Val-
I wish I had read this exact post two years ago when school hunting. We fell for the marketing brochure. We fell for the "Gifted and college-prep academy" which turned out to mean exactly as you said- gifted people have money, everyone else is out.

We learned the hard way that "well-rounded" means refusing to teach above grade because then they won't be "rounded" anymore. We learned that "growing self-confident learners" means avoiding individualization, lest someone gets their feelings hurt.

And worst of all, we learned that "small class sizes" means plenty of time for a pissed off teacher who doesn't want to change to find nitpicky reasons why a child cannot be allowed to move ahead. ("See this circle he drew? It's a bit oval- he needs more practice." or "See this picture he colored? The grass isn't green- he needs more practice seeing the world the way others do")

Last edited by CAMom; 04/16/09 12:14 PM.