Reviving an old thread, I know. But to the last PP - what did you end up deciding? We are in the same boat.

We went to the open house this morning and found it interesting. DD seems to be doing Ok with friendships at neighborhood school so I wonder about uprooting her. It's just frustrating that she doesn't seem to be progressing much. I tried to be patient and give the school the benefit of the doubt, but it is getting progressively more difficult.

There's no homogenous grouping other than reading groups and math groups. There are clusters to let the kids focus on particular topics. These are for all students. They do have Junior Great Books pullouts as well.

I am happier with TPES than our home school. And older child is at PBES. That school is fantastic, especially in comparison with home school.

22:28, I understand the magnet amounts to about 1 hour of homogeneous grouping a week. Is that your understanding? Sounds like you are much happier with TPES generally than with your home school.

I have a 2nd grader in the TPES Primary magnet program. PP, yes, this is different than the HGC. This program is for 1st and 2nd grade only. Kids take a test and qualified children enter a lottery for a small number of spots.

OP: I'm happy to answer your questions.

For us, this experience has been positive. For DS, our home school was a problem. He was FAR ahead of nearly all of the other children. He fully lacked a peer group and knew it. The school did not believe in letting him move up a grade for areas where he needed it.

At TPES, the general program is the same as any other school. So apply knowing that it is the very same curriculum. Having a peer group is HUGE for us. By moving to TPES, DS was no longer an outsider. This is a school with a lot of smart kids. We have two full classrooms of children working ahead in math -- despite curriculum 2.0's attempt to not allow that.

At home school, teachers were fine with him writing one sentence for all assignments. At home, he'd write far more. At TPES, all the kids are writing quite a lot, especially this year. He has also had far more interesting projects than my older son did at our home school two years ago.

TPES also lets 2nd graders apply for jobs -- safety patrol, principal's assistants, newspaper, etc. It's a nice thing that teaches the kids about responsibility.

The one big thing you should consider is how far away you are from the school. We're lucky as we live close to TPES. I have heard less enthusiasm from some folks who have kids on a bus for long commutes.

Is this different than the Highly Gifted Center?

Hi,

I've searched the forum looking for info on this and don't see any. If I missed a thread somehow, please let me know!

I'm considering applying DD to the Primary Magnet program. I was wondering if there is anyone on here who has experience with it and would like to share thoughts on how it changed DC's school experience and how (positive or negative).

Thanks in advance!