Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Regions Need help with gifted education in Illinois

I have a 6 yr old son who is exceptionally gifted. He was tested when he was 4 and he scored a 99.9 percentile. He is in 2nd grade now. We are moving to Mount Prospect, Barrington area in IL . Can somebody suggest some good schools with gifted programmes in those areas? Also which school district has best programmes among Barrington, Mt.Prospect, Arlington heights and Palatine? We want to move after we choose a good school for him. Please help me with suggestions..

I wish I knew the area but here are some general suggestions.
1) May a list of what is working in his current program and get a printout of the. Scope and Sequence of his current school grade. Siit in the classroom he is in now and observe. If an additional skip is needed get it now so you can walk into the new school with documentation that he belongs in X grade.

2) Talk to all the potential schools and sit in their 2nd grade classrooms. Observe the teachers the students and the materials. Don't believe anything the admins say unless they are describing accomidations currently being offered to other real students. Find out how much time the gifted programs meet per week. Are the kids expected to make up below level work that occurs while they are at the pull out? Do teachers. Schedule parties or hands on experiences during pull out time.

Schools that are great for bright kids may be dreadful for giifted kis...schools that are great for gifted kids may be dreadful for EG kids. Schools that are great for some EG kids may be dreadful for other EG kids. Rent in the begining....join every geographical gifted group you can....visit schools that understand respect for diversity on a deep level and are committed to meeting each childs individual needs. Trust your gut.

Love and more love
Grinity

The Schaumburg area d54 has a magnet school that starts in third grade. I heard Barrington has a good program as well but have no experience there. There are several private schools in the area.. Quest Academy is in Palatine, DaVinci and Einstein Academy are both in Elgin, The Science and Art Academy is in Des Plaines, The Avery Coonley school is in Downers Grove.

We are looking at DaVinci and Einstein. I'll make school visits after we have ds6 tested at the end of this month. I am really only looking for 1st and second grade as we live in d54 and would attend the magnet

Does anybody know about arlington heights/schaumburg area public schools with gifted programs. I am looking for elementary schools and my son is academically gifted with 99.9 percentile score at age 4. Please do help me out and suggest names for good elementary schools

thank you for the reply