Gifted kids in DCPS (specifically Lafayette)
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
I know this is one of those topics that gets people riled up but it’s really one I can only ask anonymously. What does DCPS do specifically for gifted kids? Mine is 9 and bored all the time with the school work. (She’s been tested and is indeed gifted.) She’s at Lafayette and it seems they are doing nothing and literally don’t respond when I ask whether there is any way to supplement her class work (worksheets while the other kids do addition, a book club, class with other grades, etc.). We cannot be the only parents in this situation but by it’s weird to try to suss out who else has a gifted kid. We can’t afford private.
What do you do here? Are there any solutions within the school I’m not seeing? Just make the kid suck it up and try to find a tutor or other outside-of-school supplementation? I don’t want her to hate school, and I would prefer not to overschedule her, but she’s so sick of going over stuff she already knows. |
Anonymous
| I was that kid and my parents just let me take books to school and I read books once I was done with my schoolwork. |
Anonymous
| At Lafayette: very little. Pre-covid, there was a math enrichment group that met once every 6 days, but it was in addition to grade level math, so my kid was still bored for the vast majority of the time. One teacher was willing to let my kid do ST math for the grade above, but that was only sort of a solution. |
Anonymous
I would've been that kid, and sometimes was, except our elementary school had tracking and pull out math and language arts. Ah, those were the days. |
Anonymous
I was that kid except I was also in the G&T program, then started advanced tracking in middle school. You move to MD or VA, OP. My Pre-K kid is still too young to know whether she'll be normal smart or gifted, but we're absolutely not sticking around in DC schools if she ends up more like me. DC just doesn't meet the needs of advanced students and the next 2-3 years will be even worse with post COVID remediation. |
Anonymous
| In another year or so you send her to Basis... |
Anonymous
|
It's a challenge. Not Lafayette, but our DCPS let's our kid do ST Math at the next grade level up, and gave him a reading tutor who works at his level (through Reading Partners). It does help.
I was a "gifted" kid who was pulled out for those gifted classes in elementary school. I still remember the projects we did! During regular class I literally learned nothing from my teachers and always had a book -- they would let me read all day long. |
Anonymous
| If you had a boy, I would have suggested that you call St. Anselm's Abbey School. They will make room for a gifted middle schooler on a rolling admissions basis. |
Anonymous
|
Basis is a good option.
Deal is really good for kids who love math. My kid is taking Algebra 2 in 8th grade at Deal and was just accepted to Sidwell and several other top privates for 9th. We are likely going to take a private spot for high school but Wilson also has a large cohort of very smart kids and the school is accommodating for kids who come in taking pre-calculus. |
Anonymous
| We are sending ours to private for next year. |
Anonymous
|
DCPS is not particularly great with advanced kids (in our experience, for math), especially in elementary school. It gets better for some middle schools - see PP whose kid is in Alg 2 in 8th grade at Deal. I don't think math advancement is good in most of DC (private or public schools). The STEM magnets (Takoma Park etc) in MoCo do a better job. Anecdotally, I believe that privates do a good job with encouraging advanced kids in arts and humanities and perhaps provide more opportunities in science. DC does have SWW as a test-in school, while TJ, Blair and others are the best in the country.
I am afraid, it is out of school supplementation if you are stuck in DCPS/NWDC for other reasons. |
Anonymous
Generally, you do what you can on an ad hoc basis in elementary, but the MS and HS have many more options, including for advanced math. Because they aren't all in the same class all day long, there's a lot more room for differentiation. My ES kid is allowed to read or write on her own after she finishes her work, she does math enrichment, she can work ahead and the teacher sometimes has math challenges if you finish early. Last year the teacher would have her take the final test for the unit, she'd get a 96 or 97, and then she was basically excused from the phonics instruction and allowed to go to the library on her own to read. Some assignments are more open-ended, so the kids who can do more have the ability to show that. She's sometimes bored, but so was I in ES a million years ago. |
Anonymous
| I don't have any experience with Truth MS, but I know that our Montessori ES has been great for our gifted child which I think is partially due to the wonderful teachers we've had, but is helped by the Montessori model that allows for more independent learning and meeting the child where they are. So it may be worth looking into for the future (especially because if you're inbound for Deal, you could always just switch back at any point). |
Anonymous
| Amazing how many DCUM posters were gifted kids ... |
Anonymous
Why? DC attracts a type. |