Hi,

I'm planning to move to Seattle/Redmond/Bellevue area this summer with my HG son, who is 5th grade this year. He has limited English proficiency so he will need ESL/ELL services as well. I also want to make sure we find an option that serves his gifted needs as well, both academically and socially/emotionally. I am considering both private and public schools. I appreciate if anyone could share their recommendations or experience.

Thanks,

~Bulent

What language does he speak?

We have been happy with the Bellevue School District for our 2e DYS DD10. But my understanding is that they are super picky about entrance criteria, and if you do not already have qualifying CogAT scores, your son will have to do at least a year in the "regular" program before he can move to the gifted program.

I have heard good things about Eastside Prep (notably, from the neuropsych who did DD's testing), but I don't know much about it.

We have been happy with Bellevue School District gifted program as well.

I remember Bellevue School District having summer testing last year for students who moved to the district after the January testing time. I couldn't locate that info in their website, but might be worthwhile to contact with them via email. http://www.bsd405.org/about-us/departments/student-services/gifted-education/testing.aspx

As far as private schools, you can also look into Open Window and Seattle Country Day. I believe they continue until 8th grade. I also heard good things about Eastside Prep. Most of their application deadline passed though, you might want to directly contact them for any availability.

Best of luck...

Bellevue has a good program and I did know a couple ELL kids in the gifted program, but because of their high cut-offs for English reading comprehension you might have difficulty testing in. Bellevue and Lake Washington both require reading scores in the 98th % on both the CogAT and the ITBS to get into the program (and 98th on the CogAT only gets you into the one-day-a-week pull-out in Lake Washington). I believe Issaquah's requirements are similar. Northshore seems to be a little more flexible. But they ALL require the CogAT and ITBS, and not always even the same form of it. There are new laws that are causing all the local programs to change their requirements and procedures. One of the good things is that they can't apparently waitlist qualified kids anymore. But proving your kid is qualified may require jumping through some pretty specific and slightly outrageous hoops.

We are having transfer issues right now because DD took the CogAT and ITBS in one district with scores high enough she should get into any gifted program anywhere. But she took the "wrong form" of the CogAT according to the district we are moving into, and they claim they are going to require her to re-test with a different form of the CogAT in August. It's illogical and ridiculous, especially considering we also have very recent IQ and achievement testing scores that are equally high. The bureaucracy about testing and transferring in this area will make your head spin, or possibly even explode. I mean, she scored at or above 99% across the board, and the only way she would reasonably be expected to score lower now is if somebody screws up the testing, the whole re-testing business is just a lot of pointless BS at this point.

He speaks Turkish as his native language.

Thank you. Let me contact Eastside prep.

Thanks Leyla. E-mailed OWS and SCDS and it looks like they neither accept limited English students nor provide ESL/ELL classes. Waiting to hear from Eastside Prep.

I'm sorry to hear about your transfer issues. It does not make sense really. Is this with BSD?

For BSD and LWSD, it looks like proving his qualification will be our biggest issue. He scored in 99.9 in WISC-R and about the same in SB in Turkey (no WISC-IV or SB-LM Turkish adaptation yet). With his level of English, CogAT/ITBS will be a problem. I wonder if they would be willing to accept a WISC-R taken outside of US.

I will try hard for gifted programs but I'm wondering if a year of regular program in BSD/LWSD would be OK during which he would at least grasp English. Any comments/experiences on the state of BSD/LWSD non-gifted middle school programs, or their ELL/ESL programs in general?

BSD and LWSD are very strict about accepting different testing. To be honest, I don't think they will accept WISC-R at all. They reject any testing even if it is different form of COGAT. ITBS is not related to IQ, it is an academicals testing includes both reading and math.

Getting a private tutor for English along with regular BSD/LWSD might be an option. Even though I don't have any experience with ELL, I feel it won't be enough for him. These district's yearly testing is in Jan/Feb.

There is one more private school you might want to check. Bellevue Children's Academy (https://bcacademy.com/#) This school is academically rigorous and it might be good option to prepare him for the gifted testing (if they accept ELL students).

LWSD wouldn't accept my daughter's WISC-IV taken in English by a local neurologist what the district sometimes uses, so I'd say it'll be a steep uphill battle.

You are definitely doing to find better ELL services in the public schools. It's the same with special needs. My daughter has ADHD and SPD and she could certainly qualify for the private gifted schools, but they wouldn't be able to handle her special needs.

To be honest, I think it might be worth considering just doing the regular program and intensively studying English. Learning a lot of language in a short time is pretty challenging all on its own. You would then have a much greater chance entering a private school without needing ELL services, and could also test for the gifted programs. One good thing about both BDS and LWSD is that they're both really high-performing districts so even the "standard" curriculum is above average. FWIW, I would pick BSD over LWSD, because I know for certain that LWSD won't even offer acceleration in the general classroom.

They will accept ELL status as a mitigating factor for your scores, however, not if he scores high on the subject tests but low on the CogAT (which indicates that his English is good enough).

What language does your son speak? They might accept outside testing if it's required for his language and he can get an ELL IEP.

Good luck.

A friend who had her children in both Quest (LWSD) and PRISM (BSD) said she preferred the PRISM program better. She had twins, both very highly gifted, but one was a stronger performer than the other. The stronger performer did well in both settings, but the other one had a better experience in PRISM. With the additional challenge of ELL, I would think Bellevue would be the better choice. Bellevue is now more ethnically diverse than even Seattle.