What elementary school did your gifted child thrive in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is always a livewire topic on this forum. But here's two cents from our family's perspective. There isn't much by way of formal programming in elementary schools in DCPS. Individual schools may approach things differently our experience at a relatively accommodating UNW elementary was fine. The school acknowledged that our DS was well beyond his peers in math, but there wasn't much they could do formally. They helped at the margins but were never condescending about it. Middle school is a little better, again from our limited perspective of UNW schools. Kids can take accelerated classes and being able to even do pre-calculus or AP Calc by 8th grade has not been ruled out.

OP: This is probably much too premature for your child who is 5. But as other posters on this thread have pointed out - DCPS or any public school is under no obligation to provide programming for advanced kids. There are many resources to supplement which you can find on this forum. The suburban schools are somewhat better. But TLDR - many DCPS schools (NW, NE) can provide enriched learning for elementary aged kids. It gets much harder for truly advanced students in DCPS proper in the older grades. If that's of paramount concern, then moving to MCPS (for their magnets) or NOVA for TJ is probably your best bet.

Just to emphasize -- I only speak from experience regarding math and science. There is no path for taking, say Quantum mechanics or Number theory in high school in DC. You might be able to avail of the DCPS program that allows students to take classes at Georgetown or GW. GDS apparently does offer this and of course so do TJ and Blair Magnet. But all these are far in the future for OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My god, the assumptions! I went to an Ivy, and I'm NOT gifted - I'm smart, I worked hard, but I'm absolutely not gifted. And probably most of my friends and classmates there were not gifted, although some might have been. Really smart? Yes. Gifted? Mostly no.

This. The thing about going to a top Ivy is that you meet people who actually are gifted and realize it is a tiny fraction of the student body. Kids who start at Harvard aged 16 and take the super elite math seminars and also somehow manage to be premed and play hockey. Stuff like that. 99% of the students are just smart.

Came here to say the above. You know gifted when you see it. No test needed because the person is just different. Same as when your kids play sports. You can tell the rare kid that truly has talent. They perform differently in the sport.
Getting back to academics, "gifted" is unusual and you're not normally globally gifted. You're gifted in one area with perhaps deficits in others.

As an adult, who has known the life trajectory of a few actually gifted folks, I prefer that my children are bright but not burdened with giftedness. Be happy that your child is smart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is always a livewire topic on this forum. But here's two cents from our family's perspective. There isn't much by way of formal programming in elementary schools in DCPS. Individual schools may approach things differently our experience at a relatively accommodating UNW elementary was fine. The school acknowledged that our DS was well beyond his peers in math, but there wasn't much they could do formally. They helped at the margins but were never condescending about it. Middle school is a little better, again from our limited perspective of UNW schools. Kids can take accelerated classes and being able to even do pre-calculus or AP Calc by 8th grade has not been ruled out.

OP: This is probably much too premature for your child who is 5. But as other posters on this thread have pointed out - DCPS or any public school is under no obligation to provide programming for advanced kids. There are many resources to supplement which you can find on this forum. The suburban schools are somewhat better. But TLDR - many DCPS schools (NW, NE) can provide enriched learning for elementary aged kids. It gets much harder for truly advanced students in DCPS proper in the older grades. If that's of paramount concern, then moving to MCPS (for their magnets) or NOVA for TJ is probably your best bet.

Different ES but same experience here.

How gifted is your kid, OP? My kid is very bright and I have no idea if he is gifted or not. He/she gets 99% on the PARCC every year, 99% on private school admissions tests and is in Algebra 2 in 8th grade. He/she is going on to Sidwell/GDS/NCS/STA for high school.
This kid was plenty challenged in DCPS from PK on. There are MANY kids like him/her. I can think of dozens.

Now if you have a kid who you suspect will need to take pre-calculus in 4th grade then you have a more difficult situation on your hands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: what should a parent with a (tested) high iq child say? The word gifted always leads to ridiculing comments. What should someone say instead? There are real questions to be answered, and perhaps having a different way of asking might help?

you should say nothing. “high IQ” likely applies to 50% of kids in a lot of DMV schools. There’s literally no good reason to ever IQ test your child unless there are concerns about cognitive disability or learning disability.

I don’t understand. If a child is struggling because of an intellectual development delay or similar, dcum is a wealth of information. If a child is struggling because of an intellectual difference in the other direction, posters like you tell parents to go away. Do you have a child with this second issue? If so, I’d like to hear why we should do nothing. If not, please stop making assumptions that parents asking for advice are having delusions of grandeur or whatever. We’re not.

how is your child “struggling” due to their high IQ? if your child is bored and unchallenged you don’t need an IQ test to tell you that, or a special school, or any special guidance. you get the kid in whatever enrichment is available. for a FIVE year old you also chill out considerably and realize that academic advancement can come when they are older.

OK, given a rising ninth grader who has consistently tested in the gifted range (+150), where in DCPS would this student find a place where they are appropriately served?

