AAP school experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish they didn’t label the kids. It is fine to have an advanced class. I don’t know if they need to segregate the kids this way.

We moved when my kids were in 2nd and 4th. My 4th grader was already in AAP. My 2nd grader originally did not get in and it felt awful. He got in on appeal. All his friends went to the orientation and he really felt awful about it. He started AAP in 3rd with others.

Both kids basically only hang out with kids who were in AAP, especially my older. He doesn’t know any “regular” kids. He knew only AAP kids in middle school and now in high school, all his classes have been honors and AP.

LOL at the fact that your kid is not "regular". Guess what PP? Most of the kids in Honors and AP in high school were actually not AAP kids in elementary. But he time they get to high school, literally the only difference is that some of these kids may be a year ahead in math. Other than that, they're all in the same advanced classes and do the same activities. I bet your son has no idea who was or was not in AAP unless he went to elementary with them.

It's also pretty pathetic that you view this as some sort of prestige thing.

[Anonymous]

LOL at the fact that your kid is not "regular". Guess what PP? Most of the kids in Honors and AP in high school were actually not AAP kids in elementary. But he time they get to high school, literally the only difference is that some of these kids may be a year ahead in math. Other than that, they're all in the same advanced classes and do the same activities. I bet your son has no idea who was or was not in AAP unless he went to elementary with them.

DD had friends from the center when she was in high school. She actually scored better and achieved more than most of them.
One thing she said: some of them never got over the fact that they were not selected for TJ. They had been told for years that they were the smartest and the brightest. They were not very resilient.
Of course, there were exceptions, that this applies to many of those kids.

And, they start tracking these kids way too soon. Third grade is too early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone share your kids experience being at an AAP elementary school but not testing into the AAP
program?

Wild how this was the original question but the obnoxious AAP parents had to swoop in and poop all over the thread and tell us exactly what it’s like for them.

OP, I think that tells you exactly what you need to know. The AAP center parents at a center school think they own the school and tell their kids they are soooo much smarter and superior to the other kids in the general education sections.

They are utterly insufferable and abusive to teachers and admin and look down on in boundary families. And when their darlings go off to Rachel Carson or whatever they scoff at the kids going to the less well regarded neighborhood middle school.

And the in boundary families are glad to see the back of all but a small minority of them.

[Anonymous]

It is the annual “AAP sucks” thread. Seriously, every year.

My ideal would be that each subject had an Advanced class and kids were placed in the class that fit them best. There are too many kids who are strong in LA that are placed in LIV that are not strong in math and struggle with the math. They are placed in LIV because there is no Advanced LA and they need more in the LA category. The kids who are strong in math but not LA are able to go into Advanced Math, which upsets parents who see LIV as some sort of intelligence check.

Have Advanced Math, LA, Science, and Social Studies. Place the kids in the classes that make sense for their ability level and curiosity. Get rid of the Centers.

Classes should be leveled so that there is no more than 3 levels of kids in a class so that Teachers can manage differentiation in the class. The regular class has too many kids at different skill levels. Rotate the Teachers each year so that Teachers don’t burn out teaching a particular skill level. I would guess most schools would have 25% of the kids in a class for kids below grade level or struggling at grade level, 50% at grade level or a bit ahead, and 25% ahead in most subjects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

Same experience here, but with a scouting troop. Absurd.

I think we are this elementary school! I heard this year one of the girls switched troops to be with her AAP friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is the annual “AAP sucks” thread. Seriously, every year.

My ideal would be that each subject had an Advanced class and kids were placed in the class that fit them best. There are too many kids who are strong in LA that are placed in LIV that are not strong in math and struggle with the math. They are placed in LIV because there is no Advanced LA and they need more in the LA category. The kids who are strong in math but not LA are able to go into Advanced Math, which upsets parents who see LIV as some sort of intelligence check.

Have Advanced Math, LA, Science, and Social Studies. Place the kids in the classes that make sense for their ability level and curiosity. Get rid of the Centers.

Classes should be leveled so that there is no more than 3 levels of kids in a class so that Teachers can manage differentiation in the class. The regular class has too many kids at different skill levels. Rotate the Teachers each year so that Teachers don’t burn out teaching a particular skill level. I would guess most schools would have 25% of the kids in a class for kids below grade level or struggling at grade level, 50% at grade level or a bit ahead, and 25% ahead in most subjects.

Please run for school board!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

Same experience here, but with a scouting troop. Absurd.

I think we are this elementary school! I heard this year one of the girls switched troops to be with her AAP friends.

I suspect I’m at this school as well. And several years ago a girl left her troop in 4th grade for another school’s because the AAP kids were bullying her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, it's parents of the gen ed kids who cause the most strife. They pass their jealousy off to their kids, which is nonsense if AAP is the lousy program they claim it is. If that were true, why would it matter what class your kid was in?

Oh, please. When your kid comes home from school in tears because all of their friends told them they just "weren't smart enough" to join them in AAP, get back to us. I never said anything at all to my DC about AAP, other than to reassure them after being hurt by these obnoxious kids.

