Forum Index
»
Private & Independent Schools
How Common Is Math Acceleration With DMV Families?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| My family is moving from Chicago to DC. My son is 3.5 years ahead in math and is on path to complete Calculus II by 8th grade. I have him in a hyper-accelerated mathematics program so he can have an edge on his peers and begin exploring more complex topics earlier. Will this give him an advantage in private school if we were to apply? Also, how common is this style of acceleration in the DMV? I have heard it is academically cutthroat down there. |
Anonymous
| Many kids are accelerated, but almost none to that extent. If anything I think it could hurt with admissions because they won't have an appropriate math class to offer your son. |
Anonymous
| Most of the more rigorous private schools frown on that kind of hyper acceleration. I think many will be very suspicious of the quality and depth of instruction your child has received. |
Anonymous
What math program is this? |
Anonymous
| I’m confused by the math sequence, is it the same all over the US? I’ve seen algebra split in two courses, algebra with geometry in between, algebra with trig… What is the “normal” progression by grade, and what is accelerated/honors? |
Anonymous
I’d start another thread with that question. OP’s situation is outside of this issue. Op, I agree with pp that most schools will have a hard time accommodating a child who finishes Calc in 8th. The more typical highest advancement is finishing Geometry in 8th and finishing calc as a junior. They usually do another math AP senior year, like Statistics or something else. |
Anonymous
The normal progression is: Algebra 1 Geometry Algebra 2 (perhaps with trigonometry) Precalculus (with trig if not covered in A2) Calculus In most private schools, "on level" means starting this sequence in 8th grade. Some schools offer a slower version of A1 divided into two years for students who need that. For acceleration, some schools allow starting in 6th grade, but starting in 7th is more common. Honors is different from accelerated and means going into more depth, with more challenging problems and proofs, rather than going through the sequence faster. |
Anonymous
|
With that level of acceleration, I think you might be happier at a magnet school like Thomas Jefferson HS for Science and Technology in Fairfax County. You have to live
in the county to apply but if you are moving here, you could buy there. |
Anonymous
PP here- I wasn’t thinking about the fact that your DC isn’t in HS yet. I think you will be hard pressed to find a school with that level of acceleration. Most schools, public or private, don’t accelerate more than a track that is geometry in 8th. |
Anonymous
You will not find this in private schools here, especially if you are looking to start before HS. You’ll need to go to public (public middles will bus accelerated kids to the high school for classes - it’s a nightmare for scheduling but it can be done) and public HS offers more post-calculus classes as well as dual enrollment with colleges if needed. Private middle schools typically cannot support beyond calculus (and even that is rare - many can’t offer more than geometry or algebra 2). Private high schools will cap out with one or two post-Calc classes (if that; some stop at AP Calc BC) and typically will not allow dual enrollment. You’ll need to go public or heavily supplement with outside enrichment. |
Anonymous
| The top private high schools in DC will not allow students to be more than 1-2 years ahead of the regular sequence and would recommend that you look elsewhere if accelerating that quickly is what you value in education. |
Anonymous
| Too bad Feynman closed! |
Anonymous
We are using MathAcademy |
Anonymous
|
No private school in the area will be able to accommodate this. Your best bet is looking at BASIS or moving to NOVA and getting your kid into TJHSST.
In all actuality, if your kid is this far advanced, you probably do not even need private education and should just continue with your personal curriculum until you max out his abilities. I'd save money and send him to public school like Jackson-Reed, where he will be the immediate superstar of the graduating class and have an open lane to a T20 college outcome. |
Anonymous
|
OP,
Calculus 2 is the equivalent of AP Calc BC. Some, not all, public schools will offer post-AP courses, in dual enrollment with the local uni. The most accelerated public school kid I know (MCPS, Montgomery County, in MD) went to the University of Maryland for Calculus 3 in 12th grade. The other math kids I know are in MCPS magnets, and work on depth, not acceleration. The rest are home-schooled. Privates offer even less acceleration than publics. |