Gifted in DCPS
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Anonymous
| We're looking to move into District this coming school year. DC will be fourth grader and are looking at different DCPS elementary schools. Is there a gifted and talented program in DCPS? DC is in one in Baltimore County PS and want to be able to continue if possible. Or if not is there something else in place? |
Anonymous
| No, there is no gifted program in DCPS. |
Anonymous
|
I am afraid your post seems almost like a prank post to those of us in DC, as DC is notorious for having no G &T programs at all on the ES level. The best you can do is to buy into the zone for a higher performing ES and then also try you hand in the charter school lottery if you are interested in bilingual education in Chinese at Yu Ying PCS (the better performing Spanish immersion charters are not yet, in the case of Mundo Verde, or do not, in the case of LAMB-PCS, accept fourth graders).
Use the www.myschooldc.com website, the common lottery website, to compare statistics on schools. For fifth grade, try for BASIS DC, a highly accelerated charter MS and HS that opened its DC school last year and is really taking off. It is an ideal public school environment for gifted students, in my opinion, but is entered via open lottery so you have to take your chances along with everyone else no matter how talented your child may be. That's the lay of the land in DC. Hope this helps! |
Anonymous
|
Moving into 4th grade will be a difficult endeavor for your child. I would place a much stronger emphasis on social-emotional variables than on whether there is a G&T program. Given the notorious discrepancies across states with the Common Core Standards barely in place, in all likelihood, your child will be ahead in some areas and possibly still have gaps in others, though probably not very significant ones due to the G&T background. And that will be just as good for him/her to get a new footing and make some friends, which can be quite an endeavor in 4th, when so many kids know one another inside out. I'd probably look to pick a school that's close to your home so friends from school can transcend beyond school. And I'd probably put a strong emphasis on that school feeding into an acceptable middle school where friendships won't be lost in translation yet again (Hardy and Stuart-Hobson have SEM, a version of G&T; Deal is generally well regarded, although quite big if that's a concern). I'd probably also pick a school (and hence a location, since you'll need to prove inboundary residence to get there) that has at least two 4th grades and tells you that it remixes them coming from 3rd. That will provide a newcomer with new connections.
If you're dead-set on G&T or want to at least factor that in, then familiarize yourself with the way you'll need to ask that question in DC while touring schools. There are many, including ours, that run something that would be called "G&T" elsewhere but they will truly never utter the word. So just ask about those particular elements that you're familiar with instead. |
Anonymous
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I would ignore 18:22, I bet your kid will be fine with the social transition after a few weeks.
But yes, worth it to buy into a higher performing ES or go MoCo quite honestly. Better do your research on the DCPS website in terms of test scores for each school. Charters are not something to count on. |
Anonymous
| Fcps |
Anonymous
| OP here...thank you--but somewhat discouraging news. |
Anonymous
| The DCPS schools that are autonomous and differentiate instruction well will teach your DC at his/her level. Our high honors CTY kids are challenged in core subjects, and the during and after school enrichment has been quite good. We have not felt the need to supplement with any of the CTY courses, but may do some science because the kids like it. Our DC's cohorts are extremely bright kids. Just because DCPS doesn't use the G&T vocabulary does not mean that G&T kids are not challenged or enriched; its just called teaching. And DC is moving toward providing even more enrichment. I just read the B'more County G&T brochure and it sounds just like the instruction in our ES classrooms. So don't be discouraged before you visit the schools, you might be pleasantly surprised, unless the label is important. |
Anonymous
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20:22, can you provide some objective examples of how the teaching is like G&T and what you mean by that? From an interested parent with kids not in school yet, would love to stay in DC but am not convinced that even the "best" DC schools are really challenging. Is having a smart cohort really sufficient?
In addition, to help the OP, do you plan to send your high honors CTY child to middle school in DC? |
Anonymous
| 20:22. Could you say which school this is? |
Anonymous
| NP here. I have a child in PK3 whose teachers are working with her a grade or two ahead on some things. What is the CTY program? |
Anonymous
| Since when is PK3 a "grade"? |
Anonymous
Amazing. Nursery school is now a "grade" 
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Anonymous
Is this a joke? |
Anonymous
|
"The DCPS schools that are autonomous and differentiate instruction well will teach your DC at his/her level. Our high honors CTY kids are challenged in core subjects, and the during and after school enrichment has been quite good. We have not felt the need to supplement with any of the CTY courses, but may do some science because the kids like it. Our DC's cohorts are extremely bright kids. Just because DCPS doesn't use the G&T vocabulary does not mean that G&T kids are not challenged or enriched; its just called teaching. And DC is moving toward providing even more enrichment. I just read the B'more County G&T brochure and it sounds just like the instruction in our ES classrooms. So don't be discouraged before you visit the schools, you might be pleasantly surprised, unless the label is important."
+1 |