+100

Mine was on the cusp but didn't make it in. He was told on the school bus by a fried that "I wish you were smarter so we could still go to school together". Damn that hurt. Then all of his buddies left the next year. His teachers were suprised he didn't go with them. He didn't test well. Then you hear about SOL Pass Advanced and Iowa Algebra tests and IB tests and AP Tests and TJ admission tests and SAT/ACTs. Now with a senior, looking back, it's not about being gifted, it's about being able to pass standardized tests with a good enough score to bump to the next level. In the end, it's an accelerated math program so that kids can take Calculus or above while still in high school. It might have been dressed up in some extra research projects, Ceaser's english, and a longer bus ride, but it doesn't get you much of anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they didn’t label the kids. It is fine to have an advanced class. I don’t know if they need to segregate the kids this way.

We moved when my kids were in 2nd and 4th. My 4th grader was already in AAP. My 2nd grader originally did not get in and it felt awful. He got in on appeal. All his friends went to the orientation and he really felt awful about it. He started AAP in 3rd with others.

Both kids basically only hang out with kids who were in AAP, especially my older. He doesn’t know any “regular” kids. He knew only AAP kids in middle school and now in high school, all his classes have been honors and AP.

LOL at the fact that your kid is not "regular". Guess what PP? Most of the kids in Honors and AP in high school were actually not AAP kids in elementary. But he time they get to high school, literally the only difference is that some of these kids may be a year ahead in math. Other than that, they're all in the same advanced classes and do the same activities. I bet your son has no idea who was or was not in AAP unless he went to elementary with them.

It's also pretty pathetic that you view this as some sort of prestige thing.

Parent of a 2e kiddo over here who was told her child was “not AAP material” in 2nd grade and largely treated as though they were stupid until 6th grade when several teachers suddenly clued in that the child is very bright.

That child, in high school, takes most classes with elementary AAP counterparts.

AAP is not gifted education.

AAP is not gifted education.

What AAP IS is a way to shut up entitled Lake Woebegone parents who were student body presidents at 2nd rate US colleges and universities and now live in Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, it's parents of the gen ed kids who cause the most strife. They pass their jealousy off to their kids, which is nonsense if AAP is the lousy program they claim it is. If that were true, why would it matter what class your kid was in?

Agree! They have an inferiority complex.

Respectfully, you're full of crap. Parents could remain completely silent about anything AAP-related, and the Gen Ed kids would still be getting the message from AAP kids in some instances that the AAP kids are "gifted" and the Gen Ed kids are "lesser than." It's a predictable consequence of the structure FCPS has created and the early age at which kids are screened and separated. One need only read Golding or Orwell to know this.

Exactly. This is human nature and FCPS has seen fit to foster this environment by creating this enormous monster (AAP) and labeling kids at the age of seven. It truly turns my stomach. Which isn't to say there shouldn't be advanced classes - there absolutely should. But ALL kids should be able to cycle into and out of them as needed. I think teachers would be quite astounded at exactly who is advanced when given the chance to perform. And this is why you see so many kids leaping ahead in high school - because they're finally "allowed" to take advanced classes. They should have been allowed the entire time.

+1This is fundamentally wrong. And the irony is that the kids in AAP are on the most part average students. Then you have some overly trained, overly supplemented ones who appear smart but only due to outside tutors, parents, and classes. Then you only truly have 1-2% who are gifted academics who want to learn for learning’s sake. The program has been a ruse and a disappointment in implementation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they didn’t label the kids. It is fine to have an advanced class. I don’t know if they need to segregate the kids this way.

We moved when my kids were in 2nd and 4th. My 4th grader was already in AAP. My 2nd grader originally did not get in and it felt awful. He got in on appeal. All his friends went to the orientation and he really felt awful about it. He started AAP in 3rd with others.

Both kids basically only hang out with kids who were in AAP, especially my older. He doesn’t know any “regular” kids. He knew only AAP kids in middle school and now in high school, all his classes have been honors and AP.

LOL at the fact that your kid is not "regular". Guess what PP? Most of the kids in Honors and AP in high school were actually not AAP kids in elementary. But he time they get to high school, literally the only difference is that some of these kids may be a year ahead in math. Other than that, they're all in the same advanced classes and do the same activities. I bet your son has no idea who was or was not in AAP unless he went to elementary with them.

It's also pretty pathetic that you view this as some sort of prestige thing.

I said I wished they didn’t have AAP and didn’t label kids. The kids themselves separate themselves with AAP and regular kids.

I’m sure there are many many kids who are just as smart and did not get into AAP in 3rd grade. My kid is top of his class and hangs out with the smart kids. He only hangs out with smart kids. That is probably more to do with his personality than some stupid AAP designation in elementary school.

At our school (Langley), there is usually the academically motivated kids and the not academically motivated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, it's parents of the gen ed kids who cause the most strife. They pass their jealousy off to their kids, which is nonsense if AAP is the lousy program they claim it is. If that were true, why would it matter what class your kid was in?

Agree! They have an inferiority complex.

