Anonymous wrote:When that school was built, parents in Great Falls complained bitterly over their kids having to cross Route 7 to attend a school in Vienna, which they thought was below them. Maybe they’ve gotten over it by now. It was certainly ugly at the time.

Wow. It’s the obsessed GF-hater again. How completely unsurprising.

When that school was built, parents in Great Falls complained bitterly over their kids having to cross Route 7 to attend a school in Vienna, which they thought was below them. Maybe they’ve gotten over it by now. It was certainly ugly at the time.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Colvin Run parent here with one is aap and one in gen ed. There is definitely concern of divisiveness at this school with the AAP kids thinking they are smarter, worthier of a better education. Parents of aap kids fuel the fire too by bragging constantly that their kids is in it. The principal and vice principal are both well aware of the divide they are creating, but don’t see, to care about it. They just care about being a center school and keeping the aap level kids winning science fairs...etc to make their school look good. They really don’t care about the gen ed kids. Don’t be fooled. That why a lot of parents switch their kids to private school if they don’t get into aap level 4 at 3rd or 4th grade. They don’t want their kids to be forgotten which is what happens. If the principal and vice principle truly cared about all the kids they would put resources into the gened classroom also to give those kids the same level education and expectation which I’m sure all those kids could meet and succeed given the chance. [/quote]

This sounds horrible. Has the environment improved or does the same divide still exist? [/quote]

The quoted part is pure fiction, but it will continue to permeate this thread like it always does. I have three kids (one currently at CRES, two in HS), and we absolutely love the school. None of my kids were in AAP.

Anonymous wrote:We are a current CRES family with a second grader who was accepted into Level IV and looking for more information on others who were or were not accepted.

The curriculum is the same, but AAP has more homework and kids in AAP spend less time going over concepts because it is presumed they will understand them faster than non AAP students.

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this post for more intel on Level IV AAP Admissions for Colvin Run specifically.

And if your kid isn’t eligible, are you considering leaving CRES for private school?

No. My kids got a great education. CRES follows the AAP curriculum and offers advanced instruction where necessary. My DD bumped up to 7th grade math while in 6th, and was in advanced language arts. She’s now in high school and doing as well as her AAP counterparts.

[quote=Anonymous]Colvin Run parent here with one is aap and one in gen ed. There is definitely concern of divisiveness at this school with the AAP kids thinking they are smarter, worthier of a better education. Parents of aap kids fuel the fire too by bragging constantly that their kids is in it. The principal and vice principal are both well aware of the divide they are creating, but don’t see, to care about it. They just care about being a center school and keeping the aap level kids winning science fairs...etc to make their school look good. They really don’t care about the gen ed kids. Don’t be fooled. That why a lot of parents switch their kids to private school if they don’t get into aap level 4 at 3rd or 4th grade. They don’t want their kids to be forgotten which is what happens. If the principal and vice principle truly cared about all the kids they would put resources into the gened classroom also to give those kids the same level education and expectation which I’m sure all those kids could meet and succeed given the chance. [/quote]

This sounds horrible. Has the environment improved or does the same divide still exist?

Anonymous wrote:Love the school!!

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately my kid is one that has asked me “Mom, am I dumb?”. It was heartbreaking to say the least. Kids are affected more than a lot of parents want to admit. I’ve heard from too many parents that their kid has asked them something similar all because of the obvious divide.

Yep. In second grade, after the AAP decisions went out, it's all the kids were talking about at lunch the next day. "Are you in AAP? No? Why not? Are you dumb?" It was a horrible time for my child, and the other children who weren't going to be in AAP, but who saw many (most) of their friends excitedly talking about how they were "smart" and were going to be in the same classes the following year.

Really, a horrible system for everyone involved. Kids who get in think they're somehow "smarter" than everyone else, and kids who don't get in (often, with very similar scores), are made to feel lacking. I agree with the PP who mentioned the character shapes at CRES. What a bunch of baloney.

The principal sent an email to parents to not have their kids talk about who got in or not at school. A week ago, like others, we were notified about AAP results. My child got accepted my child has NO IDEA who else got in. I asked her if she knew of others getting in. She went to school in person twice since announcements were made and I have learned nothing so far, which means at least in that cohort, the kids were not talking about who got in who didn't.

Anyway, my experience with the school so far has been very good. I have too many things going on outside of being a school parent to be an "involved parent" at school. I was frankly a little worried if being a passive almost invisible parent would affect my child's chances with AAP. I didn't try to curry favor with the second grade teacher (to try to get better GBRS ratings) or even send a single email or anything about my child applying. I didn't contact the AART either. I'm just saying that while some helicopter parents angling to get their child in AAP might be more visible to others, I'm guessing there's a mix of parents. In first grade, parents had to get several emails encouraging people to volunteer as the second room parent, as they apparently had only one volunteer thus far. That there was no competition about who gets to be room parent already tells you there are plenty of chill parents, and that "those parents" that gives others a bad name (that have the combination of perhaps being an entitled + demanding + tries to put pressure to the school to get their child advantages by using perhaps their position at the school, from room parent to a titled position in the PTO or those that use large donations as pressure) are in the small minority.

We are a current CRES family with a second grader who was accepted into Level IV and looking for more information on others who were or were not accepted.

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this post for more intel on Level IV AAP Admissions for Colvin Run specifically.

And if your kid isn’t eligible, are you considering leaving CRES for private school?

What kind of Intel are you referring to? What NNAT, GBRS scores gets you accepted into level 4? How many CRES students in second grade apply? How many AAP classes there are? It's a center, so kids from other schools come. There are 5 third grade classes and 2 are level 4.

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this post for more intel on Level IV AAP Admissions for Colvin Run specifically.

And if your kid isn’t eligible, are you considering leaving CRES for private school?

It’s a great school that feeds into excellent middle and high schools. The peer group will be great no matter what....

Love the school!!

Bumping this post for more intel on Level IV AAP Admissions for Colvin Run specifically.

And if your kid isn’t eligible, are you considering leaving CRES for private school?

Anonymous wrote:Confused parent here. Is level 4 at CRES for gifted kids or for kids advanced in math? Just trying to assess my kid’s chance of getting in.

Good luck trying to get a straight answer to that question! AAP isn’t a gifted program, for starters. And there are plenty of GE kids in advanced math. In short, there is no rhyme or reason to explain who is in AAP and why. It’s become the butt of so many jokes.

Confused parent here. Is level 4 at CRES for gifted kids or for kids advanced in math? Just trying to assess my kid’s chance of getting in.