I agree with you about how aggressively the Boosterthon is marketed! They given the kids a little telemarketing script. There are all sort of rewards (parties, extra recess, etc.). To their credit, most of the rewards seem to be based on the class as a whole. We are minimally participating because I really disagree with the fundraising percentage, but I am giving a small pledge because my child felt strongly about not letting the rest of the class down. All of the hype will be over this week, though, PP, so hang in there.

I'm pretty much disgusted by a lot of you, but thankful that your posts are anonymous. Perhaps you should think about reading your posts to your kids and think about how you would explain them. The content, tone, language, everything. I came on because I have concerns with the way boosterthon is run. Good fundraising % or not, it seems aggressively marketed. My son said "I need to have 10-12 people signed up so I can be a leader some day." I watched some of the videos and read the material and it's just unfairly marketed to the younger kids (1st grader). Although I will be leaving with a bit of information, most of these comments were not worth your time to type, can't we all be a more supportive community and not behave this way. To anyone who was forcibly redistricted, I hope your child/children don't suffer from these FCPS decisions. We're all in this for the kids right. - Haycock Parent

I think the annex idea was the straw that broke the camel's back. They were fighting so hard to stay, so as soon as someone said "we will go if..." it opened the door and made it seem like they were willing to go.

While it may have been a good-faith effort, it would have not have benefitted everyone, and others also acted in good faith.

Agreed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The major driving force behind the cluster 2 bitterness is because the dividing criteria for the redistricting was not a suggestion made by FCPS. Last May, Haycock parents met with Marty Smith and suggested that the best way to solve the overcrowding was to oust cluster 2...when AAP centers have never before been based on cluster or even pyramid. No one ever thought that it would happen, and those families were completely blindsided in a matter of months. This was not a typical redistricting, it was a railroading.

In retrospect, almost everyone wishes FCPS had exercised more control over the process earlier and created more of a structure for addressing how best to relieve the overcrowding. It's also clear Cluster 1 families would have been equally unhappy had Cluster 2 families met with Patty Reed a year ago, suggested that the best way to solve the overcrowding was to "oust" entire AAP grade levels from Haycock for several years, and had Reed convince FCPS Staff and other School Board members of the merits of this approach. Some Cluster 2 parents did argue for this much later, and they did it without having many Cluster 1 families on board.

The annex idea was one guys idea. Most of the cluster 2 families thought it was ridiculous. Somehow he got Patty Reed to take it seriously, but it was a pretty embarrassing grasping-at-straws idea. Please don't believe that the cluster 2 families supported that. It's simply not true. We just wanted our kids to stay at Haycock, to stay with their friends, and to feel like they belong.

Personally, I don't think it was a ridiculous idea. It was a creative way to help the school cope during the renovation and let the cluster 2 kids stay with their friends. The reality is that the school wasn't going to hold everyone. Next year, there are 836 so far without the Cluster 2 kids. So it would be 950 or so (depending on who comes in over the summer) during a renovation. It wasn't realistic that the cluster 2 kids could stay. The annex was probably the only thing that could have worked. It's water under the bridge now, but I wouldn't be so hard on someone who worked so hard to try to find a solution that benefitted everyone. Whether you agree with it or not -- at least he tried, which is more than a lot of others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The major driving force behind the cluster 2 bitterness is because the dividing criteria for the redistricting was not a suggestion made by FCPS. Last May, Haycock parents met with Marty Smith and suggested that the best way to solve the overcrowding was to oust cluster 2...when AAP centers have never before been based on cluster or even pyramid. No one ever thought that it would happen, and those families were completely blindsided in a matter of months. This was not a typical redistricting, it was a railroading.

In retrospect, almost everyone wishes FCPS had exercised more control over the process earlier and created more of a structure for addressing how best to relieve the overcrowding. It's also clear Cluster 1 families would have been equally unhappy had Cluster 2 families met with Patty Reed a year ago, suggested that the best way to solve the overcrowding was to "oust" entire AAP grade levels from Haycock for several years, and had Reed convince FCPS Staff and other School Board members of the merits of this approach. Some Cluster 2 parents did argue for this much later, and they did it without having many Cluster 1 families on board.

The annex idea was one guys idea. Most of the cluster 2 families thought it was ridiculous. Somehow he got Patty Reed to take it seriously, but it was a pretty embarrassing grasping-at-straws idea. Please don't believe that the cluster 2 families supported that. It's simply not true. We just wanted our kids to stay at Haycock, to stay with their friends, and to feel like they belong.

29:23, how nice to see decent and human words on this forum! Thank you for making my day! And, no, I am not affiliated with these kids either!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doing good work there. Spend more time helping children study, less time worrying about other parents!

http://www.mathleague.com/downloads/gs1213/va-678-1213.pdf

http://www.sungazette.net/mclean-greatfalls-vienna-oakton/news/longfellow-mathcounts-team-regains-va-title/article_be9b0ecc-a118-11e2-ac9c-0019bb2963f4.html

This is like the Kid beauty pageants they show on TLC, where only 5 kids enter. Our center doesn't even participate in this and we have an excellent math program. Entire classes, in each grade, taught 2 years ahead in math instead of the standard 1 year ahead. I'm sure the education at haycock is good, but to say its the best bc of things like this is silly.

