School for the Gifted, and Only the Gifted

My son was sitting in the bathtub one evening a few months shy of his second birthday when he started to sing the ABC's. He also proceeded to count to 10. As his mother, I was totally unaware that he was able to do this. Although part of our bedtime ritual was to read books and whenever we were in a vehicle we would always be listening to children songs, I couldn't take full credit of his knowledge. Fortunately, our son went to a very active childcare/preschool. Ever since he was a year and a half, I knew he wouldn't have any trouble in school and could quite possibly go to any college of his choice.

I came across an article in the New York Times, that spurred my interest because of my son, about schools that are ONLY for the gifted students in the New York area. The first paragraph of the article started talking about a one and a half year old that also knew his alphabet, his numbers, as well as his colors. Although this particular student seemed gifted, none of the gifted and talented schools in the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, and Lower East Side would accept him. So his parents enrolled him into a school for precocious children in the West side called Speyer Legacy School. Annual tuition at this school that only caters to advanced learners is $28,500.

Since more and more families opt to live in the BIG CITY and also have multiple children, New York has limited gifted classes. Last year around 14,822 four year olds were tested to enter the city's gifted kindergarten programs. 3,231 of these children scored within the 90th percentile, qualifying them for the gifted programs in their neighborhood. 1,345 of the 14, 822 four year olds made the 97th percentile, qualifying them to enter a gifted program of their choice within three surrounding cities of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. But there's a problem...there's only a TOTAL of 325 seats. So that means fewer than half of the four year olds who scored in the 99th percentile (the highest possible score) are eligible for any gifted and talented school within the New York City area.

Now what? According to Rebecca Daniels, former president of the Community Education Council for School District 2, said that some families on the Upper East Side decided they were better off at their neighborhood school and others have quit the system for private schools. Private Schools in NYC use the same written curriculum as general ed classes, but add more complex themes and content.

Speyer Legacy School plans to admit 32 to 36 kindergarten students next fall. As of now, the school only goes up to 2nd grade, but hopes to expand to a total of 324 students in K-8 by 2015. "With gifted children, if you don't let them reach their potential, they will feel pressure to be the same as other kids, and that can cause them to shut down," said Lillian Yang a parent of a child who attends Speyer.

Our son attends a public school and we are very pleased with the results. The staff is very accommodating and our son still loves to learn.