We will visit the magnet this week--she can visit as well. I have heard relatively good things, but also have been told that there is a lot more homework (right now she has almost none) and that the teachers are a little too heavy on talking about how "special and smart" the kids are. Also, we are a lower-income family living in a modest house and driving a beater car, with some pretty outside-the-mainstream views and habits and a very strong belief in unstructured play and free time; I worry about transitioning to a school that may be mostly wealthy kids of high-intensity parents.
However, if she is going to go to the GT magnet middle school down the line my concern would be that she might not be performing as highly as she might otherwise be by that time if she's been underchallenged for most of elementary.
This is a major concern. I also worry that most of the kids at the magnet middle will have been at the magnet elementary together. Also, the magnet might be a better choice socially. DD sometimes has a hard time figuring out how to relate to her age peers. She is not "girly" but also is not athletic and hates war and fighting games, which can make it hard. I think she might be more likely to find "her people" at the magnet.
Pushing for more in-class acceleration appear to be a nonstarter. The school is convinced that what she gets is adequate and our relationship with school admin is unfortunately somewhat strained. Pushing more is likely to make things worse, which, in a tiny school like this, could directly affect DD. That said, I am pleased that her current in-class reading is a book at about the 4th-5th grade level; they are using the "Daily 5" literacy plan. This is certainly a step up from Frog and Toad, which is what she was reading in class in Sept.
