Does falls church city have gifted program?

[Anonymous]

We are trying to decide between FCC schools vs Vienna for our kids. Thoughts appreciated before we move!

[Anonymous]

Yes, but it's different than FFX AAP. From K- 4th grade it's a once a week enrichment pull-out for an hour. The teachers do a pretty good job differentiating in the classroom in language arts, and it's a pretty high-performing school district, so there are a number of very bright kids in each class, although they are heterogeneously grouped. In 5th - 7th grade the identified kids get about 45 minutes - 1 hour per day in a pull-out enrichment class, but only for half of the school year, and there is an advanced language arts pull-out in fifth grade, too.

In 6th grade kids identified as gifted in language arts are placed in an advanced language arts class, and kids gifted in math are put in either a class called 7th grade math (does 6th and 7th grade math in one year) or a class called 8th grade math (does 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math in one year.), and some also continue with the 1-hour-per-week enrichment pullout for half the school year. In 7th grade, some kids are identified to start HS Spanish, most other kids start HS Spanish in 8th grade (there's also a French track).

Here are links to the blogs of an elementary school gifted teacher: http://taapnews.wordpress.com/ and the middle school gifted specialist: http://taapintoit.wordpress.com/ They give you a pretty good sense of what is done during the pull-outs.

[Anonymous]

PP - Is there differentiation in math in the regular classroom? I have a DC in KG who is quite advanced in math and I'm hoping that the teachers will start to differentiate soon (right now they are just learning numbers 1-10 and DC keeps saying it's boring and "not math").

[Anonymous]

There's some differentiation, but it varies from teacher to teacher, and I'm not sure how it will work this year. K-5 just adopted a new math curriculum called "Think Math!". I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, and how well the teachers will implement it. There are 'extensions' that have been coming home as optional homework. The elementary and middle schools offer Math Olympiad as part of the TAAP program, and some students do quite well at it. But, in Fairfax AAP students start taking accelerated math in 3rd grade. As far as I know, in Falls Church City the accelerated math curriculum during the school day doesn't start until 6th grade.

[Anonymous]

TAAP is an absolute joke. If you're looking for gifted education, you definitely want Vienna.

[Anonymous]

I have a DC in KG who is quite advanced in math and I'm hoping that the teachers will start to differentiate soon

ohh my, another "my child is the smartest ever" parent? in falls church no less? tell me it's not so.
Just relax, your kid is in kindergarten, let them just learn how school works for now.

[Anonymous]

It is well known that Math is not taught well in the US. I am not surprised her kindergartener is ahead. Most children around here are. It's the curriculum that doesn't catch up.

[Anonymous]

If "most children around here are ahead" in school, who is behind?

Not everyone can be in front.

[Anonymous]

LoL, elitist parents at their best.
"My infant is incredibly advanced, he's 2 months old, can he get a spot reserved in AAP""

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I have a DC in KG who is quite advanced in math and I'm hoping that the teachers will start to differentiate soon

ohh my, another "my child is the smartest ever" parent? in falls church no less? tell me it's not so.
.

Drawing unsupported conclusions is a sure sign of someone challenged by logical thinking. OP was debating between FCC and Vienna schools, but didn't say s/he currently lived in FCC. To the contrary, if s/he did live there s/he'd already know something about the FCC TAAP program.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I don't live in FCC. An trying to decide where to move since we have 3 young ones. Ghost trying to understand the distinctions between adjacent school districts...

[Anonymous]

The IB program at GM is great

[Anonymous]

15:27 here. The US is not ahead in math. Other countries are. Many of the DC area kids are just keeping up with other countries since the US system seems slow to improve in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have a DC in KG who is quite advanced in math and I'm hoping that the teachers will start to differentiate soon

ohh my, another "my child is the smartest ever" parent? in falls church no less? tell me it's not so.
.

Drawing unsupported conclusions is a sure sign of someone challenged by logical thinking. OP was debating between FCC and Vienna schools, but didn't say s/he currently lived in FCC. To the contrary, if s/he did live there s/he'd already know something about the FCC TAAP program.

Exactly, as we see from you drawing the conclusion that I was referring to this poster and not one of the recurring sentiments found on DCUM of parents wanting to differentiate 5 year olds because they are "gifted" already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The IB program at GM is great

Good luck with that argument. People on this board hate IB.