OP is correct that Sage is a competitive high achiever type of school.
I noticed that Sage said they specifically looked at processing speed and gathered that meant they wanted kids who produced a lot of output. My kid is not like that.
Yikes, you're right!
At Sage, the combination of a strong working memory (the ability to juggle incoming information) and processing speed affect students’ ability to grasp, understand, and act on information in the classroom. It is especially important that we look at the relative scores of these two areas. If there is a large gap between the scores, a child will have difficulty keeping pace with instruction regardless of his overall IQ. I like to relate these two areas to a computer. If the RAM (working memory) is low then the system will slow down regardless of how fast the processor is. If the processor (processing speed) is slow, then no matter how much RAM there is, the computer will just chug along. That is why a balance between the two is important to students’ success here at Sage.
Q. What is the profile of a good candidate for Sage?
A. We are seeking students with IQs one standard deviation above the mean, who are inquisitive, creative, and desire additional academic challenge.
Q. How are admission decisions made?
A. The review process for candidates involves an analysis of IQ score with special attention to not only intellectual capacity but also processing speed. This tells us whether the child will be comfortable tackling our rigorous curriculum. Equally important is the social visit of the child. Through this process, we are able to determine whether his/her potential classmates are a good match. We want our students to be challenged appropriately while being comfortable with social interactions at school.
I can see the appeal for a school of having a class full of very similar kids, bright but fast. It would be so much easier than differentiating.
It's interesting though, they have a reputation as a gifted school, but according to this they select against kids who meet the common criterion of being at least 2 SD above the mean. Would a child with an IQ of 115 even have trouble at a normal school? Faaascinating!