Respectfully, you're full of crap. Parents could remain completely silent about anything AAP-related, and the Gen Ed kids would still be getting the message from AAP kids in some instances that the AAP kids are "gifted" and the Gen Ed kids are "lesser than." It's a predictable consequence of the structure FCPS has created and the early age at which kids are screened and separated. One need only read Golding or Orwell to know this.

Exactly. This is human nature and FCPS has seen fit to foster this environment by creating this enormous monster (AAP) and labeling kids at the age of seven. It truly turns my stomach. Which isn't to say there shouldn't be advanced classes - there absolutely should. But ALL kids should be able to cycle into and out of them as needed. I think teachers would be quite astounded at exactly who is advanced when given the chance to perform. And this is why you see so many kids leaping ahead in high school - because they're finally "allowed" to take advanced classes. They should have been allowed the entire time.

+1This is fundamentally wrong. And the irony is that the kids in AAP are on the most part average students. Then you have some overly trained, overly supplemented ones who appear smart but only due to outside tutors, parents, and classes. Then you only truly have 1-2% who are gifted academics who want to learn for learning’s sake. The program has been a ruse and a disappointment in implementation.

We used to live in a high FARMs area and there was a huge difference when my child went to the AAP center. All the smart kids from 10+ schools went to an AAP center and the cohort of kids was excellent. We then moved to a wealthier area and the AAP peer group has also been positive. Of course the bottom kids at AAP are just average and some smart kids who should have gotten in didn’t get in but for the most part, the peer group is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, it's parents of the gen ed kids who cause the most strife. They pass their jealousy off to their kids, which is nonsense if AAP is the lousy program they claim it is. If that were true, why would it matter what class your kid was in?

Oh, please. When your kid comes home from school in tears because all of their friends told them they just "weren't smart enough" to join them in AAP, get back to us. I never said anything at all to my DC about AAP, other than to reassure them after being hurt by these obnoxious kids.

Calling them “obnoxious“ really bolsters your argument that you’re not jealous.

DP but gee, I wonder where these children are getting their "we're better than you" attitude from. In talking to neighbors, all the bright kids end up in the same AP classes in high school anyway, so why should anyone care?

Here's the thing: Parents without kids in AAP spout all the time that "kids are all together in MS honors" or "end up in the same AP classes high school anyway."

If that is the truth, turn the question back on yourselves: Why should anyone care?

I'm so sick of parents trying to cut down a program just because their kid wasn't selected. Grow up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s so sad is once a base kid moves into the AAP class, they lose all their friendships with the gen Ed kids because they literally never see them again.

This has been our experience at a school with an LLIV program. There are two regular classes and one AAP class. The girls in the 6th grade AAP class have cliqued up to the point where they even have their own sports teams in the local rec league. They stayed friends in 3rd, but my child and several others got dropped like a hot potato in 4th.

I knew a teacher who was really exasperated about one of those 2E kids in her classroom who threw screaming fits frequently. The kind where the rest of the class had to leave while the child exploded screaming. And, the irony: the kid really wasn't that smart. The mom pushed for it.

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it sounds a whole lot like frustration that students with disabilities can also be gifted.

Sorry that challenges your belief in eugenics

Do you even know what that means? That had nothing to do with the comment.

But, if the teacher did not think the child was gifted, why do you think that? You do know that parents who complain and push frequently get their kids admitted.

This surely demonstrates your ignorance about the program. Parents can’t “push” their kids into it. They have to be selected by a committee.

And, from 0622:

We moved when my kids were in 2nd and 4th. My 4th grader was already in AAP. My 2nd grader originally did not get in and it felt awful. He got in on appeal. All his friends went to the orientation and he really felt awful about it. He started AAP in 3rd with others.

It's an appeal to the committee. Are you new here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, it's parents of the gen ed kids who cause the most strife. They pass their jealousy off to their kids, which is nonsense if AAP is the lousy program they claim it is. If that were true, why would it matter what class your kid was in?

Oh, please. When your kid comes home from school in tears because all of their friends told them they just "weren't smart enough" to join them in AAP, get back to us. I never said anything at all to my DC about AAP, other than to reassure them after being hurt by these obnoxious kids.

Calling them “obnoxious“ really bolsters your argument that you’re not jealous.

DP but gee, I wonder where these children are getting their "we're better than you" attitude from. In talking to neighbors, all the bright kids end up in the same AP classes in high school anyway, so why should anyone care?

Here's the thing: Parents without kids in AAP spout all the time that "kids are all together in MS honors" or "end up in the same AP classes high school anyway."

If that is the truth, turn the question back on yourselves: Why should anyone care?

I'm so sick of parents trying to cut down a program just because their kid wasn't selected. Grow up.

I just posted above that my kid is a high stat kid. I don’t know all the kids from all the other schools. I do know most of the kids that my kids went to elementary school with. Many kids who didn’t get into AAP switched to private school, the ones who probably would have done well in honors or AP classes. There are new kids who moved in middle and high school who were never in AAP that do great too. There is not some huge population of non AAP kids who do significantly better than the AAP kids and end up at Harvard or Yale.