After several years of frustration, and a stint of homeschooling, this year I got together a small group of local parents of gifted kids to lobby the school district. We gave a presentation earlier this work that was surprisingly well received by the school board and we now have a commitment to creating a policy for early screening and gifted identification, which has been neglected for many years. We're thrilled! To be honest, I hadn't expected much in the way of action...the fiscal situation is grim, and my umpteen conversations with district administrators have gone nowhere, with lots of email and phone messages not even returned. Now, though, we see some hope, and I'm glad we've persevered. Hearing the stories of several local parents of gifted kids who have removed their children from public school because of the lack of gifted programming seems to have made a big difference--the district is highly motivated to boost enrollment. Strength in numbers! Thanks, everybody, for the support that this forum provides.
Wonderful news! I applaud your persistence!
Great! I would love to do something like that with our district. I have to ask, how did you find out about these other parents and children. Our DS5 is in first grade. Our school has no gifted programming and I am not sure how I would even find out about other gifted children. I am certain that the school would not tell me other students names. I wish there was a way to research this and find others. Our son's principal made it clear to us that she has been there for like 20 years and has never encountered any PG children or even HG for that matter according to her. But I still have to wonder....
Way to persevere! Yahoooo!
I love the old saying (which I'm about to butcher) that one parent is a quack and two parents are a quack and a friend, but many parents are a group that has needs to be addressed. There is strength in numbers.
I love that one too!
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/advo.fruitcake.power.htmIf you think that you alone cannot do much to improve your school, you are probably right. You�re more likely to get what you want for your child if you work with other parents.
If you are in a school that is not parent-friendly, this is how you might be perceived.
1 person = A fruitcake
2 people = A fruitcake and a friend
3 people = Troublemakers
5 people = �Let�s have a meeting�
10 people = �We�d better listen�
25 people = �Our dear friends�
50 people = A powerful organization�
If you collaborate with other parents and organizations, you can make a difference. There is strength and power in numbers.
Source: 12 Things Parents (and Teachers) Need to Know About and Expect From Your
We found families in a variety of ways. Our province (Canadian) has a provincial advocacy group, and I signed on to be the local coordinator, so any requests for advice and meet-ups from people in our area are directed to me.
I've also had good luck with posting notices in libraries--we've gotten in touch with a number of homeschooling and distributed learning families that way.
And some of it is just serendipity: I was on the parents' council at my daughter's small school and met several parents with similar concerns (although it took ages to find that out! talking about fundraising doesn't naturally lead into discussions of gifted kids).