Best gifted programs in DMV?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I realize you are looking for gifted programs. I just went through touring privates and we moved to McLean for their top schools not long ago. In my personal opinion, the best schools for the best students are as follows:

1. FCPS TJ
2. Big 3 Private - Sidwell, STA, NCS
3. MCPS - Richard Montgomery Magnet
4. Second tier Privates - Holton, Maret
4. MCPS - W schools
5. FCPS top schools - McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall

The good privates will do their best to screen out 2E children. I echo what PP said about FCPS having some teachers who are very experienced with ASD, only in our ES those teachers tended to be gen ed.

This list is absurd, OP. No one other than this strange poster would rank schools for gifted kids like this. There are very few gifted kids in top privates. I have kids two of those FWIW. At most you'll have 10 gifted kids in your child's whole grade. They just don't screen for academics the way magnet programs do.

FCPS has the most comprehensive and inclusive gifted programs with many tiers at almost all levels of schooling with TJ being at the top.
MCPS has extremely high quality programs that are almost impossible to access with the new lottery changes for ES and MS. In HS most of the top kids rise to the top but you need more than giftedness to get to the HS magnets. You need to show achievement, effort, motivation. Everyone knows Blair is the best. You can't compare the others to Blair but RM, Poolesville, and Wheaton engineering are also very respected. There are other, smaller programs at many other schools like a leadership magnet somewhere and a few others. If you go with MCPS some high schools also have their own local gifted type programs that families like. I think one is called Apex.

FWIW because of the way Fairfax is set up there are many 2e kids in AAP and even TJ. MCPS screens out many kids with IEPs or 504s although you will find a few of them who are always chiming in on DCUM.

I'm confused- are there fewer spots available than before?

As a backup you could be sure your home ES offers enriched literacy and compacted math in 4th/5th.

The ES/MS programs stopped reserving spots for gifted kids.

DP. Is it an actual lottery? Or lottery as in very few spots so like a lottery?

You need to have certain scores to make it into the pool, and then the pick from the pool is random. Unlike before when they tried to pick the best candidates from the pool.

That was what they were trying to do with TJ. That sounds like an awful method since the smartest kids may not get in if it is random selection.

NYC did this as well. There are no more tests so it is a total crapshoot who gets into their G&T program.

FCPS uses a holistic approach whatever that means to get more URMs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I realize you are looking for gifted programs. I just went through touring privates and we moved to McLean for their top schools not long ago. In my personal opinion, the best schools for the best students are as follows:

1. FCPS TJ
2. Big 3 Private - Sidwell, STA, NCS
3. MCPS - Richard Montgomery Magnet
4. Second tier Privates - Holton, Maret
4. MCPS - W schools
5. FCPS top schools - McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall

OP's DC is STEM oriented.

List should read:

1. TJ
2. Blair STEM magnet
3. Poolesville STEM magnet
4. RMIB

1 and 2 are same level
4 is actually above 3

#1 and #2 agree at same level, but not sure about RMIB being above Poolesville STEM magnet. And I say this as a parent of an RMIB magnet grad.

DC is STEM oriented, and took the highest level math courses, including IB HL Math and HL for physics.

But, I would've thought the STEM oriented program in Poolesville is much more STEM heavy than RMIB. I'm not saying RMIB STEM classes aren't hard. Just that the offerings are less at RMIB compared to Poolesville, I would've thought.

You would think, right? But I am not sure if PHS is there yet. In theory it should be as good, as strong as Blair but it's not. Something about PHS STEM just never excelled like Blair STEM. I think RM is above, or at least, as strong as PHS STEM. I had kids in both.

[Anonymous]

You could go with FCPS and try the AAP program. If it doesn’t work out, try Nysmith or Feynman, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I realize you are looking for gifted programs. I just went through touring privates and we moved to McLean for their top schools not long ago. In my personal opinion, the best schools for the best students are as follows:

1. FCPS TJ
2. Big 3 Private - Sidwell, STA, NCS
3. MCPS - Richard Montgomery Magnet
4. Second tier Privates - Holton, Maret
4. MCPS - W schools
5. FCPS top schools - McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall

OP's DC is STEM oriented.

