Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Regions DC area/Seattle, too

My husband has resumes out in Seattle and the DC area. I have read a few posts here about the Seattle area, and it seems like the Bellevue area is looked at favorably by many for gifted kids. Our family is multiracial (Caucasian/Asian) so I hear good things about Bellevue concerning that issue as well.

What about the DC area? My husband will be interviewing there soon. We would be looking at middle schools for our 2 DD's (rising 6th graders). One MG, the other HG (grade skipped already a few months ago/2E so that plays into it as well). The job would be in the Fairfax Co. We are not multi-millionaires so pricey private schools would probably not be for us. Yes, we have been warned about how expensive the area is! Again, we need an area that is diverse.

We are currently in the magnet system, and it's a situation if you don't get in early you are pretty much out of luck. I would like to know if it's the same case in both cities. I am concerned about the 2E aspect. Need support for younger DD.

Bellevue is in the process of revamping their gifted programs. The PRISM program is being replaced by the GMSP (Gifted Middle School Program). The BSD website has information on both here:
http://www.bsd405.org/schools/gifted-programs/programs/middle-school.aspx

And information on math placement here:
http://www.bsd405.org/schools/gifted-programs/math-placement.aspx

It may be worthwhile to look at the course catalog for the gifted high school program since that lays out the current plan of course progression for high school:
http://www.bsd405.org/portals/0/curriculum/course-catalogs/BSD-course-catalog-15-16-HS.pdf

Our DD was well served as a mathy girl by the old approach to math placement and had a core of other students that were similarly advanced. The new math rules would seem to limit advancement to one year for being gifted plus one year of either summer school or tested advancement for a total of two years. I'm not sure how this will work out in reality, since this would seem to eliminate the potential for taking IB Further math HL in high school. Sadly, it also seems that one of the best and most advanced math teachers is leaving Interlake.


Happy to answer specific questions via PM.

I am also in Bellevue, WA, and I also have a rising 6th grader who is 2e. If you are looking at Bellevue, you should know that the school district seems very opposed to grade skipping - I have heard stories of unwinding skips accomplished in other school districts and making students re-take a grade. That said, they have been very supportive of my children's disabilities, and I've been happy with the education they have received so far. DD will be starting at a "choice" middle school this fall, but I assume that that will not be an option for you, since you are not on the waiting list yet. It seems like people are generally happy with GMSP, although there are definitely some grumblers out there, too.

Thank you both for responding. My kids are not in a "self contained" gifted program so would have to be tested again to get into the gifted program there. That's discouraging. Then, to undo a skip? I just can't imagine. It's never easy, is it?

When would you be moving? It is possible for people moving into the district to test for the gifted program during the summer (people who already live here have to wait for the January testing). Check http://www.bsd405.org/schools/gifted-programs.aspx for information on the schedule of testing and information on where your girls would be placed - it would depend on where in Bellevue you live.

Good luck to your husband in his interviews!

The gifted program in Bellevue, IMO, was strongly achievement based in the PRISM era. The entirety of the program was considered to be one year ahead of the regular grade and also "deeper". Although we did not hear of rolling back skips in DD's cohort, I can totally picture them doing it if a student tested not quite as academically strong as the gifted program's ideal. We definitely heard of students scoring 80, 85, or 90 on a math placement test and being rejected from single subject advancement because the missing 20% was "crucial". That said, it is hard to find a school district with as high a concentration of highly gifted kids that are also "groomed" by their well educated, academically achieving parents, with a full day gifted program and gifted high school program. Nothing is perfect, but Bellevue is good in many ways. One of the ways that Bellevue is good is that if you opt out of the gifted program the other schools are still quite good and have a lot to offer.

It's worth noting that the elementary program changed from PRISM to GESP several years ago, so they're now continuing to adjust the program as the GESP students enter middle school. The testing requirements for GESP were different from PRISM; I don't know what they are currently but the GESP requirements were a little more flexible and IME seemed to include more students with greater asynchrony and/or special needs. Overall I feel like this is good, but among other things the program seems to have enrolled much larger numbers of students than before (which also means it's hired a lot of new teachers).

I knew a couple kids who were grade skipped or entered early when I was in Bellevue; they'd be 5th or 6th grade now. One thing I liked about Bellevue's program is that they did differentiate for math and allowed students to go up 1-3 grades; this was built into the program, whereas in some other local districts it's almost impossible to go up more than 1 grade even within the gifted program.

I would expect anywhere in Seattle or the Eastside (Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland) to have a good Asian population, but it's worth keeping in mind that those official demographics lump together families of various East Asian origin and families from the Indian subcontinent. The school I was at in Bellevue had a lot of east Asian students, whereas my daughter's neighborhood school in Redmond had a lot of Indian students.

Also worth noting that Washington state law now requires districts to identify and serve gifted students, so if your students can fulfill whatever tests the district has set up, they will have to place them in the gifted program. You just have to jump through the right testing hoops first.

While this is true, the district doesn't have to make those tests available immediately upon entry to the district, at least as I read the law. I think that having testing in January and July/August is sufficient, so it's a good idea to be aware of those dates if you're thinking of a move to the district. It's a big pain in the neck to get CogAT testing if you don't do it on the district schedule, if you can get the test at all. They are not flexible about substituting IQ testing as far as I know.

I hope they wouldn't unwind your DD's skip, greenlotus, but I wanted you to be on the lookout for the possibility. It would really suck to accept a job, plan a move, and then find out that they wanted her to do 5th grade over again so she could be with her agemates.