Reply to FCPS Proposal to close down AAP Centers at Greenbriar West ES and Carson MS

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Reply to "FCPS Proposal to close down AAP Centers at Greenbriar West ES and Carson MS"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]But you see, all is NOT well. These kids may be out of sight out of mind to those at the base school, but not so much for those of us whose base school is the center. We're the ones having to put up with the massive amounts of kids coming every year for AAP. Enough already. [/quote]

I don't know about your school, but at our center with the exception of the current fourth grade class where the feeder schools sent entire classes of 20-30 kids to the center, usually the feeder schools send between 6-12 kids per grade to the center.  Sometimes more, sometimes less.

The vast majority of kids at our level IV center school are actually kids who live in the immediate neighborhood and are zoned for the center school, whether or not they are AAP or not.

Their parents either anticipated that their child would be placed in AAP, coincidentally got placed in AAP, or hoped they would be in AAP and bought houses in the center zones specifically for the center.

With the exception of that one crazy year when so many more kids than normal qualified for AAP, there are not "massive amounts of kids coming every year for AAP".

The kids are already at the school as their base school because their parents bought houses in the center zone specifically for the AAP center.[/quote]

[b]That is incorrect for so many of us who already lived in an established neighborhood when either the center school was built years later, or a community school was later made into a center.  You can't just assume people buy houses intentionally in center zones just so their kids will be in AAP.   Often, the center plops itself on down, whether or not it's welcome or invited.

[/b][i]And that "one crazy year" has impacted my DC's grade (yes, 4th) so much that the Gen Ed students are almost nonexistent.  It's ridiculous.[/quote]

Then why do the kids zoned for the center outnumber the kids coming in by feeder schools by such a significant number?

At our school, over half of the AAP kids from my child's grade alone are kids already zoned for the center.  This is true for all the grades except for the current fourth grade.

Is it because the children zoned for the center are smarter and more gifted than all the other feeder schools combined by a 2-1 margin?

No.

It is because their parents chose to buy in the center school specifically for the center.

You might not have, but many people do indeed.

Heck, one of my child's classmates left our center school mid year because his parents bought a house at one of the big middle schools--I think the one that sends all the kids to TJ--specifically because they felt that center was better than our MS center and would maximize their kid's chance to get into TJ.  I am certain there are many more parents just like them, who are moving to certain centers in droves specifically for the centers.

Are the homes in the Haycock or Longfellow boundaries so much better than the homes in all the other schools?  No.  Are people buying houses there because of the warm neighborhood school and the kind neighborly feel?  No.  Are they people who love that their kids get to experience school through a portable trailer classroom?  Heck no.

They are moving there and paying a premium because of A) the center and B) the higher test scores that the center students bring to the school.  That is why that school has enough kids to fill several AAP classes, with or without the feeder schools.

I am very sorry that your neighborhood school is not what you wanted it to be, but if numbers say anything than you are the exception and not the rule and many people are buying in your neighborhood because of the center school, or at least the high test scores that come with being a center.[/quote]

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