Anonymous wrote:Kilmer is not a strong school at all. Their teacher quality is really a big concern. It may be caused by the loose hiring standard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I support this option. It took my kid about 50mins in the bus to Kilmer one way. With the new center, it'll save lots of commute time. In addition, the teachers' quality at Kilmer is not as good as we expected.

That's what I've heard re:teacher quality at Kilmer. I wonder why that it is? It use to be a very strong school...

Utter BS. Kilmer is a fine school and all three of my kids had many great teachers. Any school in the FCPS system has teachers that aren't as good. This goes for Longfellow, Cooper, and TJ. Given that Kilmer population has increased so much it has probably had to staff up more than many other middle schools, so perhaps it has more less-experienced teachers. So no comparison really.

Most of the attendees were pro-Cooper becoming a center ASAP. Overall, not a lot of parents in attendance given the size of the AAP programs and students affected by the change.

The principal spoke as well as some teachers, students, and parents. Principal is very no nonsense and believes she can more than handle the entire situation with no glitches.

The bottom line was that the decision will not be made definitively by the school board until February. Long wait until then.

How did the meeting go tonight?

Kilmer is not a strong school at all. Their teacher quality is really a big concern. It may be caused by the loose hiring standard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I support this option. It took my kid about 50mins in the bus to Kilmer one way. With the new center, it'll save lots of commute time. In addition, the teachers' quality at Kilmer is not as good as we expected.

That's what I've heard re:teacher quality at Kilmer. I wonder why that it is? It use to be a very strong school...

Anonymous wrote:I support this option. It took my kid about 50mins in the bus to Kilmer one way. With the new center, it'll save lots of commute time. In addition, the teachers' quality at Kilmer is not as good as we expected.

That's what I've heard re:teacher quality at Kilmer. I wonder why that it is? It use to be a very strong school...

Anonymous wrote:^^^^That's the whole point-the major overcrowding issue lies with Kilmer and not Longfellow!

There is a big cohort of AAP students in 6th grade so next year would be a problem at both schools, not just Kilmer.

^^^^That's the whole point-the major overcrowding issue lies with Kilmer and not Longfellow!

Anonymous wrote:There really isn't anything to discuss. It's a done deal and definitely needed for next year. The other schools are way over capacity and Cooper is under enrolled. They should have moved those kids 2 years ago. It's already behind schedule. Cooper now has a robust LLIV program and next year it will be a center for 7th grade. Done.

+100 There wouldn't even be any pussyfooting around this if Cooper wasn't in McLean. Kilmer kids virtually have to fight their way through the halls because of the overcrowding. Enough already.

There really isn't anything to discuss. It's a done deal and definitely needed for next year. The other schools are way over capacity and Cooper is under enrolled. They should have moved those kids 2 years ago. It's already behind schedule. Cooper now has a robust LLIV program and next year it will be a center for 7th grade. Done.

We will see how contentious meeting goes tonight!

I think it's a good idea. Cooper is under capacity, while Thoreau and Kilmer are over capacity. Cooper will have enough AAP kids to have a robust AAP program and clubs.
Add 7th grade AAP next year and the following year both 7th and 8th grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again-it is not a capacity issue but any school is going to be initially discombobulated by added so many kids in one fell swoop-and it will be closer to 250-300 at once between Kilmer and Longfellow diversions for 7th grade.

No it will be half that as the rising 8th graders will be grandfathered.

I agree. They'd likely grandfather the 8th graders. There are 138 7th grade students zoned for Cooper at Longfellow and Kilmer this year, as more kids stayed at Cooper as it ramps up for a center.

Anonymous wrote:Again-it is not a capacity issue but any school is going to be initially discombobulated by added so many kids in one fell swoop-and it will be closer to 250-300 at once between Kilmer and Longfellow diversions for 7th grade.

No it will be half that as the rising 8th graders will be grandfathered.

Again-it is not a capacity issue but any school is going to be initially discombobulated by added so many kids in one fell swoop-and it will be closer to 250-300 at once between Kilmer and Longfellow diversions for 7th grade.

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it will affect the existing population. They'll probably only have 7th graders go to Cooper initially, so how many is that? 150 kids? The school is built to handle more kids, they'll all fit.

Correct. Cooper has a design capacity of 1080 students and a current enrollment of 764.