Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Interesting talk with parents of PG

I had an interesting talk with the parents of a PG kid this weekend. Their son will graduate next year at 19 from college.

Their son went to a Tier 2 private school in the DFW area and graduated when he was 17. The school kept him with his age peer classmates for all but math and science when he came in in the 5th grade and had pull outs for classes - doing calculus his 9th grade year and then did upper division college math with the head of the school who was also a tenured math professor at a local college. The same professor also took him through quantum in physics and he then took some college classes on his own in Chemistry. He started college as a junior.

If they "had to do it all over again" and wanted to stay in public, then they would find a sympathetic private to accept him into 1st as a 5 year old and then get him pullouts, then put him back into a Tier 1 public high school after he was working across the board at a 9th grade level. They said that the public schools would take a kid who finished any of the middle grades in a good private with high grades.

They said having K-12 under the same roof at a private made the pullouts work.

Our sons are in a private K-12 and that is helping alot especially with the additional Montessori method being applied

I have no idea what you mean when you say "Tier 1".

Increasingly, what stands out to me is not so much if any one educational environment might best suit gifted learners, but whether a school administration and key members of staff have a compassionate understanding of gifted development - not only its academic but also its social/emotional differences. If those in leadership have open eyes, then it seems that many different types of frameworks might work for these students.

Their son was reading at a 6th grade level at 5 and doing multiplication/division. They bought the Public School "best K in DFW" koolaid, put him in public K, until they looked at the curriculum. They tried to get a skip or some other differentiation and got no where.

They pulled him out and put him in a private K-4 school in K at 5 where he got to do self-study.

They were very happy with the private school he went to.

A few years ago, they learned that public school in TX has to take a kid into the grade they are in who has completed grade 2 or higher at an accredited private and who is six or older. In other words, if a kid has finished 4th grade and is 7 then the publics have to take him into 5th at that age.

I've spent some time looking at instructor bios since that discussion, too as the teachers are the ceiling.

I looked for real credentials in the specific areas of instruction. Most instructors have MS in Education or a BA and teach math. I am sure they can regurgitate the book, but a PG kid will run into a wall with the MS/BA in Ed.

A PHD or MS in Math can take them a lot further and will know where they are ignorant and find the kid some better help.


By Tier 1, I mean highest number of NMSF on a percentage basis for the Senior class at the HS for that school (if private) or district in a given metropolitan MSA. Generally, >5% of the class or at least 20 NMSFs per year.

The top privates in the DFW area regularly get > 20% and the top publics see 30+ NMSFs in their high schools.

At such a "Tier 1" school, a PG kid should find friends in every class.

In NYC, Tier 1 means a Styvescant or Bronx Science. Styvescant is 31 on the US News list and offers all the AP and ability to connect with college courses.

I think Chicago Math & Science would be another. Maybe anything on the top 100 of the US news list would qualify.

Both schools have high NMSF.


Quite a few don't have many NMSF. A lot of magnet schools have just one or two. These are probably the only MG/PG kids in the school.

I agree. It seems like those are the most frequent on the "success stories" thread. We are just starting on a journey but I am already seeing some real progress, so maybe we have FINALLY found that special teacher! *fingers crossed*

<<snip>> Well that little hint just went into my notepad.<<snip>> �Obviously I have no problem with the idea of radical acceleration. � �So, this other kid.. Did he get to kindergarten and not like it? �What didn't the parents know back then? � �He was already advanced when going into kindergarten but they only decided later during that year that they wanted to skip him. �They just thought that he was smart and the school would do whatever's best for the kid and know what to do when he got there, probably.��It sounds like you're saying they're suggesting they would like to have actively managed his early education and been a little less go with the flow. �I just wish there was more flexibility built into the public school.

< I agree. It seems like those are the most frequent on the "success stories" thread. We are just starting on a journey but I am already seeing some real progress, so maybe we have FINALLY found that special teacher! *fingers crossed*[/quote] >

Hi 2giftgirls
I'm so glad that you are just starting out on your journey and have not only found this valuable online resource, but also a great teacher at your school! Will that teacher last for just this year, or at your stage, will he/she span a few years? From our experience, wherever a teacher (... preferably Administration, too), if he/she truly understands the gifted child, the family experience will be enhanced by that understanding. We worked through three different schools, and each was a positive experience when there was an understanding of the 'differences' involved - but the one school that became a negative influence definitely evolved when that atmosphere of understanding became absent. We should have moved out of that sphere more quickly then we did - if we could go back, we would be oh so astute about what to do now! - but I trust that through the errors we made, our children will still have learned valuable lessons for life through their struggles...
All the best to you as you continue your journey!