Anonymous wrote:Also HGC in MCPS is very selective (top 3 to 5%) in their admissions, whereas FFX AAP admits top 10 to 15%.

Correct, MCPS can only serve a tiny sliver of its huge population for gifted & talented. Fairfax offers more gifted seats per capita.

Furthermore, MCPS, a HUGE county (200+ schools, so many square miles they have 2 different weather forecast alerts), chose the magnet/Gifted program host schools politically. To increase overall school test scores.
They are in more struggling school districts and neighborhoods and are a beltway traffic nightmare for 2/3s the country to get to/from. Therefore, many gifted kids do not bother applying to the middle or high school programs, and the attrition out of the ES gifted program is high as kids not in SIlver SPring don't care for the 6AM and 6PM 1-2 hour bus ride. it's tolerable for ES, but after that you are giving up a lot of your time and extracurricular options.

SO I would say big negative for MCPS.

only 13:13 actually tried to address the question.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMHO, Fairfax has a good system. For Montgomery County Public Schools:

- In terms of program availability, many good students left in home schools have no formal enrichment programs.

- The formal enrichment program (HGC) starts from 3rd grade while Fairfax has it since 2nd grade.

- In terms of school funding, there is a huge disparity among schools. Some schools have ~30% more budgets than others.

- Overall, the school system spend a lot more per student. However, the effectiveness is hard to see.

The HGC starts in fourth grade.

Also, MCPS has middle and high school test-in magnets. Other than TJ, I don't think FFX has this.

Yes the do. Blair, and others. Have a look. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/high/

You misread my post. I know MCPS has such programs - my kids both attend Blair. My point is, I don't know whether Fairfax County Public Schools has middle and high school magnet programs, other than TJ.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also HGC in MCPS is very selective (top 3 to 5%) in their admissions, whereas FFX AAP admits top 10 to 15%.

And many complain they are not really that accelerated since they include a broader range of kids (I have seen higher percentages than PP but can't confirm).

This is a complaint I hear a lot from friends in Fairfax. The difference between the top 5% of students and top 15% of students is really big and the curriculum is aimed more at the lower end of this group of students.
To the OP - you are probably fine in either school system. I think MCPS does a better job educating the top 5%. Post high school options are better in VA.

+1

Just had dinner with friends that joked that AAP takes the top 40%--they now want to consider private. I argued why bother--their child is in AAP and doing well. I think the private school population is the same top 20-30%. IMHO, everyone seems to complain in this area so I think it evens out for the average bright kid. At either ends of the spectrum (special ed/gifted) is where it probably matters where you live and what programs you have access to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also HGC in MCPS is very selective (top 3 to 5%) in their admissions, whereas FFX AAP admits top 10 to 15%.

And many complain they are not really that accelerated since they include a broader range of kids (I have seen higher percentages than PP but can't confirm).

This is a complaint I hear a lot from friends in Fairfax. The difference between the top 5% of students and top 15% of students is really big and the curriculum is aimed more at the lower end of this group of students.
To the OP - you are probably fine in either school system. I think MCPS does a better job educating the top 5%. Post high school options are better in VA.

Anonymous wrote:Also HGC in MCPS is very selective (top 3 to 5%) in their admissions, whereas FFX AAP admits top 10 to 15%.

And many complain they are not really that accelerated since they include a broader range of kids (I have seen higher percentages than PP but can't confirm).

Anonymous wrote:The biggest question for many is where do you go after high school. If you're thinking about public universities, most people think VA has better options.

Md person here and I would agree with this. UMD College park is great, but VA does have more great options.

The biggest question for many is where do you go after high school. If you're thinking about public universities, most people think VA has better options.

Anonymous wrote:Also HGC in MCPS is very selective (top 3 to 5%) in their admissions, whereas FFX AAP admits top 10 to 15%.

MCPS HS magnets are more selective than TJ too - 1 in 8 (to 10) depending on program in MCPS vs. 1/6 for TJ.

Also HGC in MCPS is very selective (top 3 to 5%) in their admissions, whereas FFX AAP admits top 10 to 15%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMHO, Fairfax has a good system. For Montgomery County Public Schools:

- In terms of program availability, many good students left in home schools have no formal enrichment programs.

- The formal enrichment program (HGC) starts from 3rd grade while Fairfax has it since 2nd grade.

- In terms of school funding, there is a huge disparity among schools. Some schools have ~30% more budgets than others.

- Overall, the school system spend a lot more per student. However, the effectiveness is hard to see.

The HGC starts in fourth grade.

Also, MCPS has middle and high school test-in magnets. Other than TJ, I don't think FFX has this.

Yes the do. Blair, and others. Have a look. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/high/

Anonymous wrote:IMHO, Fairfax has a good system. For Montgomery County Public Schools:

- In terms of program availability, many good students left in home schools have no formal enrichment programs.

- The formal enrichment program (HGC) starts from 3rd grade while Fairfax has it since 2nd grade.

- In terms of school funding, there is a huge disparity among schools. Some schools have ~30% more budgets than others.

- Overall, the school system spend a lot more per student. However, the effectiveness is hard to see.

The HGC starts in fourth grade.

Also, MCPS has middle and high school test-in magnets. Other than TJ, I don't think FFX has this.

IMHO, Fairfax has a good system. For Montgomery County Public Schools:

- In terms of program availability, many good students left in home schools have no formal enrichment programs.

- The formal enrichment program (HGC) starts from 3rd grade while Fairfax has it since 2nd grade.

- In terms of school funding, there is a huge disparity among schools. Some schools have ~30% more budgets than others.

- Overall, the school system spend a lot more per student. However, the effectiveness is hard to see.

MD uses Common Core Standards; VA uses SOL standards. Someone posted a while ago the differences/similarities on the two standards. They didn't seem all that different. Some standards in MD were taught later in VA, and vice versa.

Hi...I was wondering if there are any major differences in terms of curriculum between Montgomery county and Fairfax county. I went to Montgomery county schools growing up but that was a long time ago so I have no idea how the curriculum has changed.