Which school best supports children who are advanced academically?

[Anonymous]

You are not getting a response because the answer is, "none of them." Go public.

Our child went from a Big Three to a MC magnet and the difference is astonishing. Leagues better than the Big Three school DC previously attended.

What a relief. So you don't have to flee the area for New York or Boston after all.

[Anonymous]

OP here: Believe it or not, my question was genuine! I had heard the magnets were great, but I did not know that the general opinion was that the top private schools in DC were hopeless for kids who were advanced for their grade. Thank you for your responses. We can close this thread now, I think I have the responses that I need.

[Anonymous]

Preaching to the choir.

[Anonymous]

OP here: Believe it or not, my question was genuine! I had heard the magnets were great, but I did not know that the general opinion was that the top private schools in DC were hopeless for kids who were advanced for their grade. Thank you for your responses. We can close this thread now, I think I have the responses that I need.

The real shame here is that if one is believes the number of reported "off the chart" WPSSI scores of 99.9% from this population one would anticipate, on at least a statistical basis alone , that there are a number of "advanced for grade" children attending top private schools in DC that are intellectually held back (or stalled) in elementary school while others catch up. Is this the same strategy or practise at these schools for superior talent (advanced for grade) in music, art and foreign languages? How about traveling club lacrosse, tennis, and soccer? Is advanced for age/grade talent stalled at age or grade level?

[Anonymous]

Some of you parents are wrapped too tight. Relax a bit. Your child actually requires that.

[Anonymous]

Are you referring to the Big 3 parents...or all the rest?

[Anonymous]

You are barking up the wrong tree....

[Anonymous]

OP,
Privates can be great for students who are advanced. This isn't the best evening for this thread. Everyone's out at the grocery store! The lines went down the aisles ...

[Anonymous]

We agree. But, what specifically do the 4 private schools in question provide and do for their advanced kids working above grade level?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You are not getting a response because the answer is, "none of them." Go public.

Our child went from a Big Three to a MC magnet and the difference is astonishing. Leagues better than the Big Three school DC previously attended.

What a relief. So you don't have to flee the area for New York or Boston after all.

TJ is in Fairfax, although I realize Virginia is a foreign country to some people. No one has mentioned California. Stuyvesant and Bronx Sci are NY magnets/charters/whatever. Very competitive testing to get into them, and they have been around forever. They send lots and lots of kids to MIT and CalTech (ha - there is a California reference for you!).

But, back to the MoCo magnet discussion. Some people say Blair is up and coming, although I think the impression is that TJ is still in a class by itself around here.

Now, with my non-math genuis kid, I will excuse myself from this thread and go look at her very nice liberal arts paintings before tucking myself in for the night. If she were outpainting her private school's ability to work with her, then I would get her something on the side. Problem solved. The fact that a couple of parents in the class are visual artists should help with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here: Believe it or not, my question was genuine! I had heard the magnets were great, but I did not know that the general opinion was that the top private schools in DC were hopeless for kids who were advanced for their grade. Thank you for your responses. We can close this thread now, I think I have the responses that I need.

OP, I don't think you should assume the comments posted reflect the general opinion of DC parents. I have an advanced child at one of those schools. In my experience, the school does a fine job at encouraging each child to advance at his/her own pace. There is a lot less of a spread of skill levels than at a public school (i.e., many of the kids are working ahead of grade level), so differentiation is not as hard to accomplish as you might think. I suspect that the situation is similar in public magnets -- even in a magnet, not every kid is going to be working at the exact same level, but there is less concern because they're all advanced to approximately the same level.

I hope that helps you. BTW, given the strong comments already posted here, I expect to get flamed for daring to suggest that private schools are capable of providing a strong education. I don't plan on responding to any of them. I've given my two cents, and I'm not really interested in debating the point.

[Anonymous]

My kid is at Beauvoir, but it's too early for us to see this first hand, which is why I didn't respond sooner. Here's my understanding: beginning in Kindergarten they form reading groups of 4 or fewer students divided by level and this continues throughout. Some groups may have only one child. They don't seem to do this with math in K, but may do it later on. The resource teachers / reading and math specialists provide the additional manpower to break down into the small groups. Then throughout the child's time at the school the resource teachers also work one on one or one on two during the school day with kids who have been identified as needing either extra help or more challenge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You are not getting a response because the answer is, "none of them." Go public.

Our child went from a Big Three to a MC magnet and the difference is astonishing. Leagues better than the Big Three school DC previously attended.

What a relief. So you don't have to flee the area for New York or Boston after all.

No, we managed to find a challenge for DC even though we are stranded here in this backwater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: Believe it or not, my question was genuine! I had heard the magnets were great, but I did not know that the general opinion was that the top private schools in DC were hopeless for kids who were advanced for their grade. Thank you for your responses. We can close this thread now, I think I have the responses that I need.

OP, I don't think you should assume the comments posted reflect the general opinion of DC parents. I have an advanced child at one of those schools. In my experience, the school does a fine job at encouraging each child to advance at his/her own pace. There is a lot less of a spread of skill levels than at a public school (i.e., many of the kids are working ahead of grade level), so differentiation is not as hard to accomplish as you might think. I suspect that the situation is similar in public magnets -- even in a magnet, not every kid is going to be working at the exact same level, but there is less concern because they're all advanced to approximately the same level.

I hope that helps you. BTW, given the strong comments already posted here, I expect to get flamed for daring to suggest that private schools are capable of providing a strong education. I don't plan on responding to any of them. I've given my two cents, and I'm not really interested in debating the point.

OP here: I "closed the thread" but people kept responding anyway. It has been useful, so thank you. The Beauvoir parent was the most useful as she provided details on how the school responds to students with different needs. The person above: it would be helpful if you told me which school your child is at and what the school does in the early grades to manage advanced kids. TIA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: Believe it or not, my question was genuine! I had heard the magnets were great, but I did not know that the general opinion was that the top private schools in DC were hopeless for kids who were advanced for their grade. Thank you for your responses. We can close this thread now, I think I have the responses that I need.

OP, I don't think you should assume the comments posted reflect the general opinion of DC parents. I have an advanced child at one of those schools. In my experience, the school does a fine job at encouraging each child to advance at his/her own pace. There is a lot less of a spread of skill levels than at a public school (i.e., many of the kids are working ahead of grade level), so differentiation is not as hard to accomplish as you might think. I suspect that the situation is similar in public magnets -- even in a magnet, not every kid is going to be working at the exact same level, but there is less concern because they're all advanced to approximately the same level.

I hope that helps you. BTW, given the strong comments already posted here, I expect to get flamed for daring to suggest that private schools are capable of providing a strong education. I don't plan on responding to any of them. I've given my two cents, and I'm not really interested in debating the point.

OP here: I "closed the thread" but people kept responding anyway. It has been useful, so thank you. The Beauvoir parent was the most useful as she provided details on how the school responds to students with different needs. The person above: it would be helpful if you told me which school your child is at and what the school does in the early grades to manage advanced kids. TIA!

OP: It's an open forum, you don't get to "close the thread" because you're not getting the answers you want. Your attitude is completely obnoxious. Unless you are Jeff posting anonymously (which I doubt), you have no power to close the thread.