Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People should give OP a bit of a break. For both schools that my kids attended, it would have been impossible to miss the AAP meeting and information on what AAP is about if you had a 1st or 2nd grader. They advertised very heavily to those grades and made sure parents were well informed.

For older grades, the only notice you might have is a blurb in the school newsletter, which would be easily overlooked, especially if you don't really understand what AAP is. My base school makes a point of helping 3rd-6th graders new to the school understand the AAP process, particularly if the kid's academic record suggests it would be a good fit. OP's school does not seem like it has been nearly as helpful with new students.

Agree with this completely. Also, it doesn't matter if she is a working parent.

OP, you should assume, though, that your old school also probably expects more independence from kids (and parents) as kids get older. They all do. Some of these changes are not school system differences but age differences.

I am sorry you missed the AAP deadlines. There are so many referrals that FCPS has to be (can afford to be?) very strict about them. I agree with others that you should schedule a meeting with AART now. You'll get a better sense of the timeline and be on track next year. Also, you can ask about Level III for next year.

It does. It would help explain why she missed emails or dates.

This is such BS. A lot of working parents I know are so organized and don’t miss a beat. A lot of non-working parents I know can’t even get out of the house to get their kids to school on time, let alone bother to figure out what AAP even is.

The OP missed the emails. It has nothing to do with whether she works or not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People should give OP a bit of a break. For both schools that my kids attended, it would have been impossible to miss the AAP meeting and information on what AAP is about if you had a 1st or 2nd grader. They advertised very heavily to those grades and made sure parents were well informed.

For older grades, the only notice you might have is a blurb in the school newsletter, which would be easily overlooked, especially if you don't really understand what AAP is. My base school makes a point of helping 3rd-6th graders new to the school understand the AAP process, particularly if the kid's academic record suggests it would be a good fit. OP's school does not seem like it has been nearly as helpful with new students.

Agree with this completely. Also, it doesn't matter if she is a working parent.

OP, you should assume, though, that your old school also probably expects more independence from kids (and parents) as kids get older. They all do. Some of these changes are not school system differences but age differences.

I am sorry you missed the AAP deadlines. There are so many referrals that FCPS has to be (can afford to be?) very strict about them. I agree with others that you should schedule a meeting with AART now. You'll get a better sense of the timeline and be on track next year. Also, you can ask about Level III for next year.

It does. It would help explain why she missed emails or dates.

They changed the parent conference days in November a few years ago so that the county does not require them We are required to have a conference if parents ask for one. Some schools and teachers still use this system, especially for younger grades, but the rules changed and FCPS does not require them. It’s possible that some principals are still requiring them. They wanted us to have two days of conferences plus do all the report cards, which take a long time on the computer, plus do IEP data, plus plan for the next nine weeks in general, plus update bulletin boards and meet with our teams, all in two days, and it was impossible.

Anonymous wrote:People should give OP a bit of a break. For both schools that my kids attended, it would have been impossible to miss the AAP meeting and information on what AAP is about if you had a 1st or 2nd grader. They advertised very heavily to those grades and made sure parents were well informed.

For older grades, the only notice you might have is a blurb in the school newsletter, which would be easily overlooked, especially if you don't really understand what AAP is. My base school makes a point of helping 3rd-6th graders new to the school understand the AAP process, particularly if the kid's academic record suggests it would be a good fit. OP's school does not seem like it has been nearly as helpful with new students.

I guess if my kid was new to a school, I'd be reaching out to the admin and the teacher to make sure I wasn't missing anything. It's spoonfed to parents of new kindergartners, but parents of older kids have to take a little more initiative since they are in the minority - most parents are familiar with the processes by that point.

Anonymous wrote:People should give OP a bit of a break. For both schools that my kids attended, it would have been impossible to miss the AAP meeting and information on what AAP is about if you had a 1st or 2nd grader. They advertised very heavily to those grades and made sure parents were well informed.

For older grades, the only notice you might have is a blurb in the school newsletter, which would be easily overlooked, especially if you don't really understand what AAP is. My base school makes a point of helping 3rd-6th graders new to the school understand the AAP process, particularly if the kid's academic record suggests it would be a good fit. OP's school does not seem like it has been nearly as helpful with new students.

