Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid will be fine at either school. I personally would not interrupt my child’s education at our neighborhood school if I’m really happy there.

OP here. That is my inclination as well. But, we’d like our child to make the decision. If DC likes the program at Churchill better and is ok with leaving SH, that is fine with us. At this point, we are just not sure that the pros/cons are. Hopefully the orientations will help.

Don't do that. This isn't a a decision for a 2nd grader. (Or for a 3rd or 4th grader, etc.)

Parents decide this.

+1 Do not put this decision on a 2nd grader. They are too young for that pressure.

Pp here. I don’t think Churchill parents are over the top competitive. I do think our school has many smart students with well educated parents.

Anonymous wrote:We are in a similar boat. I heard that Churchill Road parents are over the top competitive. Isn’t all of McLean over the top with enrichment and pressure to do well? Are Churchill Road parent more so than other schools? I have no idea.

I have no first hand experience, I don’t know what to do. I wish I could understand better thee differences between the school cultures.

I know Churchill Road has less students than it used to because all the schools in the area now also have Level IV and more kids are staying at their base school. I also know they lost many students to private due to the pandemic.

Churchill parent here with 2 kids in AAP. Before Covid and before all the zoning changes, many more families sent their kids to Churchill for the AAP center. Longfellow used to be the AAP center for middle school so all the kids used to go there after AAP. Kent Gardens is zoned for Churchill and some of the strongest and smartest AAP kids came from there. Now they are zoned for Longfellow and McLean High so few students opt to come to Churchill. Churchill no longer feels like a center as only very few kids come from Spring Hill and Kent Gardens. If I were a Kent Gardens parent, I would not want to send my kid for elementary for the child to have to go to a different middle school than the rest of the AAP center. There were 3 full AAP classes at Churchill in my son’s grade. That was the class around when Cooper also became an AAP middle school and not everyone would go to Longfellow AAP. Now there is only one AAP class in third grade.

Fcps seems to want to do away with centers.

We are in a similar boat. I heard that Churchill Road parents are over the top competitive. Isn’t all of McLean over the top with enrichment and pressure to do well? Are Churchill Road parent more so than other schools? I have no idea.

I have no first hand experience, I don’t know what to do. I wish I could understand better thee differences between the school cultures.

I know Churchill Road has less students than it used to because all the schools in the area now also have Level IV and more kids are staying at their base school. I also know they lost many students to private due to the pandemic.

In that general part of the county, I'd say the three schools where the most LLIV kids tend to stay at their base school rather than switch over to an AAP center are Chesterbrook, Spring Hill, and Wolftrap. I had a colleague from work whose kids stayed at Spring Hill and both ended up at TJ (prior to the admissions change).

Anonymous wrote:For those interested in participating in the science Olympiad- Spring Hill has a strong science Olympiad team each year (mostly supported by the parents) and came 7th in the state this year defeating most elementary schools and middle schools in the state. Not sure about Churchill with regards to their science Olympiad program.

Churchill came in 11th so not too shabby. Aside from the top two being Longfellow and Cooper, the rankings for Science Olympiad seem to jump around a lot from year to year. Haycock came in 5th this year, top elementary school, which was the best they've ever done.

Has anyone moved their child from Spring Hill ES to Churchill for AAP recently (since AY 2021 - 2022)? We have to make a decision by early May and we are looking for insights from parents who have made the switch for their children. Specific areas where we request inputs are the student/teacher ratio, support from school for history/geo/math/science/spelling bees/bowls/olympiads, support from school for competitions in extracurriculars like robotics/chess/coding beyond PTO/PTA classes, etc. Thanks in advance!

