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Fairfax County GT Center eligibility letters?
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Anonymous
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We have a choice of Local Level 4 or GTC. I am waiting to go to the orientations to make a decision, but for various reasons, we will probably go with the GTC. My kid is pretty quirky and our psychologist suggested that the GTC will have quirkier kids. I am looking for full time work and the GTC will make child care easier for us (the GTC has a bus to the same place that my younger DD would go to daycare so I could do one drop off and one pick up). Also, teacher choice is very important for my kid and it concerns me that our base school will only have one GT classroom per grade vs 2 per grade at the GTC.
My DD will be sad to leave our base school though and I will miss the convenience of the neighborhood school. I've also spent a lot of time and effort at the school with volunteering, being a room parent, etc. and having to start all over with those things is pretty daunting. I am not naturally extroverted and it's an effort for me, but I do it for my kid. |
Anonymous
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We do not have a local level 4, so we would have to go to our area GTC. It's one of the smaller ones, and I don't know for sure how good it is, but online reviews aren't great. DC is currently in private school, so we would probably move to send DC to one of the better GTC's instead of private school.
It's a hard decision for us, because we love so many things about our private school, but the tuition is a real stretch for us. If DC doesn't get into the GTC, then we'll find a way to pay the tuition. |
Anonymous
| 7:05 here - We can't afford private and can't afford to move, so we get what we get, as they say. Which is your GTC? Ours is Mantua. I don't know much about it other that what a couple parents of older kids said. A search of FCAG did not yield much info. It is not talked about that much compared to some others. |
Anonymous
| We are facing Local Level IV vs. GTC as well. Our GTC is Canterbury Woods. As the case with the previous poster, our psychologist recommends the GTC as well. I am a little concerned about the possibility of transportation cust to GTCs for kids that have Local Level IV as an option, though. |
Anonymous
| 8:21 here. Mantua, Canterbury Woods, Colvin Run, and Haycock are GTC areas that we are considering moving to, along with a few others. They all have very good reputations. I'd rather not post the name of our local GTC. We'd be too identifiable at the GTC open house as the family that doesn't think highly of it, because there can't be that many private school kids applying for eligibility to the Fairfax gifted program. |
Anonymous
7:05 again....I don't know about that. I personally know 2 or 3 people in this position. I think it is not uncommon for people to go to private through 2nd and then transfer into FCPS for the GT program. 8:21, when looking to move make sure you consider your MS GTC as well. Mantua, for example, is a split feeder into Frost and Jackson GTCs. It kind of concerns me that my DD could make close friends that she does not go on to MS and then HS with. This is a problem with many of the elementary GTC. |
Anonymous
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Thanks 9:12. 9:03 here. We have that in mind, too. Colvin Run, for example, feeds to three MS GTC's: Longfellow, Cooper, and Kilmer. We're also concerned about redistricting in that area.
We also have to consider the presence of a younger DC who is very different from the older one and less overtly gifted mathematically, so less likely to qualify for a GTC. We would like the two to attend the same schools, if possible, and we'd prefer full-day K for that DC, which is available at only a few GTC schools. It's proving to be a very tough puzzle to put together, especially since it's all still hypothetical until we know if older DC even qualifies for a GTC. |
Anonymous
Another voice in agreement here. I know four families that are planning on pulling their DC out of private to go to a GTC this fall. (They are all waiting on letters now!) |
Anonymous
Most of the elementary GTC kids end up at a different high school from the GTC group they started with. I think staying with the kids all the way to high school is a rarity in Fairfax County. |
Anonymous
| Still nothing in our mail today. |
Anonymous
We are another family who is considering moving from a private school we really like to a GT Center. (I wonder if Fairfax has seen an increase in GT applications from private school students?) As one poster said, we are finding it to be a challenging "puzzle" as we try to look ahead to middle school and high school and consider what is best for each child in the family as well as the family as a whole. Would you might sharing where you found the "online reviews" you mentioned? |
Anonymous
| http://www.greatschools.net/ is a place to start. One of the real estate web sites has some additional reviews, but I can't find them right now. |
Anonymous
| Anyone receive a letter today? We did not get one in our mail. |
Anonymous
| We didn't either. |
Anonymous
| 9:12 here again. No letter, but principal called! GT results are at the school and DD is in. She said a letter should follow soon. Hoping for letters for you soon. |