Anonymous
04/19/2026 10:51
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
You seem like a miserable person. I feel bad for your family being stuck in the house with you all day and your judgmental self.
Fortunately, they're stuck at home with a bunch of workbooks.
Anyway, judgmental would be me rolling my eyes at those who, unlike most of us Asians, are not taking the time and spending their money to work with their children because they're dumb or lazy or whatever.
But I don't, because that isn't true. Most people simply don't realize what's happened to FCPS over the last twenty years.
Keep in mind many asian students are also taking advantage of classes outside of FCPS, where they are challenged with more advanced material.
Ours sure are.
A lot of non-Asian families supplement FCPS with additional tutoring and classes. The main difference is that Asian families often gravitate to programs that cater to Asians and where non-Asians are made to feel unwelcome.
Anonymous
04/19/2026 10:18
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Navy's ratings have fallen from 9 to 8....
Poplar maintains 9.
We were in a similar situation and decided to go with Poplar when purchasing our home. We've had a great experience so far. No negatives.
- We wanted the AAP experience and felt that Poplar was the right fit for us (not too competitive but still a good mix).
- We factored in the # of schools that feed into Navy (Navy + One other) vs Poplar (Poplar + 3 or 4 others). We liked that Poplar would have a diverse class in that sense.
- Personally, we also liked Poplar Tree (school surroundings/location) more than Navy. We didn't tour the inside by got a good feel by visiting during morning school hours (this was important to me as I wanted to get in out out as quickly as possible).
- Rocky Run was getting renovated (which now seems complete) helped in our decision too.
- Chantilly HS: Heard good things from neighbors that had kids there. Oakton nothing against it, we didn't know anyone going there (those that were slotted ended up in TJ). Heard that commute to TJ is roughly the same but we will cross that bridge if/when we get there.
Hope this helps someone in the future! I'm sure there are several other factors that we didn't consider.
Why did you quote a 6 year old thread?
Anonymous
04/19/2026 10:09
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
I have 2 kids in AAP, one in Navy and one in Carson MS. There’re good teachers in Navy and current principal seems well liked. AAP usually get a lot of assignment while PBL get non, which I think should get balanced, since it’s good to have some to practice but not too much. Most AAP students use wheeled backpacks since they have to carry everything daily ( nearly 20lb), due to classroom switching. I also don’t like the heavy use of school laptop, although it could be something to do with Fcps. Carson AAP is very competitive and nearly everyone’s aiming for TJ. We heard Franklin MS is a good school too. We think Chantilly HS is closer compared to Oakton HS for us since we’re right next to Navy, and there’s HS course my older DC wants to take at Chantilly HS. I heard popular tree/Rocky Run is good, and seems like the ES/MS/HS are all very close. We knew someone lives in Rocky Run MS neighborhood and it’s a very nice area.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 20:14
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
You seem like a miserable person. I feel bad for your family being stuck in the house with you all day and your judgmental self.
Fortunately, they're stuck at home with a bunch of workbooks.
Anyway, judgmental would be me rolling my eyes at those who, unlike most of us Asians, are not taking the time and spending their money to work with their children because they're dumb or lazy or whatever.
But I don't, because that isn't true. Most people simply don't realize what's happened to FCPS over the last twenty years.
Keep in mind many asian students are also taking advantage of classes outside of FCPS, where they are challenged with more advanced material.
Ours sure are.
Correct asian culture is good for education, others , not so much that's why asian are in gifted and TJ.
Sure, and even with all the A+, RSM, AoPS, and Curie, it's still cheaper than private.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 15:42
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Anonymous wrote:What if your kids are not accepted for AAP? Have you already had testing done?
Appeal. Then get a private gifted diagnosis to contest. Easy peasy.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 10:16
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Poplar Tree/ Rocky Run/ Chantilly is a very sought after pyramid, even for gen ed. Homes always sell quickly for top dollar, especially since the location is very convienent to 66 and various park and rides.
My child is in 4th AAP at PTES. Like anything, a lot depends on the teacher. 3rd grade AAP was meh (though perhaps that was coming more from the AAP dept with the new implementation of Benchmark and the short lived attempt to slow acceleration in math curriculum that particular year), but 4th is very challenging in every subject this year. I would say the depth of the material in science and social studies is what I would consider to be middle school level depth after going over the study guide with my child. There's lots of writing including a DBQ, plus learning annotations, roots and challenging weekly word study for language arts. Math moves very quickly of course. There is some mixing with gen ed during specials, based on instrument choice. Laptops come home nightly starting in 3rd, which I hate. I have heard very good things about both Rocky Run and Chantilly from neighbors with older children. I like that it is one straight pyramid, not a split feeder outside of the AAP center part. Everyone seems very happy.
