How much juggling and stress MCPS parents have to go through to provide for their kids appropriate education! Would not it be nice if the required GT services were available in all the home schools in MCPS, so that parents did not have to uproot families and move in search of a better school?

Plan to show up at the GT forum on March 22 at Magruder HS. See thread http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/221871.page for details.

Post your comments and questions at GTA site http://www.gtamc.org/2012-gt-forum before hand.

Wanted to chime in with a good realtor who really knows the Bethesda/Chevy Chase area....Sam Solovey with Long and Foster helped us find our perfect home in Chevy Chase. We've lived in many different cities and dealt with many real estate agents. Sam far surpassed our previous experiences.

There are many, many kids in Montgomery County (particularly the Bethesda/CC clusters) who test "gifted" but are not admitted, or don't even apply, to the HGC. There's just not room to admit the number who test at the gifted level, plus admittance is based on more than test score. My glass half full way of looking at that is that my DC's peer group in his "regular" Bethesda elementary school is full of gifted kids even though he's not in the CC HGC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were in your shoes a couple of years ago and ended up in one of these clusters. Then when it came time to start Kindergarten, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. There is overcrowding and budget issues in pretty much all MoCo schools right now, leading to large classes and other cuts. I'd advise you to go tour all of the schools you'd be interested in. I wish we had done this before moving, then we probably would have spent less on a house. Instead, we're paying a really high mortgage and private school tuition, which is not fun, but we feel, totally necessary in our case for a kid who is "gifted" but wouldn't have qualified for GT.

If your child is gifted, why wouldn't s/he have qualified for the HGC?

I think there are a lot of advanced kids who don't quite qualify for the HGC, but would still thrive with a more advanced cirriculum.

22:48, Because the IEP kid won't get in.

Anonymous wrote:We were in your shoes a couple of years ago and ended up in one of these clusters. Then when it came time to start Kindergarten, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. There is overcrowding and budget issues in pretty much all MoCo schools right now, leading to large classes and other cuts. I'd advise you to go tour all of the schools you'd be interested in. I wish we had done this before moving, then we probably would have spent less on a house. Instead, we're paying a really high mortgage and private school tuition, which is not fun, but we feel, totally necessary in our case for a kid who is "gifted" but wouldn't have qualified for GT.

If your child is gifted, why wouldn't s/he have qualified for the HGC?

Anonymous wrote:Considering a move to CC or Bethesda for the schools. Price of home is not a problem. Two kids who probably be G/T or whatever they call that, one will need an IEP. Which schools (all the way from elementary to HS) should we be considering, and what neighborhoods? Which realtors sell the most in those neighborhoods?

OP, you are hilarious. Maybe your kids are GT, maybe not. Even if they are, the odds of them being admitted to the Highly Gifted Center are low. Therefore you should assume that they will be in regular classrooms, and plan accordingly - if it turns out one or both are admitted, you're covered on both scores.

We were in your shoes a couple of years ago and ended up in one of these clusters. Then when it came time to start Kindergarten, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. There is overcrowding and budget issues in pretty much all MoCo schools right now, leading to large classes and other cuts. I'd advise you to go tour all of the schools you'd be interested in. I wish we had done this before moving, then we probably would have spent less on a house. Instead, we're paying a really high mortgage and private school tuition, which is not fun, but we feel, totally necessary in our case for a kid who is "gifted" but wouldn't have qualified for GT.

If cost of house is not a factor why not send them to a selective private school?

Anonymous wrote:If the two G/T kids are highly gifted, they could ultimately end up at whatever the HGC is for the cluster(s). Don't know if they are all served by the same HGC or not.

What is the need for the IEP?

Ages of the children?

Whitman and BCC go to Chevy Chase for HGC, WJ goes to Barnsley (OP-- this is a gifted program just for Grades 4-5 which is fairly selective and can require long bus rides if you live far from the assigned school; there's also a fair amount of opportunity for acceleration outside the HGC program, at least historically)

Unless you are sure about the HGC thing I wouldn't count on it. Not that many kids qualify for HGC and the quality of the regular schools is extremely good. The number of kids who go to RM or Blair magnets is VERY small (maybe 100/year in each). Of course it is always possible, but I know lots of very smart kids in this area who didn't go to HGCs.

If the two G/T kids are highly gifted, they could ultimately end up at whatever the HGC is for the cluster(s). Don't know if they are all served by the same HGC or not.

What is the need for the IEP?

Ages of the children?

There are basically 3 clusters in Beth/CC - Whitman, BCC and Walter Johnson. Start there and decide which high school you like best or think is the best fit for your children. Then you can look at the elementary feeders for that school to narrow it down. There are multiple posts about these 3 schools, and you will find supporters and detractors of each one. All are excellent schools but there are some differences between them.

I love these posts.

Considering a move to CC or Bethesda for the schools. Price of home is not a problem. Two kids who probably be G/T or whatever they call that, one will need an IEP. Which schools (all the way from elementary to HS) should we be considering, and what neighborhoods? Which realtors sell the most in those neighborhoods?