<p>SerenityJade, gifted education is required by Virginia state law as well. Had I known then what I know now, we would have settled in Virginia instead of Maryland, which does not provide specific services for gifted kids. I would say just about half of my daughter 's teachers enjoyed her in class. Once she went to private high school more enjoyed her than not, but even at her $20k-plus a year day school she had teachers who did not get her. One year, she asked for a book about serial killers that she had seen at B&N. I would not buy it, so she asked a friend. She went back to school and shared what she got for Christmas from her friend and her teacher called a meeting with us and a school counselor. She had been watching some History Channel shows about the topic. It wasn’t that she wanted to be one. </p>
<p>On another note, Destination Imagination was a Godsend for our daughter. It really helped her channel her academic energies.</p>
<p>My school didn’t have any sort of gifted program. It’s considered one of the best schools in the state. Multiple kids get 36 ACT scores (Average is just slightly over 25), multiple go to Harvard, MIT, and Chicago. Don’t overrate the usefulness of such a program.</p>
<p>Vladenschlutte, I’m assuming you’re referring to gifted programs and not a high-performing high school when you say not to overrate the importance of such a program. The latter can and does work for some gifted kids, but not for all.</p>
<p>The schools my kids attended in WI did not have gifted programs and the principal kept arguing that younger daughter’s needs were being perfectly met. As soon as we announced that we were moving, same principal and guidance counselor rushed to get her tested for IQ and aptitude, and encouraged us to find a school “that would meet her needs”. Amazing how their attitudes changed!</p>
<p>Her older sister struggled through school and they refused to test her, as she could pull C’s and B’s which were “satisfactory”. Pennsylvania schools didn’t want to test her, since by the time we moved she was in middle school. In her Junior year she took a class taught by a reading specialist, who got her tested and confirmed her learning disabilities.</p>
<p>We’ve often joked that we should have had a third kid, who might have been just fine in public schools.</p>
<p>“My school didn’t have any sort of gifted program. It’s considered one of the best schools in the state. Multiple kids get 36 ACT scores (Average is just slightly over 25), multiple go to Harvard, MIT, and Chicago. Don’t overrate the usefulness of such a program.”</p>
<p>You mean don’t overrate the usefulness of gifted programs? I doubt you could ever be one to judge seeing as you were lucky enough to go to a good high school.</p>
<p>I’m going to guess you go to a school with students who come from mostly upper middle class and higher backgrounds. Few students are from the lower middle class and very few are in the lower class with virtually none below the poverty line. This is the case for most higher level schools that aren’t application only. </p>
<p>Do you think that gifted students only live in areas with access to these competitive schools? Because I sure don’t. My friends sure don’t. We live in an area with a bunch of military engineers with smart kids but there’s no amazing high school. At my school, almost a third of each entering freshman class leaves or is held back before senior year. About half the senior class has a GPA lower than 3.0. 40% of students live at or below the poverty line and qualify for free/reduced lunch. There are two main problems: money and attitudes. The school doesn’t have the money and the kids don’t have the right attitudes (mainly because their parents don’t).</p>
<p>Since when do you hear of one of the best schools in the country struggling with their finances? When do you hear about a school from an upper class neighborhood struggling to find funds? How often do you hear about the school down in the slums that can’t afford textbooks? Or the school out in the middle of nowhere that had to cut art programs to replace desks that were falling apart?</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but my point is that if you are privileged enough to get to go to a good high school, don’t you dare try to say a gifted program at a struggling school is overrated.</p>