Which DMV school system offers the most for gifted kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just make sure you are wanting support for "giftedness" vs. being high performing. There are very few schools that really focus on neurological "giftedness" but tons in this area where kids who are super duper smart and high performing (no matter their technical IQ in different areas) - including most of the exclusive privates, many MoCo schools (including Blair magnet), Fairfax schools (including TJ magnet) etc. So depends also what you are trying to get out of it for your kids.

Agreed, but also make sure that the level of advancement for the program matches your child's level of advancement. Many "gifted" programs are working only one grade level ahead, which is useless if your child is well beyond that level, and if the program doesn't have the flexibility to differentiate upward for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public schools are not required by law to provide gifted education. Some of them offer it to compete with privates but there are no guarantees and the courses taught are still using the same state standards.

Public schools in Virginia are required to have advanced curriculum

No. Public schools in Virginia are required to have a gifted program.

The most well-known gifted program in the DMV is AAP in FCPS. DC is in 5th grade and we are happy with the program. It's a good mix of interesting extensions, engaging curriculum, and a good cohort with experienced teachers.

They are required to have them, but they do not to have a robust program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in the District and have two kids. We are thinking of moving to a bigger house. We work near Farragut North and would like to keep the commute to under 45 mins. Which DMV county offers the best support for gifted students? How do I become familiar with the differences between the MoCo, Arlington, Fairfax counties and the DC school systems?

How gifted are the kids? FCPS AAP is great for kids with IQs around 115 or 120. MoCo is better for the more highly gifted kids, assuming yours can get in. If your kids are highly gifted, they won't be adequately supported in public schools anywhere in the DC area.

115+ is a pretty normal IQ. In MoCo, my child's IQ is mid-120's and we get nothing.

FCPS provides full time gifted services to 20-25% of the kids, and part time services to another 10% or more. Their programs are for the above average kids and not the gifted kids.

This, exactly.

[Anonymous]

Falls Church City was my pick for the IB program and higher level of learning (a friend's child was bottom of the class in FCCPS and deemed gifted by FCPS the same year.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:interesting thread. my husband and I both were in gifted programs as children and had IQs tested at around 145 (for me) and 150 (for him). we are wondering what to do with our kids... currently in DCPS schools where they are actually thriving -- they are very self-motivated -- but there are no gifted programs. how important is it for them to be in an actual gifted program?

Just get them to Wilson or SWW, they will be fine, happy and do great things.

If you want to try to get aid for private school, do that for 7th or 9th grade, I’d t bother with their lower schools. Very UN academic.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It is designed to accommodate the top 25-30%. They took the word gifted out of the name for a reason.

I heard it accommodated the top 45%. Someone else told me it accommodated the top 60%.

Wow!

That's a huge distortion. According to FCAG statistics, 19% of kids in 3rd-6th grade are LIV eligible, and another 7% are in full-time LIV services through principal placement, meaning 26% are in the full time gifted program. Another 10-20 percent receive part-time AAP services, but aren't in the self contained classrooms full time.

Fairfax parents like to believe that they're some nexus of giftedness, and that 10-20% of the FCPS kids would rank in the national top 2%. For what it's worth, my kid with a mid-low 120s IQ was easily in the top third of her AAP class and breezed through the program. My kid with a 140 IQ was bored and got nothing at all out of the program. It's at best mildly accelerated gen ed, and not at all a gifted program.

My kids are now in a college prep charter school, which is also not a gifted program, yet is much more demanding and much more advanced than FCPS AAP.

Can you recommend the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It is designed to accommodate the top 25-30%. They took the word gifted out of the name for a reason.

I heard it accommodated the top 45%. Someone else told me it accommodated the top 60%.

Wow!

That's a huge distortion. According to FCAG statistics, 19% of kids in 3rd-6th grade are LIV eligible, and another 7% are in full-time LIV services through principal placement, meaning 26% are in the full time gifted program. Another 10-20 percent receive part-time AAP services, but aren't in the self contained classrooms full time.

Fairfax parents like to believe that they're some nexus of giftedness, and that 10-20% of the FCPS kids would rank in the national top 2%. For what it's worth, my kid with a mid-low 120s IQ was easily in the top third of her AAP class and breezed through the program. My kid with a 140 IQ was bored and got nothing at all out of the program. It's at best mildly accelerated gen ed, and not at all a gifted program.

My kids are now in a college prep charter school, which is also not a gifted program, yet is much more demanding and much more advanced than FCPS AAP.

Can you tell me more about how you support your 140 IQ child?

I have a 7 year old who I suspect is at around that, and I'm trying to figure out how to best support him. He is in a DCPS school in 1st grade and working at a 3rd grade level -- the teachers try to challenge him but he spend a LOT of time doodling during virtual classes now and reading off the the side. I'm trying to add instruments and an enriching home life, but really want to do right by him.

I was tested at 147 when I was an adolescent and was in a pull-out gifted program as a child that I remember really fondly, but I only remember being bored silly during "real" school and reading under the desk the whole time. I also got really engaged with instruments, math/science ECs but honestly I went to pretty bad schools and think I could have done much better in life if i'd been properly supported. I have a super unconventional career path now. I dont want to make the same mistakes with my own kids!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It is designed to accommodate the top 25-30%. They took the word gifted out of the name for a reason.

