Private School for Gifted and Talented Child in NOVA or DC?

[Anonymous]

PG parent of a PG kid who is thriving at GDS. Great cohort, excellent teachers, open-ended assignments that provide lots of room for students to challenge themselves. My DC found CTY (humanities/ES) underwhelming by comparison. Supplement whatever makes sense, but that's always going to be the right answer with a PG kid -- not a defect of the school.

FWIW, I did public school w/ and w/o gifted programs (different states) and supplemented with community college and college classes nearby -- mostly but not completely after school. (Something I did on my own, though parents and teachers offered support and encouragement). Went to college at 17 and was happy I waited. Took upper division classes from the start, met my future husband during orientation week. Had I gone at 14 or 15 (an option school administrators encouraged my parents to consider), it would have been a whole different story. (I know because I was taking college classes at that age locally).

Also, GWU has an online HS. And School without Walls (DCPS) allows HS kids to take classes at GW (but that might only be in jr/sr year). I looked into SWW because it seemed like the closest analogue to my own HS/college hybrid experience which I really valued, in part because it gave me both a rich extracurricular life and challenging academics. (I wouldn't consider online HS for that reason. I think my kid would miss out on too much on experiences I'm glad I had -- and I don't mean the prom!) But, especially post-Rhee, SWW didn't look as good as GDS to me for my DC. But YMMV which is why I mention the option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since you care so much about your child's social adjustment then send him/her to the local public G&T until they're old enough for TJ or Blair. I'm sure your child will find a few same age peers who they can be friends with even if the other kids are only "slightly above average".

I'm not the OP, but if her claim is true that her child is working "4, 5 or more" years ahead of peers, then TJ or Blair would be woefully inadequate. Even the most advanced of those kids would still supposedly be 2-3 years behind OP's child.

[Anonymous]

We have a pg kid at nysmith in the early grades and it is fine - really none of the dc area privates have subject specialists in all areas (like middle school) and about 50% of the teachers are really good at differentiating to the level needed by the child (up to about 3 grades ahead in practice). While that might not completelly exhaust the potential of every PG or EG kid, that does still give you a hedge against utter unhappiness and for the most part replace it with full happiness with school, with the social environment and with growing up. The cost is the same as other privates, so you have to be in the private school plan to go there. Edlin is about half that and has fewer specialists but is a "junior" version of the FFX gifted program. Similarly most montessories would be good for pre-2nd grade. Just ignore the web postings on the nysmith administration changes etc... - that was from 4-5 years ago when the mission changed from super-academic school to private school and that caused some turnover among the teachers. But nysmith is still very good in comparison to all the other privates for gifted kids, at least until the strong academics kick in in the upper grades at the dc area schools or in the competing public ffx gifted programs/strong middle schools. You school really look for yourself and talk to parents rather than just web-surfing if you want to evaluate nysmith.

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I had heard about Nysmith, but understand they've had significant administrative and management problems that have led to a deterioration in the overall quality of education there. Any Nysmith parents willing to comment?

Thanks to the poster who recommended specific schools in the McLean area. it's very useful information.

[Anonymous]

Our daughter also attended Stanford University Online High School. We live in the FCPS area and FCPS's gifted and talented programs were excellent, but she needed more challenge and flexibility than TJHSST offered so she chose to attend and graduate from Stanford's OHS. It was a great time with summer sessions, prom (high school kids) and so on. It was definitely much more challenging than TJ and I can't say enough about the critical thinking skills she learned. Also, it was powerful learning experience to attend class with students living throughout America and the world.

However, it depends what you need. Many parents find it best to start with a hybrid plan. Some brick and mortar and perhaps just one or two online classes. We started with one online class while at TJ and didn't much look back. It worked well.

Moving? Education based on geographical location? In 2012? One needs to be careful moving to Fairfax (and other districts?) as the neighborhoods are often re-districted and you could be shuffled to a different program. It is the nature of the beast in FCPS - it seems to always be growing, changing boundaries and gifted programs have also changed in the last few years in our area.

It you wish to begin a Stanford exploration: http://epgy.stanford.edu/ohs/

Best wishes for great happiness throughout your educational experiences...

[Anonymous]

"Seriously, the whole idea that life is sooo deficult b/c your child is super brilliant and that no educational institute in this area can meet their needs is what's bringing out the hostility not the fact that your kid is gifted."

