Advanced Academic Programs Identification and Placement for Military Families

Consult the Planning Your Arrival to Fairfax County web page. Families are able to register 120 days in advance of your arrival with military orders or other approved documentation.

Complete the student registration process for your local school. No student may be considered until they are registered in FCPS with a student ID number.

Put together a file with the following information. Please make copies as materials will not be returned.

Required

• FCPS Student ID Number.
• Report cards for the two previous years.
• At least one nationally-normed ability test from the list below. Test results need to be reported in ability index format as well as percentile.
  • Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)
  • Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT2)
  • Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) (7th Edition)
  • Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
  • Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC V)
  • Cognitive Assessment System (CAS)
  • Differential Ability Scale (DAS)
  • Kaufman Assessment Battery
  • Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS)
  • In-View Cognitive Abilities Assessment
• Ability tests do not expire. If your student already has results from one of these tests (in ability index format as well as percentile), we can accept them.

If Available

• Record of previous advanced academic or gifted services. (Records of gifted identification and services help FCPS determine the best match to FCPS AAP services.)
• Achievement test results (including but not limited to):
  • MAP Growth Tests 
  • Stanford Achievement Test
  • TerraNova Achievement Test

Optional

• Five pages of student work samples.

Submit your student’s information to the Advanced Academic Programs Office.

Complete Steps 1 and 2 (above), and get their student ID number.

• Submit your paperwork to the AAP Office for screening:
  1. Scan the paperwork
  2. Email the paperwork to [email protected]
  3. In the subject line write your student's ID number and Military Placement (e.g., 1000007 Military Placement)

• FCPS reviews student records whenever a military connected youth joins our district. We rely on a partnership with the family to learn about past gifted/advanced academic services. Please be sure to share documentation about services with the AAP office and with the local school when you enroll.
• Students are ensured continuity in gifted services per the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children (MIC3).
• FCPS will review your child’s records within 30 days to find the best match to services in the Advanced Academic Programs (subject-specific AAP, part-time AAP, or full-time AAP).

• Screening for subject specific AAP (K-6) and part-time AAP (grades 3-6) happens within 30 business days at the local school level. If your student has no past record of advanced/gifted services, please submit a School-Based Services Referral Form to the Advanced Academic Resource Teacher at the local school to have them screened for subject-specific or part-time AAP. 
• Screening for full-time placement happens during specific windows. 
  • Military connected youth moving to FCPS with an ability score may submit records for review for immediate placement.
  • Military connected youth moving to FCPS without an ability score are eligible for screening during the fall window and the spring window. To be considered for a full-time placement, please submit the Full-Time (Level IV) Referral Form prior to October 15th for fall screening and prior to December 15th for spring screening. 

For more information, please see the Testing and Identification Timeline.

• Fairfax County Public Schools will review your child’s records to find the best match to services in the Advanced Academic Programs. This could be subject-specific AAP, part-time AAP, or full-time AAP.
• If your child is matched to subject-specific or part-time services and you believe they require a full-time placement to have an academic peer group, please submit a Full-Time (Level IV) Referral Form during the fall window and/or the spring window.

For more information, please see the Testing and Identification Timeline.

• FCPS offers multiple ability testing windows throughout the school year. Local elementary and middle schools will provide a testing opportunity for students in Grades 2-7 during FCPS testing windows for a student who does not have an ability test on record. Abilities tests are available for students in Grades 2-7. Scores from abilities tests are not needed for services beyond grade 8, which are all open enrollment.
• Please review the Testing and Identification timeline for information on testing windows.
• If you have questions regarding ability testing, reach out to the testing coordinator at your local elementary school.

• For students in military families, FCPS will match the full-time advanced academic/gifted placements from other districts per the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunities for Military Children. 
• Should you wish for your child to sit for an ability test, local elementary and middle schools will provide a testing opportunity during FCPS testing windows for a student who does not have an ability test on record.  Abilities tests are not needed for services beyond grade 8, which are all open enrollment.  
• Please review the Testing and Identification timeline and reach out to the testing coordinator at your local elementary school to make sure your child participates in ability testing. If you are not sure who the testing coordinator at your local school is, please let the local school principal know that you want to be sure your student is tested.

• The Family and School Partnerships Office provides a host of  Military Family Resources and supports for families transitioning to and exiting Fairfax County Public Schools.56  
• The Parent Resource Center (PRC) offers a welcoming and engaging environment for families, educators and community members. 
• For more information about navigating gifted education programs as a military transfer student in Virginia, please visit the Military Families information from the Virginia Department of Education.

Please contact the AAP Office at 571-423-4740 and [email protected].