What a simply mean post. Why must you denigrate some students' hard work and achievements in order to try to prove your point that your school, too, has an "excellent math program"? You can have a terrific program and choose not to participate in these extracurriculars. Or a school with a so-so program can have some great students who do choose to do these extracurriculars. Either situation is fine. Why do you feel compelled to put down those individual kids' efforts by saying that these programs are like "a kid beauty pageant"? Why does it matter if there were five kids or 45 kids from a school participating? Their participation still reflects well on the school and most of all reflects well on the kids themselves. These kids worked to achieve something on their own time; don't put down their efforts to make some point about your school or any other school.

And no, I am not a parent of one of these kids -- in fact my kid does not go to any of the schools mentioned (and does not go to Haycock) and is not in Math Counts or math league at her own school. I just hate to see any kids' efforts dragged in the mud by parents posting on this forum who are just trying to score more snarky points against schools they dislike, or to defend their own schools. Just appreciate the fact that some kids did a good thing and worked hard, and don't try to use it to score points here.

Anonymous wrote:The major driving force behind the cluster 2 bitterness is because the dividing criteria for the redistricting was not a suggestion made by FCPS. Last May, Haycock parents met with Marty Smith and suggested that the best way to solve the overcrowding was to oust cluster 2...when AAP centers have never before been based on cluster or even pyramid. No one ever thought that it would happen, and those families were completely blindsided in a matter of months. This was not a typical redistricting, it was a railroading.

In retrospect, almost everyone wishes FCPS had exercised more control over the process earlier and created more of a structure for addressing how best to relieve the overcrowding. It's also clear Cluster 1 families would have been equally unhappy had Cluster 2 families met with Patty Reed a year ago, suggested that the best way to solve the overcrowding was to "oust" entire AAP grade levels from Haycock for several years, and had Reed convince FCPS Staff and other School Board members of the merits of this approach. Some Cluster 2 parents did argue for this much later, and they did it without having many Cluster 1 families on board.

The major driving force behind the cluster 2 bitterness is because the dividing criteria for the redistricting was not a suggestion made by FCPS. Last May, Haycock parents met with Marty Smith and suggested that the best way to solve the overcrowding was to oust cluster 2...when AAP centers have never before been based on cluster or even pyramid. No one ever thought that it would happen, and those families were completely blindsided in a matter of months. This was not a typical redistricting, it was a railroading.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doing good work there. Spend more time helping children study, less time worrying about other parents!

http://www.mathleague.com/downloads/gs1213/va-678-1213.pdf

http://www.sungazette.net/mclean-greatfalls-vienna-oakton/news/longfellow-mathcounts-team-regains-va-title/article_be9b0ecc-a118-11e2-ac9c-0019bb2963f4.html

This is like the Kid beauty pageants they show on TLC, where only 5 kids enter. Our center doesn't even participate in this and we have an excellent math program. Entire classes, in each grade, taught 2 years ahead in math instead of the standard 1 year ahead. I'm sure the education at haycock is good, but to say its the best bc of things like this is silly.

They were the best at these competitions, and these were not events where Jon-Benet Ramsey or Honey Boo Boo would have felt at home.

I'm sure your center is good, too, even if it doesn't participate in these types of challenges. The teams do seem to enjoy them. God knows the little league teams at that age get plenty of publicity, so rewarding academic achievement as well doesn't seem like a terrible idea.

Anonymous wrote:Doing good work there. Spend more time helping children study, less time worrying about other parents!

http://www.mathleague.com/downloads/gs1213/va-678-1213.pdf

http://www.sungazette.net/mclean-greatfalls-vienna-oakton/news/longfellow-mathcounts-team-regains-va-title/article_be9b0ecc-a118-11e2-ac9c-0019bb2963f4.html

This is like the Kid beauty pageants they show on TLC, where only 5 kids enter. Our center doesn't even participate in this and we have an excellent math program. Entire classes, in each grade, taught 2 years ahead in math instead of the standard 1 year ahead. I'm sure the education at haycock is good, but to say its the best bc of things like this is silly.

Remember the brouhaha over closing Clifton Elementary? Those were some angry parents (and rightly so-it was poorly handled by FCPS school board as well).

I think the whole thing was handled rather poorly by FCPS from the beginning. I feel they ignored the problem until it was too large to ignore. Then, they figured they could just roll the cluster 2 parents because they are not a large group in comparison to the population of the school (roughly 10%). I suspect FCPS was shocked when the cluster 2 parents organized in a significant way. Frankly, the organization probably wouldn't have been as robust if they weren't pushing the county wide plan at the same time.

Ultimately, the cluster 2 parents lost their bid to stay at Haycock, but it does seem that at last FCPS is stepping up to ensure a good experience at Lemon Road. I believe FCPS would have dumped the cluster 2 students at Lemon Road with no promises and no support for the Lemon Road community had those parents not been so vocal in the process regarding their removal from Haycock.

It's a shame that FCPS handled this the way that it did. It ruined a school community, although I guess next year that won't matter anymore because the cluster 2 kids will be gone.