What a long, strange road it's been. I was looking back at page one of this thread, and in the beginning, the prevailing wisdom was that a Full Scale WISC of 139 was required on appeal, and that a WISC of 137 was "not good enough." If nothing else, we have left a trail for others showing exactly where the breaking point is (between Number 8 and Number 10 on our list). What a gift for parents who will go through this in the future.

Congratulations PP. I'm surprised an appeal was necessary with a maxed-out NNAT of 160 (even with the lowish GBRS). I think there must be something to the "urban legend" that the NNAT doesn't count as much as the CogAT. FYI, we also used Dr. Dahlgren for the evaluation and were very pleased with her professionalism, experience with the Fairfax GT system, and her ability to tease out our child's strengths and weaknesses. Many warm wishes to all the folks on this board and a big thank-you for the information that you have shared about your children.

My daughter was accepted... Thank you to everyone here for the inputs and words of encouragement...

The scores,

NNAT : 160

Cogat: Verbal: 103, Quantitative: 112, Non Verbal: 132

GBRS: 9

WISC:

VCI: 119

PRI: 137

WMI: 120

PSI: 128

FSIQ: 134

Report Card: Mix of G and O

In the appeal packet I added 4 work samples,that included 2 written works , 1 math and 1 art work. No certificates and no reference letters.
No updated report cards and no DRA.

Dr Dahlgren was the Psychologist. I highly recommend her. She wrote a good report and she was very friendly with the child and very helpful too.

Hope all this information helps the future applicants.

Thank you.

This is #10's mom, Thanks for all the warm wishes and thoughts..
We are OK with the denial.. as our DD is not aware of any these, she is excited about the last day of the school so am I seeing her growing..

Congratulations and good luck to all the parents with the great gift of CHILD no matter in AAP or not.

Does anyone know if there will be a orientation at the GT centers for parents who got in the appeal similar to the "open house" for those who got in the "normal" process? If someone who got in the appeal has already called the GT center, can you pls. post any information you heard here ? If you are one of the parents who went to the "open house" can you pls. share your experience. The AAP eligibility letter doesn't provide much details about the orientation.

PP, thanks for that Dashboard link, I had not seen that before.

I think, ultimately, it is up to the receiving principal.

I do understand if you choose to not attend your neighborhood school, generally transportation is not provided. That said, transportation to an AAP Center is provided for the eligible. Unless a bus was at absolute capacity, if one of your children is getting on the bus, I think you may be able to make a case to transportation for a younger sibling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friends daughter just got a rejection on appeal. Such a bummer. Now she has to switch schools due to the boundary change (she was in an AAP center school). Now her sister is in the AAP center and she will have to go to a different school.

If there is room in the AAP Center school (???) the sibling can be pupil placed at the AAP Center school (in gen ed).

I do know friends who have done this. Incidentally, I had two friends trying to do this for the upcoming school year (older children in AAP, wanted to pupil place younger). One family was told yes, the other was told no.

It really does depend on the school, but it is possible. I would gather you would have to pupil place, and prove "family hardship". Not sure if they would guarantee transportation for the child who was not placed, but if the bus is not full, I can imagine they would allow it.

There is no longer a family hardship requirement. However, transportation is not provided. But it all depends if there is room at the receiving (AAP Center) school in the first place. Check the Dashboard to see:

http://www.fcps.edu/fts/dashboard/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friends daughter just got a rejection on appeal. Such a bummer. Now she has to switch schools due to the boundary change (she was in an AAP center school). Now her sister is in the AAP center and she will have to go to a different school.

If there is room in the AAP Center school (???) the sibling can be pupil placed at the AAP Center school (in gen ed).

I do know friends who have done this. Incidentally, I had two friends trying to do this for the upcoming school year (older children in AAP, wanted to pupil place younger). One family was told yes, the other was told no.

It really does depend on the school, but it is possible. I would gather you would have to pupil place, and prove "family hardship". Not sure if they would guarantee transportation for the child who was not placed, but if the bus is not full, I can imagine they would allow it.

Anonymous wrote:A friends daughter just got a rejection on appeal. Such a bummer. Now she has to switch schools due to the boundary change (she was in an AAP center school). Now her sister is in the AAP center and she will have to go to a different school.

If there is room in the AAP Center school (???) the sibling can be pupil placed at the AAP Center school (in gen ed).

Anonymous wrote:What are the choices now that we have not made it on appeal???

Find out about level III at local school, get new GBRS from the 3rd grade teacher.
Try agin next year for 4th grade entry into Level IV AAP.

Even if your kid doen't make it, that's OK. Find the kid's strength, talent, and interest.
Support him/her. In the end, happiness of the kid throughout his/her life is the ultimate goal.

Our DD got in (what a relief). We were particularly worried about the low GBRS so for the appeal package we added the WISC, a parent letter, her last report card with a lot of Os, recent DRA rating letter from teacher (which showed that she moved to a higher level compared to Feb'11 when the teacher did the GBRS) and some very nice work samples and other teacher reference letters - so I guess they all helped.

WISC - FSIQ 133,VCI-123, PRI-126,WMI-125,PSI-122, GBRS - 5, NAT - 145, CogAT - 134 composite

Oh, and if you are at a Level IV base school, your best bet is to try and secure one of the "extra" slots that are available if there are not enough center-eligible kids to fill the class. This is your very best bet. Talk to the principal TOMORROW if that is an option at your school. Best of luck!

You can also request Level III service at the school. Talk to your AART or principal ASAP. Also, give your kid extra academic challenge at home, and keep him or her ahead in math so that if s/he gets in next year they will not be behind. Only other alternative is a private school for the gifted, if you can afford it.

This is #17 on the list reporting. My DD was found eligible and so will attend the center for 3rd grade.

As encouragement to anyone whose appeal was denied, my DS was found ineligible (was not in the pool as he freezes like a deer in the headlights during group testing) after a parent referral. He is very sensitive and shy. I waited a year for him to gain confidence, but the school he was attending was socially harsh in many ways and he did not come out of his shell. We happened to move to a different area nearby, and the school was warm and welcoming and he started to blossom. He was noticed by the AAP coordinator in a literature class. He took the WISC and scored in very superior range. I did another parent referral and this time he was found eligible. He has totally come out of his shell and come alive in the most amazing way in the AAP classroom and gets straight A's. He was bored in the general ed class and was coasting along and he felt frustrated with those of his peers there who didn't seem excited about learning. He entered AAP in 5th grade, and has come alive and is joyful. I think the WISC helped, but also the teachers at his new school took an interest in him and got to know him and took the time to notice his encyclopedic knowledge of his favored subjects. You know your child and keep seeking the best possible educational environment. It may take some time for the "seed" to mature and also to find the optimal "soil" for that special seed to grow.

Well, I guess we'll just have to see how our immediate entry request goes this summer -- our child's scores are between #9 and #10's scores, though her GBRS was 13.