My son stayed in immersion instead of going to the AAP center at 3rd grade, and he's now in 9th grade Spanish III, and also Alg II H and didn't even blink. He effectively "caught up" with the kids in the AAP center when they all enrolled in HS because they are in the same classes now regardless of which elementary and middle school they went to. Our elementary school did have advanced math in 6th grade, but it was driven by the number of students in the class that were ready for that material as opposed to the course being implemented school-wide.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would totally stay in the Spanish immersion. That's a no brainer. Learning a second language will always trump an AAP class.

just silly. If you're in AAP you can't learn a second language?

In FCPS the immersion programs are not also AAP center schools, so you can't learn a language in an immersion setting. There are some schools where language is a once a week one hour class (STEAMS??), like art or other specials. But only immersion schools offer math & science taught in the target language. Some immersion schools do allow for advance math, but that is based on the year and if they have enough kids.

Immersion is a slow going process. Keep in mind that at second grade you really aren't going to see a fluent child. It really does take time and you won't see that at second grade when you make your first AAP choice.

At least you can speak to your work mates while raking leaves

The AAP kids can pick up enough Spanish to talk to the help.

Anonymous wrote:Stay in immersion. My DC turned down AAP to stay in immersion. He is now a 7th grader taking Algebra & Language I. Two high school classes, AAP kids only take Algebra (if they test in)

Language is a life long skill that opens more doors than AAP.

You aren't going to write on a job application that you went to a GT/AAP elementary school, but knowing a second language will be with you forever.

Turning down AAP was the best thing we ever did. At the end of second grade we turned down AAP with the idea that we could revisit the choice each year. It came up only in passing each year. (One year as a threat - "if you don't shape up and do you homework you are going to your AAP school where you will have nothing but homework & projects every night!")

complete BS. AAP not inconsistent with picking up a language skill.

Anonymous wrote:Immersion has never proven to be beneficial for learning.

so after high school how much Spanish do you remember?

Hola. Como esta usted? Muy bien, gracias, y tu?

Anonymous wrote:I would totally stay in the Spanish immersion. That's a no brainer. Learning a second language will always trump an AAP class.

just silly. If you're in AAP you can't learn a second language?

Immersion has never proven to be beneficial for learning.

Stay in immersion. My DC turned down AAP to stay in immersion. He is now a 7th grader taking Algebra & Language I. Two high school classes, AAP kids only take Algebra (if they test in)

Language is a life long skill that opens more doors than AAP.

You aren't going to write on a job application that you went to a GT/AAP elementary school, but knowing a second language will be with you forever.

Turning down AAP was the best thing we ever did. At the end of second grade we turned down AAP with the idea that we could revisit the choice each year. It came up only in passing each year. (One year as a threat - "if you don't shape up and do you homework you are going to your AAP school where you will have nothing but homework & projects every night!")

I would look at both schools. We only speak German at home and when my son got into Orange Hunt for the immersion program and the AAP school for our center, I had a hard time deciding what to do.

For us, it was more important to have a good base education where's he's challenged versus having the reading and writing in school. I was hoping to teach it at home but as life goes, we haven't really done much. Come middle school he can catch up on the reading/writing in German whereas the base education at a higher level, he wouldn't be able to.

best of luck in deciding what's right for you guys.

I've done both. It depends on the kid. For one, the AAP made sense as she was a school-minded child who thrived on creativity in the classroom. For the other, staying in immersion made sense, as she did well in school but didn't love it in the same way. Plus, she liked learning Spanish.

Does your DC's immersion school have advance math or just pullout? Do you feel your child is getting appropriate differentiation? If so, I'd stay. I didn't think that was the case with my DC, so we made the switch. Under different circumstances I would have preferred to keep DC at the immersion school.

I would totally stay in the Spanish immersion. That's a no brainer. Learning a second language will always trump an AAP class.

My DS is in spanish immersion and really loves it but we are wondering what to do if he gets into AAP. The spanish immersion school is not an AAP center so he would have to go to another school. Anyone else made this choice and can weigh in on staying in spanish immersion vs going to AAP?