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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, now that you've gotten this information, what are YOU going to do with it?[/quote]

I'm OP and I'm just planning on getting a consensus of ideas that can be vetted over the next several years by the school board.  I've been reading this board for a while. Through the years I've seen arguments for and against AAP remain and discussed over and over again and see that there appears to be a pattern of where AAP works and where it doesn't. I've also met parents who behaved badly about the program and parents who were just upset that the general ed program wasn't working well for their child. To me AAP works well as a part of a school when it's a strong program, but not the main focus of the school. It doesn't work well if there are few kids in a grade who qualified for AAP. It doesn't work well when the AAP program overwhelms a school, especially if those kids are from different base schools. The kids from different base schools often (not always) seem to have parents who still have a child at another school or just don't go by the school enough to get very involved at the center school. I also don't think it works well for FCPS to have elementary and middle TJ type schools because that's too much time a child is segregated from other people in society, but it's not fair to the general ed kids to have to attend a base school where they are marginalized.

Our kids are at one of the schools that mixes pretty well between general ed and AAP and it mixes better with some changes now than it did in years past. I see how successful it is compared to other schools. The AAP parents really like the program but the discussion about it is kept to a minimum because the kids who take AAP and non-AAP classes keep changing. I like that non-AAP students are encouraged to take advanced math and language arts and how there is also time during the day for kids who are advanced above the typical AAP level to also have some even more advanced learning during the day. I wonder what policies FCPS can implement at other schools to make them more integrated while not creating a situation that is chaotic for the teacher or students.

Some suggestions I have which I wonder are feasible:

Mix Lunch and Recess. It's the only free time the kids have to really talk with each other. Lunch and recess should be integrated no matter what school the kids attend. If combined lunches is a logistical issue at a center, I think FCPS needs to figure out a solution so at least this non-academic portion of the day is integrated. The rest of the day could be integrated within guidelines that can fluctuate depending on what the make-up of the students and teachers are.

I think for a LLIV or Center school to be called an advanced class, there needs to be a cohort of kids at a similar academic level and some general guidelines for both centers and LLIV school AAP programs to follow. One LLIV school I know dropped advanced math because they didn't have enough kids who qualified. Another non LLIV school added advanced math for all the kids in their school. These differences make it too confusing for parents. There need to be some min. standards for all LLIV and center schools to make the program valid. The center vs. LLIV decision for some schools is tricky because the centers are often dependent on several schools to make the center work. Often the AAP students are 1/3 from base school, 1/3 from another school, and then 1/6 from two other schools. If the feeder school coming in with 1/3 of the kids were to leave, it would hurt the center. So, I'd propose a min. and max. number of students at a center and propose a min. number at a LLIV school, but not a max. for a LLIV school.

AAP center schools which have more than half the kids in AAP are a turn off to potential young buyers who don't know where their kids will fall which I think is starting to hurt Fairfax's economy. These schools need to be split up for the future of the neighborhood and the current kids who attend there. Many middle schools can be their own centers. Another issue with centers is that the base schools lack resources because their advanced students are siphoned off. I'm not yet sure how to fix that issue and would love to hear suggestions. Changes to the general ed curriculum would certainly help. Advanced math offered at all schools is very important too, especially because it's FCPS/'s policy to offer it to all. Also, I think it would be great if the feeder schools could take advantage of some of the academic before/after school offerings at the center schools.

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