Reassure me about Fairfax Co Public School for my child
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Anonymous
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Back story is we are very likely pulling our 3rd grader out of our mainstream private school and going to public next year. He has had some emotional/behavior issues over the past year but is now on medication and has a behavior plan in place, and is significantly improved. We spoke to the local public principal and he thinks he will fit right in, with possibly a 504 plan to help with some planning/organizational/emotional help. Our current school also say he is below grade level in reading, but his weekly reading tutor is a FCPS teacher who says he is on grade level and doing great and is at grade level so we aren't sure what is correct there. He is quite advanced in math, and his WISC was over 90% but may he probably would not have qualified for AAP due to his reading issues (I'm not sure, he may have been borderline). We have had him tested and there are no major issues. Regardless, the private doesn't seem to want to deal with him any more, and we have lost enough trust in them that we aren't sure we are willing to pay the huge tuition for him to go there next year. And he doesn't have enough issues to need a special ed school. McLean might have been a good fit but its pretty far away.
I've heard mixed things about public school. Our local school is an AAP center, but DS would be in the gen ed program. Are there still advanced groups for math that they might put him in? I'm assuming that they would be good at and very able to help with his reading issues, but I'm not sure how much personal attention he would get. Will he get lost in the large classes? Will he make friends? I would really appreciate some reassurance that it will be ok. I hear mostly about AAP which sounds great but he cannot handle the advanced curriculum in all subjects right now. Most of our neighbors are in language immersion so they don't really know much about the local school. It is well regarded in general though. |
Anonymous
| I would cross-post this in Special Needs, someone might be familiar with the school. |
Anonymous
| I don't mean this to be flip, but there are something like 180,000 kids in FCPS -- chances are your child is not so unusual that he wouldn't fit in. Or, said another way -- there are many kids like yours -- especially boys in elem. school -- in FCPS. Will it be a perfect experience, probably not. But, I'm pretty confident in saying that he will find like-minded kids, he will get an education, he will not be the only boy with an IEP, he's certainly not the only kid with organizational/attention issues. This is kind of standard stuff in FCPS. Your private school may have had unrealistic expectations for kids to be studious and industrious -- they have the luxury of picking only the kids that fit their standards. You'll be fine in public school. |
Anonymous
| OP here. To clarify, he would definitely not be eligible for an IEP, although I was told he might be eligible for a 504. Therefore I didn't think the special needs board was the appropriate venue. Thanks. |
Anonymous
I think you should definitely post to Special Needs. There are many on that board that have experience/advice regarding situations where people are working on getting 504s. |
Anonymous
| Sounds to me like he is a perfect fit for the AAP center. They have a staff there trained to deal with children like you explain yours to be. Don't be so quick to discount the AAP center there are many "like" student even with IEP's and 504's. |
Anonymous
Students can take Advanced Math at most schools even if they are not in the AAP program - you just have to test into it. 
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Anonymous
| You can get more specific feedback if you mention your local FCPS school but it sounds you've gotten info from the local principal and FCPS tutor. FCPS gets new students from private school all the time - have seen them make friends, thrive in class and oh by the way, FCPS has many resources beyond private schools to help make your child successful |
Anonymous
What in her post made him seem like the perfect fit for AAP? Didn't she say, " Our current school also say he is below grade level in reading, but his weekly reading tutor is a FCPS teacher who says he is on grade level and doing great and is at grade level so we aren't sure what is correct there." He might be a good fit for level II services in math. |
Anonymous
| OP here - regardless, we didn't apply for AAP so I don't think we can expect to be in AAP in the fall. Thanks for your help. So they can put him in advance classes for math? Will they test him in the Fall for pull-out placement? |
Anonymous
Generally schools look at any standardized test scores, teacher recommendations and assessments given at the beginning of the year (like in the first week). So, if he has high wisc quantitative scores, that will probably be strong evidence for math placement. |
Anonymous
| OP--If I were you, I wouldn't worry about the math right now. I would try to work on the behavior and the transition. The rest will take care of itself. If your son is a behavior problem, it will affect the way he is evaluated. |
Anonymous
| 20 years ago, I wouldn't hesitate to send my kids to FCPS as the whole system was tops in the country. Over the last two decades, we have seen it fall in disgrace as the population has changed and the system has been unable to handle its growth. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
overstatement - FCPS ranks well w/in VA and nationally. |