Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

We will be moving back from out of state to Fairfax County. Just before we were moving away our child had qualified for FCPS AAP (for 3rd grade back then). Back then we were homeschooling and we applied at AAP as a non-FCPS student, he got in. Then we had to move away for a couple of years. He attended a private school for the last two years we have been out of state. Now he will be in 5th grade when we move back this summer.

We are wondering what to do regarding schooling when we move back. Whether we should put him in AAP or go private (if he gets accepted). He never had a public school experience either here or elsewhere. We thought that an option may be even if he gets accepted to the private, we may consider to send him to public school for AAP for the first 2.5 weeks before private school opens. This way he can get a sense of environment and the large classrooms. When the private opens in 2.5 weeks after the public school, we can put him in the private for a couple of days and then let him decide between the two. After that he continues with either public or private, and we withdraw from the one he does not choose.

So I need opinions about whether logistically this is possible. Would the public school be OK if we withdrew from the FCPS AAP program 3 weeks into the new semester? Would he loose his AAP status if he considers it again in future? I am trying to get a sense of how things would go with the FCPS school if we inform them we don't want to continue throughout the academic year.

We want him to have a choice between AAP in public school and the private school. Both are new schools/environments for him.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

This is a ridiculous plan.

With that said, once you pass the binding date for tuition, you are going to be in the hook for that private school tuition for the entire year, even if you end up putting him in public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a ridiculous plan.

With that said, once you pass the binding date for tuition, you are going to be in the hook for that private school tuition for the entire year, even if you end up putting him in public school.

Assume that the money burnt is not an issue (it is an issue, but if he chooses public then only one year of tuition is burnt compared to many years of tuition burnt over multiple years if he sticks to private without seeing the FCPS AAP). We only want him to be in school that he likes. Our child is open to trying, and is in fact excited to try between two schools if he can. Would there be any penalty from FCPS if he leaves school 3 weeks after the start of semester?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

You can withdraw and return to public school as much as you want. An AAP designation stays with a child through 8th grade. Your plan is ridiculous and disruptive for your child and the other kids in the public class, where groups will be set in the first few weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can withdraw and return to public school as much as you want. An AAP designation stays with a child through 8th grade. Your plan is ridiculous and disruptive for your child and the other kids in the public class, where groups will be set in the first few weeks.

How is it disruptive to him if he is saying "he wishes to see both schools"?.
How is it disruptive to the class if you are not adding one more child but instead subtracting one? Are groups that rigid for the rest of the year? I am guessing not.

[Anonymous]

Can't you come do a shadow day at private this year? Even if you are flying across the globe to do it, that would be cheaper. And a shadow day is how everybody else tests out a private school, vs enrolling.

I also don't think your kid will know much about the school from just a few weeks. Kids are changeable, the first weeks are intro, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't you come do a shadow day at private this year? Even if you are flying across the globe to do it, that would be cheaper. And a shadow day is how everybody else tests out a private school, vs enrolling.

I also don't think your kid will know much about the school from just a few weeks. Kids are changeable, the first weeks are intro, etc.

That is great idea, but FCPS does not allow a similar experience.

[Anonymous]

Your child will not lose AAP eligibility if you disenroll. However, there is a date in late spring by which you must indicate your desire to be in AAP the following year, so it's possible you could not disenroll and then re-enroll in AAP later the same school year.

FCPS does have shadow days for upper ES kids to see the middle school. Maybe you should do private for 5th and 6th and then check out MS.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think there is enough time for him to get a real feel of the out private. Who want to go to school for three weeks and then start all over trying to find thing and potential friends.

[Anonymous]

I am going to agree that this is a ridiculous idea. The first few weeks at any FCPS ES is going to be focused on getting back into the routine, assessments, and review. It is not going to give a child time to figure out much of what is happening at the school or to get to know peers, extra curricular activities, or much of anything.

Two days at a private school is going to be a rinse and repeat of the FCPS experience but with even less time and probably little real exposure to the kids or what a school day looks like. And you might be paying $8,000-$50,000 for a year of tuition, dependent on the school, for 2 days?