Maybe nowhere. But you're not entitled to be appropriately served. Kids with special needs are entitled to a free and adequate public education and everyone else is not really entitled to anything specific. Sorry if you don't like it but that's the law.

exactly. gifted kids have always had to find their own opportunities for advancement. CTY, college classes, competitions like Westinghouse, clubs, etc. A more important question is what you think is going to be better for your own kid. certainly you could try to get them into TJ, or go with a school like Basis or Banneker if staying in DC is important, or a “regular” nonspecialized
HS with lots of diverse course offerings and clubs.

And this board is one place parents come to get advice on how to access these resources and any others they might not know about - including anything DCPS might offer. But they do so with the almost certain knowledge that other posters will mock them for doing so.

If OP came here and said “My 5th grader just finished algebra. what MS option will allow her to accelerate?” that would be one thing. But she’s worried about her “gifted” 5 year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My god, the assumptions! I went to an Ivy, and I'm NOT gifted - I'm smart, I worked hard, but I'm absolutely not gifted. And probably most of my friends and classmates there were not gifted, although some might have been. Really smart? Yes. Gifted? Mostly no.

This. The thing about going to a top Ivy is that you meet people who actually are gifted and realize it is a tiny fraction of the student body. Kids who start at Harvard aged 16 and take the super elite math seminars and also somehow manage to be premed and play hockey. Stuff like that. 99% of the students are just smart.

Came here to say the above. You know gifted when you see it. No test needed because the person is just different. Same as when your kids play sports. You can tell the rare kid that truly has talent. They perform differently in the sport.
Getting back to academics, "gifted" is unusual and you're not normally globally gifted. You're gifted in one area with perhaps deficits in others.

As an adult, who has known the life trajectory of a few actually gifted folks, I prefer that my children are bright but not burdened with giftedness. Be happy that your child is smart.

This. Some jurisdictions use "gifted" more generally to mean something like in the top 5%. But DCPS doesn't really do it that way. Here, those kids will be fine in any elementary with above median performance overall. And often do well at a lower-performing school where the staff is accustomed to a lot of differentiation. That was our experience-- DD was thoughtfully accommodated with her own schedule in a struggling DCPS because she was seen as a unique outlier. In a HRCS she is just one more bright kid, put her in the top reading group of the classroom and no need to think very hard about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is always a livewire topic on this forum. But here's two cents from our family's perspective. There isn't much by way of formal programming in elementary schools in DCPS. Individual schools may approach things differently our experience at a relatively accommodating UNW elementary was fine. The school acknowledged that our DS was well beyond his peers in math, but there wasn't much they could do formally. They helped at the margins but were never condescending about it. Middle school is a little better, again from our limited perspective of UNW schools. Kids can take accelerated classes and being able to even do pre-calculus or AP Calc by 8th grade has not been ruled out.

OP: This is probably much too premature for your child who is 5. But as other posters on this thread have pointed out - DCPS or any public school is under no obligation to provide programming for advanced kids. There are many resources to supplement which you can find on this forum. The suburban schools are somewhat better. But TLDR - many DCPS schools (NW, NE) can provide enriched learning for elementary aged kids. It gets much harder for truly advanced students in DCPS proper in the older grades. If that's of paramount concern, then moving to MCPS (for their magnets) or NOVA for TJ is probably your best bet.

Different ES but same experience here.

How gifted is your kid, OP? My kid is very bright and I have no idea if he is gifted or not. He/she gets 99% on the PARCC every year, 99% on private school admissions tests and is in Algebra 2 in 8th grade. He/she is going on to Sidwell/GDS/NCS/STA for high school.
This kid was plenty challenged in DCPS from PK on. There are MANY kids like him/her. I can think of dozens.

Now if you have a kid who you suspect will need to take pre-calculus in 4th grade then you have a more difficult situation on your hands.

Which DCPS did he attend? What made you decide to send him private?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone respond from EOTP schools? Also curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone respond from EOTP schools? Also curious.

My smart-non-gifted child is at Langley. I know it is not on the list of five-star, high PARCC score schools, but we have been really happy with how they handled DC's early reading and weird combination of ahead in some areas but gaps in others. Like the teachers a lot and they have been really flexible and truly care. I also love that they teach social skills very deliberately, because that is a weak area for a lot of bright kids. And the convenience factor means plenty of time left over for side pursuits like music. I know middle school blah blah blah we have to leave eventually, but it has exceeded my expectations and DC has done great and loves school.

[Anonymous]

I would recommend Seaton, especially for math. They are very willing to go the extra mile for bright kids and I have watched enviously from our supposedly HRCS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone respond from EOTP schools? Also curious.

I'd love to hear about any schools very strong in math differentiation on the Red Line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would recommend Seaton, especially for math. They are very willing to go the extra mile for bright kids and I have watched enviously from our supposedly HRCS.

Seaton is excellent for differentiation.

