Why AAP?

[Anonymous]

If your kid qualifies for AAP they will be just fine in GenED. He/she will still be smart.

My DD stayed at base school and in high school ended up with more achievements than friends that went to center. This included National Merit, AP scholar, NCTE writing award, Scholastic writing award, and 5's on AP tests. Also, several other recognitions.

GenEd teachers do not teach to the lowest level. That is a myth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I don't know why I'm being crucified for speaking the truth. Sour grapes.

Sour grapes? You are just asserting it's prestigious "like UVA" because your kid (presumably?) is/was in AAP and you want to make this out to be more important than it is.

AFAIK, AAP is a slightly advanced curriculum and it's a crapshoot who gets in. If parents are persistent enough, it seems to increase the odds of admission greatly, even if the kid isn't gifted or greatly advanced. It's not prestigious and I certainly wouldn't brag about it. Anecdotally, I know some extremely smart college students (who got into UVA, incidentally) who were not in AAP. This doesn't surprise me in the least.

If kids are snobby in AAP I guess we know where it comes from!

[Anonymous]

Both of my kids met quirky, bookish kids just like them, and finally felt like they belonged somewhere. They don’t see themselves as academically superior to anyone for being in AAP, but the confidence that grew from finding a group of peers like them has been life-changing. I’m grateful for this cohort and the peer connections they have made even more so than I am the academic rigor of the program.

[Anonymous]

In lower SES schools, getting your kid in the AAP class gets them in a segregated class with mostly white and asian children that are high performing. There are typically fewer disruptive children in that class. Oh, and advanced math. That's pretty much the only curriculum difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both of my kids met quirky, bookish kids just like them, and finally felt like they belonged somewhere. They don’t see themselves as academically superior to anyone for being in AAP, but the confidence that grew from finding a group of peers like them has been life-changing. I’m grateful for this cohort and the peer connections they have made even more so than I am the academic rigor of the program.

Perfect example: AAP = "children just like mine". Except her description is utter BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both of my kids met quirky, bookish kids just like them, and finally felt like they belonged somewhere. They don’t see themselves as academically superior to anyone for being in AAP, but the confidence that grew from finding a group of peers like them has been life-changing. I’m grateful for this cohort and the peer connections they have made even more so than I am the academic rigor of the program.

Perfect example: AAP = "children just like mine". Except her description is utter BS.

“Children just like mine” = 2e kids who were excluded and bullied prior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both of my kids met quirky, bookish kids just like them, and finally felt like they belonged somewhere. They don’t see themselves as academically superior to anyone for being in AAP, but the confidence that grew from finding a group of peers like them has been life-changing. I’m grateful for this cohort and the peer connections they have made even more so than I am the academic rigor of the program.

Right, not minimizing that it can be a positive. I’m just reassuring the OP that not being in AAP doesn’t impact /limit outcomes either.

[Anonymous]

There are parents who are invested in AAP because it's another thing for them to brag about - and some of them are loud here.

Then there are a lot of parents who just want to see their kid less bored at school. We've also experienced a social benefit as our nerdy kid has found easier connections with similar kids.

Then there are the people who are invested in hating AAP who are very loud about how evil it is. They spend an awful lot of time here, too.

In the real world I've mostly met people in the second group, although a few of both the first and third category as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are parents who are invested in AAP because it's another thing for them to brag about - and some of them are loud here.

Then there are a lot of parents who just want to see their kid less bored at school. We've also experienced a social benefit as our nerdy kid has found easier connections with similar kids.

Then there are the people who are invested in hating AAP who are very loud about how evil it is. They spend an awful lot of time here, too.

In the real world I've mostly met people in the second group, although a few of both the first and third category as well.

I like to think of myself as belonging to this group, but I wouldn't say my kid is bookish or nerdy...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are parents who are invested in AAP because it's another thing for them to brag about - and some of them are loud here.

Then there are a lot of parents who just want to see their kid less bored at school. We've also experienced a social benefit as our nerdy kid has found easier connections with similar kids.

Then there are the people who are invested in hating AAP who are very loud about how evil it is. They spend an awful lot of time here, too.

In the real world I've mostly met people in the second group, although a few of both the first and third category as well.

I like to think of myself as belonging to this group, but I wouldn't say my kid is bookish or nerdy...

They can be bored without being bookish or nerdy. Mine - and the friends they have made in AAP - happen to be both. It's just easier to find those kids in the center cohort where they make up a larger percentage of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are parents who are invested in AAP because it's another thing for them to brag about - and some of them are loud here.

Then there are a lot of parents who just want to see their kid less bored at school. We've also experienced a social benefit as our nerdy kid has found easier connections with similar kids.

Then there are the people who are invested in hating AAP who are very loud about how evil it is. They spend an awful lot of time here, too.

In the real world I've mostly met people in the second group, although a few of both the first and third category as well.

I like to think of myself as belonging to this group, but I wouldn't say my kid is bookish or nerdy...

They can be bored without being bookish or nerdy. Mine - and the friends they have made in AAP - happen to be both. It's just easier to find those kids in the center cohort where they make up a larger percentage of the class.

I see. If I'm being honest, my biggest concern is that DC be among positive influences, and I'm hoping that AAP would provide this. Even if DC isn't learning much academically in school, that doesn't totally kill me because I am encouraging self-directed/initiated learning as much as I can at home.

[Anonymous]

Two of my kids are genEd and they’ve formed a wonderful friend group in ES and MS. They all take all honors, care about grades deeply, are polite, well-behaved, are motivated to be high achieving, etc.
AAP might have a greater ratio of kids like this, but it’s not unique to AAP, nor will it be universally true in AAP. (I’m also not saying you need to take honors and/or have good grades to be a good kid!)

[Anonymous]

I remain surprised at the number of parents fixated on AAP that did not look at or apply for language immersion programs near their house. LI is not perfect but it provides a challenge for kids at an earlier age, K or First grade. The kids in the program tend to have parents who are interested in challenging/pushing/believe that exposure to another language isa good thing, normally this means parents whoa re involved and invested int heir kids education. This goes even more for the parents driving their kids to school. It is a very similar parent group/kid cohort as you will find in AAP.

We kept DS at his base school because he was in an LI program. He had Advanced Math and very regular LIII pull outs, there was no local AAP although that has changed recently. The parents I knew who had a kid in Gen Ed and LI commented that the LI kids were better behaved and focused then the Gen Ed classes. The LI kids were not perfect, there were some issues that we knew of, but it was a calmer environment. The Teachers were more demanding because they had to teach the regular curriculum and the language. The kids are no where near fluent when they move to MS but they know more than I expected.

75% of the LIV selections at our school came out of the LI group with the vast majority deferring and staying in the LI program. The only reason I have an idea bout the percentage is because of emails that were sent to all of the parents each year, I was surprised that they didn’t BCC people.

We didn’t think that DS was a genius but we thought he was smart. LI was offered at the base school so we put him in it because we knew it was a different type of challenge and would not be easy, per se. It is a great option for people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In lower SES schools, getting your kid in the AAP class gets them in a segregated class with mostly white and asian children that are high performing. There are typically fewer disruptive children in that class. Oh, and advanced math. That's pretty much the only curriculum difference.

Yup. Social and economic segregation is the goal of AAP.

[Anonymous]

It’s American way, competitive and striving for the best. We’re doing our best to help our kids if we think they need that push/challenge in school.
It’s more work for parents if kids are bored in school. We have to find more ways/activities at home to keep them engaged.