advice for family with profoundly gifted kid maybe moving to area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we are big believers in theory in progressives but haven't been willing to bite the bullet and pay for them even with help-but we've known it's a possibility to keep in mind. can they teach her, though?

I don't know, because we don't have the money, either. But I do have a friend whose son is profoundly gifted AND who gets rowdy when bored and they are going to try one of the big progressives next year after striking out in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm in MoCo. Everyone here is gifted. Everyone. I'm not dissing your kid; my kids are not gifted. But apparently literally every single other kid they go to school with is. They don't even offer anything below advanced English at my older child's middle school.

So you'll fit right in here, and from what little I know of the AAP drama in Fairfax, you'll do just fine there as well.

I'm in MoCo too and I think what you mean is that everyone here (well, in some schools) is well prepared, well coached, and high achieving. High achieving and gifted are not the same. In fact, a lot of kids are gifted without being high achieving.

/parent of high achieving but not gifted kids

[Anonymous]

The only family I know with a truly pg child homeschool her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private school should be your first option. DC doesn't offer gifted programs. Don't buy into the SEM programs either.

Actually, northern Virginia should be your first option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's some highly gifted private school in Herndon, I believe. It serves K-8. Kind of far, but it's probably the best one. I didn't think most DC private schools had great gifted programs, but not sure.

MCPS HGC program is for the top 2-3% in the county, but it doesn't start until 4th grade.

Fairfax AAP is for the top some say 20%, but not sure about that number. But it starts earlier in the 2nd grade. Though, if it does serve a wider group, then I would be suspect of the level of the curriculum.

Fairfax County level four is around the top 12-15%. Some areas like McLean have far more, and other areas like Alexandria have far less.

The 20% number is probably what the bigger AAP areas serve.

Or, it could include all AAP qualified kids, which would be center level IV kid plus level III kids who stay at their base school and receive pull out services and/or accelerated math.

Really, OP, unless you are dripping with money you should go with Fairfax County instead of DC private school. You would hate to invest tens of thousands of dollars on one child's educstion at great sacrifice for all your other kids.

In Fairfax County, ALL of your kids, including the one who tests gifted, can receive an exceptional education, better than available at almost all of the DC schools (excluding the very top most expensive privates) for free.

Nysmith is also said to be full of many kids who did not qualify for ffx AAP. I don't know if that is true or not but it is worth looking into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Nysmith is also said to be full of many kids who did not qualify for ffx AAP. I don't know if that is true or not but it is worth looking into.

That is not true. We know many kids, including our own son, who got in the ffx AAP program, and decided to continue on at Nysmith. For all of us, class size, and true differentiation in learning groups (advanced math and science) was the main reason. And as fyi, our AAP school would have been Colvin Run, which is considered one of the best in fairfax county.

[Anonymous]

Your child sounds truly exception and if I were in your shoes I would consider a Montessori like Aiden Montessori where she can work at her own pace.

If you don't like Montessori, NYSmith is a good option in Va. It's the oldest school in the area for gifted kids and has a good reputation. There's a very new school in Montgomery County called the Feyman school but reviews seem mixed. Both these schools allow kids to work at a higher level by several years if that's what it takes.

For high school I would try to be in Fairfax or Moco and have her attend public school like TJ or Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm in MoCo. Everyone here is gifted. Everyone. I'm not dissing your kid; my kids are not gifted. But apparently literally every single other kid they go to school with is. They don't even offer anything below advanced English at my older child's middle school.

So you'll fit right in here, and from what little I know of the AAP drama in Fairfax, you'll do just fine there as well.

I'm in MoCo too and I think what you mean is that everyone here (well, in some schools) is well prepared, well coached, and high achieving. High achieving and gifted are not the same. In fact, a lot of kids are gifted without being high achieving.

/parent of high achieving but not gifted kids

i agree with you both. But here in Moco the term for being high achieving is "gifted" it applies to about 40% of the school population.

OP put her in a normal school with a gifted magnet. Chevy Chase Elementary is one of them.

If you put her in HG she will be socially isolated and maybe have to spend a long time on buses every day - tough when you're little, or have to return to the regular gifted programs and then start again socially. And she doesn't sound like HG to be completely honest...

[Anonymous]

If you go the route of trying to get into a MCPS gifted magnet school, keep in mind that you'll have to buy/rent in district. The test for out of bounds admission was in kindergarten and to the best of my knowledge there is no other system. But, if you are in bounds for that school (Takoma or Chevy Chase), you will get the same access.

[Anonymous]

I second the Nysmith recommendation.

[Anonymous]

Random question, but what prompts a parent to get a young child's IQ tested and where does one go? I know people get neuropsych evaluations when there are developmental issues, but what if you just want yo know more about your kid?

[Anonymous]

OP, given that you say private might be an option if you can get grandparent help, you might want to start looking at the cost in this area before you get your heart set on anything. Honestly, the cost is ridiculous for a top tier private, which is probably what you would want. There is financial aid, but it's still a huge stretch for those who aren't in the top 1 or 2 percent. In addition, cost of living here is crazy. Just wanted to mention this to you because it's tough.

FWIW, I have a high IQ kid - 150, so a bit lower than your daughter. My son also has some special needs. I found that MCPS meets his needs.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure your snowflake will be just fine in FCPS. Bring your family to the suburbs and find a nice house. A $650k mortgage and the local public school will work out just fine.

[Anonymous]

We picked the MCPS route. So far, so good. A lot of the time school doesn't provide much in the way of academic challenges, but our particular child benefits from the other things it has to offer.

[Anonymous]

Actually, profoundly gifted is 180+.

I was 200+ when tested as a child, and my parents were told that they couldn't measure my intelligence because I was off the charts. Fast forward: I'm just a regular person.

The pp was correct about mcps: most kids are gifted. No need to go the private route unless your kid has behavior issues.