I would be shocked if this wasn't the norm (unfortunately)...
Our current school does even tell you if your child is in the secret program!
I found out from another parent about the 'secret' math pull out when she asked how my son liked it. I was taken aback, but knew she didn't mean any harm (and I could see why she would have assumed he was in it based on some other achievements). I said, ummm, I don't think he has been invited into the program. She said no he is in it and working closely with her son. After school that day, my son confirmed he was going to a new special math class but forgot to mention it. He said it was better than regular class but not really anything new.
This year, year 2, working directly with his teacher I pushed for something extra. She arranged for the enrichment teacher (a close friend of hers) to take a few of the children out for some more challenging work. This only happened in my class (not the other year 2 classroom), I didn't want to make a big deal of it in fear of losing it! I know another parent in our class found out about it and advocated for her son to get involved, she was told no because overall he was not at the same level as the children. I know they were disappointed but the teacher assured them his needs were bet met in the classroom.
