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

[Anonymous]

There is never going to be a perfect in-school solution for highly, highly gifted kids who stand out in one or two areas. Teachers have to teach to the norm in the classroom, and it is just plain hard to individualize. Seems to me that schools (and individual classes) vary in how smart the overall cohort is. If the kids are creative and interested, and (dare I say it?) "quirky," kids will feel more comfortable with their peers and classes may be taught at a higher level. But no school, not even Nysmith, can deal with outlyers all that well. So one strategy is to look at where the strongest cohort is, and supplement outside in whatever is the child's strength. Having said that, the county GT magnet met my child's intellectual and social needs the best. We looked seriously at Nysmith, and concluded not that the problem is that it is for-profit but that the assumption is that all gifted kids are about the same. We are at a Big 3 now, and while there is a sense that "all kids are equal," there are plenty of other smart, engaged, quirky kids. And we supplement at home - no way around it.

[Anonymous]

Some kids go to TJ from Nysmith, yes. But not all the "highly gifted" kids from there do great in placement, and the school is pretty fuzzy about all this.

[Anonymous]

Why does it matter that the school is for-profit? What does that even mean?

My child is very non-athletic, so the fact that they (Nysmith) don't have great athletics there is no biggie for us. And they did have regular music and art-music is also easy enough to get private lessions if the kid really shows an interest. Matter of fact, while we were on the tour, they had a piano recital by some of the 3rd graders in the hallway.

They claim 30-40% of their graduating 8th graders attend TJ. No public school in Fairfax can claim that. Plus, our elementary GT magnet school has 30 kids per class starting in 3rd grade. And may have more in coming years due to budget cuts. Our DC is just not ready for that in 1st grade (also 30 per class).

I also liked their minimalist approach to homework. The local GT center kids get 2-3 hrs per night.

[Anonymous]

We are considering St. Anslem's for our exceptionally gifted son, but are worried that his math acceleration needs will not be met. He is in line for algebra in 6th. He is very balanced, but we were more impressed with the humanities offerings, at least at the open house. Also, we have heard from ex-students that the sports are mediocre at best, and sports are very important to our son. With the long commute- we are in moco - continuing outside sporst becomes logisitcally untenable. Any comments?

[Anonymous]

Why not shoot for the County middle school magnet? This may provide the surest path to algebra in 6th grade if your child is on track. I do not have first hand experience with the private school in question, but a matter of fact dialogue with the school should clear the air.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are considering St. Anslem's for our exceptionally gifted son, but are worried that his math acceleration needs will not be met. He is in line for algebra in 6th. He is very balanced, but we were more impressed with the humanities offerings, at least at the open house. Also, we have heard from ex-students that the sports are mediocre at best, and sports are very important to our son. With the long commute- we are in moco - continuing outside sporst becomes logisitcally untenable. Any comments?

St. Anselm's usually teaches algebra in 8th grade. There is a section of students in each middle school grade that takes more-advanced math, but the curriculum in that section seems to be tailored to the participants and I don't know whether 6th grade algebra is a possibility. You should ask the school about that.

Bear in mind, though, that some parents on these forums have complained that the highly accelerated math programs at MoCo schools turned out to be rather superficial, and their children who were in them were not as thoroughly prepared for later math topics as were some students who had taken less-accelerated tracks. And click here to read what some college professors think of the "pretend algebra" that is taught in Montgomery County.

As for sports, St. Anselm's is one of the stronger schools in its league, the PVAC, but the league comprises small private schools that are not known as athletic powerhouses. I have heard of boys transferring in high school from St. Anselm's to bigger schools in leagues that get more attention from college scouts, to increase the odds of winning an athletic scholarship. Most Abbey boys, though, just enjoy playing and competing, and they have more opportunity to do that at a small school like St. Anselm's. The sports in which my son participates have been competitive and well coached.

I'm glad you're considering St. Anselm's because we're very happy with the school. Whatever you decide, good luck in finding the best fit for your son!