Seriously, 7:15? I have no idea where you got that I think life is difficult because my child is super brilliant. That's a pretty major projection that smacks of envy along the lines of "no one should be so special." If anything, I enjoy DC's brilliance and am glad that DC is gifted. I mentioned that my own experience as a gifted child was not very positive, but I don't think that has to be the case for DC. I'm determined to avoid the mistakes my parents made. To be fair, they had little support and got bad advice. One would think that 20 years on, there would be more and better support for EG and PG children, but apparently not appreciably so.

A number of posts on this thread confirm that there is probably no single educational institution in the area that can meet my child's needs -- hence the need for online support and supplementation. It's nice to know that up front.

Thanks to all the constructive posters.

[Anonymous]

OP here again.

Question for 7:58: Can you confirm GDS is Georgetown Day School? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

OP, you never answered one early question: How old is your child currently? Is she/he currently working 4-5 grades ahead of level?

[Anonymous]

Every kid I know in a public school is classified as "gifted and talented".

[Anonymous]

I would avoid Nysmith at all costs. It was a horrible experience for my child. They like the children smart, but not too smart. They are a lot of talk but not much action. Cookie cutter kids for a cookie cutter program, but they throw in school for the gifted and parents flock to the hype.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again.

Question for 7:58: Can you confirm GDS is Georgetown Day School? Thanks.

Yes. And FWIW, I don't think there's a need for online supplementation -- just that PG kids will generally do a lot of learning outside of school and to the extent that that learning is something beyond what DC can do solo or what you/your spouse can facilitate, then you look for other resources. (I think that this is true of all kids but that with PG kids the need to go beyond parental resources can kick in earlier/more intensely). Personally, I don't think online is the way to go, especially in a resource-rich area like this one. Depending on interests/level of expertise/age, I'd look at classes at a university, internships in labs, volunteer work at a non-profit, research opportunities at libraries or museums, travel/exchange programs, competitions, etc. Schoolwork (at whatever pace or in whatever format) typically isn't the best way to challenge someone and deepen their understanding of a subject. Hands-on research and problem-solving confront you with a level of complexity and open-endedness (there's no grade or teacher evaluation at the end -- hell, there's no clear end) that are alot more intellectually engaging and rewarding, at least in my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would avoid Nysmith at all costs. It was a horrible experience for my child. They like the children smart, but not too smart. They are a lot of talk but not much action. Cookie cutter kids for a cookie cutter program, but they throw in school for the gifted and parents flock to the hype.

Since we have a child at nysmith we would be interested in the alternatives you found - was it GDS? Holton? the ffx county AAP? I know there was one poster with a daughter who started off at nysmith, left for holton, and then decided to home-school because holton didn't have enough flexibility either.

Part of the challenge in creating a gifted school is being able to attract parents who self-select (albeit those who can also afford private school tuition) to send their gifted kids there. And you can't do that without enough of a brand about being a school for gifted children so that parents will look at the school and send their kids there. So the school has to try to get those kids. Whether or not the program is the most perfect in the world for all children is a different question - and the answer would also be relative to the other options. But why would you avoid nysmith at all costs? We would be interested to hear more specifics about what you found lacking rather than "all talk no action". Our child is doing well and the curriculum is more advanced that the same age at Sidwell, at least for math and science. For humanities it is probably about the same as other private schools. Would you use the same terms to describe the options for a super-smart kid at the other DC privates?

[Anonymous]

7:58/7:51 here (and I'm *not* the horrible experience at Nysmith poster).

I think that part of the issue with Nysmith is that the self-selection is not just along gifted/affluent (and don't forget geographical) axes but also people whose understanding of education leads them to look for acceleration or an advanced curriculum or individuation. This isn't a pitch that appeals to me (especially when I imagine the parent cohort it produces in this area) -- I looked for a progressive approach to education, lifelong learners as teachers (and high retention rates for those teachers), emphasis on diversity, and some measure of the the academic strength of the cohort that wasn't just self-reporting (which put K-8 schools generally at a disadvantage in my search.)

[Anonymous]

Nysmith is absolutely the top - 1:7 teacher/student ratio, absolutely differentiated learning based on ability, etc...http://www.nysmith.com

[Anonymous]

Because if someone says "absolutely" twice in a 2 line post, you know they have to be right -- absolutely!

[Anonymous]

Have you guys ever heard of Simon's Rock? It is a college specifically for gifted kids who are ready for college after 10th grade. http://www.simons-rock.edu/about