Hi Branwen, I doubt that we'll be moving ahead with Broomfield Academy for this year. I was surprised that they were starting school so soon as my DD's current school doesn't start until the 24th. It didn't leave much time think about switching. I think the biggest problem we have is the tuition...it's a lot of money for us. I didn't discuss accelerating my DD with the principal, but I probably should have. We ran out of time since she was needed for some summer camp duties while I was there. I was sad to see that their pool was unavailable until they make upgrades in it. I did like the school, and I liked the principal...she really seems to 'get it'. She said that each class was 50-90% gifted students, and that is very attractive to me. It would be nice for DD to be around other gifties.

I'm still fairly set on the idea of having her do half days for this coming school year though. She occasionally throws out random comments like "I love Wednesdays because I don't have art class and I get to stay with you." She loves her art class, but she also loves time at home. (She's taking art this summer twice a week.) The principal mentioned that if I was set on half days, we could enroll her in junior K and she could subject accelerate math and reading. But given her age and how accelerated she is already I think that would be an even poorer fit than standard K at the school we currently have her enrolled in. We will continue to look at BA and see if we can make it work for 1st next year. Maybe by that time she will need 2nd, I don't know.

My understanding is that if you start K early, it really eases the whole acceleration issue because she will be following the normal progression and not be moving away from friends and she won't miss anything either. Of course, you might still need to accelerate her later on anyways, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms. smile If I had known that early K was even an option, I would have pursued that. I just wasn't aware that people could even do that. She was definitely ready for K last year. It sounds to me like you've made a well-considered decision. I hope that it works out great for your DD! I think you have stacked the deck for her success by choosing BA...the small classes will help her adjust quickly with so much individual attention.

Coconut, Welcome! I appreciate your insight on the area schools! I can't believe your DD only had 21 days of math in an entire school year at boulder country day!! You're right, that is appalling. Unfortunately, Flagstaff is too far for us to seriously consider, though I have heard good things about it. I liked what I saw at Peak 2 peak, but I haven't looked at it from a GT perspective yet. We were 200 on the wait list for K, so about a snowball's chance in you know where to get in there unless we move to BVSD. I have heard some negatives about it, but nothing concrete, so it is still on my list. I will look into Superior elementary, thanks for the tip!

Does anyone out there have any knowledge of gifted friendly schools in northern Jefferson county? Our PS gifted program is at Hackberry Elementary, but I have heard really mixed reviews of it.