Gifted kid - APS, FCPS, or Nysmith?

[Anonymous]

Daughter currently in AAP has 147 WISC, son in HS now had 152. I felt the program served their needs well enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a child with a 150 IQ. He's too advanced for AAP but it's where he is. We supplement a lot at home with the help of DYS.

Is he in Fairfax County AAP? Do you find that he's bored most of the day? What's his attitude toward learning and school?

Thanks for sharing.

Yes he's in FCPS AAP. He's a social child so he's less bored and more disruptive (talks to his friends too much because he knows the material). He loves learning but does not love school except to socialize (which is something). I recommend Davidson Young Scholar for your child. It's help DS to find ways to be educated outside of school. School is just basically a holding cell for him while we work. He learns mostly outside of school.

[Anonymous]

Our exceptionally gifted kid went through APS and did fine, but really blossomed in high school at TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our exceptionally gifted kid went through APS and did fine, but really blossomed in high school at TJ.

This is really the answer. TJ was a huge shock for my highly gifted kid. Because he wasn’t the smartest kid in the room. By a long shot. And he finally had to work. And work. And work. It was really humbling for him. He went through a FCPS TJ feeder MS and that was definately a step up from ES, where he was LLIV.

I think the answer OP is FCPS AAP. But if you have a choice, one of the “good” ES Centers that feeds into Carson, Rocky Run or Longfellow, which are the TJ feeder MSs. Because that is where parents of very smart kids who care a lot about academics send their kids. So your DC is more likely to find kids who have the same interests and are his academic peers, and to find good extracurricular FLL, OOTM, Science Olympiad, etc teams, coding clubs etc. The kids at TJ with DS? Pretty much the kids you looked at in third grade while they explained the science behind how we know what color feathers the dinosaurs had and said— that kid is going to end up at TJ.

I don’t know enough about APS to say yeah or nay, but O do think stand-alone FT GT education is a good model, even if it is GT lite. The APS kids at TJ seem to be prepared and do very well.

I have watched Nysmith at various academic competitions for years, and their kids never seem to do that well, or come across as that impressive. I would definately not pay to send a kid there, when that kid could go to Carson AAP — literally across the street— for free.

[Anonymous]

We pulled DS from AAP to Nysmith. His AAP classmates are heavily invested in outside tutoring and prep centers while I do not believe in tutoring to get ahead of the class. As a result his classmates are placed at more advanced math group and he felt bad for himself and asked me if he is stupid despite his really high IQ. I know continuing at AAP will mean that I either need to follow the crowd and look for tutoring for him or I just let him faltered. Smaller class size in Nysmith suits him better and what he is learning is ahead of what he was in AAP. So for us it is a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We pulled DS from AAP to Nysmith. His AAP classmates are heavily invested in outside tutoring and prep centers while I do not believe in tutoring to get ahead of the class. As a result his classmates are placed at more advanced math group and he felt bad for himself and asked me if he is stupid despite his really high IQ. I know continuing at AAP will mean that I either need to follow the crowd and look for tutoring for him or I just let him faltered. Smaller class size in Nysmith suits him better and what he is learning is ahead of what he was in AAP. So for us it is a good fit.

How strange. My son is going into 5th grade in an AAP class and I don't know any of his friends who go to "tutoring and prep centers".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our exceptionally gifted kid went through APS and did fine, but really blossomed in high school at TJ.

This is really the answer. TJ was a huge shock for my highly gifted kid. Because he wasn’t the smartest kid in the room. By a long shot. And he finally had to work. And work. And work. It was really humbling for him. He went through a FCPS TJ feeder MS and that was definately a step up from ES, where he was LLIV.

I think the answer OP is FCPS AAP. But if you have a choice, one of the “good” ES Centers that feeds into Carson, Rocky Run or Longfellow, which are the TJ feeder MSs. Because that is where parents of very smart kids who care a lot about academics send their kids. So your DC is more likely to find kids who have the same interests and are his academic peers, and to find good extracurricular FLL, OOTM, Science Olympiad, etc teams, coding clubs etc. The kids at TJ with DS? Pretty much the kids you looked at in third grade while they explained the science behind how we know what color feathers the dinosaurs had and said— that kid is going to end up at TJ.

I don’t know enough about APS to say yeah or nay, but O do think stand-alone FT GT education is a good model, even if it is GT lite. The APS kids at TJ seem to be prepared and do very well.

I have watched Nysmith at various academic competitions for years, and their kids never seem to do that well, or come across as that impressive. I would definately not pay to send a kid there, when that kid could go to Carson AAP — literally across the street— for free.

That might make sense if your kid is math/science focused. Our kids with upper 140s-low 150s IQs did well in two different "run of the mill" AAP centers. They were both extra accelerated in math (5th and 6th grade algebra) but have zero interest in coding, science olympiad, FLL etc. and were much more interested in reading, writing, acting, history. Odyssey of the Mind is a good fit for those kids as is access to arts/acting programs. The TJ focused culture of some of the "good" schools would have been a turn-off for both my kids--they responded well to the openness of their environments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the answer OP is FCPS AAP. But if you have a choice, one of the “good” ES Centers that feeds into Carson, Rocky Run or Longfellow, which are the TJ feeder MSs. Because that is where parents of very smart kids who care a lot about academics send their kids. So your DC is more likely to find kids who have the same interests and are his academic peers, and to find good extracurricular FLL, OOTM, Science Olympiad, etc teams, coding clubs etc.

