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Nm

The It school sounds pretty darn nice.

I am giggling somewhat about MON's description of "unreasonably gifted", but she is so right. There is a type of GTness where it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to make huge sacrifices (like drastic downsizing or buying a house you can't comfortably afford) just for a particular school. If you have a HG+ kiddo, or a 2E kiddo, sometimes school situations will only work out for short periods of time.

Does the district you're looking in restrict where you're kiddo can go? In my state, you can open enroll your kids in any district as long as there is space. If open enrollment is an option in your state, one thing to consider is moving to a sort of central location among decent school options.

We have found that the perfect school may not exist for all kids, but the better solutions to not-quite-right fit all included flexibility in terms of being able to offer more when necessary (in the event that your kiddo turns out to be "unreasonably gifted"). Some of the "mores" for us included differentiation, subject acceleration, whole grade acceleration, pullouts, clustering. And unfortunatley, even with all this flexibility, it wasn't the best fit and we ended up open enrolling our kiddo in an out-of-district school for HG kids.

Good luck with your decision making!

"unreasonably gifted" that's one of the best things I've heard lately, and it's so true.

That school sounds like a dream come true on paper, and it could be for your family too...maybe. The problem is, sometimes it's better to judge a school on how they deal with issues than how they can churn out kids who fit the model profile. Because you don't really know unless you have issues (or rather, your child does) or you really get a chance to talk to people who have had alternative experiences than the ones the school lets you see when you're on a tour!

I've learned that schools are not just rankings but a reflection on a whole environment or philosophy of the majority of people who go there.

When we were looking at communities in the last state where we lived, while we lived in an apartment I used to go to the different playgrounds at the schools or just in the neighborhoods. It was very educational to listen, chat, pick up on the overall feel of the place. For example, if I was one of the very few moms there, and most of the caretakers were nannies, I figured I probably wouldn't fit in. Etc.

I'd think it really comes down to whether or not you think you'll fit into a certain dominant lifestyle of a particular school/neighborhood. That includes the PTA/scouts/playdates/neighbors and all the stuff that goes along with a kids' whole life, what outside classes they take, what clothes they wear, what the prevelant attitudes are with child raising.

Even with all that knowledge, and going to this school where my daughter is now and meeting with the principal before we bought the house, and him telling me they could meet her needs...they still haven't met her needs by any stretch of the imagination...because she is "unreasonably gifted". Ooops. (And what looks like is probably 2E, which I think might scare them a bit more than just the overly 1E.)

Good luck!

I agree with this, and most of the rest of everything bzylzy said

FWIW, I think the school you described sounds great - but what you know so far is only what you've been told by the school staff, who have a vested interest in having their school look good. It most likely is a very good school, but I'd want to (if possible) know that from hearing about it from parents who's kids have attended there in the past and are currently attending. We chose our first elementary school for our kids based on a really good school tour, and we really liked what we heard - but most of what we heard about from the tour didn't pan out once our child was actually in school. We eventually moved our two gifted kiddos out of the school - but to two different schools - because even though they are both high IQ kiddos as they grew and moved forward in school we realized they are very unique individuals and what works for one at school isn't the ideal solution for the other. So - that may not happen to you, but just fwiw, what I feel about our kids' school needs changed so much as they grew older from what I thought going into kindergarten.

We've also found, as have many others here, that for EG kids, the typical gifted programs aren't really a solution for our kids - they may be better than the regular classroom, but if I was moving into a school where there are so many kids considered to be "gifted" and such a large percentage in differentiated "advanced" classrooms... to be honest... I'd wonder how advanced those classrooms really are?

I would also really really think through what you want your lifestyle outside of school to be. A small house may be a really good thing for your family, or downsizing may be something that you'd regret doing. What are the neighborhoods like in general - lots of kids, do you want that? Activities within close range for your kids, grocery stores nearby, crime rate, how long is the commute to work, what is the resale potential for the house you're buying, etc. Tons of things to think about. For my family, we'd consider the school choice - absolutely - but we wouldn't put *everything* into school choice - what we have going on outside of school, as a family, is for me a large part of the equation.

Hang in there - moving is tough! It sounds like you have good options in several directions though, which is good!

polarbear

I think that everyone has given great feedback on school shopping. Reading your post, I think that you should think about getting your kid tested so you have a better idea what his/her needs might be. IQ testing is a lot cheaper than a house.

And once you have that IQ test (that's a really great idea) also get a very specific definition of what "differentiation" means to the school. As many experienced posters probably have also experienced, a parent of a gifted child might think "we will differentiate the curriculum for your child" means they will differentiate to the child's level. However, as we found out months, tears, hair-pulling and meetings later, the school meant "differentiate" to be, they are putting your child in the highest grouping level within that grade they are in. If their true potential is out of grade level, that's an entirely different thing...will they send them to that grade for their level, will they allow them to do independent work for that level, will they allow skipping.

Happy moving. We love our neighborhood, it's very close to many things in this mid-sized city, close to our neighbor to the north, and very active with lots of biking and dog-walking going on, mostly ver friendly.

ps - there was one other thing I meant to add... and in addition to that, I don't mean to sound like a pessimist by the things I've mentioned, these are just things we've seen happen in our local schools. What can look like a great program with an enthusiastic principal one year can change on a dime if that principal moves on to a different school and the new principal that comes in doesn't share the same philosophies. The flip side of that can happen too - one of the schools you toured but weren't impressed with might in fact be an amazing school now from parents' perspectives, or it might turn around with a change of school administration. That's part of the reason why I find it really important not to base a family's large life decision such as moving on just one school.

I also think IQ testing might be a good idea. OTOH, it just might make everything more confusing lol!

polarbear

Another vote for "don't base a big decision like where to live too much on a single school, especially based on one sales pitch, because there are an awful lot of ways you could live to regret it."

For one thing, I'd be real keen to find out why every school in the district is open enrollment except this one, because it sounds like a gifted magnet, which is usually the one school in a district that does NOT have a strict boundary requirement. How do they justify keeping everyone else out when the rest of the district is wide open? Someone in the district office has some 'splainin' to do.

We went down this road this year. We were faced with several excellent opportunities for Mr W and had to make a choice.

Is the curriculum explicitly accelerated? When you go into a 4th grade classroom, are the texts from the 5th and 6th grade?

Are there any kids working 4+ grades, ie a 9th grader taking calculus?

Are the GT kids you meet who are your kids age on his level in terms of alertness, vocabulary, and perceptiveness?

How many National Merit Finalists does the school have each year as a % of the student body? 30+ NMSF or > 10% is a great sign.

Any students doing dual entrollment as juniors and seniors?

How many students go to MIT or Caltech each year? Need at least one each year.

Does the school regularly place teams and individuals in local and state contests, ie AMC, Intel, DI, debate, chess, and music, and do they compete across the intellectual spectrum, or in just one area?

Is the school a strong community, or is the parent a bit actor? What do the online forums say about the school, ie citydata, urbanbaby, and yelp?

Are the teachers comfortable in their roles and will they speak freely to you?

What are the hidden costs, ie fees, after school costs, etc? How will the costs inflate over the next 12 years?

Is there another school that is flexible and less expensive and then can you use the money to do enrichment?

Would YOU have enjoyed going there when YOU were in middle school and HS?

Can you rent?