Anonymous wrote:Wow, glad I happened on this. I have a 4 th grader at White oaks center ( not our base school.) This is the first I have heard about this study. Could not make out what is going on but am I right that it said 5 year plan or do I need to worry about this? How did everyone know this was happening? I am pretty involved parent and there are at least 7 parents at our bus stop who are also involved, we share a lot, and no one has even mentioned a MS re- design or white oaks closing center. Yikes.

Yes.

Worry enough to let your school administration and teachers know that you are aware that this plan is in the works. Let the other parents know so they can also look into it. The last thing you want is to find out your child is changing schools next year and your center is disappearing, after it is too late to make your voice heard.

I have asked around, and have heard conflicting stories from the school and the AAP office. One says that currently enrolled kids will be grandfathered and allowed to stay in place until they finish 6th grade. The other said that only current 5th graders will be grandfathered and all other students will have to switch to their new centers next year. FYI, my child is not at one of the big overcrowded centers, but another center near White Oaks. Perhaps the schools in our neck of the woods will be on a gradual implementation compared to Haycock and crew.

Do your research and spread the word to other parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoops, here is the link: It looks like it's from the Level 4 Task Force.

http://fcag.org/documents/level_iv_task_force_recs/aap_enr_by_ctr_fdr.pdf

We are currently zoned for Springfield Estates for AAP. Where would we go? We are part of the Twain/Edison pyramid.

There is mention of a Proposed center at Rose Hill in this document.

http://fcag.org/documents/level_iv_task_force_recs/level_iv_ctr_enr_clu.pdf

Anonymous wrote:am I right that it said 5 year plan or do I need to worry about this? How did everyone know this was happening? I am pretty involved parent and there are at least 7 parents at our bus stop who are also involved, we share a lot, and no one has even mentioned a MS re- design or white oaks closing center. Yikes.

Short answer is no one knows. If you want to get involved, check the links and meeting notices posted on threads here.

This is an email from Richard Moniuszko from yesterday:

===
As you are aware, FCPS staff is working on a plan for School Board consideration that would relieve the overcrowding in the AAP Center at Haycock. The school is seriously overcrowded due to enrollment growth in their attendance area, and that overcrowding is compounded by a significant number of AAP center students who come from other elementary school attendance areas. Student enrollment county-wide has increased over the past four years, counter to the trend prior to that time, and most schools in the area are overcrowded as well. At this point, we are not accepting any new students to the AAP center at Haycock, and looking at the location and enrollment of centers throughout Fairfax County. As we look at our options, we are very sensitive to the needs of students and families with respect to changing schools.

No matter what rumors or notes from parent meetings you have received, it is important for you to know that no decisions have been made regarding what might be done for next fall to alleviate the overcrowding problem. Among the options being explored are opening new AAP centers in other schools. If we are to open any new AAP centers are to be in place in September 2013, then a School Board decision must be made by January 2013 so the schools can make the appropriate arrangements for training teachers and notifying students and parents. FCPS staff are developing options for discussion with the School Board, as well as for public input into whatever decision will be made. FCPS has always provided for public input when establishing new AAP Centers, and will continue to provide an opportunity for parents and members of the community to engage in this process.

We certainly welcome your input and ask for your patience and continued support as we structure the framework for this important proposal in the weeks ahead.


Richard Moniuszko, Ed.D.
Deputy Superintendent
Fairfax County Public Schools
8115 Gatehouse Rd.
Falls Church, VA 22042
(571) 423-1020

Wow, glad I happened on this. I have a 4 th grader at White oaks center ( not our base school.) This is the first I have heard about this study. Could not make out what is going on but am I right that it said 5 year plan or do I need to worry about this? How did everyone know this was happening? I am pretty involved parent and there are at least 7 parents at our bus stop who are also involved, we share a lot, and no one has even mentioned a MS re- design or white oaks closing center. Yikes.

Parents are getting organized -- there is a Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/ParentsForAAPEquality

and parents are asked to attend Thursday (TOMORROW!) night's forum at Luther Jackson Middle School, Room 303, at 6 p.m.

Anonymous wrote:So, based on the pdf document, Mantua ES will no longer be a AAP CENTER. Am I reading that right? So the 119 kids who are in mantua (who did not comefrom feeder schools) will have to go to CanterBury Woods ES?

Contact your school board rep and let the other parents in your school know that this is brewing. Also talk to your kids' principal and AAP teachers.

They are already meeting with teachers to discuss the proposed changes.

So, based on the pdf document, Mantua ES will no longer be a AAP CENTER. Am I reading that right? So the 119 kids who are in mantua (who did not comefrom feeder schools) will have to go to CanterBury Woods ES?

12:12--maybe they are. The list doesn't say how many center eligible kids there are from the school, just how many elected the center. Maybe a bunch more kids from Marsahll Road will select it if it become part of LA. I wonder if any consideration of that type of dynamic was considered.

