Well, maybe a bit of hyperbole there, but he's a rising sophomore, and wants to take 4 AP classes. He attends a public high school, and they're saying that's too many for a sophomore.
He's eminently qualified. We overcame resistance to his taking one AP course as a freshman, AP Calculus, and he got an A+. We won't get the official exam result before July, but he gets 5s on the mock exams. He's working with a tutor and moving beyond calculus. He excels at math competitions, and was one of 200 students out of 18,000 to receive a perfect score on an international Latin exam. I.e., he's exceptional all around.
This is a struggle we have had all along with the public schools, which we have supplemented for years with a tutor--partly out of the belief that private schools would be no better, and that targeted tutoring was more appropriate for his needs.
We thought that when he reached high school--with all its AP classes and the opportunity to take college courses locally--he'd be set. But they've already closed the door on college courses until he is a junior.
we want him to remain with his development peer group, and so does he. He gets along well with his classmates, starts for the lacrosse team, and plays in the band and jazz ensemble.
We have had experience with this kind of resistance from the school,and know how to advocate for him, but why don't they want to support the exceptional? What's the problem?
The bell curve goes both ways, and if he was at the other extreme of exceptionality, they'd be throwing services at him.
In our state, gifted children, by statute, have the right to an assessment, but no right to services and programs. That's a tease.
Fortunately, we have the savvy and resources to fight this battle--but I think about the fact that not everybody does.