I heard it accommodated the top 45%. Someone else told me it accommodated the top 60%.

Wow!

That's a huge distortion. According to FCAG statistics, 19% of kids in 3rd-6th grade are LIV eligible, and another 7% are in full-time LIV services through principal placement, meaning 26% are in the full time gifted program. Another 10-20 percent receive part-time AAP services, but aren't in the self contained classrooms full time.

Fairfax parents like to believe that they're some nexus of giftedness, and that 10-20% of the FCPS kids would rank in the national top 2%. For what it's worth, my kid with a mid-low 120s IQ was easily in the top third of her AAP class and breezed through the program. My kid with a 140 IQ was bored and got nothing at all out of the program. It's at best mildly accelerated gen ed, and not at all a gifted program.

My kids are now in a college prep charter school, which is also not a gifted program, yet is much more demanding and much more advanced than FCPS AAP.

Can you tell me more about how you support your 140 IQ child?

I have a 7 year old who I suspect is at around that, and I'm trying to figure out how to best support him. He is in a DCPS school in 1st grade and working at a 3rd grade level -- the teachers try to challenge him but he spend a LOT of time doodling during virtual classes now and reading off the the side. I'm trying to add instruments and an enriching home life, but really want to do right by him.

I was tested at 147 when I was an adolescent and was in a pull-out gifted program as a child that I remember really fondly, but I only remember being bored silly during "real" school and reading under the desk the whole time. I also got really engaged with instruments, math/science ECs but honestly I went to pretty bad schools and think I could have done much better in life if i'd been properly supported. I have a super unconventional career path now. I dont want to make the same mistakes with my own kids!

I'll add that I think it's really interesting to hear about these programs that seem really well suited to kids in the 120s/130s.... I think that is a real sweet spot regarding intelligence and that people in that range do VERY well in life. It's when you are up in the 140/150s that giftedness actually needs to be supported and people can go sideways --- those kinds of people tend to be more skeptical of convention and can veer off onto a path that may or may not be rewarded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It is designed to accommodate the top 25-30%. They took the word gifted out of the name for a reason.

I heard it accommodated the top 45%. Someone else told me it accommodated the top 60%.

Wow!

That's a huge distortion. According to FCAG statistics, 19% of kids in 3rd-6th grade are LIV eligible, and another 7% are in full-time LIV services through principal placement, meaning 26% are in the full time gifted program. Another 10-20 percent receive part-time AAP services, but aren't in the self contained classrooms full time.

Fairfax parents like to believe that they're some nexus of giftedness, and that 10-20% of the FCPS kids would rank in the national top 2%. For what it's worth, my kid with a mid-low 120s IQ was easily in the top third of her AAP class and breezed through the program. My kid with a 140 IQ was bored and got nothing at all out of the program. It's at best mildly accelerated gen ed, and not at all a gifted program.

My kids are now in a college prep charter school, which is also not a gifted program, yet is much more demanding and much more advanced than FCPS AAP.

Can you tell me more about how you support your 140 IQ child?

I have a 7 year old who I suspect is at around that, and I'm trying to figure out how to best support him. He is in a DCPS school in 1st grade and working at a 3rd grade level -- the teachers try to challenge him but he spend a LOT of time doodling during virtual classes now and reading off the the side. I'm trying to add instruments and an enriching home life, but really want to do right by him.

I was tested at 147 when I was an adolescent and was in a pull-out gifted program as a child that I remember really fondly, but I only remember being bored silly during "real" school and reading under the desk the whole time. I also got really engaged with instruments, math/science ECs but honestly I went to pretty bad schools and think I could have done much better in life if i'd been properly supported. I have a super unconventional career path now. I dont want to make the same mistakes with my own kids!

Stick with DCPS through 5th, then look at St. Anselm's Abbey school. Also, try not to judge your child's school experience by what they do during distance learning; it is a totally different animal for elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Fairfax parents like to believe that they're some nexus of giftedness, and that 10-20% of the FCPS kids would rank in the national top 2%. For what it's worth, my kid with a mid-low 120s IQ was easily in the top third of her AAP class and breezed through the program. My kid with a 140 IQ was bored and got nothing at all out of the program. It's at best mildly accelerated gen ed, and not at all a gifted program.

My kids are now in a college prep charter school, which is also not a gifted program, yet is much more demanding and much more advanced than FCPS AAP.

Can you tell me more about how you support your 140 IQ child?

I have a 7 year old who I suspect is at around that, and I'm trying to figure out how to best support him. He is in a DCPS school in 1st grade and working at a 3rd grade level -- the teachers try to challenge him but he spend a LOT of time doodling during virtual classes now and reading off the the side. I'm trying to add instruments and an enriching home life, but really want to do right by him.

