Options for HS 2E

[Anonymous]

DSs latest neuro came back. His FSIQ was 158. He's been in the MCPS bridge classes. The problem is they are not academically challenging. He's been in some mainstream classes but the learning environment isn't great for him. He doesn't do well with the chaos and noise level of a 30 kid class. Teachers respond by raising their voice which only exacerbates his anxiety. I don't think you can put a supplemental accommodation in his IEP that the "teacher will maintain conversational voice level when addressing the class". He'll be in 10th next year.

I've been exploring other options.

2. Explore boarding schools that can support a 2E profile (Maine Math & Science), or maybe Forman, or Solebury
3. Enroll in MC as a dual enrollment student for 11th; continue as is in MCPS for 10th.

DD went to an NT boarding skills. There are a lot of exec functioning skills needed to be successful at a BS. For DS, I would need one that could support socio-emotional skills, hygiene reminders, dispute resolution with room mates. I'd love one with an integrated study skills class that focuses on time management, chunking assignments, talking with teachers when overwhelmed, etc.

I'm looking for suggestions on what to do: Option 1 or 2, or some other option that I haven't consider. For college, he's probably looking at a small STEM college like RPI or Rose Hulman. He strongly dislikes humanities so Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore, or Oberlin are probably off the table. UMD, GT, etc are just too big unless they have a program that creates a smaller environment which focuses on relationships, not academics.

[Anonymous]

Lots of big schools have smaller honors programs.

I think you will have a hard time finding challenging classes in MCPS for an IQ of 150+. The best thing IME is to get the kid access to as many advanced classes as quickly as possible, hopefully with teachers who are willing to feed/indulge interests. My DD took AP Gov in 9th and AP Lang and AP USH in 10th. I had to fight for AP Lang which was usually not open to 10th graders. There were other times I had to personally push for access to classes. In general, if she was getting decent grades in a class most teachers didn’t mind if she was not paying attention in class to work on or read something else serious. Focus on feeding his interests outside the classroom. I would look seriously at MC dual enrollment. Visit classes.

[Anonymous]

What are his needs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are his needs?

Academically---small class sizes to reduce noise. Headphones help some what but it's hard to hear the teacher when wearing headphones. Then when he takes them off, the noise is overwhelming. Teachers that yell "quiet" are not very helpful either. Also needs academic support to understand inferences and perspective taking in literature

Socio-Emotional--assistance with self isolation and withdrawal when over stimulated; therapy (CBT/DBT) to reduce rumination and catastrophizing.

[Anonymous]

I do think you find some 2e kids in the early college program at MC because they need an academic challenge and the HS environment is not ideal for them. But that shift comes with some challenges because parents can’t talk to professors, kids need to be much more independent and manage a more complex schedule independently, etc. In short there are both advantages and disadvantages to doing Dual Enrollment. You’d need to be realistic about if you kid is ready for that level of independence.

[Anonymous]

Classes at Fusion with a mix of community college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Classes at Fusion with a mix of community college?

What would Fusion provide that community college does not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of big schools have smaller honors programs.

I think you will have a hard time finding challenging classes in MCPS for an IQ of 150+. The best thing IME is to get the kid access to as many advanced classes as quickly as possible, hopefully with teachers who are willing to feed/indulge interests. My DD took AP Gov in 9th and AP Lang and AP USH in 10th. I had to fight for AP Lang which was usually not open to 10th graders. There were other times I had to personally push for access to classes. In general, if she was getting decent grades in a class most teachers didn’t mind if she was not paying attention in class to work on or read something else serious. Focus on feeding his interests outside the classroom. I would look seriously at MC dual enrollment. Visit classes.

Did they also have to take English 10 or did AP Lang count as 10th grade English? What did they do for English in 11th and 12th if AP Lang was done in 10th?

[Anonymous]

When we were looking at boarding schools, only Franklin provided the kind of social emotional support you are describing. They would also know how to support his challenges in humanities.

[Anonymous]

Could he stay in the Bridge program next year and take a more advanced math class online, perhaps through a community college??? Just brainstorming.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t send a kid like this to boarding school unless it was a therepeutic school and he needed the treatment.

You should look into the alternative high schools that come up a lot - Templeton, Nora, Parkmount. I’m not sure what kind of behavior got him placed in Bridge, but maybe he would be better off in a mainstream program where he can access AP classes but still be supported.

[Anonymous]

Lots of gifted kids are bored in school and find stimulation outside of school, OP. My teen daughter is one of them.

My AuDHD son managed to tolerate the noise and large classes of Walter Johnson HS in 9th and 12th grade. 10th and 11th were online due to the pandemic, and he was happy as clam learning from home.

So maybe a virtual school where he could pick any AP or post-AP class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of big schools have smaller honors programs.

I think you will have a hard time finding challenging classes in MCPS for an IQ of 150+. The best thing IME is to get the kid access to as many advanced classes as quickly as possible, hopefully with teachers who are willing to feed/indulge interests. My DD took AP Gov in 9th and AP Lang and AP USH in 10th. I had to fight for AP Lang which was usually not open to 10th graders. There were other times I had to personally push for access to classes. In general, if she was getting decent grades in a class most teachers didn’t mind if she was not paying attention in class to work on or read something else serious. Focus on feeding his interests outside the classroom. I would look seriously at MC dual enrollment. Visit classes.

Did they also have to take English 10 or did AP Lang count as 10th grade English? What did they do for English in 11th and 12th if AP Lang was done in 10th?

AP Lang counted instead of Eng 10. DC was at an IB school so took IB English, which is a 2 year sequence, as I remember, so no English 11 or 12.

AFAIR, another option for 11/12 grade would have been to do AP Lit and then take an English elective like Journalism. MCPS graduation requirement is for 4 years of English credits, not necessarily English 9,10,11&12.