Hello all, I could use your help ...

Background: My ds will begin an intermediate gifted magnet in the fall. We are looking forward to the excitment & apprehensive at the same time. Our public school district is growing with large number a housing developments in the area. As it happens, we have 2 new High Schools (HS) programs starting next year (1 new traditional school - mortor just starting to set & 1 EarlyCollege HS located at nearby Jr collage campus).

We are starting a dialog with the district regarding HS program options that could be avaliable a couple years from now. Having initial discussion & support of our district G/T administrator, myself and several other parent will be meetings with HS principals starting in June.

Request for Help brainstorming
What specifically should we ask for? Example like:


* accellerated & compacted core courses;
* seminar classes with experts - acedemia, gov & corporate;
* phyolosopy & thinking seminar;
* service education;
* facilitated mentorships & internships.

I would greatly appreciate your feedback! I plan to ask for everything, and continue the dialog over time to secure as much as we can! We have tremendious potential in the local area ... mostly untapped for our students.

Thank you for your time.

Hi Maryann,
Welcome!
How many years does "intermediate school" cover in your area?
Will this be the first time your DS will be "not a fish out of water?"

From what I hear, the AP program is very popular with high achieving and gifted kids. One thing to look for is to structure it so that age or gade isn't a barrier to taking the AP classes. Seems like many districts don't allow AP classes until Junior year.

The on-campus school sounds intriguing, and I guess my question would be if there could be a way to get the sports and clubs and music usually availble in a traditional high school integrated into the jr. college program. ((A bus and a sister school arrangement with the traditional high school?))

All your examples sound wonderful. I would add "semester abroad" to the list.

Smiles,
Trinity

Hi Maryann,

My oldest is going to high school in the fall. We were offered honors/pre-AP classes for freshman year in 3 core subjects (English, Math, Science). The school groups gifted kids (9-12) in 3 homerooms together so they see each other every day and get counseling about scholarships, contests, etc. There are gifted electives (robotics, creative writing, mentorships, etc.) which they can choose and later AP classes. They have science club (MESA/Science Olympiad), and other extracurricular clubs.

We don't have much choice though I've told my son we don't have to follow the "recipe" of which class to take when and could negotiate based on his SAT/ACT scores (for instance, take AP classes earlier than prescribed), but my son wants to do the normal honors stuff at least to start.

I also told my son that if he wants to finish his high school requirements in 3 years instead of 4, he'd have that "extra" time to do something interesting (learn another language, community service project, wilderness leadership program, etc.). I'm leaving most decisions up to him, but encouraging him to think outside the box.

I agree with Tiffany that a semester or year abroad would be great.

It's all new to me, so I'm just discovering these things myself. Good luck to you.

Cym

Hi, Trinity
Intermediate school in my area is 6-8 grades. I can not say with any certainty that my DS will not continue to be "a fish out of water" but we remain hopeful, and expect larger group of kids to find common interest with.

I have talked the interemdiate school to be open to Algebra in the fall (6th grade) so I will certainly ask for AP early. Do you know of roadblocks to early AP I might prepare to counter?
Thanks for add "semester abroad" this had not occured to anyone I have spoken with and I think is excellent item.

The early college is just starting but I agree, adding traditional HS extracurricular would better round the offering.

Thanks again, Maryann

Hello Cym, Thank you for the feedback. I really appreciate the thoughts and information!

Best Regards,
Maryann

some schools have rules that do not allow 9th or 10th graders to take AP classes.
Some states have particularly good "Dual enrollment" laws that help kids who have a lot of local community college credits to enter the more selective colleges as a freshman, which might matter for financial aid. Apparently Minnesota's state law takes care of this by classifing the student clearly as a high school student.

Good luck,
Trinity

Please remember, that you do not have to take an AP class in order to write the AP exam - there are books available, there are on line courses. And apparently some of the AP exams are not as difficult as others.
Ania

Also, in regard to early college - there are quite a few HS in our area that do offer that option, but I feel that it does not mean DS will be among brightest.
Ania