Take this with a grain of salt since I am a Haycock AAP parent - but my gut is the experience is somewhat similar. Some stuff is organized by the PTA, in which case they organize it but the school is less involved. That was my experience with spelling bee and science olympiad, and I think it's the case for some of the other math stuff like MathCounts and Kangaroo Math. Very parent driven. Other stuff is incorporated into the curriculum and I didn't have to do anything. That was the case for National History Day and Continental Math League/Virginia Math League. Very little support from the school for extracurricular competitions you mentioned other than occasionally letting parents know they exist. I do think that changes significantly in middle school from what i've heard. YMMV.

For those interested in participating in the science Olympiad- Spring Hill has a strong science Olympiad team each year (mostly supported by the parents) and came 7th in the state this year defeating most elementary schools and middle schools in the state. Not sure about Churchill with regards to their science Olympiad program.

Has anyone moved their child from Spring Hill ES to Churchill for AAP recently (since AY 2021 - 2022)? We have to make a decision by early May and we are looking for insights from parents who have made the switch for their children. Specific areas where we request inputs are the student/teacher ratio, support from school for history/geo/math/science/spelling bees/bowls/olympiads, support from school for competitions in extracurriculars like robotics/chess/coding beyond PTO/PTA classes, etc. Thanks in advance!

I don’t see anything wrong with letting a child have a say in important decisions that impact their lives. Of course, parents need to protect kids from making bad decisions on big issues to the extent possible. But, here it looks like the kid can’t go wrong either way. So, why not let the child decide? After all, it is the child-not the parents-that will have to attend the program. Why not let the child choose where they they think they will be more comfortable? My parents took this approach and I think it worked out really well, giving my confidence and making me feel respected. It is my friends with tiger parents that had issues as they got older. Now, of course, this is a kid-by-kid issue. What may be good for one may not be good for another. Parents have to decide what approach to parenting works best.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid will be fine at either school. I personally would not interrupt my child’s education at our neighborhood school if I’m really happy there.

OP here. That is my inclination as well. But, we’d like our child to make the decision. If DC likes the program at Churchill better and is ok with leaving SH, that is fine with us. At this point, we are just not sure that the pros/cons are. Hopefully the orientations will help.

This is not a decision I would have my elementary-age child make. It’s too loaded and too much pressure. Your job as their parent is to make educational decisions at this age. School is one of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid will be fine at either school. I personally would not interrupt my child’s education at our neighborhood school if I’m really happy there.

OP here. That is my inclination as well. But, we’d like our child to make the decision. If DC likes the program at Churchill better and is ok with leaving SH, that is fine with us. At this point, we are just not sure that the pros/cons are. Hopefully the orientations will help.

Don't do that. This isn't a a decision for a 2nd grader. (Or for a 3rd or 4th grader, etc.)

Parents decide this.

Anonymous wrote:Your kid will be fine at either school. I personally would not interrupt my child’s education at our neighborhood school if I’m really happy there.

OP here. That is my inclination as well. But, we’d like our child to make the decision. If DC likes the program at Churchill better and is ok with leaving SH, that is fine with us. At this point, we are just not sure that the pros/cons are. Hopefully the orientations will help.

Your kid will be fine at either school. I personally would not interrupt my child’s education at our neighborhood school if I’m really happy there.

I have the same dilemma. I have to make that decision for my DD by May 4th. We will be attending the AAP orientation of both SHES and Church Hill. My DD absolutely loves SH. She has many friends from the neighborhood at SH. Also, our younger one will start his elementary school journey at SH in a year. So logistics wise SH makes sense. However, I’ve heard great things about Church Hill Rd AAP. Would appreciate any insights on SHES level lV vs Church Hill Rd AAP? What are the advantages vs disadvantages? Want to consider all factors before making my decision. Thanks in advance

Spring Hill is a wonderful place. We love it, and I have heard that it has a very strong local level IV AAP program. But, as part of our due diligence, I'm trying to figure out what advantages would accompany sending our child to the Churchill AAP center instead? It appears that Churchill has more academic extracurriculars. But, outside of that, is there anything else we should be considering? Thanks in advance for any thoughts/guidance.