And yes, I do wonder about the influence of that year's tuition, but I think it's more that they seem to equate an exceptional child needing a skip with abject failure on their part.
Yes to this part - this is exactly the issue. If they are an academically rigorous school and your child's needs aren't being met then that "must" mean that they are failing at their mission. I too find it amazing that this is the attitude of some schools, but we have not only had schools give us this reaction, but individual teachers as well have tried to stop accelerations because it makes them look bad. It comes down to insecurities on their part. If you can find 1 person at the school who knows your kid and is willing to stand up for the idea of an acceleration you may have a better chance of getting it. The school is less likely to say no if one of their own teachers is supporting the acceleration. It sort of puts the school between a rock and a hard place: on the one hand they want to say no to you because that would mean that their fabulous teachers (
) can't handle your kid in their rigorous class, but on the other hand, here is one of their fabulous teachers saying that your daughter needs more than what will be offered in the next grade level - if they disagree too much it will make it look like they don't trust their fabulous teacher's opinion. Does this make sense?
You could also ask for it on a trial basis - indicating that you would be willing to have her moved back down after the first marking period if things weren't working out. Chances are that by the time the first marking period is over she will be doing great in class and the teacher will not want to lose her. Administrators like to have a way out - even if you know there is a slim to none chance of them getting to use it.
