PP.. is a troll.The class of TJ2020 finalists are not known until late april of this year.

Practically speaking in NOVA, the AAP Center ESs that feed Longfellow, Rocky Run, and Carson AAP MS programs. Kids from three schools will ultimately make up over half of Faurfax County's TJ's slots each year, and the feeder programs are excellent in STEM. We have 2 DCs that are on the this ES/MS track, and DC1 is a current TJ class of 2020 finalist. We have been very impressed across the board, and the schools have a strong STEM focus, with compacted math, and acceleration that makes it possible to take 6th grade Algebra I and tons of after school and enrichment STEM activities (FLL, robotics classes, MathCounts, AMC, Kangaroo Math, Science Olympiad, etc).

As for CTY first you have to place in the top 95 percentile to test. Then they only accept the top half of those who test. So basically the kids are in the top 2.5 of aptitude.

K-8 Lowell School in DC (just over MD border) has STEM focused middle school but younger grades get to piggyback off of programs in many ways...STEMFest is this Saturday - you could check it out!

3D printers, building bio-char stoves, field trip to observe open heart surgery, farm to table hands on experiences including composting, worm trays, water runoff curtailment measures,various programming for robotics, video editing...to name some examples. School borders Rock Creek Park so they can take advantage of exploring the woods/natural sciences.

I'm sure many schools are offering more and more of this type of project based learning. Lowell calls it STEAM bc it includes art.

Anonymous wrote:This made me laugh, too! As an academic basic scientist (research grants for most of my salary), I think the best science education you can do is go for a very long walk in the woods and see what you can discover. Otherwise, you are relegating your kid to sitting in front of a screen.

No, no. There is a LOT of hands on science that can happen in elementary schools. Very sad that you would think it would all be watching videos.

This made me laugh, too! As an academic basic scientist (research grants for most of my salary), I think the best science education you can do is go for a very long walk in the woods and see what you can discover. Otherwise, you are relegating your kid to sitting in front of a screen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here-no need to mock me. I am an educator and a scientist. I believe its important to expose children early to STEM curriculum. It offers opportunity for creativity, problem solving, and ingenuity. The exposure in early childhood can have lasting effects and this has been studied. I would be happy to engage in a respectful conversation about this if others are interested.

I believe I asked a simple question. If you do not know the answer to this question, no need to respond. The snide remarks serve absolutely no purpose.

You asked kind of a ridiculous question. You asked about "nationally ranked" elementary school STEM programs. Maybe you should put your research skills to use and do an online search and then let us know what you find, rather than submit a query to an anonymous parents' board?

Exactly, If you are an educator and a scientist then you should already know, or least have the contacts to get the answer to your own question. You should also know that elementary programs are not going to be nationally ranked.

Anonymous wrote:OP here-no need to mock me. I am an educator and a scientist. I believe its important to expose children early to STEM curriculum. It offers opportunity for creativity, problem solving, and ingenuity. The exposure in early childhood can have lasting effects and this has been studied. I would be happy to engage in a respectful conversation about this if others are interested.

I believe I asked a simple question. If you do not know the answer to this question, no need to respond. The snide remarks serve absolutely no purpose.

You asked kind of a ridiculous question. You asked about "nationally ranked" elementary school STEM programs. Maybe you should put your research skills to use and do an online search and then let us know what you find, rather than submit a query to an anonymous parents' board?

Look for IB.

Anonymous wrote:What about the Center for Talented Youth programs?

That is not a school. Any body can try to qualify for that.

What about the Center for Talented Youth programs?

Anonymous wrote:OP here-no need to mock me. I am an educator and a scientist. I believe its important to expose children early to STEM curriculum. It offers opportunity for creativity, problem solving, and ingenuity. The exposure in early childhood can have lasting effects and this has been studied. I would be happy to engage in a respectful conversation about this if others are interested.

I believe I asked a simple question. If you do not know the answer to this question, no need to respond. The snide remarks serve absolutely no purpose.

I'm the PP who asked what does "nationally ranked STEM program" mean for elementary school. I meant that seriously. At the elementary level around these parts you'll find a few schools (as noted by PPs) where there are STEM programs, but I'm not aware of any national rankings for such programs.

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of opportunities for enrichment outside of school at that age.

Exactly. You can do robotics, coding, chess etc outside school.

We've been very happy with the IB primary yrs program used at our charter. My third grader is just finishing an unit on Space with a field trip to the air and space museum and planetarium. They did a space unit in 1st? But this is more in depth and there is more emphasis on reading and written composition. This is at a language immersion school so everything is done in two languages.