Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 22:19     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Whatever-Cooper will quickly outpace both Longfellow and Kilmer as a successful center within a year or two because of the quality of its students! So much for oversize AAP being over!


People have been pointing out for years that a Langley pyramid-only center would immediately have a critical mass of AAP students. I guess you had to hear the words come out of your own mouth, with the extra snark, for the idea to finally register.

Of course, it'll be your job, not ours, to deal with the Cooper/Langley parents who want to keep Cooper an "AAP-free zone," and refer to AAP students like some invasive plant species.


Not the PP, but surely you can see how parents who have been so happy with Cooper being AAP-free would be upset at having it turn into yet another AAP factory, like Kilmer, Longfellow, etc. What this area needs is a *normal* middle school, free from all the TJ-mania and AAP competitiveness. The very fact that there hasn't been AAP at Cooper is what makes it such an attractive school for many families. Cooper has been turning out smart, happy, well-balanced, nice kids for decades. With the arrival of AAP and all the fanatical parents, I guess that's about to end.
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 22:14     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:^^^^All of you "holier than thou" AAP haters may as well zip it-AAP is not going away and is a big contributer to the overall success level of FCPS being "known" nationally.

I'm not sure why PP is saying it is selfish to transfer the AAP Cooper based kids out of Kilmer to alleviate the overcrowding that is more urgently present in their school-talking in circles.


"Holier than thou" applies only to the selfish, self-centered, and self-righteous AAP parents who insist their kids must attend school with a "critical mass" and "peer group" - two of the most obnoxious terms constantly thrown about in reference to AAP. GT a decade or so ago served a purpose; to educate gifted kids in an environment other than the regular classroom. AAP is no such program and pretending it is only makes you and others look foolish.

FCPS was indeed nationally renowned - at one time. Since then, they have rested on their laurels while the quality of education here has gone downhill and what used to be a gifted program has been deliberately bloated to include masses of mainstream kids. If you think FCPS is still "known nationally," you are sorely mistaken.
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 22:13     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have one-I was looking forward to getting my kid out of the base school district and meeting some new kids in MS-DC has not found a great peer group at the base and I was hoping MS would be different and a new opportunity for DC-think Longfellow would be better in that respect than Cooper. Don't think going private is the answer but too late anyway to apply at this point!


I would also love to get my child out of the base school district and into a new MS, but unfortunately, my child doesn't have a choice as to where he goes to school.


That's because your child isn't in AAP so he/she is not "special" enough to have a choice. Only AAP kids/parents have that choice and apparently many of them feel they can dictate just what kind of a center is and isn't good enough. So much for the idea of "public" school.

Sheesh. The sooner Cooper, Thoreau and all the other non-center middle schools in the crazy McLean, Vienna, Falls Church, Great Falls area are LLIV and kids "have" to attend their base middle school in these areas, the better.
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 17:39     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:I have one-I was looking forward to getting my kid out of the base school district and meeting some new kids in MS-DC has not found a great peer group at the base and I was hoping MS would be different and a new opportunity for DC-think Longfellow would be better in that respect than Cooper. Don't think going private is the answer but too late anyway to apply at this point!


I would also love to get my child out of the base school district and into a new MS, but unfortunately, my child doesn't have a choice as to where he goes to school.
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 17:38     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:It is obvious that the only people writing currently are the AAP haters and the Kilmer/Longfellow base-how about if we actually hear from some parents who's kids this will actually affect?


Parents who have kids attending Cooper, both now and in the future, have kids who this decision will actually affect.
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 16:50     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Whatever-Cooper will quickly outpace both Longfellow and Kilmer as a successful center within a year or two because of the quality of its students! So much for oversize AAP being over!


People have been pointing out for years that a Langley pyramid-only center would immediately have a critical mass of AAP students. I guess you had to hear the words come out of your own mouth, with the extra snark, for the idea to finally register.

Of course, it'll be your job, not ours, to deal with the Cooper/Langley parents who want to keep Cooper an "AAP-free zone," and refer to AAP students like some invasive plant species.


If rather deal with them then snotty people like yourself!


We're not the snotty ones. We may be the exhausted ones, after listening to the Langley parents for years ("Cooper is better without AAP," "Cooper AAP won't be good enough" and now, inevitably, "Cooper AAP will be better than Kilmer/Longfellow"). Enough already.
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 15:34     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Whatever-Cooper will quickly outpace both Longfellow and Kilmer as a successful center within a year or two because of the quality of its students! So much for oversize AAP being over!


People have been pointing out for years that a Langley pyramid-only center would immediately have a critical mass of AAP students. I guess you had to hear the words come out of your own mouth, with the extra snark, for the idea to finally register.

Of course, it'll be your job, not ours, to deal with the Cooper/Langley parents who want to keep Cooper an "AAP-free zone," and refer to AAP students like some invasive plant species.


