We really thought over the decision of local/in-school versus the center. Visited both, attended both open houses, talked to lots of parents. In the end, we came to feel that while either alternative would offer a good experience, with its own pros and cons, but that it made a lot of sense to try the center as the first option/Plan A. Both academically and socially, it would be easier to try the center but return to the local school in 4th grade if we wished than stay local in 3rd, when most students make the shift, but potentially move to the center in 4th grade. Hope this makes sense.

We have a unique situation. Our ds does not attend his neighborhood school (Dogwood). He is at Crossfield on opt-out, and was found eligible for AAP this year. He is going into 4th next year. We have decided to keep him at Local Level IV at Crossfield for a few reasons 1) our neighborhood school AAP center is Sunrise Valley. All his friends from Crossfield who were found eligible for AAP would go to the Center at Hunters Woods (unless they chose to stay for Local Level IV), so he would not go to the same center as classmates 2) he was in pool last year, but was found ineligible for 3rd . His teacher this year (who incidentally has a lot more patience with bored, immature boys) recommended we parent refer, and we did, and he was accepted (no new scores, just new work samples and a new GBRS). I am thinking perhaps he will have an easier adjustment at the Local Level IV. (mostly a social decision)

Our dc did local level 4 for 3rd grade and is moving to the center for 4th grade. Each school's local level 4 program is different, and depending on how many stay at the school really affects the classroom environment. In my child's class, I estimate that half were not level 4 students.

The chart that 22:16 posted is very helpful to find out how many generally stay at their base school. It looks like Oakton has about half of a class, too. But it also looks like enough go over to Sunrise Valley that your child wouldn't be the only one. I would talk to current 3rd grade parents in both programs to get an idea of what each is like.

8:49 here. We started at the base school and then moved to the center the next year.

Anonymous wrote:So I'm curious. How many of you (with the Local Level IV option at your base school) chose the Center option? Please share your reasons, as well as the base school/center cluster. I'm especially curious whether anyone chose the Sunrise Valley Center program over the Local Level IV option at Oakton Elementary.

We chose our center (Forest Edge) over the local level IV (Armstrong).

So I'm curious. How many of you (with the Local Level IV option at your base school) chose the Center option? Please share your reasons, as well as the base school/center cluster. I'm especially curious whether anyone chose the Sunrise Valley Center program over the Local Level IV option at Oakton Elementary.

In July 2009, the School Board had a retreat where one agenda item focused on Advanced Academic Programs.

An attachment provided at that retreat detailed the number of Center-eligible students that opted for Local Level IV at the base school:

http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/legacy-content/86789J2271B7/$FILE/AttachmentA.pdf

For those that would like for Local Level IV to happen at every school, I hope you have a large enough group of Center-eligible students to fill the Local Level IV class(es) at your base school. As one can see from the attachment, this did not occur in approximately 2/3 of the schools that offered Local Level IV in 2009-2010.

I'm not sure how wide-spread it is, but a fair number of schools now house their own Level IV programs that are open only to students who already attend the school. Kids who are accepted in to Level IV from schools with an in-house program have the option of staying at their base school or going to the center.

Personally, I would love to see this happen at every school and lose the center concept all together. I think it would take care of a lot of issues surrounding AAP (the cost of busing, the challenge of siblings in different schools, etc.) and still retain the core concept of classrooms that provide more challenging and appropriate curriculum for kids who have that need.

Anonymous wrote:We have to choose between local level 4 and a center, and I have to say that we were very impressed by the center's presentation, much more so than our base schools. We REALLY did not want to think there was a big difference (because we were leaning towards keeping our child at our neighborhood school), but we walked away thinking the programs were like night and day. Anyone else want to share their thoughts on their experience with the orientations this year?

Do only certain schools have a local level 4? We have only heard of "center" in our elementary school. What is local level 4?

I have also heard that about the AAP centers. That there are alot of very involved parents there, compared to some base schools. Have other parents found that to be the case?

PP, I wondered if it was the Fairhill/Mantua presentation. We had a similar experience. I agree that the Mantua presentation is old and tired. They seriously need to re-vamp it. And the Fairhill presentation is very good.

That being said, we have been very happy at Mantua. But most people are also really happy at Fairhill. But things like the spring festival being cancelled due to lack of parent volunteers would really just not happen at Mantua. They tend to have to beat off parent volunteer with a stick LOL which is a bit of a different problem actually.

I do wonder if the proposed re-districting of some neighborhoods from Fairhill to Mantua next year is going to have a negative impact on the Fairhill program.

14:22 here--Our base is Fairhill and our center is Mantua. I've heard nothing but great things about Mantua, but for our family Fairhill has been a great fit and I feel confident that the same will be true in their Level IV classrooms.

Anonymous wrote:14:22-- may I ask which two schools' presentations you attended? Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Not 14:22, but it sounds an awful lot what we experienced with Centreville and Willow Springs two years ago. Centreville put on quite a nice show whereas Willow Springs didn't seem like anything fancy. That being said, we leaned toward Centreville for a while, but ultimately went with Willow Springs. We have a happy fourth grader who is doing very well at the Center. Of course, one if his best friends decided to stay at Centreville, and he is also doing quite well.

14:22-- may I ask which two schools' presentations you attended? Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

We had the opposite experience at the orientations--our base school clearly had put a lot of thought into the evening and really presented a thorough look at not only the Level IV program but also into the benefits of staying in a familiar environment. Each of the teachers gave specific examples of how they approach subject matter and one of the things that really stood out was how collaboratively they work together to support kids throughout their time there.

At the center presentation the following week, I felt like I was watching a canned presentation that the staff has been trotting out for years. They were all very nice but there was a sense of "of course you are going to pick us, we're the CENTER!" I had gone in still unsure about our choice but afterwards, both my husband and I felt pretty confident that our son's base school really will be the best fit for him.