List should read:

1. TJ
2. Blair STEM magnet
3. Poolesville STEM magnet
4. RMIB

1 and 2 are same level
4 is actually above 3

#1 and #2 agree at same level, but not sure about RMIB being above Poolesville STEM magnet. And I say this as a parent of an RMIB magnet grad.

DC is STEM oriented, and took the highest level math courses, including IB HL Math and HL for physics.

But, I would've thought the STEM oriented program in Poolesville is much more STEM heavy than RMIB. I'm not saying RMIB STEM classes aren't hard. Just that the offerings are less at RMIB compared to Poolesville, I would've thought.

You would think, right? But I am not sure if PHS is there yet. In theory it should be as good, as strong as Blair but it's not. Something about PHS STEM just never excelled like Blair STEM. I think RM is above, or at least, as strong as PHS STEM. I had kids in both.

Blair STEM is older and more established. PHS STEM is not as established as Blair. RM is not as strong as PHS in STEM. PHS has done pretty well and has won many STEM awards/competitions and has had students made the US math team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I realize you are looking for gifted programs. I just went through touring privates and we moved to McLean for their top schools not long ago. In my personal opinion, the best schools for the best students are as follows:

1. FCPS TJ
2. Big 3 Private - Sidwell, STA, NCS
3. MCPS - Richard Montgomery Magnet
4. Second tier Privates - Holton, Maret
4. MCPS - W schools
5. FCPS top schools - McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall

OP's DC is STEM oriented.

List should read:

1. TJ
2. Blair STEM magnet
3. Poolesville STEM magnet
4. RMIB

1 and 2 are same level
4 is actually above 3

#1 and #2 agree at same level, but not sure about RMIB being above Poolesville STEM magnet. And I say this as a parent of an RMIB magnet grad.

DC is STEM oriented, and took the highest level math courses, including IB HL Math and HL for physics.

But, I would've thought the STEM oriented program in Poolesville is much more STEM heavy than RMIB. I'm not saying RMIB STEM classes aren't hard. Just that the offerings are less at RMIB compared to Poolesville, I would've thought.

You would think, right? But I am not sure if PHS is there yet. In theory it should be as good, as strong as Blair but it's not. Something about PHS STEM just never excelled like Blair STEM. I think RM is above, or at least, as strong as PHS STEM. I had kids in both.

Blair STEM is older and more established. PHS STEM is not as established as Blair. RM is not as strong as PHS in STEM. PHS has done pretty well and has won many STEM awards/competitions and has had students made the US math team.

Also, the teachers at PHS are pretty subpar when compared to their equivalents at Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I realize you are looking for gifted programs. I just went through touring privates and we moved to McLean for their top schools not long ago. In my personal opinion, the best schools for the best students are as follows:

1. FCPS TJ
2. Big 3 Private - Sidwell, STA, NCS
3. MCPS - Richard Montgomery Magnet
4. Second tier Privates - Holton, Maret
4. MCPS - W schools
5. FCPS top schools - McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall

Like you said, it's your opinion but it is deeply wrong.
Also OP said "especially in math/STEM", the private schools are nowhere near the top.

Privates can't compete with public magnets.

National merit data says that 10% of finalists in Northern Virginia come from non-publics- proportionately somewhat more. In DC, a large majority of finalists are private, which is wildly disproportionate. All but one of the DC public kids (6) went to the School Without Walls magnet; Sidwell Friends was in second place, with 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I realize you are looking for gifted programs. I just went through touring privates and we moved to McLean for their top schools not long ago. In my personal opinion, the best schools for the best students are as follows:

1. FCPS TJ
2. Big 3 Private - Sidwell, STA, NCS
3. MCPS - Richard Montgomery Magnet
4. Second tier Privates - Holton, Maret
4. MCPS - W schools
5. FCPS top schools - McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall

Like you said, it's your opinion but it is deeply wrong.
Also OP said "especially in math/STEM", the private schools are nowhere near the top.

Privates can't compete with public magnets.

National merit data says that 10% of finalists in Northern Virginia come from non-publics- proportionately somewhat more. In DC, a large majority of finalists are private, which is wildly disproportionate. All but one of the DC public kids (6) went to the School Without Walls magnet; Sidwell Friends was in second place, with 5.

