hi all. as some of you may have read, I have been awaiting news about DS acceptance to a private school. At their insistence, after viewing his WJ and WPPSI, we applied him to the 1st grade, although he did not make the age cut off. We thought that through the process, he would be considered for both K and 1, and that depending on their findings, that they would place in appropriately. They are a school for the "bright and gifted" and curriculum runs a year ahead. WELL - got the call yesterday, he is "wait listed" for 1st grade, and that he is #1 on the wait list.... HOWEVER, there was only 1 spot available for 1st grade, and we all know, whoever they offered it to, will likely accept!
SO we asked, "well, what about K??"... and were told he is too advanced for K, that 1 is the right placement and we should wait and see if a spot opens!
Now what do we do??? It was really our only option! I never dreamed this would be the outcome! Am at a total loss, not to mention, utterly devastated. PLEASE, any kind words to soften the blow????

Number one on the wait list maybe not so bad depending on what your turnover rate is where you live. Have you asked the school what the turnover rate is? Have they already found out how many returning students there will be? Or are they still assuming everyone will return? Can you enroll somewhere and hold off to see if there is spot that opens later in the year? If they say that your child should be in first and that is what they are holding to in someways that shows that they "get it". A good thing in the long run. Its a bummer though to have to wait and see. Good luck!

Thanks..... yes, I need 1 kid to drop out - haha. The thing is, it is a very coveted school, and I do not think there is high turnover.. That is why I am beside myself, I am really not sure that anyone will pull out!

As Dottie mentioned, with private schools it's common that kids in a given class this year (the Kindergarten, in this case) won't return next year.

I suppose it's possible for no one to leave the class, but that would be, well, odd in my experience. The school may well be coveted, but there are other reasons for leaving: families move, people lose jobs, people change their minds about their goals for their kids, etc. etc.

Take a deep breath and try to forget about it for a while (being stressed out won't do anything but make you unhappy anyway).

I actually think it speaks well of them that they won't consider K for him. A little thing called integrity.

Will they keep him on the waiting list and let you enroll midyear if space opens up? Can you homeschool until then? Will they keep him in 2nd grade until a slot in 1st opens up?

Love and more love

Grinity

If the school wants him in 1st, their K might really not be the right place for him. I would just keep checking in with admissions. At the "coveted" schools here, every year there is always someone who doesn't come back in each grade.

I am very to sorry to hear this.
Maybe the school is not as great as it sounds.
There is a lot of hype out there.
We took our son out of this "great gifted" school that he did get into.
Instead of doing hours of remedial useless work he does 20 minutes of HW and then does real work at home on the side.
The stuff he learns through CTY he would never be learning in his grade level in any school.
I too was devasted when this so called perfect school that he did get into was a bust.
I felt helpless and angry and like there was no hope.
Now I realize all I want is for him to learn.
And for most of our kids they will learn more on their own time in their own way.

Agreed.

I also think he will get in for first grade. It's only March. Don't sweat it, sounds liek they are doing the right thing.

Hi traceyqns

Can I ask which school you pulled your son out of, you can send me a PM if you would rather not out them publicly

I'm asking because I thought somewhere else you mentioned you were in NYC, and we are just getting on that treadmill so any information is super helpful.

DeHe

At this point in the year, the school probably knows the number of K kids returning for 1st next year. Most private schools require a deposit in the late winter/early spring of the previous year to hold a spot for a returning kid. That's probably why they can tell you your son is on a wait-list.

Assuming this isn't an extraordinarily small school, there's a decent chance one kid will drop out - as Val mentioned, families moving or a job change may happen over the summer.

I guess I would plan for an alternative (public K next year?) and stay on the wait list. Even if he goes to K in the Fall, maybe you could use his scores and the offer to place him in first grade from the private school as ammunition for a grade-skip.

Good luck - I know how frustrating it can be.

We have wait lists at our school all the time... typically they say 5% expected to not return... so, if you are #1 on wait list, there is a good chance you'll get it. We have had kids start after school has already started because sometimes people pay their deposit and then decide, for whatever reason, not to attend and then they call those on the wait list and many times once school has started people don't want to switch. I think you will get in. Not to worry.

We had something simeler, we where told to apply the next year, We did and DS was acpeted. We actually applied to two schools at that time and both said no, but one sugested we reapply the next year. Also their is consistant yearly turnover, and spaces do open up.

