Why is Nysmith no longer "gifted"?
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Anonymous
| I'm guessing that there are likely many families whose kids scored high on that test and wouldn't want to send their kid to a school with the pretentious label of "gifted". If they have a narrowly defined population based on score, and that is the exact type of kid they serve - they should keep that metric in admissions, but losing the name I think is likely better for image. |
Anonymous
| Nobody ever used the whole name anyway. I was in Nysmith back when it was founded in the 80s, and I have never once in my whole life said I went to Nysmith School for the Gifted and Talented, which was its name at the time. |
Anonymous
| They consider all kids “gifted and talented”. More holistic approach. |
Anonymous
DP here. The kid who we know who went to Nysmith also was not gifted. He didn’t even quality for FCPS AAP. |
Anonymous
NP - my DC is in private school with several nysmith alums. They’re all around average. My kid is not ‘gifted’ and I’d say they range from similar to her to maybe a little behind (based on course placements). |
Anonymous
What a horrible comment. Stay on the public school forum, please. |
Anonymous
May I ask why you kept them there if they didn't like it? |
Anonymous
Yup, you are definitely jealous. |
Anonymous
|
In many suburbs of the DMV, there's an unusually high percentage of highly educated parents. Highly educated people generally have higher IQs. In some professions, the average IQ is 130+.
Since a child's IQ is typically within one standard deviation (roughly 15 points) of the average of their parents' IQs, an incredibly high percentage of kids in this area have an IQ of 130+ -- i.e. two standard deviations above average. Certainly there are plenty of kids in the 115-130 range (one standard deviation above average). That means that if your child goes to a typical public school in, say, Bethesda (notable for its well-educated demographic), or a good private school anywhere in the area, the "typical" kid they're going to school with probably has a 120+ IQ. Therefore, a school for the "gifted" with a 120-on-a-single-subtest minimum bar (and Nysmith will consider exceptions to that) isn't likely to be significantly different in terms of the student population (beyond, of course, serving a more diverse range of families that have lesser education or wealth). The DMV needs stable, well-run gifted schools that serve the 145+ students that need an exceptional level of academic challenge, coupled with age-appropriate social-emotional learning. Unfortunately, we don't have any of those. |
Anonymous
I don't even need a whole school. I just want a well-established local private with a learning specialist or gt specialist who will regularly work to support the 145+ kids. Do any exist? |
Anonymous
| Obviously because it’s racist. Duh. |
Anonymous
It's obvious that you have issues because you couldn't afford private school. |
Anonymous
Not to my knowledge, but I wish one did! If anyone knows of one, please do let us know! |
Anonymous
| 120 is not gifted |
Anonymous
We spent a lot of time looking and found Nysmith to be the best option. They know how to educate out DC who has an IQ of 148. |