Yes, because DCPS is so universally lousy that the only kids learning anything are in private schools. A PP was right. At least on STEM, none of the privates can compete with a good public school or magnet. And a private has no requirement to support a 2E child. Fairfax or Montgomery County are the answers plus some supplementation.

[Anonymous]

MCPS has 2 gifted pathways for 2E kids like your son.

One is competitive, open to all students to compete, and has more qualified students than seats. This option starts at 3rd grade and students must reapply at the end of ES and MS and there is no guarantee of continued access. There is a Center for Enriched Studies (i.e. gifted magnet) for every 2-3 school clusters. So, if your kid is accepted they get bused to the CES. Eastern MS is the humanities magnet for lower MoCo and similarly Takoma Park is the math/science computer magnet. HS magnets are Blair (math, sci & comp sci) and Richard Montgomery for IB.

The second pathway is via an IEP. The homeschool IEP team acknowledges that they can’t meet the needs of the child and he/she would be better served at one of the gifted and learning disabled placements - there is 1 ES, at least 1 MS (North Bethesda) and 1 HS (WJ). This pathway is inly open to those with IEPs, and that usually means that despite being 2E, the student is behind grade level or needs special instruction in at least on academic area. You typically do not have to “reapply” because the placement is a result of the IEP.

Students with IEPs are eligible to apply to either pathway. One of my DC’s is 2E w/ ADHD. He was accepted at TPMS. I think it was helpful for him as it was more interesting teaching/instruction, but the teachers in his area of need were unaware of how to provide appropriate special instruction and we used a lot of private tutoring. Our experience is that this is an MCPS-wide problem.

You can find more MCPS info here:
https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/enriched/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS has 2 gifted pathways for 2E kids like your son.

One is competitive, open to all students to compete, and has more qualified students than seats. This option starts at 3rd grade and students must reapply at the end of ES and MS and there is no guarantee of continued access. There is a Center for Enriched Studies (i.e. gifted magnet) for every 2-3 school clusters. So, if your kid is accepted they get bused to the CES. Eastern MS is the humanities magnet for lower MoCo and similarly Takoma Park is the math/science computer magnet. HS magnets are Blair (math, sci & comp sci) and Richard Montgomery for IB.

The second pathway is via an IEP. The homeschool IEP team acknowledges that they can’t meet the needs of the child and he/she would be better served at one of the gifted and learning disabled placements - there is 1 ES, at least 1 MS (North Bethesda) and 1 HS (WJ). This pathway is inly open to those with IEPs, and that usually means that despite being 2E, the student is behind grade level or needs special instruction in at least on academic area. You typically do not have to “reapply” because the placement is a result of the IEP.

Students with IEPs are eligible to apply to either pathway. One of my DC’s is 2E w/ ADHD. He was accepted at TPMS. I think it was helpful for him as it was more interesting teaching/instruction, but the teachers in his area of need were unaware of how to provide appropriate special instruction and we used a lot of private tutoring. Our experience is that this is an MCPS-wide problem.

You can find more MCPS info here:
https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/enriched/

GTLD isn't more GT than home school. (Magnet is.)
GTLD is for kids who would be in regular school GT (Honors classes) but need the extra LD support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I realize you are looking for gifted programs. I just went through touring privates and we moved to McLean for their top schools not long ago. In my personal opinion, the best schools for the best students are as follows:

1. FCPS TJ
2. Big 3 Private - Sidwell, STA, NCS
3. MCPS - Richard Montgomery Magnet
4. Second tier Privates - Holton, Maret
4. MCPS - W schools
5. FCPS top schools - McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall

The good privates will do their best to screen out 2E children. I echo what PP said about FCPS having some teachers who are very experienced with ASD, only in our ES those teachers tended to be gen ed.

This list is absurd, OP. No one other than this strange poster would rank schools for gifted kids like this. There are very few gifted kids in top privates. I have kids two of those FWIW. At most you'll have 10 gifted kids in your child's whole grade. They just don't screen for academics the way magnet programs do.

