Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 19:16     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
Anonymous wrote:I guarantee you he will say he hates public after the first 2 weeks. It takes months to settle in and adjust to something completely different. You can do your plan, but I bet $1000 he wants private because it’s safe and familiar.

Give it a full year or don’t try it at all.


This. The first 2-3 weeks will be a lot of icebreaker activities, getting used to the rules and routines, and beginning of year testing. It will look nothing like the regular school year, and they won't really start learning or doing much of anything in that timeframe. It would be impossible for your kid to make an informed decision.

If you want to move your kid to public school for MS and HS, I would either move him now and expect that he'll manage to adjust, or move him in 6th grade, so the transition to middle school won't be so jarring. You could also contact the AART or principal for the AAP center your child would attend to see if they can meet with you or set up a tour. FCPS may not have shadow days, but they should be able to give a tour of the school. Also, sometime in April or early may, they should have an AAP orientation meeting for the parents and kids who were just accepted into AAP. You and your kid should be able to attend that, even if your kid will be entering 5th and not 3rd.

Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 18:25     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can't you come do a shadow day at private this year? Even if you are flying across the globe to do it, that would be cheaper. And a shadow day is how everybody else tests out a private school, vs enrolling.

I also don't think your kid will know much about the school from just a few weeks. Kids are changeable, the first weeks are intro, etc.


That is great idea, but FCPS does not allow a similar experience.


Oh my God. Take a class on being an adult. FOMO is for Instagram, not life.


FCPS does not even allow for school visits, no? In NYC they allow school visits and do public school tours. I never understood why they don't allow them here. Public schools are like black box here. You just throw yourself in.


They're not trying to sell anything. The schools are good. If you don't want public school, then buy a house in Old Town or Arlington or in DC.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 17:31     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Let's say I talk to my child, and that we agree on sending him to private next year because we don't want the tuition to burn for next year.
Can he still see the FCPS AAP for the first three weeks of semester next year, so that at least he has an idea of what the school is like there. Is there any downside of him being at FCPS AAP for the first three weeks, given he knows he will switch to private for the rest of the year, and he may consider the AAP for the 6th grade?


It's a terrible idea. What if he hates it? There's no point to going to a school for 2 weeks only. Even worse, what if he loves it and makes a best friend? Then he would leave.

More likely, he would not even start to fit in, since his time is so short. So it would just be a miserable useless experience.

Pick a school and send him there.


Look, I don't know why anyone here insisting on not understanding. I already mentioned that he wants to have a choice, and this plan excites him. He does not have any attachment yet to either private or the FCPS AAP center. No friends. No familiarity. He wants to see both. If he likes AAP for the first 3 weeks, that's great information for him and he can continue. If he hates it, great info for him so he can continue with private for the rest of the year.

He has never been in a classroom with more than 15 kids, or at any public school.


This is not his decision. You are the parent. This is your decision.


Let's say our family values his opinion.


I get it, we let our child have a say in staying at his base school or moving to the Center. But that did not involve attending one and then leaving after 3 weeks.

I would be surprised to find too many people who think this is a good idea. Outside of the tuition piece, the disruption is bigger then you are giving credit for. Teachers use the first weeks of school to set routines, help kids get to know their classmates, focus on integrating new kids into the class, and figure out how to manage that particular group of kids. A kid leaving after 3 weeks is going to disrupt that flow.

The history you have laid out for your child points to a lot of movement in his education. Some of that cannot be avoided due to illness, job moves, and the like. You are now suggesting that he start to get to know a group of kids for 3 weeks, then move to another school, and then potentially move again in another year. Different schools have different teaching methods and emphasize different elements of an area. Too much movement will lead to gaps in knowledge that can be an issue later on.

I get the desire to give your child a choice but this is not the way I would do it. I would explain the options and do a pro and con list but moving between the two is not good for the other kids in his class and isn’t going to provide him/you with the experience that will help him/you make an informed decision. The first weeks at school are not normal and 2 days is not enough at the private school.

It sounds like you are set on a path forward but it is rare that anyone on this board agrees on anything and yet pretty much all of the posts are pointing in the same direction.

I get your point.
During preschool he had an IEP and received services due to anxiety. He is much better now. He is above grade level in all topics except writing. He is grade level at writing. He is very creative and talented in art, music. He is very athletic and does well in sports. School days - we try to keep them short since he may get overstimulated during long days and have hard time sleeping. He stays at school 8am-3pm at the moment. He does a lot of reading, art and math at home in his free time.


Oooh, is his name Colin? Does he have a delightful orphan cousin named Mary? Give him some independence and watch him blossom.


It is a shame that you are making fun of a twice exceptional child. He has an IEP and also got into AAP. That shows us he is twice exceptional. The shame is on you, not the parent of that child. Grow up.

OP, I think you are on the right track advocating for your child and thinking about options. Good luck.


Gotta say this is only re-inforcing my belief that OP is a troll. This cannot be real.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 17:21     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can't you come do a shadow day at private this year? Even if you are flying across the globe to do it, that would be cheaper. And a shadow day is how everybody else tests out a private school, vs enrolling.

