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Deciding if Long Island School for Gifted is worth sending child (4th - 5th grade). Would very much appreciate any advice members can give. Thank you.

Have you visited? Observed the classrooms? Do you have an idea of what level of work your child would find challenging? Is your child 'regular gifted' or 'wild-way beyond gifted?

I honestly think that there is no comparison to visiting a school and observing what is actually going on in the classroom. Each gifted child is different, so what works for one gifted child may be great for another or terrible. Trust that 'Parent-gut!'

Best Wishes,
Grinity

Dear Grinity

Thank you so much for your worthwhile comments. Yes we visited recently, dc spent a day there. Child is 'regular gifted. Right now I'm not sure what to do, but my 'Parent-gut' tells me this may not be the best choice for him right now. Thanks so much for taking the time to share.

My DS attended LISG from 2005-2007, for 4th and 5th grade (he'd gone to a private school on the North Shore through 3rd grade and then we moved out west to attend the Davidson Academy for 6th grade forward). For the most part his experience at LISG was a positive one.

The nice thing about LISG is that your child gets to stay in his or her age-peer grade, while working at his/her own pace. In other words, all 11-year-olds are 5th graders, but other than homeroom the subject classes are ability-grouped. So, for example, some 5th graders will be taking 6th grade math, others 8th grade math, but all are still 5th graders. That was nice, especially coming from a school that had a tough time differentiating. The faculty is also excellent. My DS still uses his LISG English teacher, Mrs. Williams, as the yardstick with which to measure all other teachers (and they usually fall short). The teachers are accessible and understanding, but still expect quite a lot from students.

On the down side, the art and music program is a little lacking. In addition, since the school pulls kids from all over Nassau and Suffolk, friends tend to be spread out all over the place, which can make get-togethers difficult. The distance can also be a pain, especially in the winter. We lived in the Manhasset/Port Washington area and had to pay for private busing (which was often an hour-plus ride on the LIE/Seaford-Oyster Bay Expwy/Southern State).

The school is also fairly set in their ways, and sometimes can have a tough time thinking outside the proverbial box for students who need that. In addition, parents often felt kept at arms length. It was annoying, but not a dealbreaker. We might have stuck it out a little longer, but then one of his teachers was arrested on child pornography charges (not involving any students, thank goodness) and though it didn't really involve the school and they had no way of knowing what this man was doing in his spare time, I wasn't thrilled with how the administration handled the whole situation. While that was certainly a disturbing incident, and helped make the decision to leave a little easier, we left mostly b/c my DS was looking for more challenge and flexibility, which the school wasn't really able to provide. Still, DS enjoyed his time there and still keeps in touch with many of his former classmates.

While LISG, wasn't perfect for my 'wild-way beyond gifted' kid, I do think that, despite the drawbacks mentioned above, they do have the best program in the area. And for a private school -- especially one on Long Island -- the tuition truly is reasonable. But Grinity is spot on, you have to go visit and your child needs to spend a day in the classroom there in order for you to get a true sense of the place. When we applied, you had to submit IQ scores before arranging an interview/visit, but give them a call because that may have changed.

Good luck!
WOW

the school will never let you visit and observe a class - it is completely closed off to parents.

My daughter attended Long Island School for the Gifted from Kindergarten through 9th grade. In this forum I have read many negative comments about the administration, but it is a private school, so you have to understand they have their own way of handling things. I have worked in the public school system for 15 years and my daughter is in public school now, and I would do anything to return to that environment. Sure, there were drawbacks. Not every school can offer everything. The music program has recently undergone a vast improvement and the art program is strong, but the school does not cater to students gifted in the arts, it is for academically gifted students. The students learn at their own pace. They are with similar minded peers. Traveling to parties in earlier years and getting the children together as teens was hard, but you need to work at it. Each teacher knows your child and his/her capabilities. The teachers are strong educators who know how to teach gifted students. You are not a number, but a student whose strengths and weakness�, eccentricities and passions are well known throughout the building. All the students from Kindergarten to 9th grade know one another. No one locks their locker, and things can be left in the hallway without fear of theft. Children switch classes from their first day, and everyone is taught at their academic pace, by grouping them with similiar ability students and then catering to their individual needs within the class. There is very little cattiness or bullying that children experience in other settings. It is a beautiful world that I am grateful my daughter had the opportunity to be a part of. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has a gifted child. LISG changed our lives, and gave my daughter a future she never could have obtained in the public school system.

We were there from K-3 then left. DS was bored and just unhappy there. The elementary science program was great the first year but when they repeated it for 3 more years and we found our lower grade child doing the same lab on the same day as our higher grade child (who we realized at that point had done it each year already!) we started to look more closely at the whole program. The "little lacking in art & music" is an understatement. They are also terribly lacking when it comes to technology. The computer program for elementary was very weak. Compared to what we have going on in our public gifted school I see how much different it could be there. The kids also complained that they hardly ever got out for recess It's a nice school with caring faculty but I think they could do so much more. There are NO other options on LI though, that's the problem. I knew a family that drove from the Bronx every day then moved to LI and a family that drove from the Hamptons every day. They were considering leaving after that year. We liked having DS with age peers but he didn't have too many intellectual peers there. It's a 130 cutoff and i think most of the students are in the 130-140 range.We felt it just wasn't a very rounded experience. I didn't know what we were missing until we left. Now we have science fairs, clubs, lots of family involvement, broader more intensive classes, technology, etc. It really was the BEST experience we could give the kids on LI though and I have no regrets and only fond memories of the school, students and faculty.

If you send them your testing info they will talk to you but not before. I called them and they were cold until I faxed DS's scores after which it was "Come on downnnnnn" lol And we had a tour and DS did a class visit for a day. It's true that there is very little parental involvement at the school.

The last year we were there the graduating class consisted of 9 girls. In the lower grades the classes have 15 students each, so there were 30 kids were grade.

It we had stayed for last year I think it would have run us about $30k for 2 kids. Feel free to PM if you would like

Good luck!

Wow! Have you had a son/daughter attend there? We've also been considering it for our son (just started k). The $15k tuition might be reasonable on LI, but not so sure we can swing it : (

@giftedliny where are you from on LI? We're in Kings Park. If you don't send your child to LISG, have you come up w/any alternatives (other than public school)?