Feel like my well behaved 1st grader is basically ignored in FCPS

[Anonymous]

My 7yo DS is a nice kid, doesn't cause any problems and listens to the teacher. DS's FCPS Alexandria school is 30% free lunch/ESOL. He has 27 kids in his class. DS is a bright kid but probably not gifted. I feel like he is completely ignored in his class. I don't know if this is unique to his class or school or if it will be the same everywhere for a well behaved non-troublemaker who isn't profoundly gifted.

I don't know if things will change if we move to Arlington or Mclean, deemed better schools. I would like to move to Arlington for closer proximity to work and smaller class sizes. Mclean has nicer curb appeal but I believe class sizes are even bigger.

[Anonymous]

What kind of attention do you want for him?

[Anonymous]

What do you mean? Is something going wrong that isn't being addressed?

[Anonymous]

Do you like your school and your neighborhood otherwise?

Arlington classes are not much smaller unless the school is title I. my daughter's first-grade class has 25 kids, which is about the norm. And you'd pay a lot more for a comparable house in Arlington.

Does HE feel he's ignored? Maybe you could just be glad your kid is normal and not weird or badly behaved or so smart he'll be socially isolated.

My kid is being tested for gifted, but i don't expect her to be treated any differently than the other 24 kids in her class. I expect she'll get about 1/25th of the teacher's time, like I did. At some point, he will probably show some sort of special talent or cool trait and maybe he'll stand out more. 7 is kind of a blah time; most kids will shine more as they get older and develop more interests and spend more time pursuing them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean? Is something going wrong that isn't being addressed?

I don't feel like he is challenged. There is 1 teacher and she mostly attends to the other kids who require more attention. My kid just sits at his desk, gets homework that is just busywork. I don't know if private school it the answer or a move to a different school district.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you like your school and your neighborhood otherwise?

Arlington classes are not much smaller unless the school is title I. my daughter's first-grade class has 25 kids, which is about the norm. And you'd pay a lot more for a comparable house in Arlington.

Does HE feel he's ignored? Maybe you could just be glad your kid is normal and not weird or badly behaved or so smart he'll be socially isolated.

My kid is being tested for gifted, but i don't expect her to be treated any differently than the other 24 kids in her class. I expect she'll get about 1/25th of the teacher's time, like I did. At some point, he will probably show some sort of special talent or cool trait and maybe he'll stand out more. 7 is kind of a blah time; most kids will shine more as they get older and develop more interests and spend more time pursuing them.

We like our home and neighbors very much. We bought a beautiful home in a cul de sac for about 800k 5 years ago when we had an infant and toddler. Smaller house in Arlington will probably cost us 1.5 million, which we can afford but it would wipe out our savings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean? Is something going wrong that isn't being addressed?

I don't feel like he is challenged. There is 1 teacher and she mostly attends to the other kids who require more attention. My kid just sits at his desk, gets homework that is just busywork. I don't know if private school it the answer or a move to a different school district.

Not being challenged is not the same as being ignored. Have you talked to the teacher to see if there's anything they can do?

[Anonymous]

I feel exactly the same way. My kid isn't a special needs kid or a troublemaker, nor is he "greatly gifted", and therefore he is basically ignored. Any extra enrichment he gets is provided by me.

Changing schools won't help you -- my son is already in a very good school. It is just the nature of a giant school system.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you are going down the path to private school. It kills me to be paying for private school, but by the time FCPS gets done paying and staffing everything else that they do, from AAP to ESOL, the 'average' student just doesn't get that much from FCPS. Took me through ES to figure that out - I regret every minute my kids were in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel exactly the same way. My kid isn't a special needs kid or a troublemaker, nor is he "greatly gifted", and therefore he is basically ignored. Any extra enrichment he gets is provided by me.

Changing schools won't help you -- my son is already in a very good school. It is just the nature of a giant school system.

Well isn't that true with life?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you are going down the path to private school. It kills me to be paying for private school, but by the time FCPS gets done paying and staffing everything else that they do, from AAP to ESOL, the 'average' student just doesn't get that much from FCPS. Took me through ES to figure that out - I regret every minute my kids were in FCPS.

Op here. I was just talking to DH about private school. Don't think Mclean will be any better for my child. We will see how things go. I feel we will be visiting Burgundy, Browne and SSSA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you are going down the path to private school. It kills me to be paying for private school, but by the time FCPS gets done paying and staffing everything else that they do, from AAP to ESOL, the 'average' student just doesn't get that much from FCPS. Took me through ES to figure that out - I regret every minute my kids were in FCPS.

Op here. I was just talking to DH about private school. Don't think Mclean will be any better for my child. We will see how things go. I feel we will be visiting Burgundy, Browne and SSSA.

Good luck, OP. My kids have 504 Plans so they are in FCPS. If they didn't have 504 Plans, we would have opted for private, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you are going down the path to private school. It kills me to be paying for private school, but by the time FCPS gets done paying and staffing everything else that they do, from AAP to ESOL, the 'average' student just doesn't get that much from FCPS. Took me through ES to figure that out - I regret every minute my kids were in FCPS.

Op here. I was just talking to DH about private school. Don't think Mclean will be any better for my child. We will see how things go. I feel we will be visiting Burgundy, Browne and SSSA.

Good luck, OP. My kids have 504 Plans so they are in FCPS. If they didn't have 504 Plans, we would have opted for private, too.

It's terrible, but if you cannot get your kid some sort of label (AAP, IEP, 504, ESOL), there is really not much to feel good about in FCPS. SSSA is a beautiful school - and 35K/yr!

[Anonymous]

Find out in your district when math and reading classes separate depending upon abilities. The schools will use a different title, but it's basically "high" and "low". Maybe others will chime in, but I would hope this occurs during the fourth grade level. In the meantime, purchase some math workbooks and read, read, read. This is an easy time to supplement.

[Anonymous]

I kinda wonder if the same problem won't occur at a private school. Are they also set up to provide lots of help to the "gifted" and not much to the "bright regular" types?