Thanks for the input. We are lucky to have two good middle school choices after slogging through SEVEN years (pre-K through 5th) at the local elementary school, with NO acceleration and little enrichment. We didn't apply for gifted in the early years, and by the time we actually did, gifted spots were few and far between.
Cozy's Aspie program is apparently considered by special ed attorneys the best public program for Aspies in our city, --- and it's in our district, so DS 11 would have preference over kids who did not live in the district.
As for trying to keep Cozy's Aspie program as a placeholder --- I get the impression, although I'm not quite sure, that if DS11 gets into Cozy's Asperger's program, then his applications for other schools get pulled. The person who would know wears several hats. She is the social worker at his current school, the social worker for the district's Aspie elementary program, AND the coordinator for placement in the Aspie program at Cozy. So if I asked, she would know exactly what I was trying to do!
Placement decisions for G&T, and all other non-special ed middle school programs, is handled by a huge, inept, citywide enrollment office known for being completely unwilling to have any contact with parents other than sending out the enrollment letters. So G&T gave out the tests (and I'm guessing scored them), but then all the results go to the citywide enrollment office for number crunching and notification.
Perhaps if I approached the G&T principal with a reminder of DS, saying he's likely to get in, we're trying to decide, and we'd like to give him a day at each school?
I'll ask our social worker for the same with Cozy.
