Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Regions Silicon Valley School experience?

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My understanding is that they're heavy on homework there and possibly rigid about every child being gifted. I could be wrong there; maybe it was Stratford that says that every child is gifted. But they both have high homework loads.

Harker is expensive and super-intensive but good for gifties. But my understanding from a fair number of parents (6 or more) and one student my son's age is that it's very, very intensive. The student's stories put my son off it completely and a parent told me that you have to accept that Harker is your life. Her kid was in the middle school at the time.

Sent you a PM.

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Yes, Harker also doesn't guarantee sibling admissions, either.

Have you looked through Bay Area Parent? They always have a ton of school listings.

But you're correct that school options for gifties are limited around here. It's weird, given the environment.

My husband went to a Helios open house a few months ago and came back with glowing reports. It sounds like their curriculum is based on unit studies and is very kid driven. I was so excited until he told me the tuition.

Have you checked out the Berkeley Parents Network (http://parents.berkeley.edu/) for school recs?

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Well...I wouldn't call my kids' school, which I mentioned in a PM, "second tier." IMO, that's not really a nice thing to say, and it also isn't true. We've done day camps at different private schools around here and have friends whose kids attend them, and we've been impressed with what we've seen, especially in terms of extra non-academic activities.

And also IMO, I don't see the need to stratify private schools around here. We've seen the results of that in NYC and with colleges. One of the things I like best about this area is that we have, literally, dozens of K-8 private schools. Admissions mania is decidedly lacking (until high school, but there are middle college options for high schoolers). All the schools cater to different types of students. Everything depends on what you're looking for. No, many don't have services for gifted kids and that sucks. But they're private schools and that's their decision.

I understand how frustrated you feel, because I feel the same way. But dumping on other schools because they aren't Harker or Pinewood won't help. And the workload at Harker is very, very high. Harker is also notorious for its hyper-competitive atmosphere (not as bad on the primary school campus, I think, though).

If you're really this unhappy, you should consider moving closer to Los Altos or Palo Alto or up the peninsula close to Nueva. Or enroll your child in a language immersion school. But please don't dump on other schools because they aren't catering to what you want, okay? Challenger and Stratford and Monticello and the Carden schools and etc. don't have some kind of a obligation to be exactly what you're looking for.

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Hi Ashley, I actually thought you were painting ALL the schools around here that aren't Harker or Pinewood with with one brush. Maybe you were feeling frustrated. Like I said, I understand that feeling. But the post was quite sweepingly negative.

It's possible that you may be looking for too much in one school. Harker offers a lot, but you've said that your son's chances for admission are low. So you may need to adjust your expectations.

Again, sorry for any unintended offense. My post was a rant because I think that for the astronomical fee that these schools charge, they should be able to provide "the works" (there are families in America whose annual income pretax is less than the school fees here and there are some universities which are cheaper than these elementary schools!).
The funny thing is, I have already decided that I will choose one of the schools named in this thread (non-Harker and non-Pinewood) for the upcoming year and spend what little free time I have driving my child to extracurricular activities, if needed.
PS: I have already adjusted my expectations, but I might be able to become an adviser to someone with a business plan to start a "gifted school" in the bay area about what the actual market demands are (just kidding!).

Well, if you ever get involved in a project to start a school for fifties around here and you need some help, feel free to call on me!

Back to the original idea, I am also astounded by the lack of schools for gifties and the costs of the ones that do exist. I suspect that people just don't see the need.

Sounds like you have made a decision, but take a peek at Almaden Country Day in San Jose. It has all art, music, and drama and is academically excellent, and reasonably priced. My kid is 2E, and we are sticking with public for the IEP, but would have picked Almaden if not. Best wishes!

thanks, DDTJ. Never heard of it before. I will look up Almaden Country Day school.

This thread is fascinating. We will be moving to the general geographical
area Ashley referenced. My kid will be attending a public school, and I am hoping it works out with me supplementing at home.

I am curious though -- are private schools so much better than public schools ? I n way way ? I looked at Challengers and Stratfords ratio and they did not seem all that better than public schools (there was a difference of 3 kids). Also, I am amazed that people spend 40k on a private school. I am going through some sort of a culture shock, reading this. Where I live now (east coast), people generally go to a private school for religious reasons or if they live in a really crappy school district. Maybe I am missing something ?

Sorry about all the typos and grammatical mistakes. My phone just won't cooperate today

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Thanks, Ashley. No, your thread did not scare me, but I was (still am, to some extent) wondering about investing in private schools. Where I live, the quality of schools (depending on where you live in suburbia) range from good to excellent. And, there are usually teachers on staff for art/library/music/PE/technology/. So, I think I should set my expectations really low, based on reading your thread.

Also, I am surprised -- but when does Science start ? My kid's K class had science and social studies. Should I expect the school not to have either science or social studies ? I am guessing so, but this is sort of 'culture shock' I am referring to. Also, the schools and community seem to be very strongly tied (where I live). Most kids go to the same school from K through 5, go to the same middle school, and then high school. From what I read, it seems like the school population is rather transient in California (am I reading this correctly ?).

My biggest problem last year was the lack of challenge and the teacher suspecting a 2E issue. Thanks for the reference to the curriculum (I will read up on those). Also, when I checked out the school districts in PS in CA, they seem to sway rather wildly from one geographical area to the next.

No, I don't doubt at all that Harker is an excellent school. I am also not saying that no one in the East Coast pays 40K for early elementary education. Just that it is more the exception, than the norm.

Thanks for your post. Rather enlightening to me. Plus, now my expectations are super low.

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