Anonymous wrote:Most AAP kids attend AAP centers outside their cluster. There was no reason for Haycock to make that criteria the deciding factor. I think that is what caused most of the drama. Haycock made it an us vs. them. If FCPS had started the process instead of the parents, they may have selected a different group to eliminate from the center.

Anonymous wrote:

Sorry that you feel this way, but isn't this a little melodramatic? Your son is a valued student at the school. The whole process was nothing personal. The "behavior" you are referencing is the parents explaining that having an extremely overcrowded school needed to end. How is having the cluster 2 students attend a school in their own cluster wrong? It seems like there was no other solution that didn't involve busing Haycock base students to another school. If you think that the parents weren't sticking together, because they wouldn't agree to have their children attend another school, then your expectations are too high. This is a public school system. Schools and students are rezoned all over the country.

Anonymous wrote:17:03, I do not think any AAP child who is not from Haycock base can assume they are safely there to complete their education through 6th grade. We may differ on that, but look above, there was at least one person who agreed with me. I think the OP needs to keep that in mind as she decides whether to send her child to CB LLIV or Haycock. There are many Cluster 2 parents who believe they wouldn't have sent their children if they had known they would be transferred a second (really third and in some cases fourth) time. But the families that are being kicked out had no LLIV option, so it was Haycock or stay in Gen Ed. Some kids would have been fine in Gen Ed and others probably would not have, but either way, the parents didn't have that information when making the choice. This was pretty unfair to the current third grade parents because FCPS knew they were contemplating this last year. They could have saved those families some heartbreak if they would have told them their child might have to transfer a third time. Some parents may have made a different choice.

And by the way, keep in mind, FCPS was going to let our kids be grandfathered because staff (and child education experts) believe minimizing school transfers is what is best for children. So it's not that the Haycock base parents didn't stand up to FCPS with us -- they ACTUALLY AGGRESSIVELY LOBBIED to have our kids kicked out when FCPS was not inclined to do so. But for the base parents, the board would most likely have accepted the staff recommendation. We were the weaker, smaller group, despite what you say. It was about 90 students, much smaller than the base population.

To be clear, no one objected to a new Lemon Road center. That was going to happen. This was just about whether about 90 kids who are already students would stay. The cluster 2 parents never opposed opening a new center. They simply wanted to spare their child a third elementary school and a third change of friends, etc. I wonder how many of the 90 will actually leave. They said they would pupil place the FH kids and several families say they are moving to the Haycock district. It will be interesting to see if this makes much of an impact on Haycock's enrollment.

I get it that AAP kids aren't sympathetic and the parents are perceived as overbearing (and admittedly, a lot of them are) but these are real kids with real feelings.

Anonymous wrote:We'll see how melodramatic you feel it is when it's your kid that has to leave his friends. So the third grade teacher who testified's students shouldn't have taken it personally? How else would a third grader take that when his/her teacher is on tv saying she wants him/her to leave? It's like the school version if "it's not you, it's me." Third graders were actually crying on the bus the next when they heard about it. Lovely.

Who knows if there were other solutions? The non-Cluster 2 parents were unwilling to even discuss that possibility. They merely shot down every idea, without contributing anything productive.

Oh and speaking of melodramatic, should I link to some of the base parent testimony? Using the Newtown shooting as a reason why the Cluster 2 kids should leave (never mind that 2 of the alternatives proposed by the Cluster 2 families would have put a huge chunk of Haycock in an actual building instead of trailers, which would have been much more secure and comfortable). Many of the things they were saying about the situation were simply untrue. I know because I have a child there and am at the school for various reasons (volunteering, drop off, pick up, etc.) and my child was confused when I asked him if they were true. So please don't call me melodramatic without looking in the mirror first.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'll be honest. I'd think twice about sending your child to Haycock over CB AAP. Full disclosure, I'm one of the "Cluster 2" parents so I'm sure i'll get flamed. I would hate to see your family go through what we went through.

The Haycock community very actively lobbied to have some AAP kids redistricted to Lemon Road. They will claim to be a welcoming community, but I sure didn't feel welcome when they were up there testifying about how my child (who has been there longer than some of theirs) was just not welcome. There was just not enough space for my child, who thought he was part of the community.

