APS is failing my gifted child

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

I mean, if you look at where the bulk of their money and effort gets directed, that’s certainly what it seems like. But I think that would be a rather embarrassing admission of institutional failure.

Can you imagine the motto? “Come to APS, where we will spend 13 years teaching your kid to pass a test that they probably could have passed after the first 8 or 9.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

Agreed.

I don’t believe it’s the goals of individual teachers, although this is true for some. Nor do I believe it’s important to most families. But it is the driving force behind APS administration.

I am shocked now by how many people pull their child for privates. While I acknowledge there are economic changes in Arlington allowing this, it’s also a reflection of how so many families feel about our public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

I mean, if you look at where the bulk of their money and effort gets directed, that’s certainly what it seems like. But I think that would be a rather embarrassing admission of institutional failure.

Can you imagine the motto? “Come to APS, where we will spend 13 years teaching your kid to pass a test that they probably could have passed after the first 8 or 9.”

I am very annoyed that APS has reassigned the former gifted teachers, now AACs, from supporting advanced learners to being directed to supporting all students. Most APS elementary schools have a large portion of gifted or advanced students (~30+%) and it was good having at leasr one person per elementary school who was tasked with making learning more appropriate and challenging for these students. There are lots of other teachers supporting students who need help passing SOLs, as well as it being the main classroom focus. And in the past, the main classroom teacher often got extra bandwidth to help those students when the gifted teacher was working with the advanced students. It's a shame APS has ditched this model and the AAC is now told to only work on materials and projects for the whole class and all learners. It's very anti-differentiation, when it is necessary and appropriate to differentiate. Ignoring gifted and advanced students isn't equitable, despite what APS admin is touting.

To those with middle and high schoolers chiming in, this is a new change as of last year and has had a big impact for my kids. Far less is being offered to challenge them than was available pre-covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

Agreed.

I don’t believe it’s the goals of individual teachers, although this is true for some. Nor do I believe it’s important to most families. But it is the driving force behind APS administration.

I am shocked now by how many people pull their child for privates. While I acknowledge there are economic changes in Arlington allowing this, it’s also a reflection of how so many families feel about our public schools.

In your Yorktown zoned street, every child goes to private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is OP saying they are at Taylor, or is that someone else responding?

Someone else I think. We are from Taylor but I’m like 90% sure most of the parents aren’t from Harvard… maybe some UVA but all I’ve met are from UmD and Penn State etc

How do you even know where the other parents in your kid's elementary school went to college? This comes up in casual conversation?

Status-obsessed strivers love to bring this stuff up in conversations.

You're wrong. I went to a status school, and I promise you I never bring it up. I often deflect even when asked directly.

This is VERY typical behavior by the way with people who went to my college.

No you didn't.

I’m a NP but come on. You’ve never noticed that when asked where they went to college, Harvard grads say “in Boston”? A lot more people deflect than you might think.

the funny thing is that in this town, people can hear what they want. "I went to Connecticut" is what I say. They hear "I went to Yale" which I did, a few times, for only for presentations and various mini-conferences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not from DMV but I recognize all of the symptoms presented here from my local district which is safe, clean, cheerful and great for average students.

Gifted is a euphemism. We should all recognize that. Many of us had that tag as kids without being geniuses.

People want their kids to be appropriately challenged when the kids demonstrate good classroom behavior, can rapidly complete assignments, are reading well above grade level, and have good math skills that would permit advancement to material in the grade(s) ahead.

Current detracking trends in education unquestionably are worse for the learning and skill mastery of the top end of the classes. At my school, they also failed to make good on enrichment worksheets.

My kids were bored a lot in school until high school when ability tracking became more possible. We don't have APs for all. Kids have to step up.

However, as others pointed out, my kids did have to develop social skills. And had more time to be kids. As I told them, the time to get serious is high school.

I'm one of the many who recommended reading for interest. That can help a lot.

Also, if your kid is 2 grades ahead in competence for a subject, you may be able to insist on an IEP. Schools usually resist "gifted" IEPs at the elementary level but they do exist. Throw around the FAPE buzzword and see if you can get specific advanced needs addressed.

They are way more than 2 grades ahead. But I thought gifted kids are not disabled and you need some sort of disability for an IEP. They are not autistic or anything.

I don’t want to advance my kid in school, I want them to be a kid and have a social life. But all the supplementation in the world is not going to help the pain of having to sit through basic phonics lessons every day and the other simple stuff.

I really wanted to avoid moving because it’s a pain but it looks like that’s what will need to happen. Thanks everyone for the input.

Based on what exactly?

