Addendum: If Luther Jackson were closer to Vienna, the decision to "Opt Out" of AAP would have been much more difficult for our family. The sheer distance from home to Falls Church was one deciding factor for our family. Our time at Thoreau has been wonderful, full of recognizable faces from all over Vienna. Even if the motion to open a new AAP Center at Thoreau in the fall is delayed, you, too, can Opt Out of AAP and keep your kids in Vienna!

Absolutely sensible. I know people who have enjoyed their time at Luther Jackson, but Vienna students are basically commuting to another town. Why send kids through traffic in Merrifield or Tysons when they can stay in Vienna?

A few points: Luther Jackson is not far away and is not really in Falls Church, just as Thoreau is not actually in the Town of Vienna. Thoreau is about 2 miles from the Vienna Town Hall and Jackson is about 5 miles. The "commute" to Jackson is not onerous, especially not when compared with the TJ travel time -- having had a child at Kilmer and now another at Jackson, I find it takes me half the time to get to Jackson, now that the Gallows Road construction situation has improved. Unfortunately the bus rides may be longer than to Thoreau due to the nature of magnet schools picking up students from a wider area.

The demographics are very different. Thoreau is over 70% white and only 10% of the students receive free or reduced priced lunches. Jackson is 32% white and 40% of the students receive free or reduced priced lunches.

My child is thoroughly enjoying her education at Luther Jackson in the AAP program, and has made many new friends. We have been very impressed with the teachers. The diversity is astounding, and the block scheduling has been fantastic.

Students from Oakton Elementary are also split when moving on to middle school. While some are permitted to attend Thoreau, most are required to travel PAST Thoreau and on to Luther Jackson, regardless of whether or not they are in the AAP program. If you find your Louise Archer AAP alumni are still thriving at Thoreau even in the non-AAP program, perhaps you might want to consider stepping back and counting your blessings.

Retaining "Vienna Community Values"?? What is that supposed to mean? My son has had a brilliant education at LJ, an education that many Vienna "community members" opted their children out of for reasons that are too shameful to say out loud.

While I am sure that LJ has a wonderfulAAP program, it would be nice to not have to send our AAP students out of their base school. My first two boys did very well at Thoreau and I plan on sending my 3rd son to Thoreau as an "opt out" student. It doesn't make sense to bus our students to a different school when we have more than enough AAP students to have a viable program at Thoreau. Our county spends a huge amount of money on bussing that could be better used for students in the classroom.

Agreed! We have over 100 qualified students per grade to create a viable center at Thoreau. Let's spend the money in the classroom and not on transportation. Please, I don't think the author is saying Jackson doesn't have values. Just that it is good for 7th and 8th grade students to go to school in their community with peers from their neighborhood, summer pool, after-school activities in town and local rec sports. It is easier on parents to coordinate group projects! Thoreau's administration, teachers and parents would welcome the AAP program to keep all Vienna students under one roof in middle school.

If the opt out kids are doing so well at Thoreau, what is the problem? That actually argues for the dismantlement of the AAP system county-wide. All potential AAP kids could just stay at their base schools and take honors courses.

I am arriving way late to this conversation, but in case anyone is still reading...I have to agree with Mary Bellamy. Why are parents so gravely concerned about AAP in middle schools but not high schools? If an all honors course load is providing challenge and long-term success, what's the problem? I have an 8th grader at Thoreau - she is a Louise Archer base student and was in the AAP program there. I did not choose to send her to Luther Jackson because middle school is all about socio-emotional development, and I knew enough about Thoreau (having 2 older children) to know that she would thrive academically. I also knew enough about Luther Jackson...it appears their idea of advanced academics is loading students down with hours of homework. No offense, more work does not equate to academic rigor. Don't get me wrong...I happen to think LJ is a great middle school - the majority of the 5th grade AAP students I taught/teach at Camelot ES go/will go there - I just don't think the AAP program there is providing a better education than the honors program at Thoreau.

Having said that, I also know that parents in the Vienna community tend to assign a great value to the "GT/AAP" label - many will choose LJ over Thoreau for that reason alone. With that in mind, it would be wise to give Thoreau the label it already deserves. We might never change the attitudes of some, but we can certainly change how those attitudes affect students. Louise Archer is situated in the Town of Vienna, and its AAP students need to stay in the 22180 zip code for middle school, as they do high school. It makes no sense to rip 12-13 year olds away from all of their friends for 2 years and then send them back to their community for high school - after having made new friends who will not go to said high school! Ludicrous - and defies the whole purpose of "middle school"...which is to create a place for "tweens" to learn and grow socially, emotionally, and intellectually.

Can we be honest about the "all honors" curriculum? When I checked the course offerings at Thoreau to decide where to send my now-7th-grader, they were enrolling ALL students (with a few limited exceptions) in honors history and science. If you enroll the entire student body in a course and call it honors, that doesn't make it so. Thoreau is a fine school and I'm sure it provides appropriate challenges for many students, but "all honors" at Thoreau is not a comparable academic program to the AAP center at Jackson. Sorry, it's not. That's ok. Choose what works for you and accept that other families may have different priorities, instead of bashing Luther Jackson. Many of us are very happy with the program at Jackson. And just like your Thoreau kids, our kids are developing socially and emotionally - there's nothing about a more rigorous academic program that precludes that.

Saying, "Luther Jackson is a great middle school" equates to bashing? Really??? Please reread my post after throwing out preconceived notions and prejudices. What YOU are saying is that a course cannot have a focus on critical thinking and problem-based learning if it is taught to the entire student body. That is hogwash and downright elitist. Sorry, it is. And, in case you don't realize, FCPS offers open enrollment for honors courses. I absolutely respect the choices of other families...I simply disagree that the AAP program at LJ is more rigorous than the honors program at Thoreau, as a "program" is defined by a lot more than its label. It's kind of like buying a Sony instead of a Vizio - you don't get a better picture, but you can tell everyone that you have a Sony. :)

How are kids going to LJ not retaining Vienna community values?

I'm new to this discussion but I can't see how I could ever let 10 minutes of commuting time impact my kid's education. From reading this whole thing from the top, it seems like some people are trying really hard to relieve the cognitive dissonance caused by their decision to not send their kid to what is generally regarded as a better academic program; and if 10 extra minutes in the car is the reason, I can see why. By the way, I would be all for putting a center in Thoreau so my kids could go there instead of LJ. And, there may be good reasons specific to a child to choose Thoreau over LJ. Frankly, the specific situation with one of my kids may lead me to make that decision. But I am not going to pretend his/her "all honors" curriculum is as good as LJ. I'm just going to admit that, despite the less rigorous academics, I felt Thoreau was the right choice. Embrace the warm feeling of being emotionally honest with yourself.

Does anyone have data to prove that the AAP centers produce better students in high school than those students who elected to go their base schools?

No - they don't, Kathy. Thank you for making this point. And, while I don't have any data to prove the converse, if it were a bet, I would put every last penny on my Thoreau-educated daughter. LOL! Lighten up, people - don't take yourselves and your labels so seriously.