Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Choosing a School-What Would You Do?

Image you have a six-year-old who is reading at a 5th grade level, has math ability around 3rd/4th with some 5th and science in at least 2nd, but writing at grade level...

Would you think a private school that only has a 1st/2nd blended class to offer next year (no third grade) would be able to accommodate your child?

Even with a special tutor? Assuming that school would call one in. If they state in their literature that any child who scores above the 95th percentile will require a special contract, would you give it a try? At $400 a month? What if things "go side-way" and your child either has to tread water or else find a last-minute transfer?

Looking at the public school...

They have a Great Schools rating of three for the last three years. Would you send them there?

Probably not.

If there's a local charter that has mixed grades in one room and does MAP testing to determine where a child needs instruction...you'd try to enroll them there, right?

Probably.

But that charter is available by lottery only. No guarantees. So what's the back-up plan?

Would you decide to homeschool or would you place your child's name into the pool for out-of-district enrollment in two other five-star (Great Schools rating) schools; each of which require at least a half hour to drive to each way?

Am I missing an option?

having just been through a full-blown school-crisis with my daughter (5), my best advice is to make a list of all the problems you've had/challenges you foresee, and go in and interview each principal. last year we picked an independent school that seemed like it should be a perfect fit, only to find out that all meaningful differentiation is reserved for the upper grades - and any kid below the age of 10 was out of luck if she was beyond grade level.

this new round of school visits has been wonderful, because now i know what to say: "here are our issues - tell me now if you don't want to get involved!" it was so simple, but so amazingly productive to just ask what everyone's plan would be.

the (public) school we settled on was the one where in spite of everything, the principal looked me straight in the eye and said, "wow, i can't wait to see her in action!" it's going to be a bundle of work to keep an eye on things, but knowing he's on her side already sets this school ahead of her current one.

good luck!!

Virtual school?

I don't see any mention of gifted programs and whether they are available through the public school. What about magnet programs? Sometimes there are hidden gems in low scoring schools.

The private school with a penalty price for high scoring kids sounds suspect to me. Particularly if they stop at 2nd, how would they have materials to support the kid's range.

What I did was stay vigilant with the charter school option - turning in all the paperwork exactly when they said.

DS was drawn for a spot in the classroom right away. The school did eventually accept as far down as the 10th child on the waiting list.

To help you decide your backup plan, maybe read "The Least-Worst Educational Option" on Hoagies' Gifted at http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/least-worst.htm

Yes-- charter lottery as option one, and virtual charter as backup plan. Make sure that you understand the time-line associated with each one, and be on the phone on top of those deadlines-- friendly, but pushing for as much info as you can realistically get.

So if the lottery won't draw until June, ask on June 1... and if they tell you "next week" then ask-- "Yes, but just so that we know how seriously we should be pursuing our backup plan-- how many other applications are there? For how many openings?"



If your odds are below 10-20%, I'd put the backup plan into action at that point.

The last thing you want is to get stuck with not your second choice but your third or fourth one, just because you were HOPING for your most-preferred long-shot. KWIM?

The timeline for the virtual charter that we're with is such that you WILL want to be in touch with them before June 10-- and local phone calls will give you the best set of inputs there in terms of placement.

Ask specifically for 'gifted specialist' and if you have achievement testing of any kind (but especially out-of-level achievement testing), OFFER it as evidence for a "placement evaluation" with them.

You'll need to get that sorted prior to summer break if he enrolls with them in the fall, particularly if he needs subject acceleration (and it sounds as though he may).

The writing. Hmmm... well, there are ways to accommodate that asynchrony within that virtual charter. If you wind up enrolling him, I'm happy to be your asynchrony buddy.

Personally, given what you've said, I'd be pushing for a 3rd grade enrollment in the fall for him (that's a grade skip, effectively), and don't worry about the higher reading level for now-- because he should be able to enroll in GT science, math, and literature (as an elective which would start in October).

Those literature electives are awesome for gifted kiddos. Reading selections are about +2-3 of grade level, and the assignments are creative and open-ended.

I have looked at private schools and from what I can see here are the cons and the pros:

cons:
a) They do not have brighter kids just wealthier parents
b) They do not appear to support grade skips - they have a vested interest in keeping you in the school (and paying fees) for as long as possible
c) They consume money that might be better spent at college

pros:
a) They can offer more enrichment activities
b) The better ones will help with Ivy admissions


Of course, the third con would not be there if top schools actually gave out academic scholarships but most of the Ivys, at least, seem to pride themselves on not rewarding/encouraging true scholastic aptitude.

So far we are staying with public but the jury is still out longer term...

There are a lot of hybrid programs out there, some online schools or enrichment classes.

As a professor who graduates amazing student teachers trained in gifted strategies from Dr. Sandra Kaplan and fluent in the models of teaching, they are a TON of teachers without jobs.

You might want to look into getting a private teacher to come to the house or meet at a library. One student teacher did this last year for a family and charged $300 a week. They would need to register as a private school with the state by filling out a form, but then they can give a transcript. Especially if have a group of gifted kids it might be something worth trying to organize.

You can email me if you would like me to recommend a teacher or post a job description on the USC career center wall. my email is jgordievsky@gmail.com