Archives 2009

November 17, 2009 — AMC 8 Math Contests

On November 17, 2009, a team of FCAG volunteers will travel from school to school during the day and administer the AMC 8 math contest at multiple locations on Tuesday, November 17. While the test is generally intended for students in Eighth Grade, FCAG is not imposing an age/grade requirement in order to take the test. If you are interested in having the AMC 8 administered at your school or community center, please contact

Jeff Steele.
Stay tuned for details on FCAG's sponsorship of the AMC 10 contest in upcoming months.

November 17, 2009 — FCAG Speaker Series — TJ Admissions Officer Judith Howard

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: This year there will be some new changes to the admissions process for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. While the number of students admitted will remain the same, how will these changes affect your child? Please join us and take advantage of this unique opportunity to hear from Ms. Judith Howard, the Admissions Director at TJ. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at McLean High School in the Lecture Hall (Room 187).

FAIRGRADE

The School Board has adopted a new 10-point grading scale with pluses and minuses, to be used starting in 2009-10. As of May 2009, it is unclear whether honors classes taken for high school credit before Fall 2009 will be given extra weight on FCPS high school transcripts. For more information, see FAIRGRADE. If you want honors classes weighted retroactively, contact the School Board members.

FCAG Summer Enrichment Camp Guide

FCAG's 2009 Summer Camp Guide

TJ Summer Tech Institute — Summer 2009

TJ offers one week summer camp programs in math, science and technology for rising 8th and 9th grade students, regardless of where they will attend high school. Each one-week course is $200. For more information, see this flyer.

FCPS — Reevaluating GT Centers

In its June work session, the FCPS School Board will be reevaluating elementary and middle school GT Center programs. A majority of the School Board could decide that GT Centers are no longer necessary, given the availability of elementary school Level 4 classes and middle school honors classes. Interested parents should contact School Board members.

The School Board work session will be on June 8, 2009. The School Board forum will be on July 18, 2009.

9/19/09 FCAG Meeting

Please join us on Saturday, September 19, 2009, for the next FCAG meeting at Kilmer Middle School (Lecture Hall) at 1:30 p.m. Jeff Steele will be giving a presentation on "The Secrets of Challenge 24." This is the elementary school math game where children try to manipulate four numbers into the answer "24" using the basic math operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). See the flyer here for more details.

9/10/09 FCPS School Board Meeting

The Fairfax County School Board will be meeting on September 10, 2009 at 8 pm to discuss renewing the contract for Superintendent Dale as well as other issues. FCAG joined other interested organizations in a press release which can be found here. An agenda for the Sept. 10 business meeting can be found here.

If you wish to submit written testimony, please mail your comments to the School Board Office, 8115 Gatehouse Road, Suite 5400, Falls Church, VA 22042, or e-mail the

School Board.
Please provide your full name, home address, and home and work telephone numbers as applicable.

7/18/09 FCPS School Board Retreat

On July 18, 2009, the School Board discussed possible policy changes to FCPS Advanced Academic Programs. Read the agenda.

In addition, Assistant Superintendent Noonan and Dr. Horn answered follow-up questions posed by School Board members at the July 13, 2009 session. Here are some revised slides from the July 13 presentation as well as their written responses to some questions:

Also discussed was 2006-2011 Local Plan for the Education of the Gifted. Relevant documents are:

7/13/09 FCPS School Board Work Session No. 4-9

At a work session on July 13, 2009, the School Board discussed the FCPS' current advanced academic programs. Read the Meeting Agenda.

At the work session, Peter Noonan, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, and Dr. Carol V. Horn, Coordinator for Advanced Academic Programs, described the services currently being offerred in Fairfax County. View the Advanced Academic Programs Presentation.

However, you should be aware that School Board members asked for clarification on several slides, so you should also look at the July 13 documents for revisions to slides 7, 8, 23, 24, 27, 30, 35 and 55. Read the follow-up document.

7/13/09 FCPS School Board Work Session No. 4-9

Discuss Level 4 GT Classes with School Board Members

On Tuesday, June 16th, parents of gifted students have a rare opportunity to converse with School Board members about Local Level 4 classes, GT Center classes, and other related issues.

FCAG is sponsoring a general meeting on Tuesday, June 16th, at McLean HS, in the multipurpose room (Lecture Hall 187), which starts at 7:30 PM. The meeting is free and open to the general public. After we introduce and elect new FCAG officers, School Board members Brad Center (Lee District) and perhaps also Liz Bradsher (Springfield District) will engage in an informal conversation with parents about GT programs.

Please attend this meeting if you can squeeze it into your schedule. And, please also forward this invitation to other parents who have academically gifted children. These two School Board members are graciously volunteering to give up one of their few free evenings, so that they can speak directly with parents who have experience with FCPS gifted programs.

If you have any questions about June 16th, please call me at 703-917-7960.

Louise Epstein
President, FCAG

FAIRGRADE

On January 22, the School Board voted to retroactively weight AP and IB classes and to weight honors classes by 0.5. During the April 20 work session, Superintendent Dale recommended a new 10-point grading scale with pluses and minuses for 2009-10. Under the new scale, 80-82 will be a B- (2.7 quality points), 83-86 will be a B (3.0 quality points), 87-89 will be a B+ (3.3 quality points), 90-92 will be an A- (3.7 quality points), and 93-100 will be an A (4.0 quality points). The last issue to be settled is whether FCPS will weight honors classes taken through 2008-09 on transcripts issued starting in September 2009, and FAIRGRADE will be lobbying for retroactive weighting of honors courses.

