Should we transit from private to AAP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went from AAP (mid-range school where there's only a few parents doing outside enrichment) to private (on the academically rigorous end of religious schools, so not a top private). Note the AAP program is only different from gen ed in math. The rest is the same with theoretical "extensions" for AAP kids. That really just means the teachers give them less help on projects. Comparison:

- by 6th grade AAP is only about 1/4 of a year ahead in math of the general math curriculum at our school. The top math scorers in our school - about 5% of kids - are in pre-algebra in 6th. Whether in pre-algebra or not about 10-15% of the entire class will go into Algebra 1 Honors in 7th, which is from what I see faster paced and more intense than the same class in FCPS. This is slightly less than overall percentages in FCPS, but the class is more intense. Our school uses a variant of Singapore math, and I've found that curriculum goes way more in depth than FCPS AAP math while going nearly as fast.

- science all the way through is much stronger, but most notably in elementary. They actually learn things which prepare them for high school science in the early years, versus cramming all their science learning in upper grades. The project based learning promises of public school are bogus OP. What that looks like is each group of kids in a class teaching themselves part of one of the standards in science or history, then presenting that to the whole class. Do you really want your kid taught half of science by her peers? Meanwhile in our private, science projects are labs from very early on that are taught by teachers and demonstrate meaningful concepts to the class. That's project based learning I can get behind. That said, a smallish private like ours will never ever offer the science opportunities of any FCPS high school. Or the tech or engineering opportunities for that matter.

- surprisingly I don't find the history curriculum at our school to be that much more organized or better than FCPS. The history and literature based homeschool curriculum I did for a few years as a kid was much better. I want history to provide the kids with meaningful facts and timelines early on so they have solid information to get into comparison and assessment later in their educations and I don't see that at our private our in public. Other privates probably do much better.

- language arts is so much head and shoulders above public it's not even funny. The kids actually learn how to write. They learn grammar and spelling. They learn how to structure a paragraph. They learn how to structure an essay. When they turn something in a live teacher gives feedback instead of meaningless peer review. Because the kids actually know the building blocks of language, when they do peer reviews they are often better than what I saw in public. In addition my kids are being taught presentation and public speaking skills. It shows - our school's debate team does very well at the local and national level.

In addition to the academics, at our private we don't have to worry about the county mucking with our boundaries for our school, spending money on a building before deciding what kind of school to even put there, adding 3 hour early dismissals to the school day after promising they wouldn't do that for another year, and all the other stunts FCPS pulls. Our private isn't in a constant war with the current administration's Dept. of Ed (whoever's fault you think that is), or ANY administration's Dept. of Ed. for that matter. They just...teach the children.

Which history curriculum did you use for homeschool? How does the private's English curriculum compare to what you used for homeschool?

I used (and would still use) Sonlight growing up, because we're religious. Any curriculum that is actually structured and focuses on timelines, dates, facts, figures, and actually covering the globe is better than our private, which in turn is slightly better than FCPS. I'm really not sure what the history textbook is for private because it lives at school. Public had one in 4th, but I don't know what that is either because again, lived at school. My kids report looking at the private school textbook, but never reported looking at the textbook at public.

The language arts is superior. Some sort of Houghton Mifflin for spelling, Easy Grammar Plus for grammar complete with workbooks, and the school's own structure for essays and other writing projects as well as whole class novels. The novels do sometimes relate to the history, which I love.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Since this is a pretty big decision for us, so I would to share a little more.

We are in haycock -Longfellow-McLean pyramid. And everyone I encountered said g positive things about our private school. However liked I shared earlier, on paper, my DD seems a very typical STEM kid, even for reading, she likes fast paced, complex logic, rules-based books. Her recent fav books are Percy Jackson, explorer academy, Benedict society, etc. she doesn’t like books which require deep emotional inference, character driven, heavy metaphors, or a lot of moral ambiguity.

She likes challenges, has a lot of friends at school, I just think maybe a different school might suit her better for the future 8-10years.

If any private school in this area a stronger candidate than AAP for her, we are totally open too, please let us know For her, challenging math, hands-on /project-based curriculum, strong peers are the most important factors.

Thank you again!

Given what you said about your pyramid, from what I've read here the peer group would be the biggest advantage for your kid by far. At Haycock and Longfellow your daughter would find plenty of opportunities for challenging math and hands-on school-based (but not in-class) extracurriculars like Odyssey of the Mind or robotics competitions. You wouldn't find these as easily at lower SES AAP centers. And you won't find them at the schools you mention because they're AAP, but rather because of who goes to those schools.

But as PPs mentioned upthread, getting into AAP in 5th for your daughter would be a challenge. Since you can swing it financially it might make the most sense to apply for AAP and keep your seat at the private and see what ends up happening with AAP.

TJ's not guaranteed but your daughter does sound like a fit on paper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Since this is a pretty big decision for us, so I would to share a little more.

We are in haycock -Longfellow-McLean pyramid. And everyone I encountered said g positive things about our private school. However liked I shared earlier, on paper, my DD seems a very typical STEM kid, even for reading, she likes fast paced, complex logic, rules-based books. Her recent fav books are Percy Jackson, explorer academy, Benedict society, etc. she doesn’t like books which require deep emotional inference, character driven, heavy metaphors, or a lot of moral ambiguity.

She likes challenges, has a lot of friends at school, I just think maybe a different school might suit her better for the future 8-10years.

If any private school in this area a stronger candidate than AAP for her, we are totally open too, please let us know For her, challenging math, hands-on /project-based curriculum, strong peers are the most important factors.

Thank you again!