[Anonymous]

3:58 (don't you sleep??) I am not the person who originally asked about Saint Anselms, but I'm intereseted in it for my son in the future. I am curious: Given their goal of serving "gifted" boys, do you think they end up with a student body that is notably different from the student bodies at other "elite" boys
schools that can afford to be academically selective? If so, can you describe the differences that one would find at Saint Anselms? We, too, are trying to find that "best fit." Thanks!

[Anonymous]

St. Anselm's usually teaches algebra in 8th grade. There is a section of students in each middle school grade that takes more-advanced math, but the curriculum in that section seems to be tailored to the participants and I don't know whether 6th grade algebra is a possibility. You should ask the school about that.

Bear in mind, though, that some parents on these forums have complained that the highly accelerated math programs at MoCo schools turned out to be rather superficial, and their children who were in them were not as thoroughly prepared for later math topics as were some students who had taken less-accelerated tracks. And click here to read what some college professors think of the "pretend algebra" that is taught in Montgomery County.

As for sports, St. Anselm's is one of the stronger schools in its league, the PVAC, but the league comprises small private schools that are not known as athletic powerhouses. I have heard of boys transferring in high school from St. Anselm's to bigger schools in leagues that get more attention from college scouts, to increase the odds of winning an athletic scholarship. Most Abbey boys, though, just enjoy playing and competing, and they have more opportunity to do that at a small school like St. Anselm's. The sports in which my son participates have been competitive and well coached.

I'm glad you're considering St. Anselm's because we're very happy with the school. Whatever you decide, good luck in finding the best fit for your son!

If your child is "ready" in middle school for Algebra 1 and is bused to the high school to take Algebra 1 ... I doubt this is pretend Algebra. Perhaps some Algebra 1 courses in elementary or middle school in Algebra qualify as pretend algebra. I'm sure this is the same case in private school.

Algebra 1 in the magnet middle school (Takoma Park Middle School) is not pretend Algebra. The consistent and habitual high performance of these students in Mathcounts, AMC 8, AMC 10, AMC 12 and AIME year in and year out suggest that this is not the case. Interestingly, middle school students from the D.C. area privates are no where to be found in these national and international competitions. Where are they? Takoma Park Middle School Magnet is part of the Montgomery County Public School System.

If your child is talented in Math there is no other D.C. are private middle school setting remotely comparable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not the person who originally asked about Saint Anselms, but I'm intereseted in it for my son in the future. I am curious: Given their goal of serving "gifted" boys, do you think they end up with a student body that is notably different from the student bodies at other "elite" boys schools that can afford to be academically selective? If so, can you describe the differences that one would find at Saint Anselms? We, too, are trying to find that "best fit."

I'm sure that you can find comparable students at the tops of the classes in the best boys' schools. I think the other schools probably give more weight to a broader range of criteria for admission, and therefore have student bodies with a wider range of academic abilities than St. Anselm's has. By focusing on serving students with very strong academic ability, St. Anselm's is able to offer an advanced curriculum to all its students and to maintain rigorous academic standards. And the students are unlikely to get bored while waiting for classmates to catch up.

[Anonymous]

Well, my son scored very highly on St. Anselm's admission test, and they were very eager to have him attend. He ended up at another boys' school, where the academics seem just as challenging, but there are also lots of boys with varied interests. So, I'm not sure St. Anselm's has a lock on academically gifted boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The consistent and habitual high performance of these students in Mathcounts, AMC 8, AMC 10, AMC 12 and AIME year in and year out suggest that this is not the case. Interestingly, middle school students from the D.C. area privates are no where to be found in these national and international competitions. Where are they? Takoma Park Middle School Magnet is part of the Montgomery County Public School System.

If your child is talented in Math there is no other D.C. are private middle school setting remotely comparable.

I don't know whether private schools in this area participate in the math contests you listed. They seem to be individual contests, so I'm not surprised that the largest school district in the state, with almost a million students, can put its best middle school math students into a single magnet program and then select the best students from that program to get high scores in individual competition.

