I heard about this from a friend.
Carrollton-Farmers Branch is located in North Dallas in an affordable area for most families and within easy commute to most jobs.
This may be an option for some families looking for good public education opportunity for their kids.
Excerpt:
"The goal of our program is to make sure they have mastered their kindergarten basics, then I take them through the first- and second-grade curriculum,"
They have dedicated classes for PG 140+ from Elementary up.
Here is an article on it.
Also, there have been some lively discussions about GT education in Dallas in the last two years. Just google Carollton and Gifted. You should be able to find parents on BBs who can answer questions. It sounds like the ISD works very well with new transplants.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...eap_23wes.ART.West.Edition1.3e7e42b.htmlThe Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district has what's believed to be the only program of its kind in the state to meet the needs of its profoundly gifted students.
Fifth-grade LEAP teacher Trisha Kraushaar leads Carson Pope in a New World project. Carson says there's more homework, but LEAP 'is a more meaningful use of our time.' Its LEAP program stands for Leading Exceptional Academic Producers. Its teachers have received gifted education training through Southern Methodist University.
"At least once a month a school district from somewhere in the United States visits our program," said Gerry Charlebois, the district's executive director of Advanced Academic Services. "We share the elements that characterize our program for other districts that want to emulate us."
This year, the district expanded LEAP into a kindergarten class at McCoy Elementary.
"The goal of our program is to make sure they have mastered their kindergarten basics, then I take them through the first- and second-grade curriculum," kindergarten LEAP teacher Claudia Galindo said. "LEAP students are always working at two standard deviations above grade level."
Whereas a normal kindergarten class works on recognizing the sounds different letters make, Ms. Galindo's students are busy identifying the different parts of speech that make up a sentence.
"I enjoy the LEAP class because they push you every day," Ms. Galindo said. "It's a wonderful feeling to teach them something new."
Also Online
C-FB ISD Advanced Academic Services
C-FB Association for the Gifted and Talented
She explained that gifted students have their own sets of special needs and concerns.
"We try to get them emotionally and socially adapted to the learning environment," she said. "Gifted students tend to be hypersensitive. We work with them on problem solving and looking for alternative solutions when dealing with peers."
Fifth-grader Carson Pope said he likes LEAP because the students get more field trips and use computer technology more.
"Though we have more homework, it is a more meaningful use of our time, and I learn more from it," he said.
Middle school LEAP students receive an advanced curriculum in the core subjects of language arts, social studies, math and science at the district's Dewitt Perry Middle School. An after-school robotics club is also available.
LEAP students at the high school level can pick from a variety of gifted-level classes at all the campuses. Special academies in the areas of biomedicine, media arts and technology, international business, or law and criminal justice are also available.
Students can be referred to the LEAP program by parents or teachers.
Their evaluation to get into the program includes a portfolio of schoolwork, an IQ score of 140 or above, high achievement test scores in reading, language and math, and classroom performance and personal characteristics indicating a highly gifted level. They also go through an interview and have references checked.
For those students accepted, the program provides challenges to help them learn at their level.
"Gifted students shouldn't be made to sit and wait till everyone else in the class catches up to them," Ms. Charlebois said.
