Schools for the gifted (Houston, Pearland: transfer to, private schools, camps)

[icon7]

i have to disagree I grew up in Alief and i was in the GT program...maybe it has changed, but I doubt it. My friends from Fort Bend were so far ahead of us. Plus I think Ft Bend did a better job of College Prep.

Originally Posted by crbcrbrgv

I don't agree with you on Fort Bend. It is very average. I would say Alief's gifted program is actually better than Fort Bend's. Now regular programs at Alief, that's a little different story.

[ChangeIsGood]

Fort Bend is trying to improve this area. We have a monthly parent group callled PACE (Parents for Academic Excellence). These are parents of gifted students who are committed to working in a positive manner with the school district, to get their children's needs met. Often, the head of our GT Program Director, Jeannette Spain, attends to get input from parents. Our new GT Academy (middle school) just recently opened up and these kids get so much attention and support; it's a great opportunity. You don't even have to be in FBISD to attend, but the child must meet the requirements and there is a lengthy process...but it is available to all.
However, usually parents of true gifted students are leery of public schools and prefer a school that is well known to meet the needs of gifted students. It is very obvious that many parents of children in the GT Program in FBISD and other districts are parents of high achievers and push for their children to excel academically. Many are not gifted, but high-achievers.
The Rainard School is truly a school for gifted students. There is no grading like in the public schools, it's really about learning for the "fun" of it! Gifted students do not focus on grades, they love to learn and get caught up in it. From the moment I heard of it on NPR, I had to look it up, and seems like the perfect fit for truly gifted students. If you can afford it, you should visit and consider it.
Good luck!

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by ChangeIsGood

Fort Bend is trying to improve this area. We have a monthly parent group callled PACE (Parents for Academic Excellence). These are parents of gifted students who are committed to working in a positive manner with the school district, to get their children's needs met. Often, the head of our GT Program Director, Jeannette Spain, attends to get input from parents. Our new GT Academy (middle school) just recently opened up and these kids get so much attention and support; it's a great opportunity. You don't even have to be in FBISD to attend, but the child must meet the requirements and there is a lengthy process...but it is available to all.
However, usually parents of true gifted students are leery of public schools and prefer a school that is well known to meet the needs of gifted students. It is very obvious that many parents of children in the GT Program in FBISD and other districts are parents of high achievers and push for their children to excel academically. Many are not gifted, but high-achievers.
The Rainard School is truly a school for gifted students. There is no grading like in the public schools, it's really about learning for the "fun" of it! Gifted students do not focus on grades, they love to learn and get caught up in it. From the moment I heard of it on NPR, I had to look it up, and seems like the perfect fit for truly gifted students. If you can afford it, you should visit and consider it.
Good luck!

Very true. Gifted and High achiever are two different animals. A high achiever can be a B student that pushes and stresses and craves the grade, excelling more due to persistance than intellectual curiousity. I find the public school GT programs fit these kids perfectly.

Gifted is the effortless smart, that finds more joy in the learning, the break down of a concept, and the stimulation rather than the grade. They learn differently and can become bored in the public GT system and all the paper work required.

[MommiePreMed]

Originally Posted by ChangeIsGood

Fort Bend is trying to improve this area. We have a monthly parent group callled PACE (Parents for Academic Excellence). These are parents of gifted students who are committed to working in a positive manner with the school district, to get their children's needs met. Often, the head of our GT Program Director, Jeannette Spain, attends to get input from parents. Our new GT Academy (middle school) just recently opened up and these kids get so much attention and support; it's a great opportunity. You don't even have to be in FBISD to attend, but the child must meet the requirements and there is a lengthy process...but it is available to all.
However, usually parents of true gifted students are leery of public schools and prefer a school that is well known to meet the needs of gifted students. It is very obvious that many parents of children in the GT Program in FBISD and other districts are parents of high achievers and push for their children to excel academically. Many are not gifted, but high-achievers.
The Rainard School is truly a school for gifted students. There is no grading like in the public schools, it's really about learning for the "fun" of it! Gifted students do not focus on grades, they love to learn and get caught up in it. From the moment I heard of it on NPR, I had to look it up, and seems like the perfect fit for truly gifted students. If you can afford it, you should visit and consider it.
Good luck!

