This is an interesting set of postings. I never realized the AAP was this competitive!

Reply 13:16 Comment

I agree 100% with your comments about getting the best kids into the centers. Unfortunatley, its the world we live in and how some (few) parents look at this. I was just passing along somethings I've heard. If you look at one of the earlier comments, one of the schools moved their deadline up 1 day--it sounds like there is a lot of independence/influence in local process.

It looks like the schools will be closed this week, so I'm going to email my AAP Coordinator asking to confirm the home address I found on google so I can express mail--in case she's working on the files during these off-days.

I don't think is really that clear since the offices are open. Plus, even if this is true, the referral date may be moved, but the Feb. 12th deadline doesn't have the same provisio on the FCPS wedsite. Going back to what I've seen with my older son, some parents will complain that rules are being bent for a few and argue these "late" packets/information should be excluded--I think a similar situation happened in 2004 with weather.

Well, I disagree about whether it's clear (the location where the forms are to be delivered - your local school - is closed, thus the forms are not due.)

But more importantly, I'm very curious about the situation you are referencing in 2004. What happened exactly? Because I frankly cannot see how the schools could possibly refuse to accept late files when they were closed on the day the files were due. Just as a matter of basic fairness, it seems unreasonable on its face -- "you should have turned your file in at a school that was closed, or at the admin offices, which do not accept these files."

(Not to mention, what real advantage is there to having a couple of extra days to gather materials for your child? Parents who would complain about that seem to me not to really understand what this process is about. Your kid will get in on his own merit or he will not; why waste your time going after other parents, trying to keep their kids out?? Don't we want ALL the qualified kids to get into the Center? Presumably that creates the best & most challenging peer group within the Center. Or do we just want our kids to seem "better" than someone else's kids, even if it means fighting to exclude their files from the process? I don't get it. I think the deadline should be enforced because it's very clear on the website and letters home from school, but these are extenuating circumstances, and FCPS has stated on the website that the deadline is extended. We're going to punish children by excluding them from the AAP Center because their parents reasonably believed they didn't have to go out in a blizzard to turn forms in at a closed school building? My forms are in, but I wouldn't object to anyone bringing their file to school on the day it reopens.)

Anonymous wrote:http://www.fcps.edu/DIS/gt/timeline.html

The website is pretty clear that forms are not due until the next day that FCPS is open. Which is probably going to be Monday at this point.

I don't think is really that clear since the offices are open. Plus, even if this is true, the referral date may be moved, but the Feb. 12th deadline doesn't have the same provisio on the FCPS wedsite. Going back to what I've seen with my older son, some parents will complain that rules are being bent for a few and argue these "late" packets/information should be excluded--I think a similar situation happened in 2004 with weather.

http://www.fcps.edu/DIS/gt/timeline.html

The website is pretty clear that forms are not due until the next day that FCPS is open. Which is probably going to be Monday at this point.

Watching this interesting back-and-forth. FCPS.edu says administrative offices open--does this mean they're are open and everything due??

That's what we're going back and forth about. I think that since everything is due to the local schools and they are closed today, the materials are not due today. Admin offices may be open, but you can't drop your files off there, so I'm not sure where they could expect you to drop them off. Others think it's unclear whether they are due today and want to cover their bases, just in case the schools try to enforce the deadline (hence the FedEx'ing and getting a receipt). Again, I'd suggest contacting your school's AAP coordinator for clarification, esp. since the coordinators do have some discretion about this, and I'd keep a copy of any e-mails.

Watching this interesting back-and-forth. FCPS.edu says administrative offices open--does this mean they're are open and everything due??

Thanks for the advice on emailing, although something this important is worth the $15. Email files with large attachments could get corrupted or blocked by firewall--what happens then?

You're welcome. I wasn't suggesting to just email it and hope for the best. I only e-mailed mine because she asked me to, and I know she'll let me know if there's a problem with the attachment. (I scanned all pages together as a single PDF file, so it's one attachment & should be just fine. I would not e-mail unprotected Word documents).

My main purpose in suggesting emailing it is that the AAP coordinators are stuck at home like the rest of us, so a FedEx envelope sitting at the school doesn't help much - it may protect you from missing the deadline, but that's it. I know my AAP coordinator is working on these at home, so it speeds the process for everyone if she can get parents to email her everything this week and she can process a bunch of referral files in the next couple of days at home. There's a good chance our schools will not open at all this week & the AAP coordinators will be totally swamped when they go back to school next week!

Thanks for the advice on emailing, although something this important is worth the $15. Email files with large attachments could get corrupted or blocked by firewall--what happens then?

