Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, in rereading I think I confused myself and OP. I thought the Chevy Chase program was the equivalent of the Takoma Park one, starting in 1st. Since there's no other official acceleration before the HGCs start, I thought one of those early elementary programs would be good for OP if they chose Montgomery County. To the best of my knowledge, for example, TPES is the only school that starts pull-out math acceleration in 1st.

Yes but tons of high performing kids do not bother applying because it's far and at least some of the principals of the W schools argue that this program is inferior to the education you'd get at their own schools and the peer group is stronger at a place like Wayside or other top elementary. If you like Takoma Park I would consider the school but I wouldn't limit my search just for this school.

I have known a handful of profoundly gifted people in my life and one went to GDS, one to Blair. One guy stayed at his neighborhood high school because he didn't want to leave his friends and let's face it even in a magnet program he would probably have been head and shoulders above everyone else so why commute so far and give up the social life that comes with going to school close by?

Anonymous wrote:What is your budget for housing and what is the commute?

THIS is the most valuable post of the entire thread.

Anonymous wrote:The problem with HGC is that admission is by no means guaranteed, and the screening is heavily tied to one test. If for any reason your DD has one bad testing day, or her 3rd grade teacher doesn't like her for some reason, then no HGC. It sounds like AAP has a much fairer, and more comprehensive, screening program in place. Even without the official results in hand, I now wish we'd moved to FFX due to this stress.

Fairfax is better.

All of your kids' needs can be met.

Plus, you have TJ as an option which is leaps and bounds better than any other option available in the country.

Research TJ, OP. That will rule all the other areas off the table.

The problem with HGC is that admission is by no means guaranteed, and the screening is heavily tied to one test. If for any reason your DD has one bad testing day, or her 3rd grade teacher doesn't like her for some reason, then no HGC. It sounds like AAP has a much fairer, and more comprehensive, screening program in place. Even without the official results in hand, I now wish we'd moved to FFX due to this stress.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you go the route of trying to get into a MCPS gifted magnet school, keep in mind that you'll have to buy/rent in district. The test for out of bounds admission was in kindergarten and to the best of my knowledge there is no other system. But, if you are in bounds for that school (Takoma or Chevy Chase), you will get the same access.

You seem to be confusing different things here. The HGC, followed by the magnet middle schools and then Blair or IB programs are all admit by application/testing not where you live (I guess the exception is for high school there is an additional IB program at BCC high school for kids in district there that is not application based). The program at Chevy Chase is part of the HGC and takes kids from across the southern part of the county, but as someone said you might want to consider bus rides to the various schools (incl. middle schools). The program at Takoma Park is different and may be of less use to OP for various reasons.

Sorry, in rereading I think I confused myself and OP. I thought the Chevy Chase program was the equivalent of the Takoma Park one, starting in 1st. Since there's no other official acceleration before the HGCs start, I thought one of those early elementary programs would be good for OP if they chose Montgomery County. To the best of my knowledge, for example, TPES is the only school that starts pull-out math acceleration in 1st.

I think nysmith sounds right for her age. You can move her to Thomas Jefferson science and technology high school or boarding school. I did the fairfax county gt program and a lot of my classmates were brilliant but my friends who did nysmith looooved it.

Anonymous wrote:If you go the route of trying to get into a MCPS gifted magnet school, keep in mind that you'll have to buy/rent in district. The test for out of bounds admission was in kindergarten and to the best of my knowledge there is no other system. But, if you are in bounds for that school (Takoma or Chevy Chase), you will get the same access.

You seem to be confusing different things here. The HGC, followed by the magnet middle schools and then Blair or IB programs are all admit by application/testing not where you live (I guess the exception is for high school there is an additional IB program at BCC high school for kids in district there that is not application based). The program at Chevy Chase is part of the HGC and takes kids from across the southern part of the county, but as someone said you might want to consider bus rides to the various schools (incl. middle schools). The program at Takoma Park is different and may be of less use to OP for various reasons.

What is your budget for housing and what is the commute?

Anonymous wrote:Look at GDS. We know a similar child who has thrived at that school.

Our friends daughter is similar, and hated GDS. She ended up going to some experimental school which lets the kids teach themselves whatever they want, with teachers to help guide them.

Anonymous wrote:My son has a very similar profile as your daughter. Strongly recommend you consider looking in MoCo. My son has thrived in the HGC, which in my experience does cater to gifted (and 2E) kids, and not just bright kids/high achievers. The teaching approach in his 4th grade classroom recognizes that the kids are not simply smart/hard working, but in many cases wired differently, and teaches them to understand and work with their abilities; it teaches them how to learn rather than focusing on teaching them content. There is also a recognition that many kinds in the program are sensitive/empathetic and prone to stress and anxiety as a result, and an effort to address that through a focused mindfulness initiative that includes daily exercises.

Thanks! what did you do before 4th grade?

My son has a very similar profile as your daughter. Strongly recommend you consider looking in MoCo. My son has thrived in the HGC, which in my experience does cater to gifted (and 2E) kids, and not just bright kids/high achievers. The teaching approach in his 4th grade classroom recognizes that the kids are not simply smart/hard working, but in many cases wired differently, and teaches them to understand and work with their abilities; it teaches them how to learn rather than focusing on teaching them content. There is also a recognition that many kinds in the program are sensitive/empathetic and prone to stress and anxiety as a result, and an effort to address that through a focused mindfulness initiative that includes daily exercises.

my understanding--OP here again--is also that once you get past a certain point, another 10 or 20 points doesn't make much of a difference. my daughter's numbers don't matter at all to me. what does matter is that she feels safe and nurtured, gets lots of support especially with social stuff--it can be hard for her when her friends don't want to do physics--and she is allowed to just take in information and work with it at her own pace. We haven't found that in her current school either but at least she isn't miserable or even particularly bored, because she just reads and reads. (she goes to the library every goddamn day to get another book or 2. i am exhausted!)
we do live in a fairly expensive area right now--cheaper i'm sure than dc, but I doubt by all that much. So we aren't expecting sticker shock. We are very lucky in that way and DH and I are both in high earning fields and good at what we do which helps.

right. OP here. I don't like to list my kids IQ publicly and my understanding is that because the test has a ceiling it is hard to measure. They estimate her IQ to be around 180-190. She is the most gifted child anyone who has met with her--child psych, teachers, testers etc--has encountered, as far as they can tell at this age. that's what worries me the most.

Anonymous wrote:Actually, profoundly gifted is 180+.

I was 200+ when tested as a child, and my parents were told that they couldn't measure my intelligence because I was off the charts. Fast forward: I'm just a regular person.

The pp was correct about mcps: most kids are gifted. No need to go the private route unless your kid has behavior issues.

You're using old numbers.

Look at GDS. We know a similar child who has thrived at that school.