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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Fairfax County may be getting the new FBI headquarters. Virginia got Amazon also. Maryland has more of a health focus, with NIH and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services located there. Fairfax and Arlington Counties have amazing interconnected bike paths. Virginia has more college options for kids so it could be better to be in state there.

How are GT (gifted and talented) types of programs handled in Bethesda? In Vienna, through Fairfax County, there’s a program called AAP (Advanced Academic Programs) for third through eighth grade. It can be divisive and cause stress to families and discouragement to some students, while enriching others. Kids selected are separated from others and attend classes at AAP centers located at some of the schools. (There are some cases where a school will have a local AAP program with kids staying at their original school and no one else coming in.) DCUM has a separate AAP forum, reflecting the importance of and strong feelings around this program. [/quote]

Aren't a huge percentage of kids accepted to AAP every year?  I read parents complaining that it is hardly accelerated at all.  [/quote]

I believe about 20% of kids are accepted. Out of a class of 25 second-graders, about 5 may be accepted. Since several schools, such as five schools, may have kids in AAP at a center, about half of the AAP center classrooms will be AAP and about half will be GE (general education, or gen ed). So if a kid grows up in gen ed at a center school, they may have the impression that they are in the bottom half of all kids intellectually. Whereas in reality they may be at the 96th or 97th percentile (need to be at 98th or 99th percentile for AAP, which in our highly educated area is about 20% of the kids). AAP can be a great program for those who are in it. Maybe it is better to be at a non-AAP center school if not in AAP, so the disparity isn’t there within your own school. The AAP parents do a lot, though, to bring in great after-school programs to the school, for example, and everyone can benefit from those.

Another school-related consideration is that Fairfax County Public Schools has language immersion programs at some schools. You can attend at other schools (there is a lottery) but must provide your own transportation in that case. The programs begin at either kindergarten or first grade and continue through eighth grade. You can’t be in both AAP and language immersion.

Fairfax County has the well-known Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ). It is ranked #1 in the nation in the US News high school rankings. You must apply for admission through a very competitive process. There doesn’t seem to be anything at this level for Bethesda, but only a small number of kids will make it to TJ anyway. [/quote]

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