I agree with so much of what you have said. The word Gifted is thrown around too much.

I read an article about a year ago how a school system in Florida wanted to lower the level to qualify for the gifted program from and IQ of 130 to 120 so that more students could benefit from the program. An IQ of 120 is not gifted.

I would not even place a high achieving student in public schools, because even there a love of learning is not stressed, just passing the class or passing the test.

[EasilyAmused]

120 is the B+ student that works hard at that grade. 120 is not gifted.
A lot of the districts have lowered to this. This is why the truley gifted child doesn't do well in the public program. Basically, the GT classes have been "dumbed-down." Kinda like America.

[crbcrbrgv]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

120 is the B+ student that works hard at that grade. 120 is not gifted.
A lot of the districts have lowered to this. This is why the truley gifted child doesn't do well in the public program. Basically, the GT classes have been "dumbed-down." Kinda like America.

A good gifted program would go by a lot more than just an I.Q. score. An IQ of 120 is upper 10 percent. If you factor in more than the score, a few of the 120+ should definitely be in the gifted program. You also have to factor in language acquisition for bilingual students and their home situation among other things. A kid with an IQ of 120 who comes from a bad home is as bright as a kid from a stable home with an IQ of 132 IMHO. This is why I feel Alief's program is superior. They look at a lot more than IQ.

[beandawgs]

Originally Posted by buffy888

Hmm... in public schools, teachers MUST be trained in GT if they have GT kids in their classroom. They must initially have 30 hours of professional development regarding gifted and talented, then they must get 6 additional hours of professional development about GT every year that they have GT students. I know that in elementary school, if you don't have the required staff development in the specified amount of time, the gifted and talented children can be pulled from your classroom - not sure how it works in upper grades.

Training doesn't mean the teacher can work with gifted kids. I grew up as a gifted child and went to a public hs that was only for 135+ IQ. It was known then that the "gifted" classes in the lower levels of public school were nothing compared to what we had in high school.

[beandawgs]

Originally Posted by TxPrincess1

Rainard School for Gifted Students (713)647-7246

I so much would love to send my kids there (they're 4 and 5) but its so expensive. I wonder over all which public school system has the best opportunities for the gifted?

[EasilyAmused]

120 is HIGH ACHIEVER. Not gifted.

[buffy888]

Originally Posted by beandawgs

Training doesn't mean the teacher can work with gifted kids. I grew up as a gifted child and went to a public hs that was only for 135+ IQ. It was known then that the "gifted" classes in the lower levels of public school were nothing compared to what we had in high school.

I was actually responding more to the fact that one of the people posting said something to the effect of "Make sure the teacher has had training" and the fact that if the kid is in their room, then yes, they have obviously had "training." I didn't say if that training was sufficient or not. Speaking as another person who was a gifted child (I was identified in K, but didn't start until 1st due to my father getting stationed in a new city... went to a GT school in 5th and 6th grade until another military move put us in yet another school system in another state... and of course remained in gifted program plus Honors/AP/IP throughout high school), I have certainly seen and experienced the gamut of teacher affinity for teaching students who are gifted.

I'm not quite clear on the statement that "It was known then that the 'gifted' classes in the lower levels of public school were nothing compared to what we had in high school." Are you referring to "lower levels" meaning lower grade level as in elementary or middle school? Or "lower levels" as in a school not for those with a 135+ IQ? (I can just see some of the kids I went to elementary with questioning the choice of that specific number as a starting point. Since 130 IQ would be 2 standard deviations away from average and 145 would be 3 standard deviations away, they wanted people who were... just a bit over 2 standard deviations above average?) I'm not being argumentative; I really am just trying to discern what you meant by "lower levels."