Entry into gifted centers when moving in late?

[Anonymous]

We currently live in NoVA but are considering a move to MoCo to be closer to my work. My child just finished third grade in a FCPS GT Center. If we move, is there any process to test into the gifted centers when moving in new to the district? Would my child have to wait until 5th grade? Or until middle school?

The process in MoCo is very confusing to me. In FCPS, once you are in, you are in through 8th grade. But I guess in MoCo you have to reapply in middle school?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

You should contact the Office of Accelerated and Enriched Instruction in MCPS and see what they say. Usually there are lots of kids on the wait list, however, and they are all tested prior to admission, so my guess is that you could not make it happen.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/enriched/

My experience with them is mixed. I appealed a decision because the school had submitted incorrect data for reading and math levels. Although they concurred that the school had misreported, the only remedy was to put us on a wait list. They weren't going to accept an extra kid. So I wouldn't be too excited if they were willing to accept your child simply because you are new to the county. But since MCPS is completely lacking in transparency, you might give it a try.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks. I guess I am atill confused. In FCPS, there is not a limit on available slots, but it sounds like there is in MoCo. So even if my child still met all the criteria, there is a lottery?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks. I guess I am atill confused. In FCPS, there is not a limit on available slots, but it sounds like there is in MoCo. So even if my child still met all the criteria, there is a lottery?

In the elementary HGC programs there is a fixed number of seats per cluster. In our cluster it is 50 seats. Kids test and apply in the beginning of 3rd grade and decisions are made by the end of 3rd grade. If you are considering moving now, there will be no spaces available for 4th grade because they have all already been given to existing rising 4th graders. There are generally not spaces in 5th grade either, as kids rarely drop out and even when they do, the county doesn't usually fill the seat.

The next opportunity is to apply to a competitive middle school magnet (like Takoma or Eastern, for example) in 6-8 grade. Applications are usually due in the beginning of 5th grade.

In general, there is no "lottery" for these seats even though there are more qualified kids than the number of seats available. Generally, the decision-making process takes the "top" of the kids in terms of a combination of test scores, parent recommendation, teacher recommendation, GT testing, past grades and demonstrated history of taking and performing well in above grade level course work.

[Anonymous]

So what happens if your kid doesn't get into the HGC? Are there any services available at the base school? What do they do for kids who move in late but could have qualified for a HGC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what happens if your kid doesn't get into the HGC? Are there any services available at the base school? What do they do for kids who move in late but could have qualified for a HGC?

There is enriched instruction at all schools, e.g. math acceleration for those who qualify, and in my boys' classrooms, language arts activities were differentiated in that the kids were divided into working groups.

RE kids who move in late but could have qualified, the truth is that there are many kids who were right here, tested, qualified, but who were not admitted despite this. There are only so many slots available, and the cutoff has to be made somewhere. Therefore there are many kids in the waitpool who are as qualified, or more qualified to be in the HGC than those who were actually admitted.

It is highly unlikely or perhaps impossible for your qualified child to be admitted at this point. You can, however, press for enriched and accelerated instruction if that is what is needed, and by so pushing, if your child does well s/he will be better positioned to be admitted to one of the two (competitive-admission) magnet schools for middle school.

[Anonymous]

Wow. This is just so different from what I am used to in FCPS. Here there is no limit on the number of slots, if your kid qualifies then they can go to a center.

[Anonymous]

Yup, MCPS is weird this way. They have a very few slots in a very few magnet programs, at the ES, MS or HS level. So the testing to get into these programs is really high stakes.

My kids are now in MS and HS magnets, so I feel I can criticize.

What about the kids who are just as qualified as mine, who didn't get in? MCPS should be creating more boutique programs, for all the other talented kids. Instead of buying all these promethean boards and astroturf fields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yup, MCPS is weird this way. They have a very few slots in a very few magnet programs, at the ES, MS or HS level. So the testing to get into these programs is really high stakes.

My kids are now in MS and HS magnets, so I feel I can criticize.

What about the kids who are just as qualified as mine, who didn't get in? MCPS should be creating more boutique programs, for all the other talented kids. Instead of buying all these promethean boards and astroturf fields.

10:13 here, and yes, I completely agree - and I have two kids in the magnets as well so like you, can criticize (no sour grapes here).

Now that I've been through the competitive admissions process a few times, I see how some of it is so arbitrary. My first child e.g. was not admitted to the HGC despite having test scores which were higher than the mean of admitted children. Child then went on to later be admitted to both magnet programs, and two of the Big Three private schools. Child really should have been admitted to the HGC in my view. We are over it by now (obviously); I'm just saying it makes NO sense that child was not admitted.

Second child was admitted to the HGC and test scores are right there at the mean. We hope child will gain admission to the middle school magnet as well (whichever one child is best suited for), but I have NO expectations as it is by no means a foregone conclusion. Some of the process for admission is so arbitrary, you know?

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the info. I had no idea that the entry was like this or that it was limited to essentially two entry points: 4th and 6th. In FCPS you can enter in grades 3-7, and you only have to get "accepted" once.

We are now re-considering because this is a big deal for our family. Older child really needs the stimulation and advanced pace that the center provides.

[Anonymous]

Just to perhaps be reassuring--I have worked as an MCPS elementary school counselor, and many qualified students choose not to apply or choose not to matriculate at the Gifted Centers. They might not want the social upheaval, or perhaps they feel their needs can be met in their home school, or their parents want their children at the same school. The benefit of that for someone like your son, who can handle the rigor but has missed the deadline, is that he likely will have an intellectual peer group regardless of where he goes to school. There is still differentiation even outside the gifted centers. But it never hurts to ask...