This wasn't just a couple parents who sent emails. It was parents emailing, petitioning, and testifying over and over to get some of their own community kicked out. Parents arranging torus for school board members. It was an AAP teacher who has some of these very students in her class at present, not just emailing, but publicly testifying that she wanted them to leave. Some of the kids in her class watched that testimony. It was a principal who said she would remain neutral, but did not. There was an active campaign to get the Cluster 2 kids kicked out.

I know the school is vey overcrowded and the Haycock parents will be on here trying to defend themselves, but that's not what a community does in my mind. A true community sticks together and tries to find solutions, rather than turning on the weaker, smaller group and driving them out. We could have banded together to get FCPS to find other solutions (or at least give the school extras for the burden) instead of fighting among ourselves. I would never fight to have another child kicked out of the school. I can't even comprehend what would possess someone do that.

I guess the Haycock parents will say they did what they thought they needed to do, but I for one would be cautious about voluntarily placing your child in this so-called school community. Once they decide it's too crowded again, they'll turn on you like they turned on us (and Kent Gardens before us). Out of an entire school community of over 900 kids, only a handful stuck with those that were being driven out. It's very telling. Apparently, if you're a center kid from another school, you're not actually part of the community.

It was ugly and gave me true insight into my fellow Haycock parents. I can't wait until my child leaves now that I know what the community is really like.

Anonymous wrote:I'm 11:51. I know I sound like a bitter shrew and I'm sorry about that. To be frank, I am bitter and very hurt. I never found the parents to be particularly friendly, especially once they found out you didn't live in the base boundaries, but DC really, really likes it there and is very proud to be a Haycock student, so I never worried because it isn't about me and how I get along with the other parents. I was really shocked to see how it all played out, though. People were way more hurtful than I ever imagined they could be.

I get it. They were looking out for what they thought was their kids' best interest and I can respect that in concept. If they are comfortable with their behavior, then I guess that's what matters to them.

So, I guess I'm just trying to say that I may sound like a bitch, but it was an awful experience (especially for my DC who was under the mistaken impression that he was a valued part of the school) that I'd like to spare the OP.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'll be honest. I'd think twice about sending your child to Haycock over CB AAP. Full disclosure, I'm one of the "Cluster 2" parents so I'm sure i'll get flamed. I would hate to see your family go through what we went through.

The Haycock community very actively lobbied to have some AAP kids redistricted to Lemon Road. They will claim to be a welcoming community, but I sure didn't feel welcome when they were up there testifying about how my child (who has been there longer than some of theirs) was just not welcome. There was just not enough space for my child, who thought he was part of the community.

This wasn't just a couple parents who sent emails. It was parents emailing, petitioning, and testifying over and over to get some of their own community kicked out. Parents arranging torus for school board members. It was an AAP teacher who has some of these very students in her class at present, not just emailing, but publicly testifying that she wanted them to leave. Some of the kids in her class watched that testimony. It was a principal who said she would remain neutral, but did not. There was an active campaign to get the Cluster 2 kids kicked out.

I know the school is vey overcrowded and the Haycock parents will be on here trying to defend themselves, but that's not what a community does in my mind. A true community sticks together and tries to find solutions, rather than turning on the weaker, smaller group and driving them out. We could have banded together to get FCPS to find other solutions (or at least give the school extras for the burden) instead of fighting among ourselves. I would never fight to have another child kicked out of the school. I can't even comprehend what would possess someone do that.

I guess the Haycock parents will say they did what they thought they needed to do, but I for one would be cautious about voluntarily placing your child in this so-called school community. Once they decide it's too crowded again, they'll turn on you like they turned on us (and Kent Gardens before us). Out of an entire school community of over 900 kids, only a handful stuck with those that were being driven out. It's very telling. Apparently, if you're a center kid from another school, you're not actually part of the community.

It was ugly and gave me true insight into my fellow Haycock parents. I can't wait until my child leaves now that I know what the community is really like.

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Anonymous wrote:Why does OP think her child would not have Haycock as his level IV option if they buy in CB? There has been nothing from the county to suggest the center arrangement for CB would change next year.

Cause we moved here last year, renting in FS base area. I checked county website, FS was supposed to feed into HAycock. Take me 2 month to process AAP paper, then they said we have to go to Churchill, and no transportation.

I know Churchill is great, but I can't handle logistics.

Why isn't transportation provided?

I don't know. I suppose Churchill doesn't have that route.

And I was new here, didn't know what I should question.

Doesn't make sense.

If your child is AAP qualified, FCPS should arrange for transportation. Although if your kid is starting when the school year has already started, they may not change bus routes just for your kid.