Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments waiting is hard

Soon we will see what happens for our son- our district moved to a lottery for the gifted program, and we will find out if he got in. He got a FSIQ of 158 on the WISC. If he doesn't get in, we might need to look for private schools but I don't even know where to begin. Sigh...

Cue the Tom Petty...


I feel for you! Get yourself busy with other things as much as possible!

Is there any way you can talk to the administrators? Is it not based on scores, and lottery if spaces are filled or do they not give special consideration for such a high score? We met with the principal of the magnet school not just for admission but to also discuss the challenges we are likely going to face with accelerate and challenge DD and we were able to secure a spot after meeting with him. I hope you will get good news for him!

Don't forget to consider: what can they really do for him with 158 score/potential??
If the program is designed for 130-ish children (who are for sure gifted, don't get me wrong)...maybe not getting in would not be a bad result.
before you end up fighting a big battle for entry, be sure to review the offerings of the program and what your son will likely need to see if they even match. best of luck!

Thanks so much for your kind support! Nope, can't appeal it, nothing to do... Their program is better than our regular school program, which has 35 kids in a class. In the regular classroom with 35 kids for fourth grade, you would have some kids reading above grade level and others reading still at a first-second grade level, so... All kids who get a 96th percentile or above on a list of accepted tests are in the lottery, and there are only spots for about half.

My thoughts are also that the gifted program is a much better fit for a 130 kid than a 158 kid. Best of luck to you and getting your child's needs served somewhere/somehow!!