[Anonymous]

How do people at APS know their children are gifted?

The mini IQ test? The spacial relationship test? That's not a real good test for giftedness. A true IQ test? People are not testing their in APS to get into gifted like they do in FFX. No. They test their kids if they have problems.

My two are "gifted" according to a true IQ test but they also have learning disabilities. They also did well on the APS tests despite them. It's crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

Thanks to NCLB.

APS is significantly underfunded so why are some parents expecting a highly personalized educational experience?

I agree with an earlier PP about letting the kids - even the “gifted” ones - have a more chill ES/MS experience. If you want all of the craziness of AAP and the race to nowhere then you’ll have to move to FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Also, APS uses 120 for gifted which is not gifted. Usually researchers use 130 or 140.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

Agreed.

I don’t believe it’s the goals of individual teachers, although this is true for some. Nor do I believe it’s important to most families. But it is the driving force behind APS administration.

I am shocked now by how many people pull their child for privates. While I acknowledge there are economic changes in Arlington allowing this, it’s also a reflection of how so many families feel about our public schools.

In your Yorktown zoned street, every child goes to private school.

On our W-L street with $$$ homes, only 3 out of 13 kids go to private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is really perfectly fine. If you've got a profoundly gifted kid, then I really do think that's on you to support them and not expect a public school to provide crazy accommodations. For kids who are just bright, like my own kids, APS has been great. The peers are great, the teachers are dedicated. You people haven't been parents of kids who go to school in a sh*tty district and it shows. Enrich your own kids FFS.

Slippery slope argument. Same could be said of every other group then: SPED, URM, girls, EL, athletes, etc. Why help anyone then except for your "bright" kids.... sure.

DP but I have a gifted kid and a kid with SNs in APS. We supplement for our gifted kid just like we do extra therapies with our SNs kid.

I think the PP’s point is you can’t just expect schools to do everything your child needs academically. Parents are an important part of it too. It would be inappropriate for me to send my kid with an IEP to school while doing nothing else to work with him at home and get him extra therapies just like I wouldn’t send my gifted kid to school and assume they’ll get everything they need there.

I’ll add that both my kids have had wonderful caring teachers and we’ve met many nice families though our neighborhood school. If you’re a lazy parent though and you think your kid is a special snowflake you probably need to look elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

My kids were tagged gifted in ES and had great experience at ASFS and DHMS. Push in services are more low key than pull out, but then kids get to pick more of what interests them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids were tagged gifted in ES and had great experience at ASFS and DHMS. Push in services are more low key than pull out, but then kids get to pick more of what interests them.

They've stopped doing push in services, too. It's only services for all. No differentiation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is really perfectly fine. If you've got a profoundly gifted kid, then I really do think that's on you to support them and not expect a public school to provide crazy accommodations. For kids who are just bright, like my own kids, APS has been great. The peers are great, the teachers are dedicated. You people haven't been parents of kids who go to school in a sh*tty district and it shows. Enrich your own kids FFS.

Slippery slope argument. Same could be said of every other group then: SPED, URM, girls, EL, athletes, etc. Why help anyone then except for your "bright" kids.... sure.

DP but I have a gifted kid and a kid with SNs in APS. We supplement for our gifted kid just like we do extra therapies with our SNs kid.

I think the PP’s point is you can’t just expect schools to do everything your child needs academically. Parents are an important part of it too. It would be inappropriate for me to send my kid with an IEP to school while doing nothing else to work with him at home and get him extra therapies just like I wouldn’t send my gifted kid to school and assume they’ll get everything they need there.

I’ll add that both my kids have had wonderful caring teachers and we’ve met many nice families though our neighborhood school. If you’re a lazy parent though and you think your kid is a special snowflake you probably need to look elsewhere.

What a nice place of privilege you must be in, able to supplement for your child and to expect that all others can do that just because it’s working out for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

Agreed.

I don’t believe it’s the goals of individual teachers, although this is true for some. Nor do I believe it’s important to most families. But it is the driving force behind APS administration.

I am shocked now by how many people pull their child for privates. While I acknowledge there are economic changes in Arlington allowing this, it’s also a reflection of how so many families feel about our public schools.

In your Yorktown zoned street, every child goes to private school.

On our W-L street with $$$ homes, only 3 out of 13 kids go to private.

“Only”?!? About 1/4 of the kids leave APS and you don’t think that is significant? I disagree.

On my Yorktown block, it’s currently 8/14 in private but the trend is private as they age so all 8 are HSers.

I know people say good riddance and all but it’s a dramatic shift over the last two decades, accelerated by Covid I am sure.