Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Anyone familiar with Quest Academy in Palatine,IL?

I'd love to hear any opinions or experiences with this school. We are just learning about options right now. Our son is likely highly gifted. Not tested yet, but at 3 he is an excellent reader, good at math and knows numbers into the 1000s. He is in a k-6 montesorri and they have told us he is highly unusual, needs to be tested at age 6, and is mastering 6 and 7 year old works right now. (So he's 3 - almost 3 1/2 - and mastering 1st grade work...not sure where that lands him.)

We are looking for a school that is truly for gifted kids, not just bright kids whose parents have a lot of money to spend. Anyone know what Quest is like in this regard? We've even visited the school, but still can't figure out how flexible they really are. It's hard to get anything but a sales pitch from any private school.

We are also visiting our neighborhood public school next week to see what they think would be the best option. We are hoping the public school can take him on, but the Montessori told us public education would be basically impossible. (not sure if they are right, though)

Many thanks!!

It is one of the schools we have been researching. I have heard a few bad things about the school from several people. Although they taut themselves as a gifted school, I have heard that when the kids go to back public school, they are behind same age peers.

I have spoken with the dean of students at Einstein Academy in Elgin and plan on taking a tour there sometime this month. We are also looking at Davinci Academy, also in Elgin and the Math & Arts Academy in Des Plaines.

The Schaumburg public schools (district 54) has a magnet program (school within a school) that begins in third grade. We are trying to get accommodations starting in kinder.


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Thanks! I've heard something similar about Quest. I've also heard rave reviews. Did you hear this directly from parents? I've only read reviews online, I've not spoken to any parents.

Sometimes I wonder if those kids that don't even make honors classes after leaving Quest were perhaps mislabeled to begin with. Maybe Quest is too broad in their definition of gifted. Maybe some overly eager parents got their bright (but not gifted) kid's in.

I'll be very interested to hear what you think about Einstein. I don't know much about that school, or DaVinci for that matter. (Seems strange that there are two gifted private schools in Elgin!) I do like like Einstein can take them through high school. Do you know if there are nice communities to live in down there? I'm not familiar with Elgin - but it would require a move if we went there.

Good luck trying to get you K-age child into the magnet school That would be great (and save a LOT of $$). I'll be interested to hear anything you want to share about that process.

Our district has a separate gifted classroom for 4th and 5th graders. On paper, they aren't too keen on grade skipping. We're meeting with this public school tomorrow and are hoping they are just honest about what they can and can't do.

Thanks again for your response! It's great to compare notes!

I actually heard about Quest from our current principal. He used to be an assistant principal in Palatine. He said that the kids that came back to public from there in his experience were behind.

We live in Streamwood. Both DaVinci and Einstein Academy are at the other end of Elgin and would be quite a hike.I have not heard anything about either school. I might mention them to our principal as well and get his thoughts. The costs for all these schools make them unaffordable for us unless we can get the scholarships that they offer.

With his current scores, our DS qualifies for the magnet in third grade. The school district will retest him in January of second grade with the WISC again.

What school district are you in?

Thanks
S

We're soon to be closing on a house (fingers crossed) in Libertyville 70. We're meeting with the principal of the neighborhood elementary school tomorrow to get a better idea of what they could offer.

It sounds like the principal you've been working with has been helpful. You you get the feeling he wants to keep your kid in district, or has he been pretty frank about whether or not they could accommodate your child?

DaVinci and Einstein are both way too far away for us to drive from Libertyville. Quest is supposed to be just 30 minutes, but with traffic I'm sure it'd be more like 45 - maybe even an hour.

We are debating keeping the kids (I have a younger daughter too) in the Montesorri until they are old enough for the gifted program. It's much cheaper than Quest, plus the Montesorri is doing a pretty good job of working with our son right now. But free public school would be even better!!

Are you looking for a K-2 school, then plan to transfer your son to the magnet? I know Montesorri doesn't click with every kid, but that might be an option to consider. At the one our kids are at they really let them work at their own pace. My son is in a classroom with 3-6 year olds, but his teacher sometimes goes to the 7-9 year old classroom to get materials for him. It seems that Montesorri's vary a LOT in quality, which often depends largely on the individual teachers. I think we've lucked out in a getting a good teacher.

I was looking on Einstein's website, and the only thing that concerned me was their seeming lack of admission requirements. It makes me worry this is a gifted school for parents who want to pay money to say their kid is in a gifted school. (Sounds really cynical of me, I don't mean to sound so negative!) But it could be that they just don't have formal cut offs but it is still very competitive. It's a very small school, so for some kids (including my son) that could be a big plus.

It looks like DaVinci requires an IQ of 125 to enter (just like Quest) but they say they also make exceptions to this in some cases. It looks like a nice school, at least from their website. I'd be curious to know how those kids do after 8th grade, because it's just a K-8 like Quest.



ETA: I just saw the science and arts academy in Des Plaines is supposed to only by 36 minutes from Libertyville because you can take 294. I have no idea how traffic moves on 294 during rush hour, though. Have you heard anything good or bad about them? Thanks!!!

Quest Academy is rooted in gifted education practices -- their beliefs are spelled out on their web site. Graduates of Quest Academy routinely are placed in higher-level honors courses. Each year, the school graduates several students who attend the Illinois Math and Science Academy. A significant number of theior students earn National Merit considerations in their high school years. My child graduated several years ago -- was placed as freshman in all Honors courses, including Algebra II. Has made straight A's since entering high school. Well-prepared!

Hi all. I am a mom to three and all three of my kids attended Quest. I had kids enter in K, 1st, and 4th grades. One of my kids graduated from this school. We recently moved out of state due to a job situation, so the other kids won't graduate from Quest.

This school was really great for us. We had a bad experience in public school with promises that were not kept. The faculty at Quest really "got" my kids, each of whom are very different. One child skipped a grade and they were extremely supportive. Another needed learning supports (2e) and they were extremely supportive too.

When I did my research, I visited Science and Arts and we decided it wasn't for us.

Now we are in another state. Public school teachers in this (high-achieving, NY) suburb are not engaged, and we are looking out of district again. I probably sound like a commercial but I can't imagine I would find a school that really understood my gifted kids like the one we left.

One thing you might check into is the availability of carpooling partners. I lived 30 minutes away and I carpooled with another family for one year.

We're also looking for people's opinions on these schools - my daughter is in 2nd grade right now and her public school desperately wants to keep her but I just don't know if they can give her what she needs. I've also sent in an application for SEES in Chicago.

We're willing to move to get her into a better school, but I just don't thnk we can afford any of the private ones. Does anyone know how they are with scholarships? My husband earns a reasonable salary, but we have a lot of medical expenses for my other child, and a lot of debt. Most people wouldn't consider us poor, but I don't know many people who have an extra $17k per year to throw around.

Thanks for posting your experience - it's good to know that Quest skips kids when needed. Their ability to deal with some the the challenging behavior issues that sometimes comes along with highly gifted kids is also really good to hear.

Do you mind if I ask where you lived (what town) that was a 30 minutes commute? I haven't had a chance to drive down there in morning rush hour traffic. Mapquest says the trip would be 30 minutes from Libertyville, but I'm pretty skeptical.

That's a good thought on carpooling - it'd be a good way to connect with some local gifted families too.

kikiandkyle, our district has a magnet school that begins in third grade. I have heard wonderful things about the magnet. I just wish we offered more in the lower grades.