Anonymous wrote:Canterbury Woods has 15% low income students, it's higher than a few nearby, but from the boundary map it's all single family homes, I am surprised the low income ratio is that high. I used to live nearby.

That might not reflect the neighborhood though, but rather students being bussed in from other schools.

It's all SFH but with that metric there's a lot of variation.

Canterbury Woods has 15% low income students, it's higher than a few nearby, but from the boundary map it's all single family homes, I am surprised the low income ratio is that high. I used to live nearby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in the market for a home and am wondering if I should avoid certain center schools in neighborhoods that are more mixed in terms of SES. If centers go away, wouldn't these schools then become weaker academically, if the student body was more representative of the neighborhood rather than also drawing on the brightest from other schools? Would the boundaries expand/change to bring in more local students?

I would say people are less likely to send their kids to the center school in the first instance here though. If you send us the area we could opine more. But for example, I know that most kids at Silverbrook stay at Silverbrook for Local level IV as opposed to going to Lorton ES as the center.

Canterbury Woods.

How are we defining CWES as mixed SES? Yes it's not the richest area, but there are literally no town homes or apartments that feed into the school.

Maybe mixed SES is not the best word and of course it's all relative.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in the market for a home and am wondering if I should avoid certain center schools in neighborhoods that are more mixed in terms of SES. If centers go away, wouldn't these schools then become weaker academically, if the student body was more representative of the neighborhood rather than also drawing on the brightest from other schools? Would the boundaries expand/change to bring in more local students?

I would say people are less likely to send their kids to the center school in the first instance here though. If you send us the area we could opine more. But for example, I know that most kids at Silverbrook stay at Silverbrook for Local level IV as opposed to going to Lorton ES as the center.

Canterbury Woods.

How are we defining CWES as mixed SES? Yes it's not the richest area, but there are literally no town homes or apartments that feed into the school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid mixed SES if you can afford it. Period. Keep your eyes on middle and high school as well. One elementary school could feed into different middle/high schools. Get the best slice of the pyramid.

If you can't manage that, prioritize high school attendance over elementary. After all, it's just elementary school.

I'm on it, but in this case the pyramid is the same, and same middle school.

PP here. First, being in center school as a general ed student doesn't benefit from center AAP (other than being with AAP students during recess and after school). The general ed class is still from mixed SES pool.

So if your kid don't get into AAP or got into AAP but center is abolished, you'd stay at the higher SES school for K-6. if your kid did get into AAP, and have the choice of local or center AAP, you'd go to center.

In another word, having base school with higher SES gives you more options.

It varies. Our school is a center. It was a Title 1 school 15 years ago but the demographics of the area have changed a lot and IMO the base neighborhood is academically very strong. I would have no concern if AAP kids from other schools stayed at their local schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in the market for a home and am wondering if I should avoid certain center schools in neighborhoods that are more mixed in terms of SES. If centers go away, wouldn't these schools then become weaker academically, if the student body was more representative of the neighborhood rather than also drawing on the brightest from other schools? Would the boundaries expand/change to bring in more local students?

I would say people are less likely to send their kids to the center school in the first instance here though. If you send us the area we could opine more. But for example, I know that most kids at Silverbrook stay at Silverbrook for Local level IV as opposed to going to Lorton ES as the center.

Canterbury Woods.

Anonymous wrote:Avoid mixed SES if you can afford it. Period. Keep your eyes on middle and high school as well. One elementary school could feed into different middle/high schools. Get the best slice of the pyramid.

If you can't manage that, prioritize high school attendance over elementary. After all, it's just elementary school.

I'm on it, but in this case the pyramid is the same, and same middle school.

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone assumed that rolling out Local Level IV to every elementary school would naturally reduce the size of center schools as parents chose to stay at the base school more and more.

We are at a center school that pulls from 4-5 elementary schools and it is marginally smaller now than before the pandemic. There was always a small bump in 4th grade when parents who had remained at the base school moved to the center school and there still is but overall, the numbers are about the same. Parents are still choosing the center school, even with the new Local Level IV programs at the base schools.

IOW, center schools aren't going away naturally. I don't see them going away soon at all.

What evidence is this based on? I think the fact that all (or most?) schools now have local level IV it's natural to worry that the end of center schools is coming.

It's also a concern from an investment standpoint--the value of our home would decline if the school declined.

Anonymous wrote:When looking at things like Great schools you should definitely consider that schools with an AAP center have somewhat artificially inflated scores due to the kids bussed in for the center scoring well on the SOLs.

I get that although I wouldn't call it "artificial" in the sense that they do attend the school and their scores are valid. The problem is only if they suddenly no longer attend the school...

I think everyone assumed that rolling out Local Level IV to every elementary school would naturally reduce the size of center schools as parents chose to stay at the base school more and more.

We are at a center school that pulls from 4-5 elementary schools and it is marginally smaller now than before the pandemic. There was always a small bump in 4th grade when parents who had remained at the base school moved to the center school and there still is but overall, the numbers are about the same. Parents are still choosing the center school, even with the new Local Level IV programs at the base schools.

IOW, center schools aren't going away naturally. I don't see them going away soon at all.

Anonymous wrote:I am in the market for a home and am wondering if I should avoid certain center schools in neighborhoods that are more mixed in terms of SES. If centers go away, wouldn't these schools then become weaker academically, if the student body was more representative of the neighborhood rather than also drawing on the brightest from other schools? Would the boundaries expand/change to bring in more local students?

I would say people are less likely to send their kids to the center school in the first instance here though. If you send us the area we could opine more. But for example, I know that most kids at Silverbrook stay at Silverbrook for Local level IV as opposed to going to Lorton ES as the center.

When looking at things like Great schools you should definitely consider that schools with an AAP center have somewhat artificially inflated scores due to the kids bussed in for the center scoring well on the SOLs.

Avoid mixed SES if you can afford it. Period. Keep your eyes on middle and high school as well. One elementary school could feed into different middle/high schools. Get the best slice of the pyramid.

If you can't manage that, prioritize high school attendance over elementary. After all, it's just elementary school.

I am in the market for a home and am wondering if I should avoid certain center schools in neighborhoods that are more mixed in terms of SES. If centers go away, wouldn't these schools then become weaker academically, if the student body was more representative of the neighborhood rather than also drawing on the brightest from other schools? Would the boundaries expand/change to bring in more local students?