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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]PP here again. I've heard great things about CA but isn't there a wait list? I'll call them on Monday, but it seems awfully small with high demand. [/quote]

Almost any good private school will have a wait list but sometimes people get lucky and a slot opens up. [/quote]

PP here. I stated in my original post that he was in a top private school, by DCUM lingo, a BIG 5 school. It did not work out because teachers were constantly emailing us asking us to slow him down because he was too far ahead of the class. It isn't a ding against the school -- they have a market to serve, but it they couldn't serve our son.[/quote]

Hate to tell you but no SN private school is going to have the type of academics you are looking for if a Big 5 school could not.  We had a long discussion about this with our neuropsych for our ASD/ADHD kid with an IQ in the profoundly gifted range who does not have LDs.  Our son currently attends a language immersion school which does provide challenges bc he has to work at the target language in reading and writing which is an innate characteristic of Mandarin.  We especially like the fact that he has to "work" at something academic and not slide along bc it is "easy".

Most SN private schools like Lab, etc provide academic remediation not acceleration.  The private schools that can provide challenges are schools like GDS, Sidwell, St. Albans and St Anselm's but like AAP, they are not ideal for someone with your son's profile either.

If you are looking for math acceleration, you will probably be best off in AAP even with the large classes.

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[b]PP here. I would normally agree with you, but I have heard from multiple credible sources that Commonwealth Academy is the exception to this rule. I will check them out tomorrow.[/quote][/b]

Commonwealth is small enough that it can provide differentiation of coursework depending on the child's needs.  There are no more than ten children to a class (middle and upper school).  There are two specialized honors diploma -actually four - that the students can choose to work towards.  The humanities Honors diploma, for example, requires four years in high school of a foreign language.  Our DC went into C/A doing rather poorly at Algebra I but was able to take sequentially Algebra I, II, Geometry, Pre-calk, and just finished Calculus at the end of his junior year so that "A" (fingers crossed) will be on the transcript when DC applies EA/ED to Colleges in the fall.  For those students who want to take advanced work in math, science or languages, a proctored online course classroom is conducted daily.  One student took Latin (her choice this year).  Another student took foreign language courses at NOVA as a junior this entire past year.  Our DC was accepted at both George Mason and NOVA to take advanced math and science college courses this summer (look under "nondegree candidates" at NOVA).  The school works with the college to make sure that the student is placed in the right college-level class and that all the prep tests (you must pre-qualify for the courses, if prerequisites are posted).  My DC and his friends found those tests "easy", especially, in math, for what that's worth.  So, in summary, you have options of Honors courses in whatever area you excel in; proctored online courses for advanced or unique programs that interest the student (graded); and college level courses during summer and the school year.  DC and friends did well on the SAT (one scored a perfect 800 on math); one killed the ACT, and most of DC's friends are taking four subject matter tests to prepare for applications in the fall.  So C/A is doing something right.[/quote]

[b]I understand differentiation and I am really glad you have found a great fit for your child and I think C/A is doing a great job in their niche, but not everyone is in their niche.  Plus, a couple of things that would not work for everyone.  One is summer courses.  For example for my DC, summer is a time of needed respite from school.  He will take the summer science research programs, because he likes the research aspect, but a full one full scale math course is quite a bit of work.  It isn't because math is not his thing, he will be taking the AP Calc BC next year as a junior, but a full year math course over a summer is intense.  I would have trouble with my DC taking a math class that has not been taught at the school before, the expertise derived from experience is important.

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Sorry, I should have qualified.  DS put himsel into those summer classes with two or three other kids.  the rest of the school population did not.  It was his choice because he wanted to finish calculus AB by the end of junior year (which he did) so to go on and qualify and take a college level chemistry course this summer.  It was entirely his choice and plan.  i could have never handled an intensive summer math course myself (but then I never took pre-calk or Calculus, either).  I have to say that for some 2e's I agree that your public with an IEP might be a good solution.  We did that for one child who wanted particular language courses that were offered nowhere else.  It worked well - he went through honors Japanese  and AP Japanese and AP computer science but just scraped by in other courses.  What's right for one child may not be the answer for the other.[/quote]

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