Profoundly gifted child-which school?

[Anonymous]

Here are two schools where friends who have profoundly gifted kids have really enjoyed: Nueva School (in Bay Area) and Metrolina Scholars Academy in Charlotte, NC (free charter school - entry by IQ testing and lottery). You might also contact schools that aren't even in your area if they sound interesting as they likely know of other like-minded schools.

There is also a summer camp in Colorado for profoundly gifted kids called PG Retreat. They might also be a place to start with a summer experience and learn from other families who are making it work (we have homeschooling friends who attend every year and they absolutely love it).

[Anonymous]

I think either a school or school district that is smaller and shows a willingness to be more flexible. Could be public or private, but could be an easier path if you’re in a state where the law requires IEPs for giftedness.

Or a language magnet for a language new to your DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don’t live in DC but this forum has great advice.

I suspect DS is profoundly gifted but it’s too soon to know. He’s shown some signs. I myself was a profoundly gifted child (skipped several grades; finished grad school with a STEM degree as a teenager). DH had a similar experience.

We’re trying to figure out where he should go to school so we can buy a house in the right location.

Would you choose:

1. Highly regarded public schools (10/10 and ranked the highest in the state)
2. Small private
3. Moderately ranked public offering dual language program in 2nd language that DS speaks fluently

For clarity- I DO NOT WANT my child to take the same route I did. I’m not trying to architect an accelerated path for him (I lived it and believe me there are downsides). My goals are:

1. I want him to like school. I HATED school. I was so bored and too weird and found it very frustrating.
2. I don’t want him to grow up like I did where his whole identity comes from being the smartest kid in the class. I want him to be around other super smart kids so he can’t skate and also realizes that sure, he’s smart, but so are lots of other kids too.

For those two goals, would you choose option 1, 2, or 3 above?

If you can’t move, doing math in a foreign language immersion program kept DC (who is HG) and a PG kid in the class interested, at least until both went to MoCo magnets for MS and HS. That and tons of ECs—send him to cooking class, sailing class, horse riding school, whatever your area has for after school and summer camps. He may find a passion and it doesn’t have to be tied to his smarts.

[Anonymous]

consider a k through 12 private school. Bulliis is pretty nice

[Anonymous]

I’m rolling my eyes at you, OP. I can’t stand pretentious braggarts and live in a hive of intellectuals in McLean, VA where every child is PG or, embarrassingly enough, smart.

Take a deep breath, OP. Enjoy your child. Maybe test to determine PG, then go from there.

Be prepared to find out that your child isn’t that extraordinary. Practice benign neglect. Please don’t raise your DC to be supremely impressed with himself. Teach manners, conversation, social skills and making friends with peers. Work extra hard at keeping your child humble and kind and involved in age appropriate activities. Aim to raise a well-rounded child. Help your DC embrace and enjoy childhood with a large range of experiences. Keep it simple.

I’ve worked with school age children for 18 years in dcum area and every school year, I see more (and younger) children struggling with anxiety, depression and affiliated health problems. It’s parental micromanagement and pressure, over scheduling and the drive to succeed.

Watch “The Race to No Where” and get back to us here.

[Anonymous]

Look into public residential stem schools. I went to IMSA in Illinois. You have to be a state resident and not every state has them. It's a flexible educational framework that has traditional classes and AP classes and grant funding for student research.

[Anonymous]

Montessori k-8 and magnet public high school.

[Anonymous]

I think it really depends on the specific options, so you need to play it by ear.
A small private could be great, if they are able to customize and it's a "quirky" kind of place. But I also think small privates can be totally disastrous for quirky kids, because there is often not much diversity in the social scene, and if you don't fit in, there's no place to go. (At a big public, there are lots of kids who "don't fit in" so you can all "not fit in" together.) So I tend to think your best bet is public, particularly if there' a magnet program within the public school system (as those schools tend to be VERY accepting of "quirky"), or maybe a different kind of private.
Look for places that have competitive math teams, Science Olympiad, competitive robotics teams, etc.
For early ed, your best bet is probably a small private that accommodates different kinds of kids -- the social stuff tends not to be an issue until 3rd grade or later. By then, you'll probably have a good feel for the specific privates, and know if there's any public options that would be a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Hey, PP 19:55. I went to IMSA too. It is about to start admitting out-of-state students.

But honestly high school is not the big issue, because high school is where there are a lot of options (including great east coast private boarding schools, early entrance into college, etc.). It's the years before high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m rolling my eyes at you, OP. I can’t stand pretentious braggarts and live in a hive of intellectuals in McLean, VA where every child is PG or, embarrassingly enough, smart.