I was tested at 147 when I was an adolescent and was in a pull-out gifted program as a child that I remember really fondly, but I only remember being bored silly during "real" school and reading under the desk the whole time. I also got really engaged with instruments, math/science ECs but honestly I went to pretty bad schools and think I could have done much better in life if i'd been properly supported. I have a super unconventional career path now. I dont want to make the same mistakes with my own kids!

Honestly, I should have homeschooled rather than placing my child in AAP. I supplemented with AoPS Academy classes for both math and language arts, since they are much more rigorous than public school, and since they're quite willing to place children in higher grade levels as needed. My child took Algebra there while in 4th grade, and it was the highlight of his week. At school, I made sure he had some sort of higher level math book on hand as well as novels at his level. He has generally been reading at a higher level than any of the books in the classroom library. Music and foreign languages are another great avenue for gifted children.

All of that being said, the charter school we chose is a BASIS charter, but one of the ones much higher ranked than the BASIS DC and in a state far from the DC area. The DC one might still be a good fit for your child, as it is much more demanding than most other programs. My kid finds everything easy, but is still learning and engaged.

I'm in the same boat with attending weak schools that didn't challenge me, and as a result being less successful than I ought to have been. Kids should be learning resilience, study habits, and how to face challenges while in regular school. I breezed through college, even, but in grad school got nailed with my poor study habits and complete lack of resiliency. If school is always too easy, there will ultimately be problems. Good luck with properly supporting your child!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'll add that I think it's really interesting to hear about these programs that seem really well suited to kids in the 120s/130s.... I think that is a real sweet spot regarding intelligence and that people in that range do VERY well in life. It's when you are up in the 140/150s that giftedness actually needs to be supported and people can go sideways --- those kinds of people tend to be more skeptical of convention and can veer off onto a path that may or may not be rewarded.

I agree. Actually, most advanced programs are aimed at kids in the 115-135 IQ range. Nearly all gifted programs are filled with kids in that range, AP and college classes are targeted to kids in that range, and high powered private schools are aimed at kids around that intelligence level. There aren't enough kids in the top 1% for it to be logistically possible to have many dedicated programs for those kids.

I've heard that IQs in the 120s-low 130s are the most strongly correlated to success in life. I have no idea, though, whether that's because kids in that range are benefitting from advanced programming tailored for them, while kids with higher IQs aren't. Or whether it's that kids with higher IQs tend to have more trouble relating to and communicating with a broader swath of humanity. Or whether kids with higher IQs are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, ADHD, or other issues that may hold them back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'll add that I think it's really interesting to hear about these programs that seem really well suited to kids in the 120s/130s.... I think that is a real sweet spot regarding intelligence and that people in that range do VERY well in life. It's when you are up in the 140/150s that giftedness actually needs to be supported and people can go sideways --- those kinds of people tend to be more skeptical of convention and can veer off onto a path that may or may not be rewarded.

I agree. Actually, most advanced programs are aimed at kids in the 115-135 IQ range. Nearly all gifted programs are filled with kids in that range, AP and college classes are targeted to kids in that range, and high powered private schools are aimed at kids around that intelligence level. There aren't enough kids in the top 1% for it to be logistically possible to have many dedicated programs for those kids.

I've heard that IQs in the 120s-low 130s are the most strongly correlated to success in life. I have no idea, though, whether that's because kids in that range are benefitting from advanced programming tailored for them, while kids with higher IQs aren't. Or whether it's that kids with higher IQs tend to have more trouble relating to and communicating with a broader swath of humanity. Or whether kids with higher IQs are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, ADHD, or other issues that may hold them back.

I think this is totally true -- in that range people are comfortable in traditional systems, but can really excel within them.

I have some exposure to people who i think are in the 150 range and their outcomes are kind of a crapshoot -- I'm the 147 person, and I have a brother who was always much smarter than me. When we were in grade school he was a superstar, teachers would save his projects for years... but as he got older and entered college and the wider world, he was much, much less willing to go along with a conventional path and to listen to other people, and among other problems he ended up being hobbled by schizophrenia. I also know lots of MIT PhDs through my husband (an alum there), some are succeeding in traditional paths but some have absolutely no tolerance for them. Many prioritize their freedom over everything else and live really unconventional lives. They end up cobbling together a few different jobs and every once in a while making a staggering contribution to society. so who knows....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:interesting thread. my husband and I both were in gifted programs as children and had IQs tested at around 145 (for me) and 150 (for him). we are wondering what to do with our kids... currently in DCPS schools where they are actually thriving -- they are very self-motivated -- but there are no gifted programs. how important is it for them to be in an actual gifted program?

I would think gifted parents of gifted kids probably end up building in an enriched "curriculum" for their children just by living in DC and being naturally interested in learning. I personally wouldn't stress about it unless your child is seeming bored and therefore restless in their regular classes. I also know a family with gifted parents who was surprised when they had DD tested (who wasn't thriving) and her score on IQ tests suggested average intelligence. It wasn't a shock or a disappointment. I think it's easy to project our experience onto our kids.

[Anonymous]

This is the private school forum. You ought to post in the public school forum. Since you’re asking about public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the private school forum. You ought to post in the public school forum. Since you’re asking about public schools.

No. This is the schools general forum.