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It's been years in making and we will be finally moving to SLC next summer. My husband and I both will be working from home so our priority will be school zone when we buy our next home. I have a 4th grader who is in gifted program in our state and our 1st grader will be tested this year (we think he will also get in the program). I have done school research in past (in 2016) and may go with Canyon school district, they attend charter school here so may also try STEM specific charter school in SLC. I read that they get tested for gifted program in October.
So if we move in summer, will they have to wait until October to get tested again or will they be eligible to stay in gifted program after our move? Should I call schools now if they are doing online testing or something to get ahead of it?
I plan to get a short term rental for two months in the beginning of June so we can drive around our preferred locations ( Cottonwood Heights, Sandy, Draper). We are Indian origin but are more spiritual than religious, and get along well with everyone. We prefer home cooked meals and eat out only on special occasions, so proximity to restaurants etc. is not an issue. Our older one has started fencing lessons and one takes piano lessons but we can travel for those lessons once a week if we need to. We are open to other locations within or outside SLC proper as we love to have space and tranquility. As long as we get high speed internet we don't mind living in rural part too.
Are there any rural areas (may be in north SLC or Ogden) or SLC suburbs with good schools that we should consider on top of my list?
Even though you are both working from home, I am assuming that something is driving the move to SLC, such as proximity to a workplace in SLC, or being near family or very close friends in SLC? If not, then what is the motivation to move your family to SLC? I'm not asking to be snide - I'm asking because this will help others to give you feedback as to where in the area might be best for you to focus on.
You may find this page of interest, but unfortunately, the window for application closed on Oct 14th for next September, for grades 1-5. You can contact them directly to see if the qualifying test that was used for your kids in their current location would enable direct transfer in for next September.
Granite Schools however are still evaluating kids for Sept 2021. But I don't know that you would be able to have your child evaluated from out of state, with no residence yet in the area.
I think your best bet would be to make sure your 1st grader gets evaluated for your local program, and then contact districts in the Greater Salt Lake area to see if they would accept the kids as direct transfers. Special ed plans transfer, so it would make sense that gifted eligibility would transfer, also.
You should also consider ethnic and religious diversity in the area where you choose to live. For you and your husband, your life will be centered on working from home, and eating at home, and hopefully socializing with friends and possibly relatives. Social life outside of SLC proper often centers around one's religious or ethnic group. I'm assuming that by "Indian" you mean South Asian, as opposed to Native American. You may wind up connecting with other South Asians through a local South Asian organization centered in SLC proper. But your children's daily social lives will be through their immediate neighborhood, and the school they attend. I am a member of a religious minority, but my parents chose to raise me in an area with many others of my minority. This gave me a great deal of confidence. When later on in life, I encountered prejudice or discrimination against me because of my minority status, it did not shake my innate self-confidence. I just understood that those people were ignorant fools, and did not let them stop me. I had a second cousin whose parents raised her in a town where there were very few of her minority. She suffered a lot of persecution in school - it really scarred her, and she wound up moving to a country which matched her minority identity (majority in that country). My point is, you need to consider whether there are other South Asians where you decide to raise the kids, and is there a dominant religious group in the school that they would attend, and in the neighborhood where you would choose to live. For this reason, I think that you would be best off living in The Avenues or Foothill/East Bench, or maybe East side as far south as Millcreek. Places where professionals who commute to the U of Utah would live, because there are always South Asians working as doctors and University professors, wherever you go in the US, and other high-achieving minorities, too, such as Jews and East Asians.
Of course, your budget may limit your choices, but think close to the U of Utah and the hospitals in SLC, bearing in mind the economic level of the neighborhood and availability of good schools, in order that you don't wind up sending your children to schools where they are the only South Asian, and the only child not a member of the dominant religion in that area.
Even though you are both working from home, I am assuming that something is driving the move to SLC, such as proximity to a workplace in SLC, or being near family or very close friends in SLC? If not, then what is the motivation to move your family to SLC? I'm not asking to be snide - I'm asking because this will help others to give you feedback as to where in the area might be best for you to focus on.
We both visited SLC few years ago and fell in love with the area, we had finalized other places we would like to move to based on cost of living, education, availability of Tech jobs, and health index etc. We keep coming back to SLC from our list of places and can't seem to get it out of our mind!
Yes, we are south Asian-Indians and don't have active community at our current place so kids actually don't have any options right now. I will look into reaching out temples or community groups on social media to figure out where do they attend schooling. Our home budget will be around 600K something and we are open to old but renovated homes.
I think that you need to research more than schools for gifted students before the move - such as inversions that are part of life in SLC area. Not discouraging you - but suggesting that you expand your research into the area to additional dimensions to avoid surprises.
Like others have said, your budget might lead to some limits, but not insurmountable ones.
I am of Indian origin but am not of much help. We don't have any children and haven't looked into school scene. We have colleagues who have children in private schools (Rowland Halls?) and are happy with them. I haven't asked if their children are gifted or not but they seem well educated to us. Unfortunately, we not much a link to the South Asian / Indian community. I haven't come across any local South Asian organization (that parentologist alludes to). But, we aren't religious (so no temple for us) or particularly seek out our particular ethnic group.
All the best!
PS: I could not help noticing that Reno area might meet your requirements too. A very talented couple I know moved there primarily with the education options for gifted children in mind. [Seems like the Indian-American thing but I can attest to the very gifted parents in their case.] I have not discussed this with them further but they seem to be very happy. Perhaps this is what they were after... https://www.davidsonacademy.unr.edu/
It's been years in making and we will be finally moving to SLC next summer. My husband and I both will be working from home so our priority will be school zone when we buy our next home. I have a 4th grader who is in gifted program in our state and our 1st grader will be tested this year (we think he will also get in the program). I have done school research in past (in 2016) and may go with Canyon school district, they attend charter school here so may also try STEM specific charter school in SLC. I read that they get tested for gifted program in October.