Mail-in Membership

If you would like to become an FCAG member, please fill out our membership form and mail it with a $20 check to:

FCAG
5303 Esabella Court
Fairfax VA, 22032-2658
FCAG Board of Directors
Position Name Address/Phone
President 1134 Litton Lane
McLean, VA 22101
(703) 917-7960
President Elect and VP 7685 Ballestrade Ct.
McLean, VA 22102
(703) 288-5111
Co-Secretary 1801 Dumbarton St.
McLean, VA 22101
(703) 237-1154
Co-Secretary PO Box 532
Springfield, VA 22150
(703) 922-1977
Treasurer 5303 Esabella Ct.
Fairfax, VA 22032
(703) 426-1962

FCAG Meetings 2008-2009

Meetings will be held at 7:30 pm at 1134 Litton Lane, McLean 22101 on the following dates:

FAIRGRADE

On January 22, the School Board voted to retroactively weight AP and IB classes and to weight honors classes by 0.5. In March, FCPS staff is expected to propose variants on a 10-point scale with pluses and minuses. By summer 2009, FCPS staff is expected to determine which classes should be weighted 0.5, and recommend whether to weight them retroactively. At the February AAPAC meeting, Assistant Superintendent Peter Noonan indicated that he did not think staff would recommend that honors classes be weighted retroactively. For more information on FCPS grading policies, see the FAIRGRADE website.

FCAG Meetings 2008-2009

Meetings will be held at 7:30 pm at 1134 Litton Lane, McLean 22101 on the following dates:

FCPS Budget Cuts: Teacher and Parent Perspectives

FCPS has published its FY 2010 budget, which increases class sizes. Teachers and custodians are being fired. Bus service is being reduced for magnet students. This FY 2010 budget is still tentative, and the School Board will be considering changes in the FY 2010 later this spring.

On Tuesday night, March 24th, at 7:30 PM, hear from all the teachers unions and the Fairfax County Council of PTAs about how the School Board could balance the FCPS budget without increasing class sizes or making some other cuts. Panelists include Leonard Bumbaca (Fairfax Education Association), Dr. Mark Glaser (Fairfax County Federation of Teachers), Mary Kaye Downes and Vern Williams (Association of Fairfax Professional Educators) and Michele Menapace (Fairfax County Council of PTAs). After short presentations, there will be an open question and answer session.

This meeting is free and open to the general public. It is located at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, 6560 Braddock Road, Alexandria, in the auditorium. For more information, contact Louise Epstein, president of Fairfax County Association for the Gifted and VP of FAIRGRADE, at 703-917-7960.

FCPS FY 2010 Budget Cuts

The FY 2010 budget currently eliminates bus service to elementary school GT Centers for students who have a Level 4 class in their neighborhood school. It also reduces afternoon bus service for TJ students, increases class sizes, and more. It is likely that the School Board will reevaluate the FY 2010 budget in May 2009. For more information, see the FCPS FY2010 Budget and read posts on the FCAG Yahoo Groups Discussion Page.

FCPS Board Meeting — January 8

Superintendent Dale has recommended that FCPS increase weights for honors, AP and IB classes. He also has recommended that FCPS retain its current 6-10 hybrid grading scale. FCPS released its staff report on grading policies on January 2nd. To see FAIRGRADE's response to Superintendent Dale's recommendation, see FAIRGRADE Response to FCPS Report on Grading Policy.

The School Board has grading policies on the agenda for its meeting this Thursday night, January 8th, 7:00 PM at Luther Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Road, Falls Church. FAIRGRADE is asking parents to attend this meeting and to wear white shirts, to persuade seven School Board members to vote against Dale's recommendation not to change the grading scale. If you can, please attend.

Proposed School Budget Cuts

Superintendent Dale has proposed three tiers of budget cuts to the School Board. The proposed cuts include the reduction of buses to elementary school GT Centers for students who have Level 4 classes in their base elementary schools, the reduction of afternoon bus service for TJ students, and increasing class sizes by 2.5 students. In addition, Assistant Superintendent Noonan is working on a new staffing formula that reportedly will further increase class sizes in schools with higher test scores.

FCAG members have been posting information about the School Board budget and work sessions on the FCAG Yahoo Group. In addition, FCAG president Louise Epstein would particularly like to hear from parents of gifted elementary and middle school students about the proposed budget. Please contact Louise at (703) 917-7960.

Fairgrade — Changing FCPS Grading Policies

A group of parents, including FCAG's president, has been lobbying FCPS to modify its grading policies so that they are more consistent with national norms, and FCPS students have a level playing field in applying to out-of-state colleges, and in applying for college honors programs and merit scholarships. For more information, visit the Fairgrade website.

Proposed Budget Cuts by FCPS

In January 2008, FCPS staff proposed to reduce bus transportation to and from GT Centers and from TJ. Staff also proposed to charge students to take PSAT, AP, and IB tests, and to participate in high school sports. In May 2008, FCPS staff proposed a new budget, which did not cut these services but which increased class sizes and reduced teacher salaries. See: FY2009 Budget. If you have suggestions on other ways FCPS could save money, contact the School Board.

SLEEP Bus Transportation Update

The FCPS Transportation Task Force has issued a report recommending that FCPS modify its bus schedules so that high school students (other than TJ students) generally would start school later, and elementary school students generally would start school earlier. For more information, visit the SLEEP website.