Thanks All...
Edwin, where in CA are you?? Wonder if it is the same school....

Hi DeHe,
Well it was a NYC public School Gifted Program, not a citywide school. The NYC Gifted Public Program teaches grade level work.
So if you are in 1st grade you get a 1st grade curriculum and that is it. So if you can finish the yearly math book in 3 hours well too bad for your kid they can sit there and stare at the walls for the rest of the year LOL
For real!
So mych hype about the NYC gifted program.

And... DeHe not just the math was so remedial all the other subjects as well. My DS was forced to read Henry and Mudge books in the 1st grade gifted. I sent in big chapter books that he was reading and he was NOT allowed to read them.
He was also made to TRACE LETTERS!!
OMG as you can imagine I could not believe it.
I could not believe this could be called "gifted"
Here I was traveling to this "gifted" public school which I waited 2 years to get into and here my son was doing work he did when he was 3 years old. This was in 1st grade.
I could not believe I was sending him there to trace letters, read henry and mudge and count dots!!!!!

As you can tell I am still mad about it.

traceyqns

you have described my current nightmares - that we are hoping and praying to get him into programs that will be a waste of time academically, like pre-k is now. DS seems to not mind so far - or not think he is wasting his time, but I know that will change.

Not sure where you are - but have you considered the Long Island School for the Gifted - its private - but more reasonable than most NY privates, more along the lines of parochial. They sounded awesome and we considered applying but it was too far in the wrong direction for us.

I hope the CTY stuff works out for you!

DeHe

Same problem, that school is too far for us.
We did think about it.
We drove by one day but doing that commute everyday is just too much especially when you have other kids to think about.
I have pretty much given up on finding a school that fits.
I had to accept it and just try to do what I can for him on the side.
This year he took the terra nova test and did well, almost 99's across the board. So I think well, then I guess what I am doing is helping because there is no way the school helped w/those scores.
Those scores really did make me feel better this year.
I suppose he is learning from all the other programs.
So, if school is not the solution there are other options out there. It is not easy of course. It is hard to find the time. And, it is hard to explain to the child why he has to do such remedial work year after year. My DS8 now finds it funny. We joke when he has a spelling test "do you need to study how to spell "crayon" We laugh about it.

You are lucky your DS does not mind the easy work.
At 1st my DS would not do it.
He refused to trace letters and I could not blame the kid.

Try to get your DS into CTY and also CW Post.
If it weren't for them I would still be pulling my hair out!

Thanks for the cw post suggestion, did not know about it. And DS is only in pre-k, he is also rather respectful of authority and teachers, I am hoping this doesn't change, but, I worry about the path ahead that so many here have suffered on!!

DeHe

HE GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yippee!!!

Terrific!!

awesome!!

May this school meet your family's needs for a long long time!
Yippee!
Grinity

YAY!

Thanks All!! Serious relief!! Quickly followed by MAJOR anxiety... will he be ok with smart kids that are a year older then him>????

If not, you'll solve it again. This business of education is not a problem that stays solved... more like your best guess for the immediate and foreseeable future.

DeeDee

Seriously, it is such an upward battle....

Take a deep breath, and remember that the school evaluated where he should be placed pretty thoroughly, and they took this into account. They are of the opinion that he will be fine, and they already know the kids that he will be in first grade with. think about it - almost all first grade classrooms contain some kids who are nearly a year apart anyway, because of the way the age cutoffs work. A lot of them have nearly a two-year spread due to "red-shirting". Will it be a perfect fit? Probably not. Is this because he is a year younger than most? Probably not.

Yup - that's what LOG is all about. As far as I know, there are not private school that only take HG and over kids - it's only public school systems that pull all the kids from a whole big district that can find enough HG and PG to have a situation where a PG kid would really be a fish out of water with kids 1-2 years older.

((I don't know every school in every state, and I pray I'm wrong, so I welcome anyone with info to the contrary to start a threat about it - but I've kept my ears open for over 6 years now, so I suspect I'm right))

There are just so many deserving OG kids in the world, that private schools can't seem to turn them away.

I wish I had a better sense of his true log! That is what makes me nervous bc I am assuming that all the kids there are relatively gifted, and they said he is the 3rd kid in the hx of the school to grade jump, so I hope he is as smart as they think he is!!!!!