FCPS has the most comprehensive and inclusive gifted programs with many tiers at almost all levels of schooling with TJ being at the top.
MCPS has extremely high quality programs that are almost impossible to access with the new lottery changes for ES and MS. In HS most of the top kids rise to the top but you need more than giftedness to get to the HS magnets. You need to show achievement, effort, motivation. Everyone knows Blair is the best. You can't compare the others to Blair but RM, Poolesville, and Wheaton engineering are also very respected. There are other, smaller programs at many other schools like a leadership magnet somewhere and a few others. If you go with MCPS some high schools also have their own local gifted type programs that families like. I think one is called Apex.

FWIW because of the way Fairfax is set up there are many 2e kids in AAP and even TJ. MCPS screens out many kids with IEPs or 504s although you will find a few of them who are always chiming in on DCUM.

I'm confused- are there fewer spots available than before?

As a backup you could be sure your home ES offers enriched literacy and compacted math in 4th/5th.

The ES/MS programs stopped reserving spots for gifted kids.

DP. Is it an actual lottery? Or lottery as in very few spots so like a lottery?

You need to have certain scores to make it into the pool, and then the pick from the pool is random. Unlike before when they tried to pick the best candidates from the pool.

That was what they were trying to do with TJ. That sounds like an awful method since the smartest kids may not get in if it is random selection.

NYC did this as well. There are no more tests so it is a total crapshoot who gets into their G&T program.

FCPS uses a holistic approach whatever that means to get more URMs.

"Smarter" kids aren't more deserving of an education. If there aren't enough seats for everyone, lottery is a good way to be fair and incentivize activitism for expanding educational offerings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is gifted, ADHD, Asperger's (ie a carbon copy of my husband). We want to find him a place that will challenge him, especially in math/STEM. Is there a meaningful difference between Virginia and Maryland in this, or public vs private? Sorry, we're total newbies at this, new to the area, and don't have many friends with kids.

AoPS Academy in Vienna VA, or Gaithersburg MD. Consider local homeschooling pods or coops for other subjects. Also look at https://www.astranova.org/ or https://www.joinprisma.com/ or Fusion Global.

For public, consider Carson or Longfellow or a school that will zone him for AOS or AET.

For private, look at Edlin or Feynman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I realize you are looking for gifted programs. I just went through touring privates and we moved to McLean for their top schools not long ago. In my personal opinion, the best schools for the best students are as follows:

1. FCPS TJ
2. Big 3 Private - Sidwell, STA, NCS
3. MCPS - Richard Montgomery Magnet
4. Second tier Privates - Holton, Maret
4. MCPS - W schools
5. FCPS top schools - McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall

The good privates will do their best to screen out 2E children. I echo what PP said about FCPS having some teachers who are very experienced with ASD, only in our ES those teachers tended to be gen ed.

This list is absurd, OP. No one other than this strange poster would rank schools for gifted kids like this. There are very few gifted kids in top privates. I have kids two of those FWIW. At most you'll have 10 gifted kids in your child's whole grade. They just don't screen for academics the way magnet programs do.

FCPS has the most comprehensive and inclusive gifted programs with many tiers at almost all levels of schooling with TJ being at the top.
MCPS has extremely high quality programs that are almost impossible to access with the new lottery changes for ES and MS. In HS most of the top kids rise to the top but you need more than giftedness to get to the HS magnets. You need to show achievement, effort, motivation. Everyone knows Blair is the best. You can't compare the others to Blair but RM, Poolesville, and Wheaton engineering are also very respected. There are other, smaller programs at many other schools like a leadership magnet somewhere and a few others. If you go with MCPS some high schools also have their own local gifted type programs that families like. I think one is called Apex.

FWIW because of the way Fairfax is set up there are many 2e kids in AAP and even TJ. MCPS screens out many kids with IEPs or 504s although you will find a few of them who are always chiming in on DCUM.

I'm confused- are there fewer spots available than before?

As a backup you could be sure your home ES offers enriched literacy and compacted math in 4th/5th.

The ES/MS programs stopped reserving spots for gifted kids.

DP. Is it an actual lottery? Or lottery as in very few spots so like a lottery?

You need to have certain scores to make it into the pool, and then the pick from the pool is random. Unlike before when they tried to pick the best candidates from the pool.

