Has anyone chosen NOT to send their kids to the Advanced Academics Program?

[Anonymous]

OP ~ you are approaching this with the right frame of mind - thinking about what will bring out the best in your child. I agree with others that there probably wouldn't be any harm for him to be placed in AAP. Advice for the far, far future: Once he's in AAP there is going to be a mindset that these kids should then move to lots of honors/AP classes in middle/high school. Some of these kids will not do as well with such a heavy schedule and parent ego gets involved since they "should" be smart enough. I've seen many former AAP student crash & burn (so to speak) who would have been more successful and had better college results if they had been encouraged to balance their schedules with some Gen-Ed (still college-prep) classes.

[Anonymous]

We turned down AAP. I currently have a 6th grader who is doing pre-alegbra in his base school. He didn't want to move. We also were less than impressed with the school. During his tour he was in some 4th grade class and they were doing some problem solving item - very Odyssey of the mind - ish - with wheels and my then 2nd grader solved it for them.

I also didn't understand the cut-off system. My kid's scores were 2 Standard Deviations above the cut off and I just didn't see how the center school would be serving such a wide range of kids.

Take the tour with your child. Look at the school if it involves switching schools. Each center school has a different vibe.

You don't have to switch in 3rd, it's good through 6th grade.

Also, talk to your neighbors who have older kids and ask what they think. I have two neighbors who regret it. One thinks it sucked the confidence out of their DD. It wasn't the "safe smart" they were expecting. Instead her DD felt dumb for having to study. She did go on to JMU....(Of note, her DS had no issues with AAP, and it was the right call for him)

My other neighbor had social issues with her DS. When they ended back up at the base school for HS (all AAP kids do not get into TJ!!) the base of friends he had in 3-6 was scattered and since he was shipped off to LB it was a struggle to meet new friends. he's a senior now. Good kid, but mom thinks HS was more social drama than what is would have been if they skipped AAP for 7 & 8th.

As a life-long fairfax county resident, I have also seen the changes from what AAP was when I was growing up vs what it is now.

Each kid is different. I've got one other neighbor who I've know since he was 4 who did the whole (then) GT center/TJ and VA tech engineering route - and he was with his kind and it was perfect for him! Of note, he did some really cool Shakespeare stuff in his youth at school and I just no longer see the well round stuff like they use to anymore. It's almost too STEM focused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We turned down AAP. I currently have a 6th grader who is doing pre-alegbra in his base school. He didn't want to move. We also were less than impressed with the school. During his tour he was in some 4th grade class and they were doing some problem solving item - very Odyssey of the mind - ish - with wheels and my then 2nd grader solved it for them.

I also didn't understand the cut-off system. My kid's scores were 2 Standard Deviations above the cut off and I just didn't see how the center school would be serving such a wide range of kids.

Take the tour with your child. Look at the school if it involves switching schools. Each center school has a different vibe.

You don't have to switch in 3rd, it's good through 6th grade.

Also, talk to your neighbors who have older kids and ask what they think. I have two neighbors who regret it. One thinks it sucked the confidence out of their DD. It wasn't the "safe smart" they were expecting. Instead her DD felt dumb for having to study. She did go on to JMU....(Of note, her DS had no issues with AAP, and it was the right call for him)

My other neighbor had social issues with her DS. When they ended back up at the base school for HS (all AAP kids do not get into TJ!!) the base of friends he had in 3-6 was scattered and since he was shipped off to LB it was a struggle to meet new friends. he's a senior now. Good kid, but mom thinks HS was more social drama than what is would have been if they skipped AAP for 7 & 8th.

As a life-long fairfax county resident, I have also seen the changes from what AAP was when I was growing up vs what it is now.

Each kid is different. I've got one other neighbor who I've know since he was 4 who did the whole (then) GT center/TJ and VA tech engineering route - and he was with his kind and it was perfect for him! Of note, he did some really cool Shakespeare stuff in his youth at school and I just no longer see the well round stuff like they use to anymore. It's almost too STEM focused.

so you stayed in gen. ed? That doesn't make any sense.

[Anonymous]

AAP wasn't any better equipped to handle outliers than Gen Ed - I also left off that we do language immersion. Smaller class size and teachers that already make extra strides for the kids.

[Anonymous]

How are you such an expert on AAP if your children don't go to a center and have never attended a center.

Just the statement below shows that you don't know much about the AAP program.

Anonymous wrote:AAP wasn't any better equipped to handle outliers than Gen Ed - I also left off that we do language immersion. Smaller class size and teachers that already make extra strides for the kids.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind, most parents who choose not to send their kids to the AAP center are not reading this forum. (unless they do it to troll!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind, most parents who choose not to send their kids to the AAP center are not reading this forum. (unless they do it to troll!)

Yes, but that parent has posted repeatedly about all the issues she experienced with the AAP program as if she has first hand knowledge and her kids actually attended a center, and she always finishes with "By the way, we never attended an AAP center because our language immersion choice is so much better than wasting time in AAP."

It is almost comical.

[Anonymous]

Do children always have to move to a center school? I thought our school had a classroom in each grade to accomodate the AAP students who wished to stay in their school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Do children always have to move to a center school? I thought our school had a classroom in each grade to accomodate the AAP students who wished to stay in their school.

That's called Local Level IV and not all schools have it. Children do not have to move to the center school unless the parent wants them to.

[Anonymous]

Op, you are similar to our situation. My dd is very bright, but has adhd combined, and trying to do homework is so difficult sometimes, it is hard to put into words. Dd has her 2nd grade report due on Tuesday, and dh is home with her today trying to get her to work on it. Instead of working on it, she runs through the house, hides in the bathroom, and tries repeatedly to turn the tv on. We have had supports this year, and have not medicated yet (we just got the official diagnosis this month). Her cogat is just below cutoff, and a wisc we had done as part of her neoropsych testing shows a wide range. Superior in some, average in others. We are not going to do aap. We are happy with her base school, and I believe class sizes and homework would increase for her. Plus she really likes her friends in her school now. I am sure some of them will go onto aap, but that is good for her. Because of her attention issues, she feels negatively towards school. I think aap would just make her dislike school even more.