My child is in 4th AAP at PTES. Like anything, a lot depends on the teacher. 3rd grade AAP was meh (though perhaps that was coming more from the AAP dept with the new implementation of Benchmark and the short lived attempt to slow acceleration in math curriculum that particular year), but 4th is very challenging in every subject this year. I would say the depth of the material in science and social studies is what I would consider to be middle school level depth after going over the study guide with my child. There's lots of writing including a DBQ, plus learning annotations, roots and challenging weekly word study for language arts. Math moves very quickly of course. There is some mixing with gen ed during specials, based on instrument choice. Laptops come home nightly starting in 3rd, which I hate. I have heard very good things about both Rocky Run and Chantilly from neighbors with older children. I like that it is one straight pyramid, not a split feeder outside of the AAP center part. Everyone seems very happy.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 00:19
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Anonymous wrote:Navy's ratings have fallen from 9 to 8....
Poplar maintains 9.
We were in a similar situation and decided to go with Poplar when purchasing our home. We've had a great experience so far. No negatives.
- We wanted the AAP experience and felt that Poplar was the right fit for us (not too competitive but still a good mix).
- We factored in the # of schools that feed into Navy (Navy + One other) vs Poplar (Poplar + 3 or 4 others). We liked that Poplar would have a diverse class in that sense.
- Personally, we also liked Poplar Tree (school surroundings/location) more than Navy. We didn't tour the inside by got a good feel by visiting during morning school hours (this was important to me as I wanted to get in out out as quickly as possible).
- Rocky Run was getting renovated (which now seems complete) helped in our decision too.
- Chantilly HS: Heard good things from neighbors that had kids there. Oakton nothing against it, we didn't know anyone going there (those that were slotted ended up in TJ). Heard that commute to TJ is roughly the same but we will cross that bridge if/when we get there.
Hope this helps someone in the future! I'm sure there are several other factors that we didn't consider.
Anonymous
12/23/2020 14:45
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I've said this before, but: the people are generally very nice at Navy. Not many troubled kids. DS is in 4th in AAP, and in non-COVID times hangs out with a mixed AAP/non-AAP crowd at recess. AAP is very Asian (remind your child to take off his shoes when he goes to friends' houses, because Bob Smith's mom is Chinese.) Administration is fairly responsive, most teachers are decent, lots of parents volunteer. Slots fill up extremely fast.
Unfortunately, as far as the curriculum goes, it is a hellscape. Navy tends to pilot all of Fairfax County's bad ideas, and FCPS has a *lot* of them. Mandatory one to one laptops start in third and much of math is spent playing video games. Zero learning happens in the PBL time sucks. Movies abound. Admin is over any stupid educational trend like white on rice. It's been catastrophic for my ADD child.
One major reason the Asians do so well here is that the parents spend time teaching/supplementing things that white people think the school will be taking care of.
You seem like a miserable person. I feel bad for your family being stuck in the house with you all day and your judgmental self.
Who still wears their shoes inside?
Anonymous
12/23/2020 14:43
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Anonymous wrote:What if your kids are not accepted for AAP? Have you already had testing done?
AAP is a holistically approach to admittance, not scores based.
Anonymous
12/23/2020 13:59
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I've said this before, but: the people are generally very nice at Navy. Not many troubled kids. DS is in 4th in AAP, and in non-COVID times hangs out with a mixed AAP/non-AAP crowd at recess. AAP is very Asian (remind your child to take off his shoes when he goes to friends' houses, because Bob Smith's mom is Chinese.) Administration is fairly responsive, most teachers are decent, lots of parents volunteer. Slots fill up extremely fast.
Unfortunately, as far as the curriculum goes, it is a hellscape. Navy tends to pilot all of Fairfax County's bad ideas, and FCPS has a *lot* of them. Mandatory one to one laptops start in third and much of math is spent playing video games. Zero learning happens in the PBL time sucks. Movies abound. Admin is over any stupid educational trend like white on rice. It's been catastrophic for my ADD child.
One major reason the Asians do so well here is that the parents spend time teaching/supplementing things that white people think the school will be taking care of.
Asian mom here, and OMG about the bolded. Racist much?
+1. I'm white, and if you come in my house, you better take your shoes off, too.
No real opinion about either school because we are in a different part of the county, but it's safe to assume Poplar Tree's ratings will never go down because it's Kathy Smith's neighborhood school.
Anonymous
12/23/2020 13:18
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
You seem like a miserable person. I feel bad for your family being stuck in the house with you all day and your judgmental self.
Fortunately, they're stuck at home with a bunch of workbooks.
Anyway, judgmental would be me rolling my eyes at those who, unlike most of us Asians, are not taking the time and spending their money to work with their children because they're dumb or lazy or whatever.
But I don't, because that isn't true. Most people simply don't realize what's happened to FCPS over the last twenty years.