I also don't think your kid will know much about the school from just a few weeks. Kids are changeable, the first weeks are intro, etc.


That is great idea, but FCPS does not allow a similar experience.


Oh my God. Take a class on being an adult. FOMO is for Instagram, not life.


FCPS does not even allow for school visits, no? In NYC they allow school visits and do public school tours. I never understood why they don't allow them here. Public schools are like black box here. You just throw yourself in.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 17:17     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
I guarantee you he will say he hates public after the first 2 weeks. It takes months to settle in and adjust to something completely different. You can do your plan, but I bet $1000 he wants private because it’s safe and familiar.

Give it a full year or don’t try it at all.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 17:13     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Let's say I talk to my child, and that we agree on sending him to private next year because we don't want the tuition to burn for next year.
Can he still see the FCPS AAP for the first three weeks of semester next year, so that at least he has an idea of what the school is like there. Is there any downside of him being at FCPS AAP for the first three weeks, given he knows he will switch to private for the rest of the year, and he may consider the AAP for the 6th grade?


It's a terrible idea. What if he hates it? There's no point to going to a school for 2 weeks only. Even worse, what if he loves it and makes a best friend? Then he would leave.

More likely, he would not even start to fit in, since his time is so short. So it would just be a miserable useless experience.

Pick a school and send him there.


Look, I don't know why anyone here insisting on not understanding. I already mentioned that he wants to have a choice, and this plan excites him. He does not have any attachment yet to either private or the FCPS AAP center. No friends. No familiarity. He wants to see both. If he likes AAP for the first 3 weeks, that's great information for him and he can continue. If he hates it, great info for him so he can continue with private for the rest of the year.

He has never been in a classroom with more than 15 kids, or at any public school.


This is not his decision. You are the parent. This is your decision.


Let's say our family values his opinion.


I get it, we let our child have a say in staying at his base school or moving to the Center. But that did not involve attending one and then leaving after 3 weeks.

I would be surprised to find too many people who think this is a good idea. Outside of the tuition piece, the disruption is bigger then you are giving credit for. Teachers use the first weeks of school to set routines, help kids get to know their classmates, focus on integrating new kids into the class, and figure out how to manage that particular group of kids. A kid leaving after 3 weeks is going to disrupt that flow.

The history you have laid out for your child points to a lot of movement in his education. Some of that cannot be avoided due to illness, job moves, and the like. You are now suggesting that he start to get to know a group of kids for 3 weeks, then move to another school, and then potentially move again in another year. Different schools have different teaching methods and emphasize different elements of an area. Too much movement will lead to gaps in knowledge that can be an issue later on.

I get the desire to give your child a choice but this is not the way I would do it. I would explain the options and do a pro and con list but moving between the two is not good for the other kids in his class and isn’t going to provide him/you with the experience that will help him/you make an informed decision. The first weeks at school are not normal and 2 days is not enough at the private school.

It sounds like you are set on a path forward but it is rare that anyone on this board agrees on anything and yet pretty much all of the posts are pointing in the same direction.

I get your point.
During preschool he had an IEP and received services due to anxiety. He is much better now. He is above grade level in all topics except writing. He is grade level at writing. He is very creative and talented in art, music. He is very athletic and does well in sports. School days - we try to keep them short since he may get overstimulated during long days and have hard time sleeping. He stays at school 8am-3pm at the moment. He does a lot of reading, art and math at home in his free time.


Oooh, is his name Colin? Does he have a delightful orphan cousin named Mary? Give him some independence and watch him blossom.


It is a shame that you are making fun of a twice exceptional child. He has an IEP and also got into AAP. That shows us he is twice exceptional. The shame is on you, not the parent of that child. Grow up.

OP, I think you are on the right track advocating for your child and thinking about options. Good luck.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 16:50     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
I’ve had a kid in FCPS for the last 15 years, so a lot of “first two weeks”. I don’t see this accomplishing what you expect it to, OP. The first two weeks are going to be settling in, learning routines, etc. and nothing like what things will be like down the road. On top of that, your DS will be trying to adapt to public school for the first time, with larger classes and less personal attention, in addition to being new and not knowing anyone while many of these kids will have been classmates for years (especially in a school with only 1 or 2 AAP classes per grade). He’s not going to have anything close to an accurate experience on which to base a school choice. And that’s assuming a 5th grader should be making that choice, which is a whole other issue (and FWIW, while I agree with considering his preferences, test driving public school and letting him decide is not how I’d go about it).
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 15:26     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
As a teacher, this would be very disruptive. To get a new student for just a few weeks.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 15:18     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Let's say I talk to my child, and that we agree on sending him to private next year because we don't want the tuition to burn for next year.
Can he still see the FCPS AAP for the first three weeks of semester next year, so that at least he has an idea of what the school is like there. Is there any downside of him being at FCPS AAP for the first three weeks, given he knows he will switch to private for the rest of the year, and he may consider the AAP for the 6th grade?


