Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who moved to FCPS when oldest was in 2nd and learning about AAP was trial by fire this is what we learned:
1) There are no exceptions to deadlines, but don't worry there is nothing you missed that can't be remedied the next year.
2) You can have your child retake to Cogat every year and reapply to AAP program every year if you want.
3) If you get a denial letter, appeal it! Was told by AAP rep 50% of appeals get approved.
4) Don't let anyone tell you what to do and do your own research.
5) Just because a child is in the AAP class full-time doesn't mean they are level IV.

Personal experience:
-Oldest scored high on math only CogAt in 2nd, due to just moving to district didn't even know what it was. Never took NNAT. Accepted for level III AAP math denied level IV.
-When inquired about the whole program, was told we should appeal, we did and was denied level IV.
-Told by 2nd grade teacher they were not AAP level. We requested they take NNAT anyway.
-Got so much negativity wasn't going to even reapply in 3rd
-Got pushed by 3rd grade teacher and spouse to try again so we did and got in level IV for 4th, no appeal needed.
-Not sure about other kids but was way worth it. Child is very nerdy/tech oriented but late bloomer socially.
-20% of kids in their AAP class were put there by the local school and the parents assumed they were now full time AAP and never tried to get them accepted to level IV. Most of the parents of those 20% don't realize what a big deal this becomes when they transition to middle school.
-This can be easily rectified by having them reapply to AAP in 5th grade.
-We know lots of parents of kids who were in AAP but not level IV who did not know this including the parents of one child who's mom was a teacher at Carson.
-Bottom line, don't go to the school or the AAP for anything other than procedural questions. They get overwhelmed and rightfully defensive about the topic. Talk to other parents and read everything you can online especially on the FCPS site and most importantly do what you think is best and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

The bolded #2 is incorrect. There is a one-time retake allowed between grades 3-6.

Well you can only have 1 re-take in FCPS for free, but you could pay a private tester every year.

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who moved to FCPS when oldest was in 2nd and learning about AAP was trial by fire this is what we learned:
1) There are no exceptions to deadlines, but don't worry there is nothing you missed that can't be remedied the next year.
2) You can have your child retake to Cogat every year and reapply to AAP program every year if you want.
3) If you get a denial letter, appeal it! Was told by AAP rep 50% of appeals get approved.
4) Don't let anyone tell you what to do and do your own research.
5) Just because a child is in the AAP class full-time doesn't mean they are level IV.

Personal experience:
-Oldest scored high on math only CogAt in 2nd, due to just moving to district didn't even know what it was. Never took NNAT. Accepted for level III AAP math denied level IV.
-When inquired about the whole program, was told we should appeal, we did and was denied level IV.
-Told by 2nd grade teacher they were not AAP level. We requested they take NNAT anyway.
-Got so much negativity wasn't going to even reapply in 3rd
-Got pushed by 3rd grade teacher and spouse to try again so we did and got in level IV for 4th, no appeal needed.
-Not sure about other kids but was way worth it. Child is very nerdy/tech oriented but late bloomer socially.
-20% of kids in their AAP class were put there by the local school and the parents assumed they were now full time AAP and never tried to get them accepted to level IV. Most of the parents of those 20% don't realize what a big deal this becomes when they transition to middle school.
-This can be easily rectified by having them reapply to AAP in 5th grade.
-We know lots of parents of kids who were in AAP but not level IV who did not know this including the parents of one child who's mom was a teacher at Carson.
-Bottom line, don't go to the school or the AAP for anything other than procedural questions. They get overwhelmed and rightfully defensive about the topic. Talk to other parents and read everything you can online especially on the FCPS site and most importantly do what you think is best and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

The bolded #2 is incorrect. There is a one-time retake allowed between grades 3-6.

As a parent who moved to FCPS when oldest was in 2nd and learning about AAP was trial by fire this is what we learned:
1) There are no exceptions to deadlines, but don't worry there is nothing you missed that can't be remedied the next year.
2) You can have your child retake to Cogat every year and reapply to AAP program every year if you want.
3) If you get a denial letter, appeal it! Was told by AAP rep 50% of appeals get approved.
4) Don't let anyone tell you what to do and do your own research.
5) Just because a child is in the AAP class full-time doesn't mean they are level IV.

Personal experience:
-Oldest scored high on math only CogAt in 2nd, due to just moving to district didn't even know what it was. Never took NNAT. Accepted for level III AAP math denied level IV.
-When inquired about the whole program, was told we should appeal, we did and was denied level IV.
-Told by 2nd grade teacher they were not AAP level. We requested they take NNAT anyway.
-Got so much negativity wasn't going to even reapply in 3rd
-Got pushed by 3rd grade teacher and spouse to try again so we did and got in level IV for 4th, no appeal needed.
-Not sure about other kids but was way worth it. Child is very nerdy/tech oriented but late bloomer socially.
-20% of kids in their AAP class were put there by the local school and the parents assumed they were now full time AAP and never tried to get them accepted to level IV. Most of the parents of those 20% don't realize what a big deal this becomes when they transition to middle school.
-This can be easily rectified by having them reapply to AAP in 5th grade.
-We know lots of parents of kids who were in AAP but not level IV who did not know this including the parents of one child who's mom was a teacher at Carson.
-Bottom line, don't go to the school or the AAP for anything other than procedural questions. They get overwhelmed and rightfully defensive about the topic. Talk to other parents and read everything you can online especially on the FCPS site and most importantly do what you think is best and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

This is not correct. He has missed the chance of taking CogAT at school and you have missed the referral deadline. This means you need to complete the process when he is a 4th grader. And if he is accepted, he will start the AAP at the beginning of the 5th grade.

