People telling you to relax...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will give you my DD’s story, which is still being written and you can take from it what you want.

Quiet, anxious kid but very sharp. Did not mesh with her 2nd grade teacher and was in an overcrowded, somewhat chaotic class and withdrew. Her CogAT and NNAT were just below the cutoff, and we parent referred. Her brother was in AAP, and we knew what the program required. And we knew our kid. And we knew it was the right call. She was denied. We met with her teacher, who told us *in front of her* that AAP was a bad idea because she was weak in math. 2 kids in FCPS a combined total of 20 years now, and it was, by far, the most angry I have every been with a teacher. We appealed with a WISC in the high 130s and she was admitted. In the process, she was diagnosed with ADHD, which we started to treat.

Today, she is an 8th grader with a 4.0 in a TJ feeder AAP Center. She also also a TJ semifinalist. We’ll see if she gets in— her brother is at TJ and we have learned that there is just some randomness in TJ admissions with so many talented kids competing for spots. But, to become a semifinalist, she had to get a better math score than half of the TJ applicant pool AND then have either her math score land in the top quarter OF TJ APPLICANTS (which are the highest performing AAP students) or her science score land in the top 10% (National not TJ pool on science). We will not see the exact scores until decisions are released.

Even if she is not admitted, she is clearly good in math and succeeded in AAP. Having seen TJ in action, I know that if she is admitted, she has the smarts and determination to succeed there.

And BTW— we are a naturally nerdy family, so my kids tend towards debate, FLL, OOTM, science camp, CTY and other academic extracurriculars. But they have never been to a Kumon Center or a prep class.

My point is that FCPS has good intentions and by and large does well with AAP. But they are fallible. You know your kid best. Be a PITA and advocate for your kid. Follow up, get a WISC, push back— if you know deep down that is what is right for your kid.

Good luck! I know it’s stressful.

You know what? There are some real jerks on DCUM, but then someone posts something like this and it gives me hope that not everyone is a jerk.

Thank you for your sharing. It means a lot to me.

[Anonymous]

3 weeks left to find out if kids would made it to AAP first round...

[Anonymous]

I hate when people say just relax as well. So don't stress

My son, a current TJ semi-finalist, was constantly overlooked for the gifted program despite super high CogAt scores (99.9). He was a bit of a pain in class - had the tendencies of the profoundly gifted - emotional over-excitability, low frustration threshold. Finally in the 4th grade the science teacher went to bat for him and the Gifted Resource (we are in Arlington Public Schools) said no. I had to take him to get privately tested. He also has ADHD so we wanted to have a complete picture before starting medication. Even with a GAI of > 155 (so profoundly gifted for sure) I still had to appeal to the county. It wasn't until the 5th grade that they formally identified him as gifted and put him in the gifted classes. And you know what, he was the only kid from his school that ended up in Algebra 1 as a 6th grader. His MS contacted us to ask if we wanted that because he had the highest score on the placement test.

My point is that your child can and will still do very well even if not in AAP in the early years of ES.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3 weeks left to find out if kids would made it to AAP first round...

And then you have about 2 weeks to decide if you want to switch schools which to me is more stressful than figuring out if your child made a certain program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3 weeks left to find out if kids would made it to AAP first round...

And then you have about 2 weeks to decide if you want to switch schools which to me is more stressful than figuring out if your child made a certain program.

To choose, or not to choose.....

Let's put it this way: not everyone in our country has this choice. I feel really lucky, even if my kids don't get into AAP.