Parents air views on an AAP Center proposed for Poe Middle School

Parents who spoke at a Dec. 1 school board hearing on a proposal to establish an Advanced Academic Program at Poe Middle School were split on the issue.

An AAP Center in Mason District has long been sought by Mason School Board member Ricardy Anderson. Region 6, which includes the Annandale High School pyramid, is the only region without an AAP Center at a middle school.

In September, the school board approved Anderson’s resolution calling for the board to consider implementing a new AAP Center at Poe. It would take effect for sixth graders starting in the 2026-27 school year.

The next step calls for FCPS staff to develop a recommendation on the proposal. The Fairfax County School Board is scheduled to vote on the matter on Dec. 18.

Continuity for Annandale students

If approved, the new center would provide continuous AAP services to students in the local AAP programs at Annandale Terrace, Braddock, and North Springfield elementary schools. Those schools have grades K-5.

Currently, those students must transition to Canterbury Woods Elementary School for grade 6, then transfer to the AAP Center at Frost Middle School. Students in the full-time AAP Center at Canterbury Woods would also transfer to the new center at Poe.

Students at Bren Mar Park, Columbia, and Weyanoke elementary schools – and most students at Mason Crest – who currently go to the AAP Center at Glasgow Middle School would instead go to the new one at Poe.

Related story: School board supports an AAP Center at Poe

At the hearing, several parents with students at Canterbury Woods and North Springfield said they wanted their children to go to the AAP Center at Frost, not a new one at Poe.

“This feels like a rush job with no published timeline,” one parent said. Others said they want their children to stay with their peers at Frost raised concerns about the educational quality at Poe.

Another parent said she didn’t want to send her child to Poe because its SOL scores are lower than Frost’s.

A question of fairness

“This process has been slow as molasses,” countered a parent with students at Poe and Columbia. She held a meeting with Columbia families six years ago to push for an AAP Center at a Mason District middle school.

“This is about fairness,” she said. “We deserve to have an AAP Center in our region, like every other region. This is a no-brainer and long overdue.”

“This is about equity,” said Jackie Mosely, a parent in the Annandale pyramid who serves on the Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee, who also supports an AAP Center at Poe. “Every time the boundary committee discusses moving students to Region 6, people are upset about it,” she said.

Greg Martin, the parent of two students at Holmes Middle School, said he enthusiastically supports an AAP Center at Poe, citing the need for equitable treatment of Mason District students.

A lengthy process

Both Martin and Anderson attended the meeting in 2019 at the Columbia parent’s home. “This is not new,” Anderson said after the hearing. “We need a new AAP Center at Poe, like yesterday. This is way overdue.”

She called the comment about SOL scores “egregious.” Talking about test scores “does not add to the argument in any way. … I don’t want to hear that Poe is a lesser school.”

Anderson also noted that the issue is clouded by misinformation. Some families believe their children in the AAP Center at Glasgow will be transferred to Poe. “That is not the plan,” she said.

Once an AAP Center is approved for Poe, Anderson would like to see another new full-time AAP Center established in an elementary school in Mason District. There’s currently only one, at Belvedere.