Which APS elementary most suits your gifted child?

[Anonymous]

Please, let's keep this thread a troll-free zone; I know how many people out there enjoy hating on parents of the gifted.

Arlington Public Schools does little for gifted kids, therefore the choice of which program embraced by a child's elementary school is an important one. Luckily, here at APS we have a wide variety of choices---STEM schools, language immersion schools, Montessori, expeditionary learning, and so on. My question to parents of gifted children is which program proved to be a good fit for your child, particularly in terms of meeting their social/emotional needs? Were any programs such a terrible fit that you'd recommend avoiding them? Did you find the program itself didn't matter so long as your child ended up with an understanding teacher or at least one peer in the classroom that he or she could relate to? Was your child bullied or otherwise persuaded to hide his or her talents? Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please, let's keep this thread a troll-free zone; I know how many people out there enjoy hating on parents of the gifted.

Arlington Public Schools does little for gifted kids, therefore the choice of which program embraced by a child's elementary school is an important one. Luckily, here at APS we have a wide variety of choices---STEM schools, language immersion schools, Montessori, expeditionary learning, and so on. My question to parents of gifted children is which program proved to be a good fit for your child, particularly in terms of meeting their social/emotional needs? Were any programs such a terrible fit that you'd recommend avoiding them? Did you find the program itself didn't matter so long as your child ended up with an understanding teacher or at least one peer in the classroom that he or she could relate to? Was your child bullied or otherwise persuaded to hide his or her talents? Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!

what makes you say this? is your LO in the gifted program already?

[Anonymous]

I don't see how this thread can can avoid discussing particular teachers, given that there is one gifted resources teacher per school.

My kids are gifted and I am happy with APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't see how this thread can can avoid discussing particular teachers, given that there is one gifted resources teacher per school.

My kids are gifted and I am happy with APS.

+100

We are very happy with the program and the individual GT pull-out by subject in their home school.

[Anonymous]

Look at it this way. In FCPS, more than one-quarter of students are attending AAP centers. In APS, those students are spread out across the elementary schools. In any given grade in any APS elementary school, there will be peers for your child.

I have two children who have been identified as gifted and we know other gifted children in APS. As far as I know, people have been satisfied with their children's progress.

Do you have reason to think your home school is not up to the task of nurturing your child?

[Anonymous]

APS sounds so much saner than FCPS, where we currently are.

[Anonymous]

Apparently I did not make my question clear. I don't understand why anything I said would imply anything about a gifted resources counselor or issues with a home school. I'm asking about Montessori vs expeditionary learning vs STEM vs language immersion vs traditional learning, i.e. all of the many programs offered at APS. I am assuming that a gifted child is going to do better in some environments than others. I'm asking parents who chose X program for their child to tell me how that program did or did not serve their child.

So let's try this again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apparently I did not make my question clear. I don't understand why anything I said would imply anything about a gifted resources counselor or issues with a home school. I'm asking about Montessori vs expeditionary learning vs STEM vs language immersion vs traditional learning, i.e. all of the many programs offered at APS. I am assuming that a gifted child is going to do better in some environments than others. I'm asking parents who chose X program for their child to tell me how that program did or did not serve their child.

So let's try this again.

I am assuming you are an earnest first-time parent who does not particularly want to be in Arlington, so I am going to ignore your tone. But you really, REALLY need to get some help with that before you start interacting with teachers and administrators, because they have a lot of people to attend to, and patronizing parents are not going to shoot to the top of the list.

That said, gifted children come in a range of personalities. Some like more structure, some like less. Some want to plunge in and be very hands on, some have a million questions they want answered before they act.

Find the school that suits your child's personality, or one that splits the difference if you will be sending more than one and don't want to deal with multiple schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS sounds so much saner than FCPS, where we currently are.

I doubt there's a school district in the area that is free from the sorts of parents who make you roll your eyes (OK, that makes me roll mine), but I do love Arlington.

[Anonymous]

14:22 here -- I hope that was a tiny bit clear. I live in Arlington and some of the parents have me shaking my head, but overall, this is a great place. And I am so very glad that the AAP thread exists, because DAMN some people need to learn to roll with events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apparently I did not make my question clear. I don't understand why anything I said would imply anything about a gifted resources counselor or issues with a home school. I'm asking about Montessori vs expeditionary learning vs STEM vs language immersion vs traditional learning, i.e. all of the many programs offered at APS. I am assuming that a gifted child is going to do better in some environments than others. I'm asking parents who chose X program for their child to tell me how that program did or did not serve their child.

So let's try this again.

Really?

[Anonymous]

My son is thriving with the gifted services provided by our neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

OP--please head to Fairfax Co.

Your kind is not welcome in APS where our child's gifted status is worn as a badge on our chest. We like our understated(and successful) approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is thriving with the gifted services provided by our neighborhood school.

+100

We love they can stay with their friends at home school and all the kids on their rec sports teams.

[Anonymous]

Don't kid yourself OP--unless you reside in the school zone you wish to attend there's little choice.

All Arlington schools handle gifted kids.