That was what they were trying to do with TJ. That sounds like an awful method since the smartest kids may not get in if it is random selection.

NYC did this as well. There are no more tests so it is a total crapshoot who gets into their G&T program.

FCPS uses a holistic approach whatever that means to get more URMs.

"Smarter" kids aren't more deserving of an education. If there aren't enough seats for everyone, lottery is a good way to be fair and incentivize activitism for expanding educational offerings.

Attitudes like this are the reason gifted education is dying off. We aren’t talking about “an education.” We are talking about GIFTED education. No, everyone is not equally deserving of education for the gifted. Only the gifted are. That’s like saying we should give everyone glasses, regardless of eyesight. Why does it make some people so mad that gifted kids receive appropriate education? Don’t you want these kids to succeed and be productive in the future for your own good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I realize you are looking for gifted programs. I just went through touring privates and we moved to McLean for their top schools not long ago. In my personal opinion, the best schools for the best students are as follows:

1. FCPS TJ
2. Big 3 Private - Sidwell, STA, NCS
3. MCPS - Richard Montgomery Magnet
4. Second tier Privates - Holton, Maret
4. MCPS - W schools
5. FCPS top schools - McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall

The good privates will do their best to screen out 2E children. I echo what PP said about FCPS having some teachers who are very experienced with ASD, only in our ES those teachers tended to be gen ed.

This list is absurd, OP. No one other than this strange poster would rank schools for gifted kids like this. There are very few gifted kids in top privates. I have kids two of those FWIW. At most you'll have 10 gifted kids in your child's whole grade. They just don't screen for academics the way magnet programs do.

FCPS has the most comprehensive and inclusive gifted programs with many tiers at almost all levels of schooling with TJ being at the top.
MCPS has extremely high quality programs that are almost impossible to access with the new lottery changes for ES and MS. In HS most of the top kids rise to the top but you need more than giftedness to get to the HS magnets. You need to show achievement, effort, motivation. Everyone knows Blair is the best. You can't compare the others to Blair but RM, Poolesville, and Wheaton engineering are also very respected. There are other, smaller programs at many other schools like a leadership magnet somewhere and a few others. If you go with MCPS some high schools also have their own local gifted type programs that families like. I think one is called Apex.

FWIW because of the way Fairfax is set up there are many 2e kids in AAP and even TJ. MCPS screens out many kids with IEPs or 504s although you will find a few of them who are always chiming in on DCUM.

I'm confused- are there fewer spots available than before?

As a backup you could be sure your home ES offers enriched literacy and compacted math in 4th/5th.

The ES/MS programs stopped reserving spots for gifted kids.

DP. Is it an actual lottery? Or lottery as in very few spots so like a lottery?

You need to have certain scores to make it into the pool, and then the pick from the pool is random. Unlike before when they tried to pick the best candidates from the pool.

That was what they were trying to do with TJ. That sounds like an awful method since the smartest kids may not get in if it is random selection.

NYC did this as well. There are no more tests so it is a total crapshoot who gets into their G&T program.

FCPS uses a holistic approach whatever that means to get more URMs.

"Smarter" kids aren't more deserving of an education. If there aren't enough seats for everyone, lottery is a good way to be fair and incentivize activitism for expanding educational offerings.

Attitudes like this are the reason gifted education is dying off. We aren’t talking about “an education.” We are talking about GIFTED education. No, everyone is not equally deserving of education for the gifted. Only the gifted are. That’s like saying we should give everyone glasses, regardless of eyesight. Why does it make some people so mad that gifted kids receive appropriate education? Don’t you want these kids to succeed and be productive in the future for your own good?

What evidence do you have that gifted kids who don't get specialized education can't succeed and be productive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I realize you are looking for gifted programs. I just went through touring privates and we moved to McLean for their top schools not long ago. In my personal opinion, the best schools for the best students are as follows:

1. FCPS TJ
2. Big 3 Private - Sidwell, STA, NCS
3. MCPS - Richard Montgomery Magnet
4. Second tier Privates - Holton, Maret
4. MCPS - W schools
5. FCPS top schools - McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall

OP's DC is STEM oriented.

