Relocating to Dallas - advice: neighborhoods, gifted elementary school

[loves2read]

My point about schools--consider what they are working with--

the idea that someone takes a raw diamond, cleans it up, cuts it into multi-faceted beaty and sells it as an engagement ring is not exceptional creativity--it is simply working with a natural element to enhance its innate quality--

the idea that you take random ingredients--paint, paint brush, canvas, and imagination and create a great work of art is certainly less predictable and depends much more on the inherent talent of the painter--not the materials
Some painters are Van Gogh and some are flea market status--

Highland Park ISD is working with the most heterogeneous, best prepared, best supported group of students in state of Texas--or at least one of the top 3 or 4...
To give that admin credit for using the best materials to achieve solid performance just means they are doing what they should--
I don't find anything really exceptional with that effort--they aren't working miracles there because they have much that other school ISDs don't--

new students/T&G program
http://www.hpisd.org/portals/0/docs/TAg/201112/New%20students%20info..pdf (broken link)

and I know that financially HP can be in a bind because of the Robin Hood economics of the state--
but the ISD gets support from their parents/community that other districts just don't either...
Private gifting fills in missing piece of school finance puzzle
It can have lower tax rate because the valuation of the homes is significantly higher than in other districts and because-- past a certain point--the extra money goes to the state and they don't want to antagonize tax payers with that tax shift

To me there is big difference between a student who is truly gifted and one who is high avg or interested in one area--like Math--
and based on my daughter's experience as teacher in the G/T school for Sarasota county ISD in FL--there are plenty of parents who will cheat their child into a "gifted" test score to achieve admission to a gifted program--and later complain when the child stuggles to maintain the pace the class follows...

Agree with Notready--IF your child is coming from school geared to G/T or very high IQ students only--and think you can make an equitable transition to public school in TX--that will be very difficult in public school situation since the best public school program for her might be area so far from where you intend to buy

[Midnightz]

Thanks for your input Notready and Loves2Read. I am in a quandry because my son is currently in a private school for gifted children (you have to test into it). We had him tested based on his kindergarten teacher's recommendation. Unfortunately there aren't any similar private schools in the Dallas area - the admissions director at his current school did some research (as did I). And anyway, we're late in the private school admission cycle

Our only option seems to be a great public elementary where he can continue on the same learning path. In-class differentiation would be perfect, but the concern is like you stated - how effective will it be when there's 1 teacher for 22+ students? I don't believing in "supplementing" at home - never have and am loath to do it now. Which is why the school question keeps me awake at night!
It does seem that in Coppell ISD, there is in-class differentiation, but again - I won't know how much they differentiate until I go speak to them - do they differentiate based on the child's ability or just a grade level ahead? HPISD doesn't have much of a T&G program but will ask if the teachers can do any differentiation when I visit.

Besides Coppell ISD, are there any other ISDs that you know of, which have a strong T&G program and have in-class differentiation? At this point, school is top of the list, followed closely by distance to DHs job location in Irving.

Thanks again for all the helpful comments and TIA for your recommendations!
Dee

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Midnightz

I don't believing in "supplementing" at home - never have and am loath to do it now.

Sorry, but your his parent. IT IS YOUR JOB - even if you "loathe" doing it -to "supplement" if you can't find what you need in the local public/private schools.

Originally Posted by Midnightz

HPISD doesn't have much of a T&G program but will ask if the teachers can do any differentiation when I visit.

I was a TAG student ("Explorations") in HPISD. For elementary school, it's 1 day "pull out" program each week. For me, that was plenty. Generally in every elementary grade, the classes are somewhat segregated- the brightest kids are in the toughest teachers classrooms, the average learners are together, and the slower learners are together. This works quite well for the district so that the advanced kids aren't bored and the slower learners aren't overwhelmed. The material is the same, but the slower learners might do everything twice to master it while the advanced kids are having a more intellectual discussion about the topic at hand.

