How likely is it for a kid in FCPS general ed (elementary) to do well in middle school honors classes and high school honors/AP classes?
Is the only path to being a strong candidate for elite colleges to get into AAP in elementary/middle? Assuming no hooks or URM status |
Dear topic starter - while there is a sprinkling of truly gifted kids in AAP, the vast majority is merely prepped. There is no inherent advantage, except mind the math placement, that one becomes progressively harder to carch up with age. There is nothing on your child's HS transcript that gives away the AAP status in 3rd grade, promise.
Plus, your child can reapply every year. |
Moved here from out of state a few years ago. Didn't know about AAP but one child got in because had taken whatever IQ test FCPS uses in previous state for similar program, but declined placement until 7th grade so wouldn't have to change schools again right after relocating. (no AAP center at assigned ES) I also have much younger children and didn't realize what a big deal AAP seems to be around here. Not interested in prepping. Never have. Just wondering if AAP is a deal breaker or not for my younger kids when they get to HS in terms of being successful/prepared for honors/AP courses should they choose/want to take them.. |
About 20% of the kids in FCPS will participate in AAP. I am not sure of the exact percentage of kids who take honors or AP/IB classes in MS and then HS but I am pretty certain it is far greater then 20% of the students. I would guess that most of the kids who take AP/IB classes in HS were not in AAP and they do just fine. |
The only place it matters is math. If a kid is more focused on humanities, it does not matter at all. If a kid can get advanced math placement without AAP, then also doesn't matter at all. It's just really hard to skip a year of math, so if they aren't in that AAP accelerated math, the highest math level will be closed to them. That being said, plenty of AAP-placed students aren't in Algebra in 7th, and same would be true for them. |
As the parent of an AAP kid, it's not a big deal. All the "advancement" evens out by high school. Your smart, well supported kids will do fine. |
I second that. Both my kids went through AAP and are now in college. In high school, a bunch of their peers from scouts, sports, and the neighborhood, who didn't go through the program surpassed them with better GPAs, and got into more exclusive colleges. Those kids had better work ethics than my kids. It definitely evened out in high school. |
Parent of newly accepted kid question: should I even bother having kid do it? Is there any payoff? Sounds like my child is signing up for lots more stress in AAP, during remaining childhood years before becoming a teenager. |
Have you asked your child if they feel that school is challenging them or if they feel that school is just right? I would say that if a child says that they are not challenged then you should think about putting the child into the LIV program. That depends on your kid. We deferred but we are in a language immersion program. DS is in fourth and finds Advanced Math to be slow. We know that he is doing fifth grade math, we see the packets that come home labeled as fifth grade worksheets, so we know they are working up. Our teacher tells us that she is using the same math curriculum as the LIV class math, so I don't think he would feel any additional pressure in math. I do think the push to write more would be good for him, that is an area he could be stronger in, but not so much that we are willing to lose the second language. And each school is different. Is your LLIV or Center one that is a feeder for one of the three known TJ Feeder MSs? I would guess that those Centers are potentially more stressful then others because there are kids whose parents are already very focused on TJ. That did play a bit of a role in our decision because our Center is one known for kids who are already focused on TJ. The big issue that people who have sent their kids to the Center have is that there is no socialization after school, kids don't respond to offers to play after school or birthday party invites and there are no offers coming in. The academics are great but the socialization is non-existent. How does your kid deal with kids discussing grades and who are more academically competitive? We have told DS that his grades are his grades and he doesn't need to discuss them with other kids. School isn't a competition and I think he has adopted that attitude. It helps that he is at the top of his class in school and in his supplemental programs so he might not feel the need to be competitive and I don't know how he would respond to a group of kids where he might not be at the top. Are you worried about Algebra in 7th? Does your kid love math and would they benefit from being in the Advanced Math path? If your school does not start Advanced Math until fifth grade, will your child be bored in math? I don't think AAP is a deal breaker for any kid. I think that parents who are involved will help push a child regardless of the program that they are in. I know plenty of kids in Gen Ed will take AP/IB classes. I don't think that AAP is everything but we are in a specialized program that provides a different challenge. I also think that it could depend on the base school and that AAP might be more important for kids coming out of less strong base schools. |
Depends on your definition of "Elite Colleges". My DC was not in AAP, took Honors Algebra in 8th grade. Took about 8 APs. Got into a top ten engineering school and thrived. |
+1. Same thing we observed with our kids. Everything starts over in HS and tons of non AAP kids take the most rigorous classes and end up at the top of the class. Also noticed that several of the high achieving ES kids ended up in the middle of the pack and mediocre students. Some kids are late bloomers academically so they may not qualify for AAP but then excel when it clicks. |
Our kids go/went to an all Honors MS. I have three kids were/are in a mix of programs(GE/AAP, advanced math). For our family everything leveled out in MS. It just did not matter as my kids could take all honors, there wasn't even the feeling of separating in the programs in MS as they are mixed in many other classes. I will also say my kids all attended our in zone ES center school and AAP curriculum was incorporated into a lot of the regular GE classrooms. My HS student, who was not in AAP in ES, has been taking all Honors and AP classes in HS and is doing great with good grades, no issues. If your kid is smart and hard working AAP really means nothing in HS(unless you want your kid to go to TJ). My kids are older now but it truly baffles me all of the AAP hype(now that they are all out of ES). Encourage your kids to be good students, supplement where you feel is needed and they will do great., |
There is pretty literally, no stress. Our center has a no homework policy, so my child has never done homework. She finishes all her work in school, and even this year, when the teacher has split the classes into differentiated groups and assigned more/harder work to one of the groups, she still finishes all her work in school. Maaaaybe there is a little stress in feeling that she has to ace the IAAT (coming from the teacher; she's one of the better math students in class) and get into Algebra I in 7th grade, but I've countered that with telling her that it is not something we as her parents feel comfortable with, and there is high likelihood that she will take Math 7H regardless of her scores. The one differentiator for us, and what does make me glad she went to AAP (and something we didn't know about at the time), is that the middle school is different. Better course offerings, but for DD, a *much* better orchestra. She LOVES ensemble playing, and will have a peer group that can play at higher levels than she has in ES. |
AAP is meant to give kids who are ahead a place to go and be challenged or do work that is closer to their academic needs. As many people have pointed out, a good number of kids "catch up" in MS and HS. So a kid who is above average intelligence but curious and/or a hard worked might be ahead in ES and a good fit for AAP but that is not a guarantee that the kid will be at the top of the class in HS. |
You can always get back into an advanced math track by taking a summer class of math around 7-9th. It's not necessary though. And you can have a successful engineering career without having been in AAP or advanced math, ever. The math is the only advanced part of AAP in most places. |