Agree with this completely. Also, it doesn't matter if she is a working parent.

OP, you should assume, though, that your old school also probably expects more independence from kids (and parents) as kids get older. They all do. Some of these changes are not school system differences but age differences.

I am sorry you missed the AAP deadlines. There are so many referrals that FCPS has to be (can afford to be?) very strict about them. I agree with others that you should schedule a meeting with AART now. You'll get a better sense of the timeline and be on track next year. Also, you can ask about Level III for next year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My one kid’s school is a center.

Her teacher this year (who is wonderful otherwise) did not offer conferences in the fall - just said at BTSN to contact her in Nov or Dec if you need/want one.

And that school does not do info sessions for AAP. Or maybe it does but only offers them to 2nd grade and does not advertise them above that.

Other kid’s school does both each year. People should stop harping on OP. Not all schools are the same.

That was my point. This parent didn’t take initiative and ask for a conference. Strange.

The part in bold is offering conferences in the fall. 3rd grade teacher here. I agree. A parent can request a conference at any time. At the end of October/beginning of November I met with parents of about 15 of my students. There are no specific dates set aside for elementary school conferences.

?
No - sending out a sign up genius and specifying days the conferences will be held is “offering conferences”. Stating the obvious on BTSN - you can ask to meet if you need/want to - is not the same thing.

Re: the AART briefing. Ok perhaps it was offered but it is still safe to say it was not very well advertised if I have been there 4 years and have never noticed them offering it.

It’s not the same thing, but it is offering to meet. The teacher just didn’t provide a sign up sheet.

I’m not sure how a teacher would specify days and times to meet with parents of 20-30 students. There are no days set aside for conferences.

I don’t know what planet you are from, but in FCPS, conferences are supposed to be held over the two teacher workdays after the 1st quarter ends in early November. This school year it was Nov 4&5. How do you not know this?

First off, your response was rude. This is completely false. There are no days set aside for conferences. You can’t show me any policy that says there are. The 4th was a School Planning Day. My building had a staff meeting from 8:30-3:00.

People should give OP a bit of a break. For both schools that my kids attended, it would have been impossible to miss the AAP meeting and information on what AAP is about if you had a 1st or 2nd grader. They advertised very heavily to those grades and made sure parents were well informed.

For older grades, the only notice you might have is a blurb in the school newsletter, which would be easily overlooked, especially if you don't really understand what AAP is. My base school makes a point of helping 3rd-6th graders new to the school understand the AAP process, particularly if the kid's academic record suggests it would be a good fit. OP's school does not seem like it has been nearly as helpful with new students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, we didn’t receive his NNAT score. Is it available on parent portal?

Is this OP? If so, your kid didn’t take it. Only one test has to be offered to students arriving after first grade.

Yes, I am the OP and I asked that question. Thanks a lot! I feel frustrated that zero information or guidance was provided by the school at the beginning of 3rd grade, I guess it’s expected that every parent knows everything there is to know about these programs.

I hear you. You missed this year’s referral deadline which was January 9. You will have to wait until next year to refer him.

Which means he wouldn’t even start AAP until 6th grade. I’m asusming he is in 4th this year?

OP here, he is in 3rd grade currently, I suppose if he makes it then he will start around Jan 29 of 4th grade. Is that correct?

Your child missed the deadline for applications this year.

Next year:

1) request a new COgAT at the beginning of the year.
2) Look for the information about the general AAP meeting (normally in October) and the Level IV specific meeting (normally in December)
3) Go to the AAP Application site and download the forms for Parent Refferal and the parent questionnaire. You will need to fill those out next year.
4) Start saving work samples that you think show your child needs to be in AAP. Work that shows that he is ahead of the class or thinks well outside the box and needs a different environment.

This year:

Contact the AART and ask about getting your child into Level III services. Can he join the kids being pulled out for advanced math or the other programs?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My one kid’s school is a center.

Her teacher this year (who is wonderful otherwise) did not offer conferences in the fall - just said at BTSN to contact her in Nov or Dec if you need/want one.

