Polo Road Elementary (Columbia, Newberry: school district, college, living)

[evansmom]

Hi there! We are moving to the Wildewood area this winter and I'm SO nervous about the schools. Our 8yo is in 3rd grade and is in a full one-day a week gifted pullout, as well as a 2 hour a day math/lang arts self-paced accelerated pullout. She's working above grade level in everything, writing and reading on a 7th grade level. The school we're in now is known for its gifted programs and we moved to be in this school district.

I have talked to the gifted directors in the Wildewood area and it sounds like the program is limited to about 1-2 hours once a week with no self-paced work. We are zoned for Polo Road.

Can anyone tell me if the school is good, and what they have available for gifted children? Or should we be looking at private schools??

Thanks!!

[lagoon7]

Originally Posted by evansmom

Hi there! We are moving to the Wildewood area this winter and I'm SO nervous about the schools. Our 8yo is in 3rd grade and is in a full one-day a week gifted pullout, as well as a 2 hour a day math/lang arts self-paced accelerated pullout.

Jesus H Christ. What happened to the simplicity of grade school? Poor little brats.

[evansmom]

Nice. Real nice. Thanks for your ignorant quip.

It's called providing for gifted kids. Maybe it's not what you had, but for some kids, being self-paced and having extra supplemental work is what the need to keep them mentally stimulated and happy.

If you're the product of Columbia schools, then my concern just went up a notch.

[lagoon7]

Perhaps you should shuffle them into a Montressori School, with all the other "gifted" kids.

[SCNewbie22]

Hi!
I am a substitute teacher in the district. I don't know specifically about the gifted program at Polo Road, but I can tell you it is a GREAT school. I am have subbed at most of the schools in the district so far and that is one of my favorite schools. The teachers are all very nice and friendly, it has a great atmosphere, and the staff is great! Sorry I couldn't answer your questions specifically, but as long as their gifted program fits specifically what you need, I'm sure you and your kids will love it!

[Wildflower-222]

When we moved to Wildewood from living overseas, we toured the Polo Road school and viewed some of it's curriculum, and were not terribly impressed. We ended up putting our kids in private school. At our private school, academics are taken very seriously, but there are no so-called "gifted programs." Most of the classes are taught at least one or more grade levels over the public school curriculum. This method of teaching all children in an accelerated manner has resulted in many Duke's TIPS scholars, and state championships for our competitive academic teams. But then again, I strongly dislike labeling young children as "gifted" or "challenged", etc, My children also attend Kumon schooling for accelerated math studies, and I hear parents that sound like you all the time...even about 5 year olds! Yikes! Hope you don't take any of this the wrong way, you asked for an opinion, so I'm offering my experience.

[evansmom]

Thank you for the advice. For us, being labeled has been a good thing. Our daughter has a late summer birthday and is in no way ready for a grade skip, but she was bored and out of control. She was always in trouble, and having her tested gave her access to IEP plans and programming that she couldn't have without her test scores.

Unfortunately, a new job means moving and starting over when we've just found the great combination of challenges in the class work that she has now. Rather than throwing her in a new school and letting her fend for herself and having all the problems we had in the past (nothing like having a kid with 99s in everything and a U in discipline), we're trying to be proactive and find out all we can now.

There's too many people out there who turn into twats when you even say the word "gifted". There's a bad connotation with the word, and it's unfair that people discriminate against the kids and their parents when they hear that word. We don't push our child, I don't even check her homework or help her study. But I'll tell you that, hands down, of our three children, she is by far the hardest to parent. She's a perfectionist and has no common sense, and her energy level runs high when she isn't mentally challenged.

If you remove the label, and put yourself and your children in my child's place, you'd be in a very similar position, would you not? You stated your children's school works "at least one or more grade levels" over the public school. How is that different than my child working 1/2 and 1/2 in public schools? And if you moved, wouldn't you be concerned about the available curriculum of their new school, and seeking advice similar to mine, for the sake of your children if they are already working that far ahead?

So while you might judge her (and me) based on one post here, it would be more appreciated if you wouldn't generalize and stereotype, and insult a mom who's trying to help her kid avoid what could be a very nasty transition.

[evansmom]

Thanks, SCNewbie. We haven't met any teachers or students from the school - we have met lots of others from other NE Columbia schools tho. It's good to know what a sub thinks.

[Wildflower-222]

Ok, good luck to you. No insult intended.

[drexellake]

The schools said they wanted to accelerate our son and I told them I wanted him to be normal. He stayed in normal classes and is now has a music scholarship at Newberry college and is doing quite well by working at UPS with full benefits. My experiences have show by moving children into these so called "gifted" programs is that they tend to become a bit stuck up and have higher expectations. When those expectations don't materialize it causes more problems down the road. Normal/average is all a parent should ask for. JMHO