Longfellow has STEM opportunities and resources unmatched by any private. It has been a longstanding winner of middle school division of Science Olympiad for the last twenty years across all disciplines. Plenty of strong peers and intense competition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Since this is a pretty big decision for us, so I would to share a little more.

We are in haycock -Longfellow-McLean pyramid. And everyone I encountered said g positive things about our private school. However liked I shared earlier, on paper, my DD seems a very typical STEM kid, even for reading, she likes fast paced, complex logic, rules-based books. Her recent fav books are Percy Jackson, explorer academy, Benedict society, etc. she doesn’t like books which require deep emotional inference, character driven, heavy metaphors, or a lot of moral ambiguity.

She likes challenges, has a lot of friends at school, I just think maybe a different school might suit her better for the future 8-10years.

If any private school in this area a stronger candidate than AAP for her, we are totally open too, please let us know For her, challenging math, hands-on /project-based curriculum, strong peers are the most important factors.

Thank you again!

Longfellow has STEM opportunities and resources unmatched by any private. It has been a longstanding winner of middle school division of Science Olympiad for the last twenty years across all disciplines. Plenty of strong peers and intense competition.

And the distilled essence of the most tigerish parents in all of Virginia.

You need to be in tune with that mentality.

[Anonymous]

OP here again.

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to share perspectives here — we really appreciate the generosity and honesty of this community.

I wanted to clarify our thinking a bit more, since some replies have assumed we’re aiming for TJ or a very traditional STEM path.

My DD is not a “future scientist” in the classic sense. She wouldn’t be happy sitting in a lab or doing data analysis all day long. She needs body movement and outdoor time. She currently plays competitive travel sports and genuinely loves that balance. STEM for her is about problem solving and intellectual challenges. She thinks “it’s fun”.

At this point, we are not aiming for TJ and don’t have a fixed long-term outcome in mind. What we’re looking for right now is a school environment with: comparable peers, a hands-on, inquiry-based curriculum with a STEM emphasis, and enough rigor that she is challenged, not comfortable.

She has been very clear that she does not want to be the smartest kid in the room. She’s more motivated when her classmates are just as capable and competitive as she is, and she thrives in environments where she has to stretch.

She’s generally independent with her time, initiates her own projects or free play at home, and is socially comfortable So this is less about acceleration for its own sake or chasing a label, and more about fit—peer group, pace, and learning style.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Since this is a pretty big decision for us, so I would to share a little more.

We are in haycock -Longfellow-McLean pyramid. And everyone I encountered said g positive things about our private school. However liked I shared earlier, on paper, my DD seems a very typical STEM kid, even for reading, she likes fast paced, complex logic, rules-based books. Her recent fav books are Percy Jackson, explorer academy, Benedict society, etc. she doesn’t like books which require deep emotional inference, character driven, heavy metaphors, or a lot of moral ambiguity.

She likes challenges, has a lot of friends at school, I just think maybe a different school might suit her better for the future 8-10years.

If any private school in this area a stronger candidate than AAP for her, we are totally open too, please let us know For her, challenging math, hands-on /project-based curriculum, strong peers are the most important factors.

Thank you again!

Given what you said about your pyramid, from what I've read here the peer group would be the biggest advantage for your kid by far. At Haycock and Longfellow your daughter would find plenty of opportunities for challenging math and hands-on school-based (but not in-class) extracurriculars like Odyssey of the Mind or robotics competitions. You wouldn't find these as easily at lower SES AAP centers. And you won't find them at the schools you mention because they're AAP, but rather because of who goes to those schools.

But as PPs mentioned upthread, getting into AAP in 5th for your daughter would be a challenge. Since you can swing it financially it might make the most sense to apply for AAP and keep your seat at the private and see what ends up happening with AAP.

TJ's not guaranteed but your daughter does sound like a fit on paper.

Appreciate your strategic advice, we will keep that in mind.

[Anonymous]

Competitive travel sports - keep in mind that FCPS does not excuse absences for non-school sports. That was a factor in our decision not to return to public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again.

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to share perspectives here — we really appreciate the generosity and honesty of this community.

I wanted to clarify our thinking a bit more, since some replies have assumed we’re aiming for TJ or a very traditional STEM path.

My DD is not a “future scientist” in the classic sense. She wouldn’t be happy sitting in a lab or doing data analysis all day long. She needs body movement and outdoor time. She currently plays competitive travel sports and genuinely loves that balance. STEM for her is about problem solving and intellectual challenges. She thinks “it’s fun”.

At this point, we are not aiming for TJ and don’t have a fixed long-term outcome in mind. What we’re looking for right now is a school environment with: comparable peers, a hands-on, inquiry-based curriculum with a STEM emphasis, and enough rigor that she is challenged, not comfortable.

She has been very clear that she does not want to be the smartest kid in the room. She’s more motivated when her classmates are just as capable and competitive as she is, and she thrives in environments where she has to stretch.

She’s generally independent with her time, initiates her own projects or free play at home, and is socially comfortable So this is less about acceleration for its own sake or chasing a label, and more about fit—peer group, pace, and learning style.

You at least should look at Potomac School in McLean. The school always has many more applicants than openings.

You are in one of the top pyramids of FCPS. Peer group there mostly will be college bound. The curriculum will be whatever FCPS uses -- as individual schools don't normally get to choose their own curriculum materials.

The best school is really whichever is the "best fit" for your child. Different Children commonly will have different best fit schools. No school is really "one size fits all".

Where you live, many students (both public and private) are supplementing a ademically -- either at home with parents & workbooks OR at some after school center. Math supplementing is particularly common (AoPS, Kumon, Mathnasium, RSM) in that area.

[Anonymous]

OP does live in an area with a large number of tiger parents. That has both costs and benefits.