Gifted kid in a school with nothing for him

We have tried and plan to try out of school activities. Based on scores, you can do a supplemental home curriculum through Johns Hopkins' CTY program. There is also ATDP through UC Berkeley as a summer program. We also do a couple of "fancy" academic camps each summer to get at that "extra" challenge that it's hard to get otherwise in public school.

We had a gifted child too and learned as no child  left behind, no child gets ahead either.  It appears public schools have eliminated gifted programs.  Public schools focused on teaching the average and below average students.  You might be luck (as we were) to have a few teachers who make special accommodations for gifted students, but it is rare as it's a lot of extra work for the teacher.

Your options are limited.  Home schooling, private school, enroll in Orinda or Lafayette public schools or take a look at Stanford's tele-learning program for gifted students.

We kept our child in public schools and worked with the teachers.  We did most of the work as not over work the already overworked teachers.  By the time our son was in middle school he was taking classes at the community college and in high school he was taking upper-division classes at UC Berkeley.  There's a bit of paperwork and the college will resist but if you can demonstrate you have a gifted child they will work with you.


Some things I can share with you we learned along the way.  First keep any special treatment your child is receiving as low key as possible.  If other parents find out your child is getting “special” or gifted treatment other parents will demand the same for their child.  We never let any of the other parents know.

Watch your child’s progress like a hawk.  If your child starts acting up and disrupting the class intervene as your child might be bored.  (This happened several times with our son.)  We found most of the teachers have the gifted students spending their learning time tutoring the remedial students.  Drove our son crazy and he became disruptive and was labeled as having behavioral problems.

When this happened we figured out we needed to work with the teacher and assist the teacher in teaching our son.  Sorry to say but you will need to be selfish and do what you can to help the teacher in keeping your child interested in learning.  Hopefully Alameda has wonderful and dedicated teachers who will work with you.  If not, be prepared to take charge of your child’s education.  Don’t blame the teachers or the school, it’s the  system.  Gifted programs are gone from public education.

And for my last piece of advice work with the school’s counselors.  We were told our son was not going to graduate from high school because he had not taken the required math classes in high school.  (Here’s how broken or education system is.)  While yes it is true he did not take the required math classes in HS this is because he took them in middle school.  The school and the state would not give credit for the 9 units of college level math he had taken or for the 4 units of upper division math he took at UC Berkeley.  (How stupid is that.)  We had to do something ridiculous as in petition the state of California with a request to consider 13 unites of college and university math with A’s as meeting the state’s high school math requirements.

Be blessed you have a gifted child and do what you can to ensure your child succeeds.  It was sad as we watched another very gifted child in our son’s class.  The parents did nothing to help with his education and just got lost in the system.

We switched to private school & found out it's no better there :( so don't rely on that. They set a higher bar for 'average', but they still teach to the middle & resist doing something different for a gifted kid. When we toured, they sounded great & flexible & ready for gifted kids, but the reality is different. 

I suggest you work with your child's teacher. You have to do it every year for each new teacher. Be friendly & positive about what your child needs to be challenged. If the teacher doesn't follow through, speak to the principal right away. Advocating for school-wide changes/programs is fine too, but you still need to work with your child's teacher every year.  

As parents of a gifted child we went through hell both in public and private schools. By 2nd grade our son was labeled as "needing attention" because he was so excited about school and always raised his hand in class. The teacher, who had 20 years in the system, would not identify his enthusiasm and talent. Instead for each reporting period said he needed more socialization. By then our son started hating school. 

We took him out of public school and entered private school. The administration and teachers were not any better and now we were paying $20,000+ a year. 

It wasn't until our son was bullied by a female student who had to be #1 in class that we realized something was amiss. 

We turned to the Summit Center in Walnut Creek who met with us and conducted tests. Turns out we have a beautifully gifted son who was dumbing himself down to fit into the "system".  No one from teachers to administrators to counsellors even considered this whenever we spoke to them about "their" concerns. Our son was never a problem in class as he is not 2E gifted. They just were not trained to identify gifted kids. 

We know many kids attend Tilden Preparatory School in Albany. It has a unique one-to-one mastery learning concept. The only problem is they will not let you skip grades. 

There is also an Independent Studies program through the Alameda School District as well as Berkeley Unified School District. You will have to apply for an inter-district transfer through your current school district. 

Some families we know have opted for Connections Academy or other online classes. They are free and you can move along rather quickly. Although they use the same curriculum as public school system in most cases  

Finally we know quite a few families who homeschool. There is a huge supportive community in the Bay Area. Google for more info. 

The best piece of advice we got from Dr. Peters at Summit was this, "Your child is very special and you have to do everything to protect him."

Nothing is perfect. Especially when it comes to education in America.  Unless you become an advocate for your child, he/she will be left behind!

Good luck!