The school is pretty conventional, but the principle has a special ed background and, I believe, has already mentally labeled DS as a 'savant.' She is resistant to our request for a meeting to discuss acceleration with the district GT coordinator. The teacher is nice but not especially high-energy.
Do I sound pessimistic? Perhaps I am just taking the counsel of my fears.
I think you're wise to be alert, personally, given the givens.
The teacher we had trouble with had a background in "remedial literacy," or some similar term. I had hoped that this special-ed background meant that she would be IEP-friendly and might see DS as someone who needed to be taught in a different way. No luck. It meant she couldn't cope with GT kids at all, and didn't really know how to teach ND kids, even!
I'm a big fan of the "expect the worst and hope for the best" approach to life. School seems a prime candidate for that philosophy.