You should have attended the AAP orientation meetings as another PP just mentioned. You should schedule a meeting with your AART now so you know what needs to be done.

And when you do, please do not embarrass yourself by complaining that you had no idea about the process or that the information is difficult to find. It will be rude, and you’ll come off as entitled because you chose not to take responsibility.

OP here. Some of us don’t live and die by AAP information, there was NO meeting held in October, also there was no
Parent conference either. Our experience with FCPS has been dismal. Thank you for your response though.

No one says you have to live and die by AAP info, but, if this is something that is important to you for your child, then you do a basic google search to get the information that is readily available on the school system's website and/or the name of your school's AART, which is also available on the web. Search for "fcps aap", and it takes you right to the information about the program and the application deadlines and requirements, as well as the parent referral form to download and send in. Other than the selection committee's divination, it's not an opaque process.

Parent-teacher conferences are not required any longer, either; however, some teachers ask to meet with parents at the end of Q1 and you can ask your teacher for a conference at any time. Other than the awful teacher my DD had for first grade who was a year out from retiring and basically just marking time to his pension, every teacher has been happy to meet with us any time we've asked for a check-in.

Our neighbor's kid didn't get into AAP in 3rd and is in my kid's AAP class this year for 4th. I don't know if they parent referred or were principal-placed because I'm not close enough to the mom to care/ask. We definitely had some new kids show up for 4th grade AAP, but I have no idea if they are late admits or new to FCPS/our school pyramid.

I got a notification from school at the end of K that my DC's are identified for level II AAP. There wasn't much - just some different math groups, enrichment classes and some pull out for "reading test"... I don't really know. But their report card noted them as being in level II.

Anonymous wrote:Speaking of notifications to parents, does every school send out level II notices? Do all FCPSs offer level II services in K-2? I have never heard of any parent in my school receiving a notice about level II services. My understanding is that pullouts did not occur until level III in third grade. Am I missing something? Is that unique to my school?

Level II is in class differentiation. We did not get anything in first grade, but we are in language immersion and I suspect that they did not do Level II in the first year of the language program. The Teachers need the time to teach the language as well as math and the Language Arts/Social Studies Teacher had a bit less time to cover the grade based lessons.

We did get a notice at the end of the year regarding Level II services at the end of first grade. I have no clue how many kids were sent the notice.

Pull Outs are suppose to start in third grade for kids receiving Level III services.

Speaking of notifications to parents, does every school send out level II notices? Do all FCPSs offer level II services in K-2? I have never heard of any parent in my school receiving a notice about level II services. My understanding is that pullouts did not occur until level III in third grade. Am I missing something? Is that unique to my school?

I agree that like most nearly everything, it is school dependent and varies. Perhaps some schools could better inform parents, that is hard to doubt. At the same time, I can understand that FCPS would not want staff sending emails urging specific parents to refer, as has been suggested elsewhere in this thread.

I agree it is school dependent. I honestly learned much of the AAP in this forum.

I think that Centers have reasons for letting families know everything that is happening. They want kids in AAP, those classes should help raise test scores. My school does not have local level IV and probably doesn't want to lose kids to the Center because those kids should have higher SOL scores, which helps the school. The school passes out the minimum amount of information but if you don't know to look for it, you might not notice it.

We received a Level II notice last year and I was not surprised, I had been researching AAP. The next week there were parents asking if other people had received a Level II letter and what it meant, because they knew nothing about AAP. The first time I remember hearing the school mention AAP was at Back to School Night at the start of second grade. The Teacher mentioned that the COgAT's were a piece of the AAP decision but she did not discuss what AAP was or why anyone should care about AAP.

The school doesn't invest much time letting people know about AAP or the possible pull outs or the like. It does spend a good amount of time on the language immersion program, which brings kids into the school.

I suspect that a Principal is not incentivized to send kids from their schools to the Centers and so schools without a Local Level IV or that are not centers are less invested in informing parents.

I think communication regarding AAP is school dependent. We are at a center school, so there is more exposure to AAP topics in general. But school also sends out handouts regarding 4 levels of AAP multiple times since K through weekly folders. AAP open house and deadlines are communicated by PTO and school administration emails multiple times, and also brought up during fall conferences of 2nd grade (at least our DC's teacher brought it up). I thought there were plenty of communications regarding it.