Thanks, all, for the thoughtful responses.
Preschool: question 0 is, do you actually want or need to send your DS3 to preschool at all?
Oh yes, this goes through my head often. However, I suspect that my son would really benefit from a lot of social interaction, and given my introverted nature, I just don't know if I would make it happen piecemeal.
Question 1 is what's the language immersion one like?
I love the idea of language immersion, but there are other issues with the school that may take it off the list for us.
FWIW my DS8 had a brilliant time in a completely play-based nursery (preschool), and I formed the opinion that the less they try to teach the children the better :-)
You won't believe me when I say this, because I can hardly believe it myself, but there is literally no such creature around here. I've looked.
You talk about public schools: so are private schools likely to be out of the question? That obviously gives you less choice than if they could be considered. How do you feel about homeschooling and how it would or wouldn't fit into your lives? If you'd be fairly happy to have that as a backup, then schools become a bit less crucial.
Private schools are unlikely (financially), but not necessarily impossible. Homeschooling is a possibility, and a fairly attractive one, except for opportunity costs.
Thanks for the suggestions. Re: the Texas schools: moving to Texas is about as likely as moving to the head of a pin.
Plano, TX does have a dedicated math program called "math rocks" that is showing major successes. There are also some similar programs in NYC, DC, and San Jose area.
Interesting. What is the metric for success? (AMC scores?) Any chance you happen to have the name of the program in San Jose?
In general, if you are after publics, you have to look at the number of NMSFs as a % of the graduating class and how many do well on the AMC tests.
I don't suppose this data (NMSF & AMC test scores) are already aggregated (at least, within state) and easily accessible somewhere...?
The presence of these two indicators means that there are a number of high IQ kids and a cadre of teachers who teach to that level. 30 NMSFs per year and a dozen kids doing well on the AMC means that there will be whole classes full of MG kids with a few PGs present. The same goes for privates.
Makes sense. One question: when you look at the data, do you bother to differentiate between NMF and NMSF?
If your kid is PG, be prepared to be disappointed along the way by schools, no matter who they say they cater to.
Yes, I suppose so. I'll be surprised if he's PG, but I also suspect that I am too close to it to really be able to judge effectively.
When we went to the open house at the vague preschool, I mentioned to the teacher that he could read, and she looked skeptical. (She also asked, "How did that happen?" which amused me.) When he started reading various words around the classroom she went from skeptical to shocked, and her first comment was something about the six year olds in her class who can't read the same sort of words (e.g., "fence," "pink"). Yet the words he was reading were not particularly close to the edge of his skill level.
So, who knows. What strikes us as mildly surprising seems to strike others as exceptional. This is part of why we'd like to get an assessment done.
The number one thing in Prek/K is compliant manners. A highly energetic and questioning kid will be the outlier and will be seen as a "problem" with few exceptions.
That sounds like a call to homeschooling for us....
I am probably in the minority here, but fwiw, when we looked for preschools, my over-riding concern was finding a place where my children knew they were valued and loved and the center of the universe - over academics.
It sounds like you found a great place for your kids. To be clear: I don't need my son to learn a ton in preschool, but at the same time, I don't want him to be bored or annoyed when he is there.
...and most importantly - the unknown of what a specific school or school district will be like in 5-6 years. We've seen good schools in our district change dramatically when a principal was promoted and moved on to a different school. School funding can change from year to year etc.
Yes, ugh. A good reminder. We know of a family who bought into what they felt was a great school district (at a huge price, mortgage-wise), which has since fallen to pieces due to massive budget cuts.
eta - I wanted to add that no matter how great a gifted school looks - if you have an EG or PG kid, and possibly even for HG, chances are that no matter where you land, you're going to find yourself having to advocate for your child.
Yes, this is why we want to apply to DYS -- to get help with the process of advocating for our son(s), should we need to do so.