PP, this is OP. Thanks for this very helpful info. Can you share which "good" ES Centers feed into Carson, Rocky Run, or Longfellow?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the answer OP is FCPS AAP. But if you have a choice, one of the “good” ES Centers that feeds into Carson, Rocky Run or Longfellow, which are the TJ feeder MSs. Because that is where parents of very smart kids who care a lot about academics send their kids. So your DC is more likely to find kids who have the same interests and are his academic peers, and to find good extracurricular FLL, OOTM, Science Olympiad, etc teams, coding clubs etc.

PP, this is OP. Thanks for this very helpful info. Can you share which "good" ES Centers feed into Carson, Rocky Run, or Longfellow?

Carson will be Oak Hill, Hunters Woods and Navy. Also probably McNair.

RRMS, I know Greenbriar West and Mosby Woods are very strong. There are other Centers I don’t know about.

Longfellow, definately Hancock. Someone with experience should weigh in on the others.

[Anonymous]

Thanks 13:38 — OP.

[Anonymous]

Depends on where you live. Some mosby woods will go to Lanier MS next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pulled DS from AAP to Nysmith. His AAP classmates are heavily invested in outside tutoring and prep centers while I do not believe in tutoring to get ahead of the class. As a result his classmates are placed at more advanced math group and he felt bad for himself and asked me if he is stupid despite his really high IQ. I know continuing at AAP will mean that I either need to follow the crowd and look for tutoring for him or I just let him faltered. Smaller class size in Nysmith suits him better and what he is learning is ahead of what he was in AAP. So for us it is a good fit.

How strange. My son is going into 5th grade in an AAP class and I don't know any of his friends who go to "tutoring and prep centers".

You must be living under a rock. Almost ALL Asian/Indian kids in APP are enrolled in a bunch of extra classes for Math, Reading, Science and test preps. They start as soon as Grade 1 for NNAT prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pulled DS from AAP to Nysmith. His AAP classmates are heavily invested in outside tutoring and prep centers while I do not believe in tutoring to get ahead of the class. As a result his classmates are placed at more advanced math group and he felt bad for himself and asked me if he is stupid despite his really high IQ. I know continuing at AAP will mean that I either need to follow the crowd and look for tutoring for him or I just let him faltered. Smaller class size in Nysmith suits him better and what he is learning is ahead of what he was in AAP. So for us it is a good fit.

How strange. My son is going into 5th grade in an AAP class and I don't know any of his friends who go to "tutoring and prep centers".

You must be living under a rock. Almost ALL Asian/Indian kids in APP are enrolled in a bunch of extra classes for Math, Reading, Science and test preps. They start as soon as Grade 1 for NNAT prep.

My kid went through AAP and TJ and is now in college. We knew a lot of kids who had outside tutoring and "test preps" and a lot who were able to keep up and do well without outside help. The ones who did their own work without help are the ones who are doing great in college and some already in grad school now.

It is not doing a kid any favors to get them dependent on tutoring and outside classes to prep for the school courses. It is best for their academic development to be able to do their own work. Smart kids can handle AAP and TJ without tutoring, unless they have specific learning challenges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
You must be living under a rock. Almost ALL Asian/Indian kids in APP are enrolled in a bunch of extra classes for Math, Reading, Science and test preps. They start as soon as Grade 1 for NNAT prep.

Hey, now! We're Indian, and have never been near any "extras". Frankly, don't have time (even if we had the inclination), because DD has enough stuff she wants to do after school that don't involve academics. In our circle of Indian (and Asian) friends, we know some that do test prep and we know some that do not. Mixed bag, like the rest, about 50-50.

To the OP: I have a friend with 3 kids in AAP. One skipped a grade as well. They're doing fine in the program, with a little enrichment from the parents at home (not of the workbooks/flash cards variety). She said that her son's class had one kid who was profoundly gifted in math (working 3-4 grade levels ahead). He gets pulled out for math, to meet his needs. They do not go to any fancy pants school, and have had a good experience, despite having upwards of 30 kids in the classroom, and working in trailers. At this time, I know of only one kid whose needs cannot be met in any school, because he has an eidetic memory, and is working something like 6 or 7 grade levels ahead. He is homeschooled, with supplemental instruction for math from a tutor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
RRMS, I know Greenbriar West and Mosby Woods are very strong. There are other Centers I don’t know about.

DD will be starting at Bull Run Elementary, which feeds into Rocky Run. What I have seen so far, I have liked. There are two AAP classrooms for third grade, and they are going to be team taught. 37 kids and two teachers. There will be no homework. There will be no test prep for SOLs, and parents are welcome to have their kids opt out of SOLs if they want. The only thing the teachers emphasized the parents must do outside of the classroom, is to read. Read themselves, read to the kids, have the kids read to you, to their pets, their siblings, etc. They also suggested that since there is no homework, it opens up family time - to play games, go for walks, do things together and expose kids to things that they cannot learn in a classroom. I hope this isn't all lip service.