It's a terrible idea. What if he hates it? There's no point to going to a school for 2 weeks only. Even worse, what if he loves it and makes a best friend? Then he would leave.

More likely, he would not even start to fit in, since his time is so short. So it would just be a miserable useless experience.

Pick a school and send him there.


Look, I don't know why anyone here insisting on not understanding. I already mentioned that he wants to have a choice, and this plan excites him. He does not have any attachment yet to either private or the FCPS AAP center. No friends. No familiarity. He wants to see both. If he likes AAP for the first 3 weeks, that's great information for him and he can continue. If he hates it, great info for him so he can continue with private for the rest of the year.

He has never been in a classroom with more than 15 kids, or at any public school.


This is not his decision. You are the parent. This is your decision.


Let's say our family values his opinion.


I get it, we let our child have a say in staying at his base school or moving to the Center. But that did not involve attending one and then leaving after 3 weeks.

I would be surprised to find too many people who think this is a good idea. Outside of the tuition piece, the disruption is bigger then you are giving credit for. Teachers use the first weeks of school to set routines, help kids get to know their classmates, focus on integrating new kids into the class, and figure out how to manage that particular group of kids. A kid leaving after 3 weeks is going to disrupt that flow.

The history you have laid out for your child points to a lot of movement in his education. Some of that cannot be avoided due to illness, job moves, and the like. You are now suggesting that he start to get to know a group of kids for 3 weeks, then move to another school, and then potentially move again in another year. Different schools have different teaching methods and emphasize different elements of an area. Too much movement will lead to gaps in knowledge that can be an issue later on.

I get the desire to give your child a choice but this is not the way I would do it. I would explain the options and do a pro and con list but moving between the two is not good for the other kids in his class and isn’t going to provide him/you with the experience that will help him/you make an informed decision. The first weeks at school are not normal and 2 days is not enough at the private school.

It sounds like you are set on a path forward but it is rare that anyone on this board agrees on anything and yet pretty much all of the posts are pointing in the same direction.

I get your point.
During preschool he had an IEP and received services due to anxiety. He is much better now. He is above grade level in all topics except writing. He is grade level at writing. He is very creative and talented in art, music. He is very athletic and does well in sports. School days - we try to keep them short since he may get overstimulated during long days and have hard time sleeping. He stays at school 8am-3pm at the moment. He does a lot of reading, art and math at home in his free time.


Oooh, is his name Colin? Does he have a delightful orphan cousin named Mary? Give him some independence and watch him blossom.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 15:09     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
I have the feeling that OP, like many other parents, thinks that AAP is more like private school than general ed. It may be more academically focused, but you will still run into all of the same issues you do in general ed. There's always at least one or two "twice exceptional" children that take up a lot of the teacher's time and can sometimes harass the kids in their class (ask me how I know). At private school, those kids either aren't let in or are counseled out.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 15:06     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
Just pick a school.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 15:04     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can't you come do a shadow day at private this year? Even if you are flying across the globe to do it, that would be cheaper. And a shadow day is how everybody else tests out a private school, vs enrolling.

I also don't think your kid will know much about the school from just a few weeks. Kids are changeable, the first weeks are intro, etc.


That is great idea, but FCPS does not allow a similar experience.


Oh my God. Take a class on being an adult. FOMO is for Instagram, not life.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 15:02     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
Anonymous wrote:You can withdraw and return to public school as much as you want. An AAP designation stays with a child through 8th grade. Your plan is ridiculous and disruptive for your child and the other kids in the public class, where groups will be set in the first few weeks.


+1. OP, you might want to remember that you are the parent here. Allowing a 10 or 11 year old to decide which school he likes better is insane.

I have never understood people who are so inexplicably afraid of public school as on this board, but I digress.

Unless a kid has underlying issues they should adjust just fine to FCPS AAP. It's one of the wealthiest counties in one of the wealthiest school districts in the country. It is not perfect. Nothing is. It will be fine.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 14:04     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
DS is in 6th grade and has not had a class that was disrupted by another kid. There are some classes with issues and plenty of others without.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2024 12:56     Subject: Try FCPS AAP center for 2-3 weeks and switch to private?
Anonymous wrote:I do not think OP’s concept is practical to implement without disruption to DC and to others. Some privates will disenroll DC if DC does not attend for 2-3 weeks without permission from the school (and actual hospitalization of DC is the only reason likely to be approved).

I separately wonder if OP grasps just how very bureaucratic snd inconsistent FCPS can be.


FCPS starts the school year 2-3 weeks before most private schools. OP's plan is to have her DS attend public school during that time and then attend the first 2-3 days of private school (missing 2-3 days of public) and then make a decision.

The plan is imperfect and her DS may not make the "right" decision, but it will be more information than he currently has with 0 days in public school ever.

OP - tell your DS to image his private school classes and then double them in size. Throw in 2-3 kids who can't regulate their emotions very well (yes, even in AAP), and schools that will not actually discipline bad behavior. That will be FCPS. Now, you may get lucky and have only 1 kid who can't regulate their behavior and an amazing class, but it is a crapshoot.