Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments school tours...

"unreasonably gifted" that's one of the best things I've heard lately, and it's so true.

That school sounds like a dream come true on paper, and it could be for your family too...maybe. The problem is, sometimes it's better to judge a school on how they deal with issues than how they can churn out kids who fit the model profile. Because you don't really know unless you have issues (or rather, your child does) or you really get a chance to talk to people who have had alternative experiences than the ones the school lets you see when you're on a tour!

I've learned that schools are not just rankings but a reflection on a whole environment or philosophy of the majority of people who go there.

When we were looking at communities in the last state where we lived, while we lived in an apartment I used to go to the different playgrounds at the schools or just in the neighborhoods. It was very educational to listen, chat, pick up on the overall feel of the place. For example, if I was one of the very few moms there, and most of the caretakers were nannies, I figured I probably wouldn't fit in. Etc.

I'd think it really comes down to whether or not you think you'll fit into a certain dominant lifestyle of a particular school/neighborhood. That includes the PTA/scouts/playdates/neighbors and all the stuff that goes along with a kids' whole life, what outside classes they take, what clothes they wear, what the prevelant attitudes are with child raising.

Even with all that knowledge, and going to this school where my daughter is now and meeting with the principal before we bought the house, and him telling me they could meet her needs...they still haven't met her needs by any stretch of the imagination...because she is "unreasonably gifted". Ooops. (And what looks like is probably 2E, which I think might scare them a bit more than just the overly 1E.)

Good luck!