So if we move in summer, will they have to wait until October to get tested again or will they be eligible to stay in gifted program after our move? Should I call schools now if they are doing online testing or something to get ahead of it?
I plan to get a short term rental for two months in the beginning of June so we can drive around our preferred locations ( Cottonwood Heights, Sandy, Draper). We are Indian origin but are more spiritual than religious, and get along well with everyone. We prefer home cooked meals and eat out only on special occasions, so proximity to restaurants etc. is not an issue. Our older one has started fencing lessons and one takes piano lessons but we can travel for those lessons once a week if we need to. We are open to other locations within or outside SLC proper as we love to have space and tranquility. As long as we get high speed internet we don't mind living in rural part too.
Are there any rural areas (may be in north SLC or Ogden) or SLC suburbs with good schools that we should consider on top of my list?
Thank you for your help in advance!
I would call the school districts now to get more info about getting into their gifted programs. I looked into it a couple years ago and and forgotten a lot, but I can tell you that in Canyons district, unless your child is enrolled at one of the schools listed here: https://www.canyonsdistrict.org/dept...t-areas/salta/
...Then your gifted child will be in a regular classroom with the other students and given extracurricular work to do.
Here is info for Granite district. https://www.graniteschools.org/curri...fted-talented/
If your child enrolls in Morningside Elementary, for example, then they would be in a special class with only gifted students. It would pretty much be the same students in their class every year, for better or worse.
So if you want your child to be around a more diverse group of kids (by diverse I mean students with different academic and socioeconomic levels, and different students in their class each year), then you would not want to attend one of the Advanced Learning Centers. If you want your child exclusively around other gifted children, then try to live within boundaries of one of those schools. Open permits are allowed (out of bounds students can attend these schools, space permitting) but it can be hard to get into these schools.
Note that if you are interested in a dual immersion program, your child cannot participate in dual immersion AND be in the gifted program at the Advanced Learning Centers. For example, in Morningside Elementary, classes in each grade are divided up: there is the dual immersion class, the regular class, and the gifted class.
Hope that helps. We lived in Cottonwood Heights for a while and loved it. If you are interested in renting an apartment, feel free to DM me for a recommendation that is well run and family friendly. Holladay is also a nice area.
I think that you need to research more than schools for gifted students before the move - such as inversions that are part of life in SLC area. Not discouraging you - but suggesting that you expand your research into the area to additional dimensions to avoid surprises.
Like others have said, your budget might lead to some limits, but not insurmountable ones.
I am of Indian origin but am not of much help. We don't have any children and haven't looked into school scene. We have colleagues who have children in private schools (Rowland Halls?) and are happy with them. I haven't asked if their children are gifted or not but they seem well educated to us. Unfortunately, we not much a link to the South Asian / Indian community. I haven't come across any local South Asian organization (that parentologist alludes to). But, we aren't religious (so no temple for us) or particularly seek out our particular ethnic group.
All the best!
PS: I could not help noticing that Reno area might meet your requirements too. A very talented couple I know moved there primarily with the education options for gifted children in mind. [Seems like the Indian-American thing but I can attest to the very gifted parents in their case.] I have not discussed this with them further but they seem to be very happy. Perhaps this is what they were after... https://www.davidsonacademy.unr.edu/
All the best!
Thank you, we have been researching on SLC for quite few years now and are aware of inversions. I have found few community groups over Facebook, and from pictures they share it looks like they are active with organizing Diwali- Navaratri etc. My kids don't have any Indian kids in their class an we are not very outgoing so having big Indian community is not in our preferences but it's good to have options. Reno school seems like a good option too, we will look into area as we are not familiar with western part of the US.
First just please know that public schools in Utah are pretty sad. Hugely underfunded, teacher shortages, whittled down programs. Even the gifted programs will likely be unsatisfactory....lots more busy work not great content. Previous posters are correct the testing window is early and most districts are pretty strict on that. We do however have open enrollment so if you get here and find your local school isn’t to your liking, and you can’t get into gifted, you can look around, call, try to get a tour, ask questions, and maybe find something that is a better fit.
If you cannot do private school, I have a few suggestions. Granite district your best bet would be to get into the Morningside elementary boundaries. If you can’t get them in to gifted for next year as it’s too late, then send them on open enrollment to your local school (mine go to Oakridge in Olympus Cove..I’m happy to answer questions about it if you want)...the elementary schools on the east side in Millcreek/the cove are ok. Then for junior high do Wasatch Junior High in Millcreek. This feeds into Skyline.
For Canyons look into Midvale middle...I think all the gifted middle schoolers go there. Elementary you are just gonna have to grin and bear it til they get into SALTA.
None of these areas are diverse by any means.
If you want to consider private, Rowland hall is amazing, and Waterford is good as well. I’ve known people switch to Madeleine Choir from Rowland hall due to cost, and they have been happy there as well (and they were all non Catholic or non Caucasian so try not to rule it out due to being a religious school...in Utah you take what you can get for a better education!). .
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but they seem well educated to us. Unfortunately, we not much a link to the South Asian / Indian community. I haven't come across any local South Asian organization (that parentologist alludes to). But, we aren't religious (so no temple for us) or particularly seek out our particular ethnic group.
