Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Worried about Private School Admission Application

I know I shouldn't worry about it, as it is out of my control, but I am worried about the required teacher and principal recommendation forms that we had to get for my DS9.

He applied to a private Middle School near our house for 6th grade. DS9 is currently in 4th grade at our local public school (one year skip already) but he is not being challenged at all. We are seeing signs of underachieving. He does well in school (all A's) except when it is a grade related to effort, behavior, or handwriting. DS9 likes to voice his opinion but this year has been a lot better in regards to his behavior.

I am really worried about the recommendation letters that we had to get from the school (Principal and Current Teacher). They refuse to challenge him so why would they think he needs to skip another grade and enter a private 6th grade next fall. His teacher told us during out parent teacher meeting this fall that as smart as DS9 is she is completely against grade skips.

I am really hoping that his SSAT scores, interview (the interviewer loved him) and his interactions during his day long school visit will be enough to get him into the school. We also had a recommendation letter from DS9's karate teacher (which I am sure was good).

Anyone else every had to deal with recommendation letters that you knew might not be in your favor??

Good Luck!
Have you had a chance to observe the kids in the classroom at work? Lots of private schools say that their kids are working at one year plus grade level but I'd want to see it before I believed it.

If the school wants your son without the skip, see if they will let him start Mid Feb or March for 5th as a trial, so that if things don't go well, they can make him do 5th again next year (or you can go back to the public school with your skip in place.)

DS15 did public 4th, then private 5th for a month, and had his first official skip into 6th in October. I don't remember if we needed teacher recommendations, but they wouldn't have been strong back then!

Do you have any other private options? Keep looking!
Grinity

May not be a 5th grade, if it's a middle school only.

My advice is to not overthink it - I am sure that the private school has had other less-than-stellar recommendation letters and I'm also guessing that even though they won't advocate for a skip, the principal and teacher might pull through with a very nice letter of recommendation.

Are you worried that the letters will work against your ds getting into the school or just worried about them working against acceleration? Or does the school start at 6th so he won't be able to get in if he's not accelerated? If it has a 5th grade, I'd second Grinity's advice. I'd also add that, we have our ds12 and ds7 both in private schools (two different schools) that say they work ahead of grade level and have a high percentage of G&T students - and they really do! Sometimes it's just an ad with nothing behind it, but sometimes it's true.

Good luck!

polarbear

Yes, the school starts at 6th grade so we either need to do another year of public school and apply for the following year or find another option for next year (which at this point I might have exhausted).

I am worried the recommendation letters will prevent him from getting into the school. The admissions staff are aware of DS9's age and told us that they would treat him as any other 6th grade admission candidate.

That sounds positive, if they're going to treat him as any other 6th grade admission candidate - send them all the data you've got (testing, portfolio etc) and hopefully that will mean more than the letters from the other school!

Good luck!

This is probably where the stress is coming from, having no reasonable alternatives really stings! Your kid deserves a wide variety of choices.

Prayers and Hugs your way Crisc!
Grinity

Could you ask another teacher to also write a letter, perhaps one you know is more supportive? If they have 4 or 5 letters and only one is unfavorable, they are more likely to overlook it.

Do you have anyone that has mentored your son? Someone that "gets" him? Would they be willing to write a letter? The more the merrier!

We did get one from his karate teacher.
I just wish we didn't have to get one from him current teacher and principal.

I should not worry anymore. Application deadline was today. All paperwork was submitted. Decisions mailed on March 10th.