Anonymous wrote:Everyone can tell when the child does the work. And much of it is done in class.

+1

At our AAP Center, project work must be done at school, not at home. The only things done at home would occassionally be a bibliography or perhaps some artwork to accompany what was written at school.

Everyone can tell when the child does the work. And much of it is done in class.

Anonymous wrote:AAP is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. There are no "honors classes" in elementary school, but there are in middle, and HS has IB/AP.

AAP is FCPS's GT program. Only because of (insert reason here), it has about 18% of the county. Maybe our kids are smarter, or maybe standards are laxer.

The curriculum is similar; SOL's require that. But, in AAP, the use a more project based approach to learning, which allows for independent work and additional child creativity.

well maybe -- if the child does the project as opposed to the parents , which was very noticeable in DC's class last year.

AAP is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. There are no "honors classes" in elementary school, but there are in middle, and HS has IB/AP.

AAP is FCPS's GT program. Only because of (insert reason here), it has about 18% of the county. Maybe our kids are smarter, or maybe standards are laxer.

The curriculum is similar; SOL's require that. But, in AAP, the use a more project based approach to learning, which allows for independent work and additional child creativity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And FWIW, if your child doesn't gain acceptance into AAP, s/he will be just fine and will be challenged in the gen ed classroom.

I was once like the OP and looked to a board like this as a resource. As someone coming from the outside, this forum can give the impression that anything other than AAP is sub- standard. My kids are very bright and doing great in the general education classroom.

And your kids will likely go to the same colleges as most of the AAP kids and get the same jobs.

Not the PP, but is this truth or sarcasm. Are there "honors" classes on gen ed? We are thinking of moving to FFx for the schools but AAP sort of freaks me out.

Anonymous wrote:And FWIW, if your child doesn't gain acceptance into AAP, s/he will be just fine and will be challenged in the gen ed classroom.

I was once like the OP and looked to a board like this as a resource. As someone coming from the outside, this forum can give the impression that anything other than AAP is sub- standard. My kids are very bright and doing great in the general education classroom.

And your kids will likely go to the same colleges as most of the AAP kids and get the same jobs.

And FWIW, if your child doesn't gain acceptance into AAP, s/he will be just fine and will be challenged in the gen ed classroom.

I was once like the OP and looked to a board like this as a resource. As someone coming from the outside, this forum can give the impression that anything other than AAP is sub- standard. My kids are very bright and doing great in the general education classroom.

Strong WISC scores will trump awards or even work samples. I would not be concerned about not having awards/samples. The two recommendation letters are great to include in the referral.

Thank you for the responses. DC's teacher has filled out the GBRS. Also we are doing the WISC.. I am quite nervous tho since DC is quite out of touch with anything. No time to play even games like SET to keep DC's mind sharp since the test in very soon.
I don't have any work samples as we discarded them during the move. How important are those?
22.09 good to hear about your experience.
DC also has two recommendation letters from previous teachers. That is about it tho.
Are awards etc. very important?

I agree with PPs about getting the GBRS filled out by a former teacher (if that's still possible). I went through the end of year folder and pulled out perhaps two work samples, filled out the parent questionnaire (though I have no idea how much weight if any that had), had DD's previous teacher fill out the GBRS, and had the WISC done (since our school had no standardized testing at all).

Make the appointment with the staff at the office there to drop it all off and make sure nothing is missing. Ignore any snide remarks made by the intake person about your child's score or packet. In our case, they flippantly remarked that DD's WISC was borderline, "They like to see these over 130" when DD had a 128.

The good news is that they mail the letter shortly thereafter, though ours had a "reply by" date that was the day before I actually received the letter! DD was accepted and is thriving. Good luck.

Test scores are important, please see if you can take any of the tests indicated by FCPS.

Also, if the kid was in any kind of similar program in the previous school, don't forget to include documentation on that as well.

I would submit a few samples and maybe one former teacher recommendation. Use the GBRS with commentary form as writing prompts to write about your child.

Good luck!

We are from out of state and I am wondering what kind of work examples I can provide? I don't have with me any school examples and I am not sure these I can get from the school anymore. I have a few stories DC has written, one for school and one at home. I also have a few samples of creative things DC has made at home. Also since this is the first time we are applying are recommendations from previous teachers good for this? Any other things I should keep in mind? I am also having trouble writing about my child, should I provide any examples?
Any help is appreciated, thank you!