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We are considering a job-related move to Seattle and are struggling to pick areas to focus on in our house search. I have all of the basics on prices, house sizes, etc covered by other resources and local friends without children, but was wondering if there are any areas where Davidson families or families with kids who tend to fit into this forum might cluster. This would be another data point that could help us narrow down our search. We will fly in for a few short househunting trips over the next few months, but we definitely need to narrow the search area.

I know that kids can be happy most anywhere with a loving family but it would be nice to find kids who have similar interests and issues. We are not trying or planning to limit any friends he might have, it is just nice to find a kindred spirit...

We will telecommute most of the time so commute is not an issue.

My son is still very young. I have seen that there are two gifted preschools in Bellevue, the Bellevue Discovery Center and BK Play. Are there any play groups or meet up groups?

At his point he is under 3 and doing some self driven early reading and 1st grade math. We are seriously thinking about skipping preschool and finding friends in other activities like gymnastics, horseback riding, soccer, or swimming. Those activities are pretty common here. Are they common for 3-4 year olds in Seattle? Is there another activity that is more common?

I would welcome any comments, advice, or thoughts either here or by private message. Thanks so much!

Hi SAHM,
We live in the Bellevue School District and have been mostly happy with the public school system for our PG daughter. That said, the district has recently revamped their gifted programs for elementary students. I do believe that the Gifted High School program is excellent if you have a really motivated high achiever. If the child is not motivated, the district's high school program will not be a good fit as it appears to be solely based on academic achievement. The biggest advantage to Bellevue's program is that the students were/are concentrated from around the district, so the chances are good that other students with similar talents and interests will be found in your child's class. If you want more information, the district website is quite helpful. DD did attend a private gifted school here for a time, but we found the curriculum to be quite limited: no real music, limited languages, poor math textbooks, etc. We have friends in the Seattle School district that tell us that the Seattle district is a nightmare to navigate with no clear vision for gifted students and constantly changing gifted criteria. From the outside, it does seem that the Seattle district has struggled with high turnover in leadership positions, scandals, and contentious redistricting plans.
Sorry that I'm not more up to date with the elementary age, but thought some info was better than none.
Hope this was helpful!

Thank you so much for the reply! If we do put our son in school, music and foreign language would be high on our list, not to mention quality math books! You have given me a lot to think about.

I understand why schools pour resources into high school gifted programs rather than elementary, but for many kids some real damage is done in the meantime...

Thanks so much for your insights.

I have a daughter in the Bellevue gifted program, currently in fourth grade. I think that the program is a good one, although of course it is not perfect. I agree that one of the greatest advantages is having her be with her peers. She went to a private school for kindergarten and first grade, and we switched her into the public schools when she qualified for gifted for second grade (that's when the program starts, although I have heard rumbles of a possibility of dropping the second grade program and starting in third). The private school (not a gifted school) was very expensive, and I really don't think we got our money's worth from it.

Right now, highly gifted elementary students in Bellevue are grouped at two locations, but I have heard that they are going to expand to three because of overcrowding at those locations.

I can't speak to the preschools - my kids were at a daycare all day while I worked. I have a son who is starting kindergarten at the same school that my daughter is at. I like his teacher and the program a lot. He is probably MG at best, though, while my daughter is a DYS.

ElizabethN,

Just FYI - State law has actually changed in Washington and beginning next fall, all districts will be required to identify and provide services to highly capable children from Kindergarten through 12th grade. It's possible of course that Bellevue will start their self-contained program in a later grade.

Hi SAHM,

We were thinking a lot of the same thoughts as you- we have a two year old son who has recently started reading and loves k/1 math and spelling games. We decided to buy a house in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle- mostly for the family atmosphere. We are doubting that any of the public options will work well, and thinking through preschool possibilities also. One school that we are interested info for the future is Seattle Coutry Day school which is close by and seems to be maybe the top school focused specifically on gifted children. Good luck in your search. Let us know where you end up!

Thanks to all for replying. The Magnolia neighborhood looks lovely. We are also eyeing Seattle Country Day and the Evergreen School in Shoreline. It is so hard to get a feel for an area and schools online, but responses like these help a lot. I really appreciate it.

I wouldn't say that the criteria or system is that hard to navigate in Seattle. Those are both relatively fixed for many years. Basically, request to take the CogAT test in the fall and score at the 98% level.

What is a bit challenging is that the program has grown along with the rest of the district and there space/capacity issues that are being worked out. So you need to have a bit of tolerance for uncertainty until the final school locations are known. That said your son is young enough that at least the current growing pains will be over by the time he enters elementary school.

On the ground the APP program however has been really great so far for my 2nd grade son. The writing and science elements in particular seem fairly rigorous and it like other gifted programs has a nice cohort of kids.

Ben

Hi SAHM. Our son is the same age as yours, and the big eye-opener for me was scheduling observations of the schools.

While most schools say they offer a strong social/emotional curriculum, I observed quite a range of abilities in how teachers both personally modeled and taught those skills. The strongest set of skills I observed in this soc/emo area (our focus for our son) was in a mixed ability preschool on the NE side where nearly a third of my son's class was gifted. Not to imply that this ratio of cohorts is standard for the school, but it pays to search outside of only the gifted schools.

Unfortunately for our situation, Evergreen only offers curricula 1 year advanced of age grade level, and offers differentiation if your child needs more depth on the same material, but not grade or subject acceleration. For someone as extremely asynchronous as our son, we need more flexibility and options if we're going to meet his needs. Certainly not worth $20k+ per year if we're going to have to continue to supplement, although he probably would have a nice cohort of kids - also a very important factor for us. There isn't a perfect solution, but we're just trying to weigh in all the factors and decide the true value of each.

Another school I was impressed with is Woodinville Montessori. There isn't any ceiling on the curricula and I've heard of many gifted children who have had a great experience there; however, the cohorts may or may not be there.

Good luck with your search!

Thanks so much for the replies. I had not realized Evergreen limited the curriculum that way. That is important. When it comes to schools, soc/emotional development is a key driver for us as well. I will take a closer look at the Woodinville Montessori.

...So challenging to know what to do... I am sure it will become more clear once we are on the ground and can visit the schools. I look at the tuition costs and start to daydream about what I could do with $20k or more in a homeschooling situation... Oh, the field trips and labs! ...but of course, the self doubt sneaks in when I think about how he can meet nice friends...