And that school does not do info sessions for AAP. Or maybe it does but only offers them to 2nd grade and does not advertise them above that.

Other kid’s school does both each year. People should stop harping on OP. Not all schools are the same.

That was my point. This parent didn’t take initiative and ask for a conference. Strange.

The part in bold is offering conferences in the fall. 3rd grade teacher here. I agree. A parent can request a conference at any time. At the end of October/beginning of November I met with parents of about 15 of my students. There are no specific dates set aside for elementary school conferences.

?
No - sending out a sign up genius and specifying days the conferences will be held is “offering conferences”. Stating the obvious on BTSN - you can ask to meet if you need/want to - is not the same thing.

Re: the AART briefing. Ok perhaps it was offered but it is still safe to say it was not very well advertised if I have been there 4 years and have never noticed them offering it.

It’s not the same thing, but it is offering to meet. The teacher just didn’t provide a sign up sheet.

I’m not sure how a teacher would specify days and times to meet with parents of 20-30 students. There are no days set aside for conferences.

I don’t know what planet you are from, but in FCPS, conferences are supposed to be held over the two teacher workdays after the 1st quarter ends in early November. This school year it was Nov 4&5. How do you not know this?

We are in FCPS and there are no prescheduled parent teach conferences after First Grade. The Teachers are very clear about this at the Second Grade BTSN. Every parent of of a kid outside of K and First Grade told me about this. If you want to have a parent teacher conference, you have to contact the Teacher. There will not be a preset day(s). We simply signed the report card envelop that we wanted a conference and heard back from DS Teacher the next day. It was easy to do but it was 100% initiated by us. So not every school in FCPS has the same parent/teacher conference policy.

As for the working parent thing, we are working parents and knew to read the emails/packet letters/PTA website/school newsletter to find out dates for things like AAP meetings. The reality is that we only pay attention to the things that we are worried about. In Kindergarten that was the Language Immersion program meetings. This year we looked for the AAP meetings, both general and the Level IV specific. But we knew to look. We had no clue about AAP until we got the NNAT results back and I went online to look up what the test was used for. Before that, I was clueless about AAP. (shrugs)

The OP missed the deadlines for whatever reason. It sounds like her school handles conferences the way mine does, no set schedule you have to set up your own. I strongly suspect that the school announced the carious AAP meetings but the OP missed them for whatever reason.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My one kid’s school is a center.

Her teacher this year (who is wonderful otherwise) did not offer conferences in the fall - just said at BTSN to contact her in Nov or Dec if you need/want one.

And that school does not do info sessions for AAP. Or maybe it does but only offers them to 2nd grade and does not advertise them above that.

Other kid’s school does both each year. People should stop harping on OP. Not all schools are the same.

That was my point. This parent didn’t take initiative and ask for a conference. Strange.

The part in bold is offering conferences in the fall. 3rd grade teacher here. I agree. A parent can request a conference at any time. At the end of October/beginning of November I met with parents of about 15 of my students. There are no specific dates set aside for elementary school conferences.

?
No - sending out a sign up genius and specifying days the conferences will be held is “offering conferences”. Stating the obvious on BTSN - you can ask to meet if you need/want to - is not the same thing.

Re: the AART briefing. Ok perhaps it was offered but it is still safe to say it was not very well advertised if I have been there 4 years and have never noticed them offering it.

It’s not the same thing, but it is offering to meet. The teacher just didn’t provide a sign up sheet.

I’m not sure how a teacher would specify days and times to meet with parents of 20-30 students. There are no days set aside for conferences.

I don’t know what planet you are from, but in FCPS, conferences are supposed to be held over the two teacher workdays after the 1st quarter ends in early November. This school year it was Nov 4&5. How do you not know this?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My one kid’s school is a center.

Her teacher this year (who is wonderful otherwise) did not offer conferences in the fall - just said at BTSN to contact her in Nov or Dec if you need/want one.

And that school does not do info sessions for AAP. Or maybe it does but only offers them to 2nd grade and does not advertise them above that.

Other kid’s school does both each year. People should stop harping on OP. Not all schools are the same.

That was my point. This parent didn’t take initiative and ask for a conference. Strange.

