Hi Jayne,

I wonder why you are saying what you're saying about Cupertino schools. What information do you have?

I live in Cupertino and my kids go to the public schools. They did not go to Faria, which is certainly not a school for the gifted. It is an alternative elementary school, with a program designed for parents who believe in strict rules and lots of work. See their web site <http://www.cupertino.k12.ca.us/Faria.www>, which describes their philosophy right on the home page. They are known for teaching to the tests and therefore they do well on tests. I wouldn't send a gifted kid there. But I don't speak from personal experience other than going on a school tour years ago.

As to Monta Vista High School, I have two children there. The older one opted out in junior year to do Middle College because Monta Vista was so awful. I cannot imagine sending my now 7th grader to Monta Vista for high school. He is highly gifted and would go nuts there. It's all about rules and homework and grades and actually learning things seems to be far down the agenda.

De Anza Community College is just a community college. The classes are not for the gifted nor is anything special available. My 11th grade son, who is taking classes there instead of Monta Vista, reports very few students who care to think or ask questions, and naturally the classes are taught to the level of the students they have.

If these are the best public schools, we're in bigger trouble than I knew. If you believe that API test results mean anything useful for gifted students, then I think you are fooling yourself. I don't think you'll find that "competitive" means good. So far as I can tell, what it actually means is that the administration is very concerned about grades, and so inordinate effort is expended in attempting to prevent cheating.

Reading through this, I sound pretty unhappy. I guess it's because I expected better. This is not to say there aren't individual teachers who are great -- there certainly are. But it's pretty much in spite of the school.

Regards,
Jon