Gifted kid - APS, FCPS, or Nysmith?

[Anonymous]

Hi. We have a gifted child and are considering a move to either Arlington County or Fairfax County. We are flexible in terms of where we live, so we could live in Arlington or Fairfax.

Does anyone have any basis to compare the two districts in terms of their gifted program? Or comparing either of their AAPs to Nysmith? We could also afford private school, but would prefer public. However, ultimately we just want the best program for our child whose IQ is in the upper 150s range. We'd like to see a lot of differentiation, but also a healthy peer group dynamic that is not focused on all-out competition.

Thanks for sharing advice or experience you might have with gifted programs in the area.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like an average kid in AAP who has had an actual WISCONSIN. Nysnith is for the kids who don’t get into AAP.

[Anonymous]

^^auto correct. Should say WISC

[Anonymous]

AAP has changed from what it once was. Primarily it was a gifted program with requirements to get in. Today it is not for the gifted, but rather the high achieving. No IQ test is required for entry. People who have gifted children understand the differing needs of a gifted child vs one who gets good grades at school because they try hard. FCPS has moved to a holistic approach to AAP admission. There are no set guidelines for entry. Your child’s teacher”s opinion weighs heavily on whether or not your child is found eligible. As a result, a large number of AAP students are not gifted, per se, according to an IQ rest. On the flip side, there are gifted children who are not getting in to AAP with the new FCPS system. Your child with an IQ of 150 has no guarantee of getting in. The system is not standardized . Nysmith is a good place for kids who are gifted who did not impress their teacher and therefore did not get in to AAP. Keep an open mind when deciding where to live as there is no rhyme or reason as to who gets in and who doesn’t . Don’t rely on it.

[Anonymous]

#1

[Anonymous]

I just want to echo how significant teacher recommendations can be for AAP. When it was known as GT, I had a very high IQ creative and ADHD learner who performed just OK in school. She did NOT get into the program although she qualified on paper, at least in terms of IQ. She did go into a school based GT program, as it was known then, which was primarily kids who qualified for level 4 services in FCPS. And it was awful for her. It was all about acceleration, not depth.She was not a strong math student, and was pulled out of GT for regular math. The teacher was ALL about math and didn’t really have an interest in my kid, who had a “voice” and was writing dialogue in kindergarten. We tried to make it work but ended up moving to a private school that let her play to her strengths more, especially with a language arts program that included drama.

She might not have EVER been a good fit for the AAP given quirkiness as a learner but she was really ill served by a teacher who saw kids through only one lens. Accelerated and gifted are not synonyms.

[Anonymous]

*her quirkiness

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP has changed from what it once was. Primarily it was a gifted program with requirements to get in. Today it is not for the gifted, but rather the high achieving. No IQ test is required for entry. People who have gifted children understand the differing needs of a gifted child vs one who gets good grades at school because they try hard. FCPS has moved to a holistic approach to AAP admission. There are no set guidelines for entry. Your child’s teacher”s opinion weighs heavily on whether or not your child is found eligible. As a result, a large number of AAP students are not gifted, per se, according to an IQ rest. On the flip side, there are gifted children who are not getting in to AAP with the new FCPS system. Your child with an IQ of 150 has no guarantee of getting in. The system is not standardized . Nysmith is a good place for kids who are gifted who did not impress their teacher and therefore did not get in to AAP. Keep an open mind when deciding where to live as there is no rhyme or reason as to who gets in and who doesn’t . Don’t rely on it.

That’s troubling to hear. How have these changes affected kids who are gifted? If an AAP is full,of kids who aren’t gifted but try hard, it seems that it would become less able to offer differentiation that meets the needs of gifted kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP has changed from what it once was. Primarily it was a gifted program with requirements to get in. Today it is not for the gifted, but rather the high achieving. No IQ test is required for entry. People who have gifted children understand the differing needs of a gifted child vs one who gets good grades at school because they try hard. FCPS has moved to a holistic approach to AAP admission. There are no set guidelines for entry. Your child’s teacher”s opinion weighs heavily on whether or not your child is found eligible. As a result, a large number of AAP students are not gifted, per se, according to an IQ rest. On the flip side, there are gifted children who are not getting in to AAP with the new FCPS system. Your child with an IQ of 150 has no guarantee of getting in. The system is not standardized . Nysmith is a good place for kids who are gifted who did not impress their teacher and therefore did not get in to AAP. Keep an open mind when deciding where to live as there is no rhyme or reason as to who gets in and who doesn’t . Don’t rely on it.

That’s troubling to hear. How have these changes affected kids who are gifted? If an AAP is full,of kids who aren’t gifted but try hard, it seems that it would become less able to offer differentiation that meets the needs of gifted kids.

The PP is incorrect, most years students need a 131-133 on the CogAt to be in the pool. Parents do fill out forms to have their child considered if they fall below that line, but unless the teacher has a very strong recommendation, they still need a score of 130or so on another test like the WISC. When Fairfax decided to do its own version of the CogAt because of remapnt cheating, there was a bubble group year where more were accepted because there was quite a bit of leeway.

[Anonymous]

Which school in Arlington or Fairfax? That matters more. There are too many variations within each schoolsystem to recommend one over the other.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of quirky in AAP.

[Anonymous]

My neighbors daughter did not get in. IQ 136. CogAt 134. For those who don’t know, CoGAt is not an IQ Test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The PP is incorrect, most years students need a 131-133 on the CogAt to be in the pool. Parents do fill out forms to have their child considered if they fall below that line, but unless the teacher has a very strong recommendation, they still need a score of 130or so on another test like the WISC. When Fairfax decided to do its own version of the CogAt because of remapnt cheating, there was a bubble group year where more were accepted because there was quite a bit of leeway.

A huge number of kids are admitted via parent referrals and have no scores at or even close to the 132 in-pool threshold. My AAP DD and most of her AAP friends had scores in the low to mid 120s, and are bright, motivated students. My DD isn't way above grade level and her test scores seem pretty accurate. She was given a 15 GBRS for being a good student, and she's solidly average in her AAP classes. I don't think a 150 IQ kid would be well served in AAP, but I'm not sure that he would be well served anywhere.

[Anonymous]

AAP was not created to serve the gifted, contrary to popular belief. AAP serves the high achievers. Like a previous PP said, being gifted and being a high achiever are not synonymous.

[Anonymous]

It is a little sad that FCPS pays so much attention to helping the special needs of so many other groups outside the mainstream, but it has nothing for the very special needs that gifted children require. As good as FCPS is for other groups, it is most certainly lacking here.