Keep in mind many asian students are also taking advantage of classes outside of FCPS, where they are challenged with more advanced material.
Ours sure are.
Correct asian culture is good for education, others , not so much that's why asian are in gifted and TJ.
Specifically, Japanese. Chinese is staid and repressive. Which might be good for teaching people how to be highly skilled worker bees. Not what we value in American education.
Anonymous
12/23/2020 11:59
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Anonymous wrote:I've said this before, but: the people are generally very nice at Navy. Not many troubled kids. DS is in 4th in AAP, and in non-COVID times hangs out with a mixed AAP/non-AAP crowd at recess. AAP is very Asian (remind your child to take off his shoes when he goes to friends' houses, because Bob Smith's mom is Chinese.) Administration is fairly responsive, most teachers are decent, lots of parents volunteer. Slots fill up extremely fast.
Unfortunately, as far as the curriculum goes, it is a hellscape. Navy tends to pilot all of Fairfax County's bad ideas, and FCPS has a *lot* of them. Mandatory one to one laptops start in third and much of math is spent playing video games. Zero learning happens in the PBL time sucks. Movies abound. Admin is over any stupid educational trend like white on rice. It's been catastrophic for my ADD child.
One major reason the Asians do so well here is that the parents spend time teaching/supplementing things that white people think the school will be taking care of.
Asian mom here, and OMG about the bolded. Racist much?
Anonymous
12/18/2020 08:19
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
You seem like a miserable person. I feel bad for your family being stuck in the house with you all day and your judgmental self.
Fortunately, they're stuck at home with a bunch of workbooks.
Anyway, judgmental would be me rolling my eyes at those who, unlike most of us Asians, are not taking the time and spending their money to work with their children because they're dumb or lazy or whatever.
But I don't, because that isn't true. Most people simply don't realize what's happened to FCPS over the last twenty years.
Keep in mind many asian students are also taking advantage of classes outside of FCPS, where they are challenged with more advanced material.
Ours sure are.
Correct asian culture is good for education, others , not so much that's why asian are in gifted and TJ.
Anonymous
12/16/2020 21:15
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Navy's ratings have fallen from 9 to 8....
Poplar maintains 9.
We were in a similar situation and decided to go with Poplar when purchasing our home. We've had a great experience so far. No negatives.
- We wanted the AAP experience and felt that Poplar was the right fit for us (not too competitive but still a good mix).
- We factored in the # of schools that feed into Navy (Navy + One other) vs Poplar (Poplar + 3 or 4 others). We liked that Poplar would have a diverse class in that sense.
- Personally, we also liked Poplar Tree (school surroundings/location) more than Navy. We didn't tour the inside by got a good feel by visiting during morning school hours (this was important to me as I wanted to get in out out as quickly as possible).
- Rocky Run was getting renovated (which now seems complete) helped in our decision too.
- Chantilly HS: Heard good things from neighbors that had kids there. Oakton nothing against it, we didn't know anyone going there (those that were slotted ended up in TJ). Heard that commute to TJ is roughly the same but we will cross that bridge if/when we get there.
Hope this helps someone in the future! I'm sure there are several other factors that we didn't consider.
Poplar maintains 9.
We were in a similar situation and decided to go with Poplar when purchasing our home. We've had a great experience so far. No negatives.
- We wanted the AAP experience and felt that Poplar was the right fit for us (not too competitive but still a good mix).
- We factored in the # of schools that feed into Navy (Navy + One other) vs Poplar (Poplar + 3 or 4 others). We liked that Poplar would have a diverse class in that sense.
- Personally, we also liked Poplar Tree (school surroundings/location) more than Navy. We didn't tour the inside by got a good feel by visiting during morning school hours (this was important to me as I wanted to get in out out as quickly as possible).
- Rocky Run was getting renovated (which now seems complete) helped in our decision too.
- Chantilly HS: Heard good things from neighbors that had kids there. Oakton nothing against it, we didn't know anyone going there (those that were slotted ended up in TJ). Heard that commute to TJ is roughly the same but we will cross that bridge if/when we get there.
Hope this helps someone in the future! I'm sure there are several other factors that we didn't consider.
Anonymous
04/07/2020 15:40
Subject: Fairfax county AAP schools - Which is better??
Mine are at Navy and in AAP. I agree with PPs that the school does a terrible job with integration. There's a divide in 3rd grade between AAP and PBL that never gets better. They have no interaction whatsoever. In 4th grade the classes start to combine again because of strings, etc., but the damage is done.
The teachers are overall great and the principal is fantastic. I hated the laptop roll out but that's turned out to be a godsend these days.
The teachers are overall great and the principal is fantastic. I hated the laptop roll out but that's turned out to be a godsend these days.