"Differentiation" within the same classroom is horsesh*t. My best friend teaches elementary school in Plano and has kids ranging from autistic/Asberger's level disabled to very advanced TAG-quality kids in her 5th grade classroom. It is a NIGHTMARE and is too much for any teacher- even a GREAT teacher- to teach three different levels of kids in the same classroom and meet all their needs. Simply impossible. Someone's always bored and someone's always in tears because he/she doesn't catch on fast enough.

Come middle school & high school, it's not really a concern becasue the advanced/ TAG students can fill their schedules with Pre-Honors, Honors, TAG, and AP courses.

I'm guessing your 8 year old will be going into 4th grade next year? So he's just about 2-3 years away from the more challenging coursework offered in middle school. I would pick a school district based on the overall 6-12 education and do whatever you need in grades 4-5 to keep him engaged, be it supplemental instruction or "field trips" as a family, science "camp" after school, private foreign language classes, etc.

[Big G]

I would have chosen some different wording than TurtleCreek80, but I agree with her view of in-class differentiation.

Problem is, that extends to the private schools as well. Even a school like Greenhill is working with the top 5-10%, not the top <1%, as evidenced by that fact that only a few % of their students achieve NMSF status. So, even if a private school is teaching at a higher level than the publics, it still might be too low for a highly gifted learner.

The public school will usually admit that the child is far above the rest of the class and at least attempt to accomodate the advanced student. Some of the private schools operate under the assumption that their curriculum is already "advanced" enough for all members of their student body.

Originally Posted by Midnightz

Besides Coppell ISD, are there any other ISDs that you know of, which have a strong T&G program and have in-class differentiation? At this point, school is top of the list, followed closely by distance to DHs job location in Irving.

Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD runs a program called LEAP. In this program, kids testing at the 99th %ile from across the district are completely removed from the regular classroom and put into a magnet classroom consisting of other kids at that level.

We had a regular poster a while back with a child in this program. She was actively promoting it for some time. I think she eventually grew disenchanted with the program, but I don't recall that we ever heard the details.

[Midnightz]

Thanks for the honesty TurtleCreek!! Of course I will do whatever I need to do in order to keep him challenged, but would like to see him get some of it in the classroom. That's a great point you made about looking ahead to Middle School, broadens my current tunnel vision.

Big G - thanks for your input as well. At his current school, they do differentiate the curricullum too, but smaller class size and 2 teachers allow that to work well. Thanks for the info on the LEAP program, will take a look at it too.

Right now - it's HPISD and Coppell for me to visit, alongwith looking up the LEAP program.

[notready]

I can't help you with Dallas, the spinner arrow for our relocation ended up pointed at Houston but I'm still keeping an eye on the Dallas board.

I don't believe such classrooms exist. Schools are supposed to have 'learning groups' so there are like ability kids together. I don't consider 2 kids a group, which is what existed in my son's class before he showed up, but I'm sure different principals and schools group more effectively than others. Also look at what the differentiation work is, what I've seen so far I'd characterize as 'busy work until everyone else catches up'.

You are going to have to do some work to find a decent alternative. I would not assume that all private doors are closed to you. We have found some schools down here that refuse to accept late applicants, but others who have second and third and beyond acceptance rounds and will put kids in a waitpool to see if a spot opens. I've found the religious affiliated schools to be more open, and generally offer an overall more rigorous environment, if not necessarily the same level of specific differentiation (like public bussing a 5th grader to a middle school for math everyday, is that a good option or a lousy one?).

If you really think there is a magical public school out there, I would look for a district that has a specific magnet school for middle if not K-8, maybe you could just have one disappointing year and have a good shot at better options for the following years. Be prepared for a long year though, it didn't take days before my kids' started complaining about how they hate going to the 'boring school' where they already learned everything taught there but Texas history...

If you find the magic school, let me know, maybe we'll let DH commute with the 60k in private tuition we'd save...