Giftedness is a very dirty word on DCUM and people get hugely triggered by it, btw. I think people feel personally insulted when they hear that someone is gifted. I actually am "gifted" and my IQ was tested at 147. The number of people who I gave told that number to in real life is 2. I do bring it up on this anonymous forum, though!

My husband's IQ is even higher and my kids are probably gifted, though I would be very hesitant to use that word in real life. They have peers in school -- there are lots of gifted people in DC!

I was in gifted programs as a kid and loved them, and was extremely bored in regular school and read books all throughout class. I didn't learn how to study until I went to college. I probably would have benefitted from a different education.

There was a really great thread on this topic a few months ago... A few interesting ideas emerged:

1. Most advanced classes are targeted for kids with IQs in the 120-135 range. That is a huge sweet spot in school and in life. Those people are usually really successful. Lots of those people in Ivies, leading institutions, etc. I bet DC schools are absolutely packed with these kids.

2. Above 135 or 140, you start having problems. These people understand things very quickly and get bored easily in school. They question existing systems and are more skeptical. Bc they are less than 1 percent of the population, schools are not going to create systems for them. I'm still not sure what th best thing is for these kids -- homeschooling? Lots of tutoring? Outside interests like instruments?

3. People really like St. Anselm's Abbey school for gifted boys.

[Anonymous]

Janney. My (tested) gifted child was bored in kindergarten, but really thrived afterward and was constantly learning. I think it helps being at a big school - there's more chance that they'll meet other kids they have things in common with, and there is a broader range of stimulating resources/activities available to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is my advice as the parent of two DCPS children that may be considered 2E (twice exceptional, gifted and with some learning challenges). It is common and also often overlooked, particularly in girls, there is a lot of information out there of what to. look for. and I suggest you read to inform any concerns that may arise over time that are hard to pin down, whether social or academic. Ward 3 DCPS was good academically, but I wish I had known about testing for other issues that would have helped me help my children sooner. Smart girls with ADHD are often missed. I had zero idea that my highly engaging, high achieving kindergartners would have this.

How do I know that my children are gifted? It is observation plus an IQ test for my oldest when she was quite young but also that my oldest had the highest PARCC scores at her high achieving Ward 3 (JKLM) elementary school in all subjects every year (99th percentile in a grade of 100 kids - I kind of wish they did not tell you this on the scores but they do)

I now have a middle and a high schooler, with an official diagnosis of ADHD for one and a observed diagnosis by me of inattentive ADHD for the other, now that I know what to look for. Also, looking at my daughter I can see that I am undiagnosed ADHD and gifted (the gifted was measured in my youth, the ADHD is why I took a pretty unconventional path to success)

Both have some anxiety that is getting better with a better understanding of how their brains work. Both are thriving in DCPS.

What is JKLM?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My god, the assumptions! I went to an Ivy, and I'm NOT gifted - I'm smart, I worked hard, but I'm absolutely not gifted. And probably most of my friends and classmates there were not gifted, although some might have been. Really smart? Yes. Gifted? Mostly no.

This. The thing about going to a top Ivy is that you meet people who actually are gifted and realize it is a tiny fraction of the student body. Kids who start at Harvard aged 16 and take the super elite math seminars and also somehow manage to be premed and play hockey. Stuff like that. 99% of the students are just smart.

Came here to say the above. You know gifted when you see it. No test needed because the person is just different. Same as when your kids play sports. You can tell the rare kid that truly has talent. They perform differently in the sport.
Getting back to academics, "gifted" is unusual and you're not normally globally gifted. You're gifted in one area with perhaps deficits in others.

As an adult, who has known the life trajectory of a few actually gifted folks, I prefer that my children are bright but not burdened with giftedness. Be happy that your child is smart.

Another echo of the same. I've found that the truly gifted have such a difficult (and often tragic) time adjusting in life. The ones that I've known have just made me so sad. It's a heavy burden to carry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My god, the assumptions! I went to an Ivy, and I'm NOT gifted - I'm smart, I worked hard, but I'm absolutely not gifted. And probably most of my friends and classmates there were not gifted, although some might have been. Really smart? Yes. Gifted? Mostly no.

This. The thing about going to a top Ivy is that you meet people who actually are gifted and realize it is a tiny fraction of the student body. Kids who start at Harvard aged 16 and take the super elite math seminars and also somehow manage to be premed and play hockey. Stuff like that. 99% of the students are just smart.

Came here to say the above. You know gifted when you see it. No test needed because the person is just different. Same as when your kids play sports. You can tell the rare kid that truly has talent. They perform differently in the sport.
Getting back to academics, "gifted" is unusual and you're not normally globally gifted. You're gifted in one area with perhaps deficits in others.

As an adult, who has known the life trajectory of a few actually gifted folks, I prefer that my children are bright but not burdened with giftedness. Be happy that your child is smart.

Another echo of the same. I've found that the truly gifted have such a difficult (and often tragic) time adjusting in life. The ones that I've known have just made me so sad. It's a heavy burden to carry.

Yep. It's a lot. Just being smart and hardworking is the way to go IMO. Especially when it comes to the arts.