Never mind the fact that your child's placement in the AAP class might mean that another child is not Principal placed into the class because you want to “try out FCPS.”

Choose a school and go there.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Let's say I talk to my child, and that we agree on sending him to private next year because we don't want the tuition to burn for next year.
Can he still see the FCPS AAP for the first three weeks of semester next year, so that at least he has an idea of what the school is like there. Is there any downside of him being at FCPS AAP for the first three weeks, given he knows he will switch to private for the rest of the year, and he may consider the AAP for the 6th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am going to agree that this is a ridiculous idea. The first few weeks at any FCPS ES is going to be focused on getting back into the routine, assessments, and review. It is not going to give a child time to figure out much of what is happening at the school or to get to know peers, extra curricular activities, or much of anything.

Two days at a private school is going to be a rinse and repeat of the FCPS experience but with even less time and probably little real exposure to the kids or what a school day looks like. And you might be paying $8,000-$50,000 for a year of tuition, dependent on the school, for 2 days?

Never mind the fact that your child's placement in the AAP class might mean that another child is not Principal placed into the class because you want to “try out FCPS.”

Choose a school and go there.

Principal placement to AAP happens in local level AAPs, right? In AAP centers there are almost no principal placed kids, as far as I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Let's say I talk to my child, and that we agree on sending him to private next year because we don't want the tuition to burn for next year.
Can he still see the FCPS AAP for the first three weeks of semester next year, so that at least he has an idea of what the school is like there. Is there any downside of him being at FCPS AAP for the first three weeks, given he knows he will switch to private for the rest of the year, and he may consider the AAP for the 6th grade?

It's a terrible idea. What if he hates it? There's no point to going to a school for 2 weeks only. Even worse, what if he loves it and makes a best friend? Then he would leave.

More likely, he would not even start to fit in, since his time is so short. So it would just be a miserable useless experience.

Pick a school and send him there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Let's say I talk to my child, and that we agree on sending him to private next year because we don't want the tuition to burn for next year.
Can he still see the FCPS AAP for the first three weeks of semester next year, so that at least he has an idea of what the school is like there. Is there any downside of him being at FCPS AAP for the first three weeks, given he knows he will switch to private for the rest of the year, and he may consider the AAP for the 6th grade?

It's a terrible idea. What if he hates it? There's no point to going to a school for 2 weeks only. Even worse, what if he loves it and makes a best friend? Then he would leave.

More likely, he would not even start to fit in, since his time is so short. So it would just be a miserable useless experience.

Pick a school and send him there.

Look, I don't know why anyone here insisting on not understanding. I already mentioned that he wants to have a choice, and this plan excites him. He does not have any attachment yet to either private or the FCPS AAP center. No friends. No familiarity. He wants to see both. If he likes AAP for the first 3 weeks, that's great information for him and he can continue. If he hates it, great info for him so he can continue with private for the rest of the year.

He has never been in a classroom with more than 15 kids, or at any public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Let's say I talk to my child, and that we agree on sending him to private next year because we don't want the tuition to burn for next year.
Can he still see the FCPS AAP for the first three weeks of semester next year, so that at least he has an idea of what the school is like there. Is there any downside of him being at FCPS AAP for the first three weeks, given he knows he will switch to private for the rest of the year, and he may consider the AAP for the 6th grade?

It's a terrible idea. What if he hates it? There's no point to going to a school for 2 weeks only. Even worse, what if he loves it and makes a best friend? Then he would leave.

More likely, he would not even start to fit in, since his time is so short. So it would just be a miserable useless experience.

Pick a school and send him there.

Look, I don't know why anyone here insisting on not understanding. I already mentioned that he wants to have a choice, and this plan excites him. He does not have any attachment yet to either private or the FCPS AAP center. No friends. No familiarity. He wants to see both. If he likes AAP for the first 3 weeks, that's great information for him and he can continue. If he hates it, great info for him so he can continue with private for the rest of the year.

He has never been in a classroom with more than 15 kids, or at any public school.

This is not his decision. You are the parent. This is your decision.