List should read:

1. TJ
2. Blair STEM magnet
3. Poolesville STEM magnet
4. RMIB

1 and 2 are same level
4 is actually above 3

#1 and #2 agree at same level, but not sure about RMIB being above Poolesville STEM magnet. And I say this as a parent of an RMIB magnet grad.

DC is STEM oriented, and took the highest level math courses, including IB HL Math and HL for physics.

But, I would've thought the STEM oriented program in Poolesville is much more STEM heavy than RMIB. I'm not saying RMIB STEM classes aren't hard. Just that the offerings are less at RMIB compared to Poolesville, I would've thought.

You would think, right? But I am not sure if PHS is there yet. In theory it should be as good, as strong as Blair but it's not. Something about PHS STEM just never excelled like Blair STEM. I think RM is above, or at least, as strong as PHS STEM. I had kids in both.

Blair STEM is older and more established. PHS STEM is not as established as Blair. RM is not as strong as PHS in STEM. PHS has done pretty well and has won many STEM awards/competitions and has had students made the US math team.

After 10 years, that excuse is kinda old now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. I realize you are looking for gifted programs. I just went through touring privates and we moved to McLean for their top schools not long ago. In my personal opinion, the best schools for the best students are as follows:

1. FCPS TJ
2. Big 3 Private - Sidwell, STA, NCS
3. MCPS - Richard Montgomery Magnet
4. Second tier Privates - Holton, Maret
4. MCPS - W schools
5. FCPS top schools - McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall

The good privates will do their best to screen out 2E children. I echo what PP said about FCPS having some teachers who are very experienced with ASD, only in our ES those teachers tended to be gen ed.

This list is absurd, OP. No one other than this strange poster would rank schools for gifted kids like this. There are very few gifted kids in top privates. I have kids two of those FWIW. At most you'll have 10 gifted kids in your child's whole grade. They just don't screen for academics the way magnet programs do.

FCPS has the most comprehensive and inclusive gifted programs with many tiers at almost all levels of schooling with TJ being at the top.
MCPS has extremely high quality programs that are almost impossible to access with the new lottery changes for ES and MS. In HS most of the top kids rise to the top but you need more than giftedness to get to the HS magnets. You need to show achievement, effort, motivation. Everyone knows Blair is the best. You can't compare the others to Blair but RM, Poolesville, and Wheaton engineering are also very respected. There are other, smaller programs at many other schools like a leadership magnet somewhere and a few others. If you go with MCPS some high schools also have their own local gifted type programs that families like. I think one is called Apex.

FWIW because of the way Fairfax is set up there are many 2e kids in AAP and even TJ. MCPS screens out many kids with IEPs or 504s although you will find a few of them who are always chiming in on DCUM.

I'm confused- are there fewer spots available than before?

As a backup you could be sure your home ES offers enriched literacy and compacted math in 4th/5th.

The ES/MS programs stopped reserving spots for gifted kids.

DP. Is it an actual lottery? Or lottery as in very few spots so like a lottery?

You need to have certain scores to make it into the pool, and then the pick from the pool is random. Unlike before when they tried to pick the best candidates from the pool.

That was what they were trying to do with TJ. That sounds like an awful method since the smartest kids may not get in if it is random selection.

NYC did this as well. There are no more tests so it is a total crapshoot who gets into their G&T program.

FCPS uses a holistic approach whatever that means to get more URMs.

"Smarter" kids aren't more deserving of an education. If there aren't enough seats for everyone, lottery is a good way to be fair and incentivize activitism for expanding educational offerings.

Attitudes like this are the reason gifted education is dying off. We aren’t talking about “an education.” We are talking about GIFTED education. No, everyone is not equally deserving of education for the gifted. Only the gifted are. That’s like saying we should give everyone glasses, regardless of eyesight. Why does it make some people so mad that gifted kids receive appropriate education? Don’t you want these kids to succeed and be productive in the future for your own good?

What evidence do you have that gifted kids who don't get specialized education can't succeed and be productive?

NP. That’s irrelevant. Gifted kids deserve appropriate support and education just like a kid with an IEP.

BTW some gifted kids are not successful and productive because their needs were not met in school. Such a loss waste of potential.