The part in bold is offering conferences in the fall. 3rd grade teacher here. I agree. A parent can request a conference at any time. At the end of October/beginning of November I met with parents of about 15 of my students. There are no specific dates set aside for elementary school conferences.

?
No - sending out a sign up genius and specifying days the conferences will be held is “offering conferences”. Stating the obvious on BTSN - you can ask to meet if you need/want to - is not the same thing.

Re: the AART briefing. Ok perhaps it was offered but it is still safe to say it was not very well advertised if I have been there 4 years and have never noticed them offering it.

It’s not the same thing, but it is offering to meet. The teacher just didn’t provide a sign up sheet.

I’m not sure how a teacher would specify days and times to meet with parents of 20-30 students. There are no days set aside for conferences.

Anonymous wrote:If there is o sign up genius for conferences then you should make an appointment. That is what we did. The Teacher, second grade, said that there would not be a prearranged day/set of days for conferences. She was very clear that all conferences were to be parent initiated. We took note and set up a conference after the first report card. It was easy enough to do.

As for the AAP meetings in October and the Level IV specific meeting in December, they were mentioned in notes in the Thursday Packet, the weekly school newsletters, and the PTA newsletter. I did not notice them in K and First Grade, probably because I didn’t know about AAP, but I doubt the many mentions this year was a new thing. I just didn’t know to look for the info. My guess is you didn’t read the information sent home carefully enough and missed it.

This exactly. This is why I asked if OP was a working parent. Haven’t heard back on that yet.

If there is o sign up genius for conferences then you should make an appointment. That is what we did. The Teacher, second grade, said that there would not be a prearranged day/set of days for conferences. She was very clear that all conferences were to be parent initiated. We took note and set up a conference after the first report card. It was easy enough to do.

As for the AAP meetings in October and the Level IV specific meeting in December, they were mentioned in notes in the Thursday Packet, the weekly school newsletters, and the PTA newsletter. I did not notice them in K and First Grade, probably because I didn’t know about AAP, but I doubt the many mentions this year was a new thing. I just didn’t know to look for the info. My guess is you didn’t read the information sent home carefully enough and missed it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My one kid’s school is a center.

Her teacher this year (who is wonderful otherwise) did not offer conferences in the fall - just said at BTSN to contact her in Nov or Dec if you need/want one.

And that school does not do info sessions for AAP. Or maybe it does but only offers them to 2nd grade and does not advertise them above that.

Other kid’s school does both each year. People should stop harping on OP. Not all schools are the same.

That was my point. This parent didn’t take initiative and ask for a conference. Strange.

The part in bold is offering conferences in the fall. 3rd grade teacher here. I agree. A parent can request a conference at any time. At the end of October/beginning of November I met with parents of about 15 of my students. There are no specific dates set aside for elementary school conferences.

?
No - sending out a sign up genius and specifying days the conferences will be held is “offering conferences”. Stating the obvious on BTSN - you can ask to meet if you need/want to - is not the same thing.

Re: the AART briefing. Ok perhaps it was offered but it is still safe to say it was not very well advertised if I have been there 4 years and have never noticed them offering it.

What school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My one kid’s school is a center.

Her teacher this year (who is wonderful otherwise) did not offer conferences in the fall - just said at BTSN to contact her in Nov or Dec if you need/want one.

And that school does not do info sessions for AAP. Or maybe it does but only offers them to 2nd grade and does not advertise them above that.

Other kid’s school does both each year. People should stop harping on OP. Not all schools are the same.

That was my point. This parent didn’t take initiative and ask for a conference. Strange.

The part in bold is offering conferences in the fall. 3rd grade teacher here. I agree. A parent can request a conference at any time. At the end of October/beginning of November I met with parents of about 15 of my students. There are no specific dates set aside for elementary school conferences.

?
No - sending out a sign up genius and specifying days the conferences will be held is “offering conferences”. Stating the obvious on BTSN - you can ask to meet if you need/want to - is not the same thing.

Re: the AART briefing. Ok perhaps it was offered but it is still safe to say it was not very well advertised if I have been there 4 years and have never noticed them offering it.