The DYS recommendation guidelines says it says that it can't be a family member - does that mean that even a grandparent or distant relative is not allowed?

The reason I ask is that because of COVID, there wasn't much in-person interaction this past year between the school teacher (or any tutors/friends/mentors for that matter) and our child, so it seems rather hard to find someone not a family member to write a rec. Is the rec mandatory? Is it possible at all to submit just scores?

It's particularly tricky to ask our public school teachers because our daughter has always been really shy at school and doesn't like to get the teachers' attention (i.e. she tries to blend in with her friends). So it's hard to get a stellar recommendation that way... any suggestions?

Many gifted children have strong interests from an early age, which may lead them to take lessons in that area of interest, outside of school. Someone who has previously taught your child may have noticed their level of intensity, deep questions, amazing connections with other material, etc. This may not necessarily be a teacher of an academic subject; these characteristics, behaviors, traits of the child may be noticed by a teacher of a musical instrument, swimming, dance, horse riding lessons, whatever your child has been interested in and motivated to learn about.

Just my 2 cents.