Gifted programs: Dover, Wellesley, etc.? (Arlington, Lexington: fit in, home, middle school)

[LaurenGraffBrown]

Hi there,
My husband and I currently live in Wellesley but are in the midst of deciding where to permanently settle down. Schools are a top priority for us. We are considering:
-Dover
-Sherborn
-Wellesley
-Lexington
-Open to others!

Before folks say "all those schools are great, any one would do," I want to give enough background info so that my husband and I make the most informed decision possible. Specifically, our 7 year old daughter is gifted intellectually (high IQ) so we'd like her to be appropriately challenged in school. We haven't been very satisfied with the gifted and talented programs in Wellesley, and have spoken to many parents of similar children (at all ages, elementary through high school) who feel similarly. In addition, the math and science programs in Wellesley lag behind other towns including the 3 others listed above. When asked about the lagging MCAS or SAT scores, many school administrators (privately and publicly) brush off these concerns by saying that scores don't measure everything. That's true, but the degree to which parents' concerns are discarded is alarming. So my questions are:
-Which school systems have the best programs for kids like my daughter?
-What have been your educational experiences with these towns?
-Do these towns truly value education? E.g., do school administrators take it seriously (see comment above about Wellesley school administrators)?
-If financially feasible, should we consider private school for part of her schooling or are these schools' gifted programs just as good?

Thank you very much!!

[chicagoliz]

What sort of gifted and talented programs do you expect for a 7 year old? I'm ready to proclaim my 7 year old son a math genius, and the teacher has sent home extra assignments (that I couldn't figure out, but that's another issue). But I'm not really expecting much from the school at this point. If I really think he needs extra challenges, I'll send him to some of the gifted camps or after-school programs like the Russian School of Math or others. I've never heard anyone say that their kids could find enough classes to be sufficiently intellectually challenged.

This might be the first time I've ever seen anyone ask if Lexington cared enough about education.

[LaurenGraffBrown]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

This might be the first time I've ever seen anyone ask if Lexington cared enough about education.

"I wouldn't want a gifted and talented program in Lexington," says Joanne Benton, director of elementary education in that town, which has no special program for high achieving students. "That's elitist. I think the very term 'gifted and talented' is elitist. I think that all children have different gifts and we should be trying to provide for them."

[CaseyB]

Unfortunately, lots of schools systems have that attitude.

[bugelrex]

For the best balance, I would recommend keeping the current school and spend the money on tutoring and extra private classes.

If she is 'truely' gifted, she will just not fit into a regular school. It would not be challenging enough.

In the places like NYC, the term gifted is just PC code for 'keep whites in public schools', probably only 1-2% of the kids in the gifted and talented programs in NYC are really gifted, the rest have been provided private tutors to practice the entrance exam...

[gf2020]

Arlington and Bedford both have gifted and talented programs.

Honestly, you may be putting the cart before the horse at age 7, however.

[alidmc]

It's rare for public schools to have programs for gifted students. I agree with others who recommended enrichment programs. I know several kids that attend Mathnasium or Russian School of Math and there are tons of STEM, STEAM and any other number of camps with buzzy acronyms available over the summer.
You can also ask your child's teacher to provide additional assignments, or get creative and try to find some fun and challenging activities for her. However, at the age of 7, I believe the most important thing to focus on is social development.

[johngolf]

Originally Posted by LaurenGraffBrown

"I wouldn't want a gifted and talented program in Lexington," says Joanne Benton, director of elementary education in that town, which has no special program for high achieving students. "That's elitist. I think the very term 'gifted and talented' is elitist. I think that all children have different gifts and we should be trying to provide for them."

I agree.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by LaurenGraffBrown

"I wouldn't want a gifted and talented program in Lexington," says Joanne Benton, director of elementary education in that town, which has no special program for high achieving students. "That's elitist. I think the very term 'gifted and talented' is elitist. I think that all children have different gifts and we should be trying to provide for them."

I went through one of those programs in the late-1960's and 1970's. It was killed shortly afterwards in the name of political correctness. Back then, that school routinely cranked out a Presidential Scholar every year and placed their top-10% in top-100 schools. It's nothing like that now.

I think most public school teachers are extremely mediocre. 110 IQ. 3rd tier state schools with easy education degrees. It's hardly surprising that people like that resent high achievers and do their best to kill programs targeted at high achievers. Bill Gates speaks to this all the time and has put his billions where his mouth is funding schools for the gifted. The rest of the first world has competitive exam schools. In Germany, they wouldn't stand for statements like "gifted and talented is elitist". Those are the people who drive the German economy. They get free education in the elite universities. It's the rational thing to do. They don't allow their education public policy to be driven by mediocre public school teachers.

The reality is that Lexington probably doesn't need special programs in their elementary schools. It's a town stuffed full of college educated professional parents. The children in the elementary schools are all going to have fully engaged parents who raised their children in a very enriched environment. That's very different from a working class town where most of the bodies sitting in the classroom have pretty minimal educational ethic. It's precisely why everybody wants to live in "the good towns". At middle school and high school levels, gifted programs become more important but that's not elementary school. Any town with a 6 figure median household income is going to have pretty strong elementary schools because all the parents will insist on it.

[LaurenGraffBrown]

I should clarify: of course at age 7 there are other considerations like social development. But if we're trying to settle down permanently, we need to consider the quality of the middle and high school programs too.

Honestly some posters' attitude about my even asking the question may have answered it....Private school is the way to go.