I want to ask people who have thought about this issue whether you could share some of your thoughts. Will things generally get better for GT kids once they get to middle school, or worse?
I've already started thinking about middle school for my DS9, knowing that it will not be easy decision and wanting to have enough time to consider everything. We could send him to the public school. Most of DS's friends will go there, and the school is a very good one, by public school standards, both in terms of academics and extracurricular activities. But if DS is still under-challenged in the classroom, the impact might be bigger than when he is in elementary school. Negotiating with our public schools will be a major pain, as we have found out with our elementary school. Sometimes I feel that the school and the district are very arrogant, the way they think is that "well we are one of the best in the state and have a really high academic standard, how is it possible that some kid still doesn't get enough challenge?" Or we could send DS to a nearby private school, which has impressive academics, and a lot of flexibility to accommodate kids with different abilities. But of course it comes with a fairly steep price. Also it is a small school so DS will be limited in terms of friendships, and of course he will have to make new friends. Also, because of the small size, extracurricular activities are not strong.
Now what I'm thinking is that the decision will probably depend on how self motivated and emotionally mature DS will be. If he can put up with the boredom in the classroom, and advance himself academically by self study, public school would be a good place for him to do extracurricular activities and be with all of his friends. But if he can't cope with the boredom and will suffer academically or lose interest in learning, then private school should be the better choice. Given the somewhat unpredictability of kids of the middle school age, it will be tough to decide. But am I at least thinking the right way? Are there factors that I totally didn't think of? For those of you who have been through the same phase, how did it work out?
