Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Regions Bay Area public middle and high school

Hi,

We're looking at private middle schools for our gifted 5th grader and have not found a best fit. Can anyone share information and experience about public schools?

We've had poor experience with our local public elementary school. Despite its beautiful campus, wonderful facilities, dedicated teachers, and well-behaved kids, the curriculum based on Common Core just does not work. We had to opt for private schools, which offer more acceleration and differentiation.

My question is, are public middle and high schools different? Is there a different philosophy, ideology or approach to gifted education after elementary school? Is there more acceleration and differentiation in middle and high school? I know students graduating from Gunn or Paly get top SAT scores. How do they get there, if they are taught single-digit addition and phonics at 2nd grade?

Thanks for any input!