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I have one dd8 who is HG+ - we found a fantastic private school for her – it is perfect. That is the good news. The bad news is that I have two other children – and the private school is close to 40K/year. We have not tested my youngest dd4, but it is very clear at this point that she is going to need substantial academic accommodation, and would benefit from going to the same school as dd8. We cannot afford it for both, and we would not qualify for “need based” aid. I thought of sending my youngest to our local public where my dd5 goes – but she will need a combination of grade skips and acceleration – something our local public school Just. Won’t. Do. I work full time – so HSing would be tough. Are there any merit based scholarships out there?

For elementary school, I can't think of any. For high school, the Institute for Educational Advancement has scholarships and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation might as well although JKC is another one where income is a big factor. Another thought would be if your dc are DYS eligible whether Davidson might help you out. Also, are you absolutely sure on both of your assumptions: that the school itself wouldn't give you some financial aid and that grade skipping absolutely can't be done in the public school?

I ask b/c my family isn't destitute but we also would be spending well beyond 50% of our gross income for a school with tuition like you mention and we have gotten some partial scholarships for things like summer camps. Also, grade skips are not commonly done in our district although it isn't a "never" occurance and we were approached by dd14's school regarding skipping her yrs ago, which we did. Sometimes things that aren't typically offered do get agreed to or even offered by the school when it becomes clear that the child is significantly different than the typical GT student they serve.

I don't know of any but I would LOVE to find one! Good luck!

If I was to spend that kind of money on a private school for one child, I'd probably rethink the strategy and use that money on finding someone who can homeschool BOTH your children that need it ... like a university student or someone who can really work with your kids one on one ... or more like one on two.

yes, that's a startlingly large amount for 1 year; they'd better be more than perfect!

The best/most well known schools around here, N. Va, approach mid-20k, which is still substantially out of reach for most folks, us included (esp. for more than 1 child).

I'd have to rethink if it were me; mk13's idea could be a good start.