advice for family with profoundly gifted kid maybe moving to area?
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Anonymous
Which is to say tons of highly achieving kids in W schools - not necessarily gifted. |
Anonymous
| NP and former Nysmith teacher here. Based on the OP's description of their child, I suspect Nysmith would be an excellent environment and would definitely be able to meet the kid's needs and keep the child engaged. This may have changed, but the curriculum there is roughly one year ahead of the FCPS curriculum--so kids in second grade at Nysmith are learning more or less the same material FCPS covers in third grade, etc. That said, it will cost you (to the tune of ~$25k, depending on grade). When I taught there, we had a good number of kids leave for the Level IV AAP program in FCPS once they hit 3rd grade. I hesitate to speculate too much, but I'd guess the reason for this was approx a 50/50 split between kids whose parents were really financially stretched paying the tuition and kids who were not 100% thriving at the school and their parents decided to see if the public schools would be a better fit. If you're reasonably close to the school and paying the tuition would not be out of the question for your family, I'd say it's definitely worth taking a (free) tour to check it out. |
Anonymous
Based on the article, if your kid is interested in STEM, I would choose Blair magnet over TJ. Blair produces way more Intel finalists than TJ. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/young-scientists-from-md-and-va-excel-at-prestigious-intel-competition/2016/03/11/993beaf4-e588-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html "Blair has racked up 34 Intel finalists since 1999, more than any other school in the country. The Montgomery County high school ranks third nationally for total finalists since the pre-college science and math competition began in 1942..... Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, an elite magnet school in Fairfax County, has boasted 11 finalists since 1999" |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
Wisc IV and V does not go that high. |
Anonymous
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OP, if you move here, seriously consider the private schools for the Gifted - Nysmith was linked above, and there's one in Maryland called Feinman. http://feynmanschool.org/
As PPs mentioned, Montgomery County has highly gifted centers that begin in 4th Grade, and differentiated instruction in the lower grades at home schools. But for a child that is as gifted as yours, I think private gifted-oriented education would be a better fit. |
Anonymous
Hahaha!! Advanced English in MoCo is like regular English everywhere else. MoCo managed to fool you PP. |
Anonymous
Skip Nysmith. It's called Nysmith School for the Financially Gifted around here because, in Lake Woebegone, all the children are gifted. It's a for-profit and, frankly, I don't think they are doing anything special. |
Anonymous
| Look up the Basis public charter school in DC, and the new Basis private set to open in McLean. They allow a lot of acceleration, especially in math. The DC school is currently 5-12, but there are plans to expand down to preK. |
Anonymous
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OP, you should apply for your dd to be a Davidson Young Scholar because you will get free professional help in figuring out school situations.
Also just want to point out that most siblings have IQs near each other, most within something like 5-10 points. While your younger kids seem "normal" it is statistically unlikely that they are not also highly to profoundly gifted. I think approaching the board here is the right thing to do but you should also get the free help that your dd will qualify for with DYS. Good luck. |
Anonymous
| We went the montgomery county highly gifted route for our son. I have no idea what his IQ is. While he was not always learning that much in the classes, the peer group at Montgomery Blair is amazing. He and his friends are all in the top universities now. Montgomery county has served him very well and I would recommend that you explore it for yourself. |
Anonymous
Where is this school? |
Anonymous
Unless her daughter is not into STEM. |
Anonymous
| Blair, and TJ will both be fine for high school. The problem is what to do before high school. For a PG child, I doubt either the AAP or HGC will be enough. Don't listen to those who said she will have peers. She will be lucky to have any in elementary school. |
Anonymous
If they go public school route anywhere, they won't find a ton of peers with the same IQ, because profoundly gifted kids are so rare. But of course, they won't find a ton of intellectual peers anywhere, for the rest of their lives. For us, strong public schools offer our kids the chance to develop friendships with bright, interesting kids with similar interests. The public schools also offer a range of electives (starting in middle schools) and extracurricular activities, including sports, arts, and music. In our case, school is about becoming a well-rounded person with local friends. Of course, it's also a place for academics, but a smaller part. A lot of intellectual exploration happens outside of school. This won't work for every PG kid, but it's an option. |