Anonymous wrote:New poster here. Trying to decide between Congressional and Fcps. Other than the obvious difference in tuition, and class size (I assume Aap has much larger class sizes) what are the other major differences please?

Congressional does a fine job for bright students. For students with specific needs, the school is not as well equipped or experienced addressing needs of highly gifted learners.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you...what would be next for congressional student for high school options? Would private be needed

Many Congressional students go on to high school at other area independent schools, but some do go to their local public high school, and a few go to TJ every year.

Thank you...what would be next for congressional student for high school options? Would private be needed

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster here. Trying to decide between Congressional and Fcps. Other than the obvious difference in tuition, and class size (I assume Aap has much larger class sizes) what are the other major differences please?

If your kid is math oriented, then FCPS is the way to go. If you want writing to be a larger part of your child's education, then private is the way to go.

As a parent with a high schooler who went through the AAP program and a student at Congressional, I would disagree with the pp. The math at Congressional is on track with AAP math (Algebra in 7th and Geometry in 8th) and the math specialist does pull outs for kids who are ready to move faster. Congressional offers actual laboratory science (as opposed to the FCPS box kits) starting in the lower school and it is light years ahead starting in the "middle school" which starts at fifth grade. As pp mentioned, writing and grammar is taught much more in depth than it is in public school, and cursive is still taught (it is no longer taught in many FCPS schools).

I would recommend that you attend an open house and see it for yourself in action.

Anonymous wrote:New poster here. Trying to decide between Congressional and Fcps. Other than the obvious difference in tuition, and class size (I assume Aap has much larger class sizes) what are the other major differences please?

If your kid is math oriented, then FCPS is the way to go. If you want writing to be a larger part of your child's education, then private is the way to go.

New poster here. Trying to decide between Congressional and Fcps. Other than the obvious difference in tuition, and class size (I assume Aap has much larger class sizes) what are the other major differences please?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:16:40 - what grade did you enter public? and, which private did you come from? clearly you have an intelligent child!

We left Congressional and DC started FCPS in 3rd grade. (Several classmates also switched to public in 3rd grade.)

That's ironic. Our child was in AAP and we left for Congressional after 4th grade. We have found the depth of the curriculum, experiential learning, and the individualized differentiation to be far more advanced than what our child experienced in AAP.

16:55 here -- we found Congressional difficult to work with to meet our DC's needs. Our experience with AAP has been far superior. Each child's needs are different.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:16:40 - what grade did you enter public? and, which private did you come from? clearly you have an intelligent child!

We left Congressional and DC started FCPS in 3rd grade. (Several classmates also switched to public in 3rd grade.)

That's ironic. Our child was in AAP and we left for Congressional after 4th grade. We have found the depth of the curriculum, experiential learning, and the individualized differentiation to be far more advanced than what our child experienced in AAP.

+125 13% of FCPS students are in the program

Anonymous wrote:16:40 - what grade did you enter public? and, which private did you come from? clearly you have an intelligent child!

We left Congressional and DC started FCPS in 3rd grade. (Several classmates also switched to public in 3rd grade.)

16:40 - what grade did you enter public? and, which private did you come from? clearly you have an intelligent child!

Anonymous wrote:we're considering applying from private to FCPS AAP - is the above true? can anyone else weigh in? We're waiting for our WISC-IC report now.

Not sure what the floor score might be, but our DC is in AAP from private with a WISC-IV FSIQ score of 140+

we're considering applying from private to FCPS AAP - is the above true? can anyone else weigh in? We're waiting for our WISC-IC report now.

Generally, from the posts I've seen here, it is reported that your child needs a WISC of 130-132 to be an "admit."

We won't be taking the in school test as we are not in FFX school right now but will potentially be next year. We'll need to use an independent tester for the process. What kind of WPSSI/WISC score do you need to achieve (specifically % and number).

Thank you!