If rather deal with them then snotty people like yourself!
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 15:32     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:Whatever-Cooper will quickly outpace both Longfellow and Kilmer as a successful center within a year or two because of the quality of its students! So much for oversize AAP being over!


People have been pointing out for years that a Langley pyramid-only center would immediately have a critical mass of AAP students. I guess you had to hear the words come out of your own mouth, with the extra snark, for the idea to finally register.

Of course, it'll be your job, not ours, to deal with the Cooper/Langley parents who want to keep Cooper an "AAP-free zone," and refer to AAP students like some invasive plant species.
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 14:43     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Whatever-Cooper will quickly outpace both Longfellow and Kilmer as a successful center within a year or two because of the quality of its students! So much for oversize AAP being over!
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 13:41     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:^^^^All of you "holier than thou" AAP haters may as well zip it-AAP is not going away and is a big contributer to the overall success level of FCPS being "known" nationally.

I'm not sure why PP is saying it is selfish to transfer the AAP Cooper based kids out of Kilmer to alleviate the overcrowding that is more urgently present in their school-talking in circles.


Being known "nationally" is not the measure of a school. In some ways this is creating problems for FCPS, by attracting people from all over who come here with oversized expectations of what a public school can provide their kids and are part of the reason AAP has gotten so bloated.

And I'm PP, and not saying it's selfish to transfer Cooper kids out of Kilmer at all. Am saying it is selfish to suggest we do it in mini-stages to ensure Cooper AAP works. The time for that is past --- All Cooper kids need to leave Kilmer/Longfellow as soon as possible to alleviate overcrowded that is having a negative affect on learning outcomes for kids at overcrowded schools.


Amen to that!
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 13:31     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
^^^with grandfathering
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 13:21     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:^^^^All of you "holier than thou" AAP haters may as well zip it-AAP is not going away and is a big contributer to the overall success level of FCPS being "known" nationally.

I'm not sure why PP is saying it is selfish to transfer the AAP Cooper based kids out of Kilmer to alleviate the overcrowding that is more urgently present in their school-talking in circles.


Being known "nationally" is not the measure of a school. In some ways this is creating problems for FCPS, by attracting people from all over who come here with oversized expectations of what a public school can provide their kids and are part of the reason AAP has gotten so bloated.

And I'm PP, and not saying it's selfish to transfer Cooper kids out of Kilmer at all. Am saying it is selfish to suggest we do it in mini-stages to ensure Cooper AAP works. The time for that is past --- All Cooper kids need to leave Kilmer/Longfellow as soon as possible to alleviate overcrowded that is having a negative affect on learning outcomes for kids at overcrowded schools.
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 11:59     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:^^^^All of you "holier than thou" AAP haters may as well zip it-AAP is not going away and is a big contributer to the overall success level of FCPS being "known" nationally.

I'm not sure why PP is saying it is selfish to transfer the AAP Cooper based kids out of Kilmer to alleviate the overcrowding that is more urgently present in their school-talking in circles.


Hey hey, ho ho

Oversized AAP has got to go!
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 11:41     Subject: Cooper Middle School New AAP center
^^^^All of you "holier than thou" AAP haters may as well zip it-AAP is not going away and is a big contributer to the overall success level of FCPS being "known" nationally.

I'm not sure why PP is saying it is selfish to transfer the AAP Cooper based kids out of Kilmer to alleviate the overcrowding that is more urgently present in their school-talking in circles.
Anonymous
Post 11/22/2015 11:32     Subject: Re:Cooper Middle School New AAP center
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm a Longfellow parent who will miss this peer group for my rising 6th grader. My 8th grader has found such a great group of new friends and like-minded kids from the Cooper kids and I know my 5th grader would have loved to have these additional peers. It will be a less good experience for her if they are not allowed to come.


Thank you for this! No one mentions any of the benefits to the kids that have come from having strong centers!

It seems as though the overcrowding mainly affects Kilmer-so why not do a phased approach with Kilmer transfers to Cooper for next year and see how that goes? I think the current Cooper population needs some time to absorb these changes-the school is used to being on the smaller side and the transfers from Kilmer alone are going to be overwhelming enough-the building is old and resources will be stretched!


So you think the importance of having a large AAP peer group at Longfellow should receive more attention, but that it would be a good idea to create a small center at Cooper with AAP kids who otherwise would have gone to Kilmer to "see how it goes"?

I'm not seeing the logic here, other than perhaps you're just advocating for some way to keep the Cooper AAP kids at Longfellow until your own kid has finished middle school. [/quote

Agreed. The selfishness and entitlement on display here on the part of AAP parents/ AAP wannabes is astonishing. Do any of you realize how overcrowded Kilmer is? Or how unfair what you're advocating is to the much larger group of kids who must content themselves with the leftovers after your kids have gotten their "special" classes? Absurd that FCPS has allowed this to continue as long as it has.