Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Regions Schools in San Francisco for gifted kids

We consulted with a psychologist (on the Hoagies list) to help narrow down the list of private schools that would be gifted friendly. This was very helpful.

First of all, come to terms with the fact that your DS may be changing schools, probably more than once. For kids with a really high LOG, it's actually quite common. Our DD seems to require a refresh every two years. And note, the better the school fit, the happier she is... and the MORE quirky and out of step with the norm she gets (despite being socially adept and friendly).

Second, you are seeing firsthand the difference between a school that focuses on achievement and one that focuses on intelligence. The achievement oriented school is going to want lots of similarly-minded, hard-working, MG kids. They aren't going to want to dissipate their achievement energy accelerating or differentiating or dealing with a quirky kid. That these are great schools (or even claim to be gifted schools) doesn't matter, because it's the not right school for your DS.

So what is the right school? Well, sometimes the less well know places are better. The small quirky schools with less attention on them. And these schools can be hard to find. We've been hunting for a new school for DD what feels like almost constantly since 2nd grade. Sometimes the best matches are places that hide.

Val's list of options is excellent. But I wouldn't cross number 3 off the list if you don't have to. Maybe a year at home (or with another provider) will give you the time you need to find a better match.

Which school did you pick for your gifted children, Val?

If you do decide to try the homeschool route, know that the Bay Area has a large and vibrant gifted homeschooling community.

How about Brightworks?
http://www.sfbrightworks.org
I haven't seen it but I know a very gifted kid who is happy there.

How far are you willing to travel ?
I've heard good things about Basis. Have you explored other areas such as Palo Alto (it has an excellent school district) ? My child goes to public school, and, while it is true that they can only do so much, if you are in a school district that is responsive, they are a bit (not a lot, but better than private schools who won't do much) more flexible and will do things like pre-test, accelerate the curriculum etc.

Palo Alto, Cupertino, Piedmont and San Ramon school districts are generally supposed to be good. I don't think a gifted program exists till middle school for some of these school districts. But I also do know that they are willing to help/differentiate, especially if they also view the child as gifted and see that the child's parents are very involved. My child has 2e issues, and is still doing okay. If your child has no 2e issues, and is gifted, I think some public schools will be a good fit. Also, I am not sure about San Francisco, but every third kid in the South Bay, in well-performing school districts, seems to be gifted. The only difference is in the LOG.

Hope this helps ! Good luck !

Thank you for all of the wonderful suggestions and also for the support. Our preschool director loves the school that my son was accepted at but also says that he will thrive anywhere because he is so bright and enthusiastic and because he has such involved parents. Even occasional visits to these boards have convinced me that is not necessarily true but I'm trying to keep an open mind. I have talked with many families at the school he will be attending and most of them are very happy there.

I'm not sure if my son will end up being 2e. His uneven scores certainly suggest that we need to keep an eye on him. I think that will become clearer in the next couple of years.

We are willing to move to the Peninsula at some point if we have to BUT now we both work in San Francisco (and have commutes of 10-15 minutes)and we have been in our apartment for years and the rent is way below market value. We can get by with one [old] car. It is actually cheaper to stay in our place and pay for private school than it would be to relocate and buy even a very modest home (plus another car) and send our kids to public school. And then we wouldn't even have the option of switching to private school if the public school didn't end up working out because we couldn't afford it.

Oh dear. Having good standardized test scores anywhere because he has such Involved parents, as statistics predict, is not quite the same as thriving anywhere, of course - as in, will he remain as bright and enthusiastic as he is now! But that's a common educators misconception...
However, no reason why it might not be true for this particular school. Right now, it's your least worst option for the next school year, right? (That's a gifted thing, google it...). It might just work. Take a deep breath, relax and give it a shot. Good luck!

Lepa, I'm sorry you didn't get into the other schools - it sounds terribly frustrating!

I'm not in San Francisco (although I'm jealous you are actually living in the city and can afford it lol!).. so I can't offer advice about specific schools. I do, however, want to reassure you about one thing:


"the potential to be a genius" - that comment refers to ability. Your ds is not going to *lose* his ability by going to a school that isn't a great fit. The school experience may be frustrating for him and for your as parents (we've btdt... quite a bit actually)... but he isn't going to not be who he is in terms of his abilities... hope that makes sense! So your situation for now is what it is, and you can and will advocate for the best fit you can... but don't spend time and effort being sad or worried that this experience will put your ds "at risk".

That said, I'd pay attention to the psychologist's advice - more so than the preschool teacher. I'm curious - you tried looking at schools that required an admissions process - what have you heard about your neighborhood school? Is there any chance your ds might get support there? Or is it not in great shape and not an option?

Is there also any chance you are on a wait list for one of the other schools? And did you get any input on why your ds didn't get into any of the other schools? Are they lottery schools or private schools with selective admissions? Can you apply again in a year?

polarbear

One last thought-- in a hyper-competitive environment, it pays to be flexible and nimble. If you can, I mean.

That said, if you were waitlisted at a variety of places, bearing in mind what Ivy and Val note above (that is, that most of them are probably seeking MG kids with highly involved parents who drive their entire families pretty hard);

it is LIKELY-- maybe even "highly likely" that this is a gigantic game of musical chairs, in which all of the other kids in the pool ALSO have multiple acceptances and waitlisting options on the table.

Wait a few weeks and see what opens up-- find out what dates and deadlines for commitments look like, and keep calling your top two preferred options to check in on that waitlist.

Once they know that you're that serious, they probably WILL tell you that you'll "likely" or "not likely" get off the wait list.