Reply to Flint Hill vs. Louise Archer for AAP

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, regarding the supposed divide mentioned above between Gen Ed and AAP at Archer: Our kid attended the AAP center at Archer. I know others are saying that only AAP parents think there's no divide and Gen Ed parents and students think there is one, but that's a pretty huge and general statement. In all AAP center schools, kids in both programs share classes together such as the "specials" and PE.

I can't say that in third through fifth there is a lot of opportunity for interaction except in shared specials and PE, but in sixth grade Archer does some things that other school's don't, that bring Gen Ed and AAP kids together.

Archer sends all the sixth graders on the Camp Highroad field trip each fall--three nights (maybe it's two now, but it was three nights and four days when we did it two years ago). While on this trip, AAP and Gen Ed kids are totally mixed in the activities and the cabins there. The groups are mixed on purpose so that kids get to know other kids across the entire sixth grade and in our year at least, it seemed to bond the grade pretty well and was talked about the rest of the year. My kid would mention how she'd seen so-and-so "from our cabin at Highroad" on the playground or done something with a kid she knew from the camping trip during recess etc. Yes, referring here to gen ed kids who were not in her classes, but she knew them from the field trip. This is one reason Archer moved the Highroad week from the spring to the fall some years back, so that kids could get to know each other early in the year. It may not make best buddies but it does mean the kids are acquainted with each other across the AAP-Gen Ed classes.

Archer also requires all sixth graders to participate in the sixth grade spring musical in some capacity. Everyone has to do something-- some of course act and sing, others paint sets, others do tech stuff, whatever the kid is comfortable doing, but it's another case of bringing the whole sixth grade together. The Gen Ed and AAP teachers seem to work well as a team and to want to do things as a teaching team.

Not saying other schools dont' also have these kinds of things; just noting that Archer seemed to make a real effort to cross any AAP-Gen Ed divide, certainly for sixth grade.

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6th grade seems a little late for making new friends by these few days of mingling. [/quote]

No need to turn up your nose at the effort, though. The other years just don't have the time or tools like the field trip and the big play (eight shows that year, so a lot of commitment) to bring kids together. Should have noted too that in third grade all the kids participate in a play as well, both Gen Ed and AAP, and spend time together on that. And four days at camp together every second, while doing work that counts for grades back in the classroom, isn't exactly as minimal as "mingling."

To OP, this is not about the Gen Ed-AAP thing, but thinking about it now, I also remember that in fourth grade, the AAP teachers were also a real teaching team. Not sure if the same mix of teachers is still there but that was really the first time my kid changed teachers for different subjects and it was handled well, and the three teachers consulted with each other on scheduling and homework load etc. so kids weren't swamped. [/quote]

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