was a really well thought of center (e.g., Louise Archer, Haycock) I would have gone with the GT center certainly. Also, my DD is a bit anxious and does not do well with change and there was a lot of other stuff going on in our lives at that point in time.

The main downside as I see it is the lack of teacher choice. We only have one GT classroom per grade, so if the teacher is a poor fit, then you're kind of stuck. Also, some schools with Local Level IV classes do not necessarily have enough GT Center eligible kids to fill a class. In DD's class of 24 kids, 21 were GT eligible from the school and 2 came in from privates, so I was very comfortable with that. But some schools only have a few kids per grade that are GT Center eligible. While this may not necessarily be a concern, I do think that it can change the classroom dynamic.

[Anonymous]

I wish I had that choice since we moved here this year and will move again at some point in the near future. It seems unfair to make DC do an "unnecessary" school change, but alas, no local level IV in our school (although we feed into a good one so I shouldn't complain).

[Anonymous]

How do you find out how many GT Center eligible kids are at your school?

[Anonymous]

How do you find out how many GT Center eligible kids are at your school?

19:02 You can ask and they may tell you. Or they may not.

But in our case it was easy. When I went to the Open House at the GT Center the "sign in list" was a list of kids from each of the elementary schools feeding to the GT Center broken out by base school. So I just counted the kids on the list from our school. When I saw there were over 20 kids on the list, I knew there would be enough to fill a class. (A few kids at our base school opted for the center, but most stayed.) But some of the schools on the list, including one that I know also has a Local Level IV, only had a handful of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

How do you find out how many GT Center eligible kids are at your school?

19:02 You can ask and they may tell you. Or they may not.

But in our case it was easy. When I went to the Open House at the GT Center the "sign in list" was a list of kids from each of the elementary schools feeding to the GT Center broken out by base school. So I just counted the kids on the list from our school. When I saw there were over 20 kids on the list, I knew there would be enough to fill a class. (A few kids at our base school opted for the center, but most stayed.) But some of the schools on the list, including one that I know also has a Local Level IV, only had a handful of kids.

Thank you. So would your advice be to wait until the Open House at the GT Center to make a decision?

[Anonymous]

Well you really can't know what the center is like until you at least see it.

I also talked to a lot of people who had older kids who had been to our center and I also asked about it on the FCAG Yahoo group.

Good luck!