Charter School Examiner Karin Piper has a new book out, Charter Schools: The Ultimate Handbook for Parents.
The NY Gifted Education Examiner spoke to her about charter school options for gifted children in New York!
Examiner: How did having a gifted child lead you to the world of charter schools?
Karin Piper: Our charter school journey began a decade ago, upon the recommendation of our son's preschool. Oddly enough, the preschool hadn't recommended the charter school, but for us to have our son "tested." To us our son was simply, our son, a happy-go-lucky lil' guy who preferred to play with his one best friend and toted around his favorite read: The Dinosaur Encyclopedia. The academic preschool staff had picked up on something else: That although our child was a few weeks shy by birthdate from the upcoming kindergarten year, he just might be better off heading there a year early. Just to make sure, we were asked to have him evaluated by an independent professional.
The various results showed that our child was a strong linguistic, visual spacial learner, with strong natural abilities in math, problem solving, memorization, and artistic expression. These early tests, although controversial due to his age, revealed a very high IQ.
I must confess, I didn't really understand what all this meant at the time. I remember feeling relieved, similarly as to when the pediatrician says all is a-okay after a routine check-up. "Er...so should he start kindergarten?" I mumbled, making it clear that the possibility of a high IQ was from my husband's gene-pool. Or possible recessive.
Well, the answer wasn't that simple. The psychiatrist handed us a package of graphs, data and results, and explained that although the academic work would certainly be easy enough for our child, being "gifted" also brought with it certain challenges. Like the fact that he was still preferring to play with only one friend. For our child to be successful, we needed to take into account his social, emotional and academic maturity. She handed us a list of schools that would do well for him. The number one choice: a local charter school.
Charter schools, she explained, take kids of all sorts because they cannot pre-admit test. The charter school she was recommending was an academic high achiever with a Core Knowledge Curriculum that should be a good fit for our son's learning style. In addition, the mix of personalities and learning abilities among the peers would be good for our son, who needed to spread his social wings. Only trouble: A lengthy wait list!
We put our child's name on that list and waited. And waited. Our son was enrolled into that very charter school four years later. By this time we could tell you a series of schools that were not a good fit for our son's learning. They were reputable, good schools. But even schools that yield success for thousands of other kids can be a disaster if they don't work for your one!
Not only has this charter school worked for our oldest son, but his two younger siblings, who are each uniquely different in their learning. It is understanding how valuable school choice is and appreciating how a charter has helped so many children find quality education solutions that ultimately led me to writing Charter Schools: The Ultimate Handbook for Parents.
Check back for more of our interview with Karin Piper in the coming days.
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Comments
I can understand why many people prefer charter schools for their children to public ones. The problem is, what of the children who are not "smart enough to choose the right parents" or have no parents to look out for them, and are never in a position to choose a charter school? The more of the bright kids who go to charter schools or other "talented and gifted" schools (many of which aren't really much of either), the fewer the "peer learning" examples will be available for those who need them most: the reluctant or slow learners. Even if there are a variety of learning styles among the student population, they are still fortunate to have parents who have taken the time and trouble to find the best school for them.The ideal of "the common school" expressed by the Founding Fathers was that ALL children should have an opportunity for a good education. Charter schools segregate, not necessarily by race, but by parental influence, that can prove very destuctive to the less fotunate child.
Joel,
Our charter is not a designated "GT" school. There are no entry tests and enrolls on first-come first basis. As a matter of fact, this year the % of SPED kids is higher in our charter than in the district operated schools. And Joel, please keep in mind that a traditional district school is a choice too. We did to enroll our son in the reputable neighborhood school over the private schools when we learned he was not getting into the recommended charter school. Unfortunately, our son's learning style did not mash with that environment and he regressed. It had nothing to do with being a bad school, or poor teacher--it had to do with how our son learns. But I can tell you of plenty of involved parents--even those with gt kiddos--who opted for the neighborhood school and it worked out great!
Is the better solution to ask parents not to select the best school for their kids to be fair to parents who don't, or to provide tools and support for parents to become their kids advocates?
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