Anonymous wrote:Whoops, here is the link: It looks like it's from the Level 4 Task Force.

http://fcag.org/documents/level_iv_task_force_recs/aap_enr_by_ctr_fdr.pdf

We are currently zoned for Springfield Estates for AAP. Where would we go? We are part of the Twain/Edison pyramid.

Marshall Road is a local level IV school. Why wouldn't most of the students be staying at the school regardless of where it's AAP center is?

Whoops, here is the link: It looks like it's from the Level 4 Task Force.

http://fcag.org/documents/level_iv_task_force_recs/aap_enr_by_ctr_fdr.pdf

16:39 here. It was on page 6 of this document. It shows LA losing the Freedom Hill, Westbriar, and Stenwood kids, and then gaining 46 Marshall Road kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate to tell you, PP. Even if they move other kids out of LA, I wouldn't plan on them adding the kids form Marshall Road back in. It's overcrowded.

That's what they show in their proposal, so we'll just wait and see.

Not the poster to whom you're responding, but I don't think FCPS has released a proposal for specific schools yet. The Task Force has calculated the number of AAP students who come from elementary schools within specific HS pyramids. It doesn't mean all those students will end up at the same AAP centers, at least not within the next year or so.

I agree with the poster who suggested that, in the short term, the most likely thing to happen is that some students will get moved out of Archer and Haycock to a new center at a Marshall feeder, but this begs the question as to what school in the Marshall pyramid could accommodate those students by the fall of 2013. Most of the Marshall feeders are projected to grow more rapidly than the Madison and McLean feeders over the next five years, and that's before a new AAP center is opened.

I don't know what docuement I saw, but it was on here. It showed Louise Archer losing a couple hundred students and gaining about 45. That would be in line with Marshall Road being moved to that center. It's the only school in the Madison pyramid that does not feed into Louise Archer, although it used to, before Stu Gibson suggested that it get moved to Mosby Woods.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are only in preschool and we are new to the area. I think it would be great if each pyramid stayed in its own school pyramid that offered AAP.

I grew up in a school district that was considered strong. We had 6 elementary schools that rolled up to one middle school and one high school. I would LOVE if that was the case here in FX county.

With the exception of TJ, I think kids should attend their zoned public school pyramid.

How did the talented and gifted program work in your "strong school district?" Did you simply have pull-outs or did you have full-time talented and gifted classrooms? If your elementary school had a small number of students in the full-time classroom, did your strong school district have the budget $ to sustain such a small classroom size?

Not the PP you were addressing, but our small school district worked exactly the same way - 6 elementary schools (eventually 4), 2 middle schools (eventually 1), and then 1 high school. There was a full-time separate GT class that was housed at one of the elementary schools and one of the middle schools. Only negative was they were together through high school. In high school, they were mostly together unless some dropped down. There were also "smart" kids who were not in the GT program who could advance in some classes. The GT program was generally two years ahead, at least in math.

So, while a large system has many benefits, there are some benefits to a smaller system and can include great programs as well. I know at the time, our school district was very highly-regarded in the state.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are only in preschool and we are new to the area. I think it would be great if each pyramid stayed in its own school pyramid that offered AAP.

I grew up in a school district that was considered strong. We had 6 elementary schools that rolled up to one middle school and one high school. I would LOVE if that was the case here in FX county.

With the exception of TJ, I think kids should attend their zoned public school pyramid.

How did the talented and gifted program work in your "strong school district?" Did you simply have pull-outs or did you have full-time talented and gifted classrooms? If your elementary school had a small number of students in the full-time classroom, did your strong school district have the budget $ to sustain such a small classroom size?

We had full time honors classes in junior high and high school. In elementary school, there were gifted classes (math and english only I think) and we also did pull outs for other enrichment extracurriculars.

I don't know anything about the budget since I didn't think about that when I was a kid. The area was an affluent suburb.

So the talented and gifted program in your "strong school district" was not as extensive as the program options in FCPS. Therefore, you would "LOVE" if that was the case here.

Yes, I would like it if my kids went to the same middle school and high school as the other kids in the neighborhood.

I eventually went to Harvard and many of my classmates went to Penn, Dartmouth, Yale, etc. If you were an "average" honor/AP student, you went to UMich, NYU, BU, etc. Our school was well regarded and many people moved to the area for the strong school district.

I'm familiar with those types of small affluent districts. We moved here from one and that move was a mistake. Some people here consider any school district that runs academics without a big AAP/GT busing as inferior.

As a newcomer to Fairfax County, I am very turned off by all the different centers. I would be fine with my children only having their zoned middle school AAP peers.

Our children are young though and we are leanings towards private school because of overcrowding problems.