Take a deep breath, OP. Enjoy your child. Maybe test to determine PG, then go from there.

Be prepared to find out that your child isn’t that extraordinary. Practice benign neglect. Please don’t raise your DC to be supremely impressed with himself. Teach manners, conversation, social skills and making friends with peers. Work extra hard at keeping your child humble and kind and involved in age appropriate activities. Aim to raise a well-rounded child. Help your DC embrace and enjoy childhood with a large range of experiences. Keep it simple.

I’ve worked with school age children for 18 years in dcum area and every school year, I see more (and younger) children struggling with anxiety, depression and affiliated health problems. It’s parental micromanagement and pressure, over scheduling and the drive to succeed.

Watch “The Race to No Where” and get back to us here.

Op here. You clearly didn’t read my post. I don’t live in the dc area, let alone McLean. And my stated objective is literally to make sure my kid DOES NOT build his whole identity around being Mr. Smarty Pants. In my life experience, it wasn’t until after grad school that I actually found an environment where I was surrounded by people much smarter than me (in a very unique job). I just think it would work better if DS was around other super bright kids, because it will help de-emphasize the importance of intelligence if his is more diluted. And make him realize it’s not actually that exotic to be PG or just G or just smart.

I was a teenager in college and grad school in STEM. I was also one of the only women. It sucked. I’m not trying to engineer my kid into a super achiever. I’m trying to find a way for him to like school and not have the same experience I did.

[Anonymous]

You don’t even know your kid is gifted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don’t even know your kid is gifted.

I don’t but we need to buy a house now, so are trying to figure out school options. And, as I mentioned in my OP, we have reasons to think there is a chance he will be.

If we weren’t home searching, I don’t think I would be as fixated on this, at least not for a couple more years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t even know your kid is gifted.

I don’t but we need to buy a house now, so are trying to figure out school options. And, as I mentioned in my OP, we have reasons to think there is a chance he will be.

If we weren’t home searching, I don’t think I would be as fixated on this, at least not for a couple more years.

Honestly I don't know that you can figure out which school is best for him until he is a bit older. Buy where you like the schools and you can always make a different decision later if needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m rolling my eyes at you, OP. I can’t stand pretentious braggarts and live in a hive of intellectuals in McLean, VA where every child is PG or, embarrassingly enough, smart.

Take a deep breath, OP. Enjoy your child. Maybe test to determine PG, then go from there.

Be prepared to find out that your child isn’t that extraordinary. Practice benign neglect. Please don’t raise your DC to be supremely impressed with himself. Teach manners, conversation, social skills and making friends with peers. Work extra hard at keeping your child humble and kind and involved in age appropriate activities. Aim to raise a well-rounded child. Help your DC embrace and enjoy childhood with a large range of experiences. Keep it simple.

I’ve worked with school age children for 18 years in dcum area and every school year, I see more (and younger) children struggling with anxiety, depression and affiliated health problems. It’s parental micromanagement and pressure, over scheduling and the drive to succeed.

Watch “The Race to No Where” and get back to us here.

Op here. You clearly didn’t read my post. I don’t live in the dc area, let alone McLean. And my stated objective is literally to make sure my kid DOES NOT build his whole identity around being Mr. Smarty Pants. In my life experience, it wasn’t until after grad school that I actually found an environment where I was surrounded by people much smarter than me (in a very unique job). I just think it would work better if DS was around other super bright kids, because it will help de-emphasize the importance of intelligence if his is more diluted. And make him realize it’s not actually that exotic to be PG or just G or just smart.

I was a teenager in college and grad school in STEM. I was also one of the only women. It sucked. I’m not trying to engineer my kid into a super achiever. I’m trying to find a way for him to like school and not have the same experience I did.

Clearly it is exotic to be PG, as you yourself experienced. Whether it is better is a different question.

[Anonymous]

OP, because you don't really know what your kid is going to be like, I think the most important thing in your housing choice is actually flexibility. You want a house that you can easily sell if you need to move elsewhere. You may want jobs that are easily portable between different cities if need be. If you can afford to do so, consider settling in a huge city like New York City, which can accommodate a very wide range of needs.

(I have friends who are professional musicians who settled, predictably, in a nice city for music and figured they'd have musical kids... and instead they have a world-class ice skater. That does not match their chosen city. Gifted kids can have unexpected strengths!)