Your suggestion about email the AAP Coordiator is good, so I think I'll let her know that I FEDEX'd today and it is on its way.

23:03 here.

I should have added that I have been staying in touch with my AAP coordinator about the deadline. When they closed school last Friday, I emailed her right away to make sure I could turn it in on Monday; she said that was fine & they would be accepted that day. When the latest school closing announcement was made (for this Tues & Wed), she asked me if I could e-mail her my referral packet. This was more of a favor than a requirement, though. She said the school was closed and nothing could be dropped off there, but she could do some work at home if I could e-mail it. But she also said if I didn't have a scanner, I could still drop it off the first day school opens.

You might just try getting in touch with your AAP coordinator to see if you really need to make a trip to FedEx if you could just email everything. (Save any e-mails from her as your "proof" that this was agreed upon.)

Also, I don't think that schools accepting referrals on the first day they reopen after the snow is going to be seen as "bending the rules for a few." There were probably tons of people planning to drop off their referrals on Feb 5th who now have not done so.

Anonymous wrote:

If it helps, I just saw the schools are closed, but the offices are open--I wouldn't take the chance that your AAP or school would refuse to accept your papers as "late."

I'm pretty sure this means only the administrative offices of the school system are open, not the "office" within each school. Most of the school buildings will be completely closed tomorrow & Wed. The referrals and other submissions are due to the AAP coordinator at the local school, not to a central location. The AAP coordinators will not be working tomorrow, so I don't see how they can expect parents to deliver any forms or papers to a closed school building tomorrow.

That sounds reasonable, but I've decided not to take any chances. I heading out to FEDEX this morning so I have a receipt showing that delivery was attempted before the 12th. I've heard so many crazy stories (just look at this blog and the school that didn't send out letter on the GT pool OR the APP coordinator moving the deadline forward). PLUS, I've heard of parents complaining to school, school board, super if there is any perception that rules are being bent for a few. I know what I'm doing to make 100% sure.

If it helps, I just saw the schools are closed, but the offices are open--I wouldn't take the chance that your AAP or school would refuse to accept your papers as "late."

I'm pretty sure this means only the administrative offices of the school system are open, not the "office" within each school. Most of the school buildings will be completely closed tomorrow & Wed. The referrals and other submissions are due to the AAP coordinator at the local school, not to a central location. The AAP coordinators will not be working tomorrow, so I don't see how they can expect parents to deliver any forms or papers to a closed school building tomorrow.

If it helps, I just saw the schools are closed, but the offices are open--I wouldn't take the chance that your AAP or school would refuse to accept your papers as "late."

Thanks for all the good information. It has been very helpful. (I'm the parent who should have received a letter, but didn't . . .)

I wouldn't be surprised if my school was planning to mail the letters Friday -- or even today. I think I now recall that when I received the letter for my older son, I didn't have a lot of time to prepare additional material, even if I had wanted to.

I will definitely be in touch with the school the day the school office reopens.

Our base school has very few Level IV eligible students each year. So I think this delay in sending out the letters is probably a matter of center-placement not being a priority for the school. My husband thinks that perhaps it's part of their plan to hold on to those few students who are Level IV eligible. (The ES has local Level IV, but it's not the same as the Center -- especially when the class contains only one or two Center-eligible kids.) The principal did lobby hard for me to keep my older son at the base school. His teacher, however, made it clear to me that she thought the center would be a good fit for him. And we thought the center would be a better fit. And it's been great, so far.

For what it's worth, I think the school district -- not the ES -- should determine the date when score and eligibility letters need to be put in the mail . . .

I get what you are saying!!! What I am telling you is that SOME schools' AAP coordinators have apparently set earlier deadlines as our school's AAP coordinator did. Our letter (saying our DC is in the pool) says she needs that materials by February 4 for kids IN THE POOL. It may not be the county's deadline, but apparently our school has set an earlier deadline. It's possible that the AAP coordinator that the poster's school did that as well (in fact, it could also be our AAP coordinator because our coordinator works at more than one school). I recommend that she call her school and ask just to be sure. If I had relied on the county's websote, I would be a week late. I assume the AAP coordinator would have to take the materials, but it doesn't seem worth it to fight the fight when I can play by her rules.

Yes, this is correct. The FCPS deadline is officially 2/12, but some AAP coordinators at some schools have asked parents to submit everything earlier. This is for the AAP coordinator's own convenience in getting the files together. This seems fine to me as long as you are given plenty of notice so you can get your submissions together. What's NOT fine is that one poster here has a child IN the pool and never received ANY notification at all from the school and was apparently unaware of the deadlines.