which school(or school district) offer better gifted program? (San Diego: homes, buy)

[doglover1111]

Thank you all for the infomation. I will be looking into the poway school and try to get more details from the district staff. Thanks again

[LivinginSDagain]

Good luck with your search. I can attest to the Poway schools being good. My two kids are in the school district and I work in the Poway schools too. You mentioned Carmel Valley. There are a few PUSD schools there (two new elementary schools open this fall).

[HeartandSoul]

Hi, my daughter, now 9, has been scoring in the top .1 and .2percentile nationwide since she was 6. It sounds like your daughter may have similar educational needs. Although it's nice to have a gifted child, it also presents a myriad of issues regarding education, and is often very difficult to find the right fit! My daughter attended a private Montessori school in SD from age 3-6 that was perfect for her specific needs. She was able to move along at her own pace and the school was willing to push her as far as she wanted to go. She was reading at age 2 1/2 and they really gave her space to move forward. Some Montessori schools in SD are all talk... but this one, called The Montessori School of San Diego was very good for her. It's off hwy 5 near downtown.
When she was entering 2nd grade she took the GATE test in SD Unified and scored a 99.8% ~ The school district said she needed a 99.9% to enroll in seminar. Seminar is the only program I would have my daughter in, because it tends to be specific to gifted students without alot of variation or intrusion of others, and the class sizes are smaller. However, they WILL take 99.8'ers if there is room in the seminar programs. Unfortunately for us, the seminar programs were not within my residence area and my CHOICE options didn't work. Thus, private school it is!

Since your daughter is still too young to take the GATE test, did you say she was entering 1st grade this year?... you may want to put her in a private setting until you figure out which public arena will be the best choice for her. Public schools do not always meet specific needs of children who have differing abilities. Just a thought!
I've been a teacher/counselor and administrator in the largest school district in SD for 22 years, and from what I've seen, North county and coastal public schools seem to be the best for someone like your daughter.
My daughter is still in private school. She will be entering 5th grade in the fall. I have not been able to find a public setting for her so far.

About housing: If you want to live affordable to your income, it IS possible to attend a public school outside your "resident school" area by way of a CHOICE program. HOWEVER, many of the schools' CHOICE waiting lists are very long and since it is supposedly by lottery (I have my doubts about that one) it is very difficult to get the school of your choice.

I have CHOICED to Torrey Pines Elementary which I have heard from all my friends in La Jolla as one of the best elem. schools in the gifted arena, and it has a seminar program. Kate Sessions is supposedly very well organized for the gifted, and those are both in the La Jolla Pacific Beach area. Since we live in central SD I don't know alot about North County. Charter Schools are also an option, but be careful and do research before you choose, many of them claim high test scores, etc. but their manner when dealing with children is less than respectful. I feel it very important kids need to be in a setting where they feel honored and valued for their own personal gifts and abilities.

Good luck in your search! If you have any other specific questions you would like to ask me please feel free! Here's the link for SD City Schools Enrollment Options if you wind up in SD central area. Office of School Choice :: San Diego Unified School District
the main site is San Diego Unified School District Official Home Page
HandS

[doglover1111]

Heartandsoul,
Thank you so much for the detailed insight. We will probably live in Carmel Valley area (Del Mar school district). My daughter will enter 2nd grade this year. Is the seminar program only for San Diego Unified School District? I will go to the website you recommended to find out more. Thanks again..

[mrgrape]

Sage CAnyon Elementary
CARMEL VALLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!! VERYY GOOD
and TOrrey Pines High School

[blondmom]

Del Mar would be perfect for you. Good luck!

[CVMom]

Hi, I saw that this was back in May. I live in Carmel Valley and have a gifted child and the Del Mar Schools are not equipped for this. They believe in teaching the gifted kids in the regular classroom, but nothing happens. They don't even like gifted kids. This sounds like a strong message, but I think you have to go San Diego "seminar." If your child is profoundly gifted, God help you, b/c I haven't found anything adequate around here. Whatever you do, Carmel Valley is NOT good for 140+ IQ. They spend all their time trying to get the API scores up. This means the teacher spends the vast majority of her time with the remedial children as do the parent volunteers. My son was given a list of 5 things to do and told to do them on his own. This was not advanced curriculum, it was basic skills. I say this with a heavy heart b/c we spent a lot of money to move here too. It will be a big fight for you to get your child's needs met. And even then, I find it to be an anti-intellectual atmosphere, I really do. I hope I do not offend anyone, but I would hate for the newcomer to have to struggle as we did.Try the school before buying a house, especially if your child is one of only 50--this means an extremely high intelligence.

[kcda]

Originally Posted by CVMom

They believe in teaching the gifted kids in the regular classroom, but nothing happens. They don't even like gifted kids.

Funny you should write that because I'm beginning to feel the same way about our school. The principal and teachers don't really support the gifted program and seem to view it as "unfair" to all the other kids. Yet, they will take the extra money given to them by the state for having gifted students. What do they do with the money? Not much I can tell you that.

[pinal]

I have 2 kids in the San Diego Unified Schhol district and the reason we opted for the same is because my 9 yr old was " gifted" and is now in the seminar program. We moved last school year and I had spent a lot of time researching schools.

The Seminar program is really a good program as class sizes are small, they get more individualized curriculum and overall a better quality of teachers who ar emotivated. plus these kids get to work at their own pace and their projects are focused based on their strenghts.

Poway and San diego unified have these programs. I am unaware of ther school districts in san diego who offer it.

[CVMom]

At Carmel Del Mar in the Del Mar Union School District, they give a written IQ test in the third grade, but the gifted program doesn't "officially start until 6th." It is run by the school psychologist and doesn't have designated teachers. They seem to use it to funnel kids to the more advanced classes in junior high for the most part.