Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Loudoun and don't understand how there can be so much variation in what middle schools are doing... essentially where you live can result in very different educational experiences for your middle schooler, and these are NOT supposed to be charter schools, they are all supposed to be following the same course catalogue and curriculum standards.

I've heard that many of the middle schools are essentially doing away with honors -- you don't know unless you ask (to the point that if this concerns you, I wouldn't buy a house in Loudoun without finding out first -- and I say this as someone who lives in Loudoun). Some of them make all classes "honors" so effectively there are no honors, and some of them have blended classes so that one kid can have "honors" on their schedule and another has "academic" on their schedule but they are actually in the exact same class together. There's also a middle school that has shifted to being a Project-Based Learning school that strongly emphasizes/pushes PBL across all subjects (even more so than most schools are already doing these days)... again not a charter, just part of the normal school system.

The one thing to keep in mind about Loudoun... you at least have the option to use special permission to move your kids to a different school, and there's usually space. Only issue is you have to drive them.

OP here. The bold is what our school is doing, and most parents are none the wiser and have no idea when I tell them. It feels really shady to me. If the principal truly believes what he is doing is in best interest of the students, why is he trying to hide it?

I have a MS kid taking honors classes in LCPS. I had no idea about this

I’m a PP and this was one of my points… the LCPS middle schools are varying a lot now in terms of what they do or don’t offer in terms of honors classes — some have kept the “traditional” system of separate honors vs academic and other effectively have done away with honors via a few different methods. Where you live (or use special permission to attend) can have a huge impact on the types of classes your child can access.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Loudoun and don't understand how there can be so much variation in what middle schools are doing... essentially where you live can result in very different educational experiences for your middle schooler, and these are NOT supposed to be charter schools, they are all supposed to be following the same course catalogue and curriculum standards.

I've heard that many of the middle schools are essentially doing away with honors -- you don't know unless you ask (to the point that if this concerns you, I wouldn't buy a house in Loudoun without finding out first -- and I say this as someone who lives in Loudoun). Some of them make all classes "honors" so effectively there are no honors, and some of them have blended classes so that one kid can have "honors" on their schedule and another has "academic" on their schedule but they are actually in the exact same class together. There's also a middle school that has shifted to being a Project-Based Learning school that strongly emphasizes/pushes PBL across all subjects (even more so than most schools are already doing these days)... again not a charter, just part of the normal school system.

The one thing to keep in mind about Loudoun... you at least have the option to use special permission to move your kids to a different school, and there's usually space. Only issue is you have to drive them.

OP here. The bold is what our school is doing, and most parents are none the wiser and have no idea when I tell them. It feels really shady to me. If the principal truly believes what he is doing is in best interest of the students, why is he trying to hide it?

I have a MS kid taking honors classes in LCPS. I had no idea about this

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Loudoun and don't understand how there can be so much variation in what middle schools are doing... essentially where you live can result in very different educational experiences for your middle schooler, and these are NOT supposed to be charter schools, they are all supposed to be following the same course catalogue and curriculum standards.

I've heard that many of the middle schools are essentially doing away with honors -- you don't know unless you ask (to the point that if this concerns you, I wouldn't buy a house in Loudoun without finding out first -- and I say this as someone who lives in Loudoun). Some of them make all classes "honors" so effectively there are no honors, and some of them have blended classes so that one kid can have "honors" on their schedule and another has "academic" on their schedule but they are actually in the exact same class together. There's also a middle school that has shifted to being a Project-Based Learning school that strongly emphasizes/pushes PBL across all subjects (even more so than most schools are already doing these days)... again not a charter, just part of the normal school system.

The one thing to keep in mind about Loudoun... you at least have the option to use special permission to move your kids to a different school, and there's usually space. Only issue is you have to drive them.

OP here. The bold is what our school is doing, and most parents are none the wiser and have no idea when I tell them. It feels really shady to me. If the principal truly believes what he is doing is in best interest of the students, why is he trying to hide it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I forget the date, but the curriculum and instruction committee had a discussion of honors classes last year(2021-2022) that was posted online. I posted about it at the time, as I didn't understand what they were saying. I think there are some middle schools that just let everyone take honors classes, and one of the board members said you couldn't tell the difference.

What does this mean? Who couldn't tell the difference? The students? The teachers? The parents? And what is meant by difference? Grades? Learning?

As a substitute teacher who has subbed in all these subjects there is a huge difference in students who can spell and write and students who can't. Students who choose to complete their class assigments and homework and students who don't. Reading levels, classroom engagement, etc. I assure you there is a difference and tossing everyone together like a salad isn't helping anyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The honors classes are a joke. Every parent wants their kids in them so they are "advanced" in name only. it is useless to have the academic classes too.

They're not a joke in school systems that allow teachers to teach honors students at an appropriately high level.

Yes they are because there is no minimum requirement a student has to meet to take these classes. I have 10th graders who still don’t capitalize names and write their I lowercase and can’t structure a paragraph because they don’t use punctuation requesting honors because that’s what their parents want. And they can take it. Nothing stops them. A lot of kids get tracked for honors early on because they’re quiet / well behaved and/or white or Asian and then they just get this mindset that “I am an honors kid” despite lacking academic giftedness or strong work ethic or aptitude. So the honors classes aren’t even rigorous anymore because any kid can take them and then you have to water it all down for them.

What you've described is not true for top tier public schools with an academic focus.