Looking for results in which school scores are reported, and not just individual scores, the first results I found were from the Maryland Mathematics League. Results of the top 19 schools were reported for last year's 8th grade test. Of those 19 schools, 16 were private and 3 (including TPMS) were public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, my son scored very highly on St. Anselm's admission test, and they were very eager to have him attend. He ended up at another boys' school, where the academics seem just as challenging, but there are also lots of boys with varied interests. So, I'm not sure St. Anselm's has a lock on academically gifted boys.

They do not have a lock on gifted boys, they just have a higher ratio. Every all-boys school in the region has SOME gifted boys, St. A's has MOSTLY gifted. It is a huge difference in a school, good or bad, depending on what you want.

[Anonymous]

I don't know whether private schools in this area participate in the math contests you listed. They seem to be individual contests, so I'm not surprised that the largest school district in the state, with almost a million students, can put its best middle school math students into a single magnet program and then select the best students from that program to get high scores in individual competition.

Looking for results in which school scores are reported, and not just individual scores, the first results I found were from the Maryland Mathematics League. Results of the top 19 schools were reported for last year's 8th grade test. Of those 19 schools, 16 were private and 3 (including TPMS) were public.

Private schools do participate where there is interest: students, teachers and coaches. Phillips Exeter Academy (NH) along with Blair High School and Thomas Jefferson (TJ) High School routinely top the lists over the last decade.

At the middle school level TPMS routinely tops the lists with the occasional imposter from Sidwell.

These kids end of doing extraordinarily well on PSAT, ACT, SAT and AP exams (National Merit Finalists) at the end of the road.

The State or County doesn't put the student into the magnet, students apply and take an entrance test and if they are selected choose to enter the magnet. Many students do not apply, and those that are accepted do not all go. Some students stay in their neighborhood middle schools and/or go to private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The consistent and habitual high performance of these students in Mathcounts, AMC 8, AMC 10, AMC 12 and AIME year in and year out suggest that this is not the case. Interestingly, middle school students from the D.C. area privates are no where to be found in these national and international competitions. Where are they?

I'm not sure why you're gratuitously poking at the private schools here. Here is one AMC report I pulled quickly: http://www.unl.edu/amc/d-publication/d1-pubarchive/2006-7pub/2007-1012Summary.pdf. I see several DC private school students congratulated there (along with many public magnet students). Apparently many different schools (both private and public) are doing a fine job at teaching math to students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Algebra 1 in the magnet middle school (Takoma Park Middle School) is not pretend Algebra. The consistent and habitual high performance of these students in Mathcounts, AMC 8, AMC 10, AMC 12 and AIME year in and year out suggest that this is not the case. Interestingly, middle school students from the D.C. area privates are no where to be found in these national and international competitions. Where are they? Takoma Park Middle School Magnet is part of the Montgomery County Public School System.

If your child is talented in Math there is no other D.C. are private middle school setting remotely comparable.

I agree with this: the math at the Takoma Park magnet is exceptional. So are the other elements of the magnet program, including computer science and regular science. And the music program is also fantastic with an orchestra that wins awards (FWIW).

I need to clarify, though, that Algebra is not routinely taught at 6th grade in the magnet, if this is your goal. Instead, almost all the magnet kids do pre-Algebra (it has a different name, but that's basically what it is) in sixth grade. The class is more in-depth than what is taught elsewhere in MoCo, and the philosophy seems to be that they need to get everybody on a really firm footing, with no rush to Algebra, but instead going into more depth for the benefit of the many kids (like DC) who had taken essentially the same class at a different MoCo public in 5th. During the open house the magnet coordinator said firmly that no kids were allowed to do Algebra in 6th, this was non-negotiable, etc.... But DC who is in the magnet told me that in fact some truly advanced kids were doing Algebra in 6th grade. These kids weren't the norm, however.