Advanced Academic Program

Mystery Bag

Ms. Galvin and a male student discussing what he will put into his mystery bag.

A female student completing her mystery bag drawing.

A male student completing his mystery bag drawing.

Ms. Galvin and a group of students sitting on the carpet while teaching about the mystery bag.

Ms. Galvin sitting on the carpet teaching about the mystery bag.

Ms. Galvin and a female student discussing what she will put into his mystery bag.

Ms. Galvin and a male student discussing what he will put into his mystery bag.

General AAP information

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) believes in developing the strengths and talents of all students. Every student needs to be challenged and engaged in exciting learning experiences.

FCPS policies and procedures are grounded in equity and inclusion. Our commitment to providing rigor to all students is part of the FCPS strategic plan. AAP offers a continuum of advanced academic services to meet a broad range of student needs. We take a holistic approach that uses a variety of assessments to determine the level of service to match the child’s current needs.

With the FCPS talent development model, all students in FCPS will receive:

Critical and creative thinking lessons.
Access to AAP curriculum and strategies.

Some students need a differentiated curriculum to address their cognitive and social-emotional needs. These students receive additional AAP services based on:

Academic needs beyond peers at their grade level.
Strengths in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
A need for increased depth, complexity, and pace of instruction.

Students’ advanced academic needs may change over time. The AAP continuum of services develops and builds on students’ current strengths and talents.

Elementary School AAP Services

FCPS offers a continuum of services for elementary students to meet their current academic needs.

Access to Rigor: Grades K-6 – All students receive talent development lessons with critical and creative thinking strategies and AAP curriculum lessons.

Subject-Specific Services: Grades K-6 – Identified students receive AAP curriculum lessons in the general education setting in areas of academic strength.

Part-Time Services: Grades 3-6 – Identified students receive AAP curriculum lessons in more than one academic content area. The Advanced Academic Resource Teacher (AART) leads these lessons. Programming has increased depth and complexity in several content areas.

Full-Time Services: Grades 3-8 – Identified students receive AAP curriculum lessons full-time. Programming has increased depth, complexity, and pace in all academic content areas.