Best school for highly gifted and talented, "quirky" kid?

[Anonymous]

I would suggest checking out Nysmith for both boys and girls.

[Anonymous]

Maybe we need a more diverse vocabulary: non-jocks with intellectual interests are often called quirky (in this area), those with one or two singular strong interests are called quirky, those who are GT/LD are called quirky. Different schools meet the needs of each type of quirk.

St. Anselms is often recommended for boys who are extremely, extremely smart but for whom structure may be great. Nysmith for very smart kids, but they tend to be pretty button-down, so I wouldn't really call them quirky. GDS and GAS for kids who are artist-quirky. The world is more tolerant of quirkiness for boys; for girls, I don't think there is an equivalent (single sex), Lab School and McLeans (Potomac) for LD, and maybe GT/LD.

[Anonymous]

Original poster here-we checked out Nysmith for my DC, and both my husband and I were REALLY impressed with the school-the teachers we talked to were really engaging, the curriculum was interesting and varied, and to be honest, it was the first time I walked away from a school tour feeling as though I had FINALLY got some substantive info on what these kids did all day. Not to mention, the kids all looked really happy to be there.

We will definitely pursue-and the admissions process seems purely based on the child's merit-not who they have as parents and how strong the parental "connections" are.

If anyone knows about Nysmith-please tell all!

[Anonymous]

Had a friend with children there for one year, and we looked. They do a good job answering questions, and have a beautiful facility. Excellent marketing (the head is a former businessman, and understands these things). My friends left for reasons particular to their children, but I was appalled - absolutely appalled - at the school's handling of the situation. One other thing: a number of the "top" private high schools (and maybe TJ) in the DC area aren't enamored with the school, so you might look carefully at placement, and how "deep" it is, i.e., even though they may place one kid at a Sidwell each year, where are the majority of kids going. We found them to be a bit dissembling on this topic.

[Anonymous]

OP, it might help to check out the reviews on great schools.net

http://www.greatschools.org/search/search.page?state=VA&q=nysmith&type=school

You might also want to tour Edlin School.

[Anonymous]

My children were accepted at Nysmith several years ago for K, and we came very close to registering, but something just didn't feel right. Maybe it has changed. But it didn't feel complete. First, there was no library. They had made a decision not to invest in one. To me, the "hands on" experience and joy of children's books is a must. Second, there was no real music to speak of at that time. Music has been one of the seven liberal arts since the time of the ancient Greeks -- any school that supposedly caters to the "gifted" should recognize that gifted kids are often highly musical and benefit from musical training beyond those silly Orff instruments. Third, there were no sports at that time. For boys, some physical outlet is a must. As I say, maybe it has changed, but I would approach with caution. Edlin was not accredited at the time we toured it, and that made me uncomfortable. We're still looking for that great fit for our sons as they approach high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, it might help to check out the reviews on great schools.net

http://www.greatschools.org/school/parentReviews.page?id=2297

Some interesting reviews there. Read them all for a balanced view. Nysmith appears to be one of the few schools that are run as for-profit businesses. It will survive only if it offers good value for the price of tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Edlin was not accredited at the time we toured it, and that made me uncomfortable. We're still looking for that great fit for our sons as they approach high school.

We did the tour of Edlin and my daughter sat in on a class with students. After about 30 minutes, we went to continue our tour. My daughter asked to use the restroom and -- when we were alone -- she burst into tears and begged me not to send her there. I had heard such rave reviews from others about the school but had to listen to my daughter.

[Anonymous]

Have good friends at Nysmith who really love it. Child's academic load highly impressive - and there is regular music. No sports, though but time to run around during the day.

Heard the opposite - that many do end up attending TJ. It is a school for the serious wonks with high level classes in all subjects, including one of the very top math programs around. Parents love it because it is run by business people with great communication skills and rules are very black and white.

[Anonymous]

We were told not to look at Nysmith for our "gifted" child (I'm so uncomfortable with this term, but can't really get around it here). According to the consultant we were working with, Nysmith admitted too many non-gifted kids and the program itself was not well suited for the highly gifted. Gifted or not, selecting a school can be a challenging process if your child is an "outside of the box" learner. If I were you, I would start by getting as much information as possible from DCs current teachers. Let them know that you are trying to identify the best learning environment for your child- encourage them to be forthcoming. I'm not saying to use teachers as the "end all" for your decision, but until you really understand what their day-to-day experience has been and how he has interacted with peers - you will not be able to effectively assess how to improve his school experience (in general, I highly caution parents from assuming that behavioral or performance based issues must be linked to high test scores...). Gifted kids come in many shapes and sizes and are no different from other kids in that they have individual needs. The tendency to lump them into one category (where does your gifted child thrive) is inefficient use of your hypothetical question. It would be the same as posting the question "my child is musically gifted - does anybody know a great music teacher".

[Anonymous]

oops - pp here - meant to say "music teacher" in post above.

[Anonymous]

Good suggestion, pp, but there seems to be such a bias, at least among the administrators and teachers I have dealt with so far, that I can't get much help from them. When I ask teachers why the class isn't doing more "X" they'll say, "Well, the other students aren't ready for that yet." And the administrators at the two private schools we have thus far attended are loathe to acknowledge that there are significant ability differences and interest levels among the students, which cry out for different teaching approaches. I am kind of kicking myself for not having gone the GT route, b/c at least there is a recognition there that those kids have special needs. I guess because all parents want to hear that their kids are "gifted," private schools can't ability group or they risk losing their tuition base.

[Anonymous]

Our private school groups for both math and reading although I wouldn't characterize it as "ability" since it depends on mastery of the material and has nothing to do with IQ or any other kind of innate ability. I'm not sure you will find many private elementary schools that don't do any grouping--perhaps you found the only two that don't, but it seems puzzling.

[Anonymous]

Nysmith tests each child and places them in a class with other similar kids who are at the same level.

I have found that many privates have prejudice against them because they are for-profit. You should go and talk to them. Have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not the previous 'bumper' of the is post, but would like to repeat the previously posted question: What is the girls version of St Anselm's?

We asked other St. Anselm's families that question for a couple years as my daughter approached middle school, and we concluded that there is no exact equivalent among girls' schools in the area. The most popular school for sisters of Abbey boys seemed to be Stone Ridge, and that is where we decided to send our daughter.

Like St. Anselm's, Stone Ridge has small classes, friendly families, a distinctly Catholic identity that is comfortable for non-Catholics, a spacious campus, and challenging academics. Unlike St. Anselm's, Stone Ridge is not dedicated to teaching only students who are academically "gifted," so there is a somewhat wider range of abilities. But its curriculum seems strong, with English and math classes accelerated by a year in middle school, as I've heard is typical of the more rigorous private schools and the g/t programs in public schools. The college placements from Stone Ridge are impressive, not just for the top graduates but for the whole class.

For pure academics, the most rigorous all-girl school in the area seems to be Holton-Arms. We considered it, but decided that our daughter isn't competitive enough to thrive in that kind of environment. But that school is certainly worth a look for a very smart girl.

I can't say much about the quirk-tolerance of all-girl schools around here. My daughter has fewer intellectual enthusiasms than my son has, and she depends more on her social interactions, so she's not an exemplar of quirkiness.