Congratulations, Laurel!
This year, Laurel had some problems in school.
She had trouble with acting out whenever she was bored, which was often. I got report after report of bad behavior, which we couldn't understand because a) we didn't have those problems here at home, and b) Greg and I didn't get in trouble often in school, though I got in trouble a little more in high school. heh. She embarrassed the student teacher by fooling around in front of the poor woman's supervisor. She threw rocks. She spun bottle caps.
I finally wrote a letter complaining that we didn't know what was going on, but that we had to find some solutions. I copied the principal.
The principal has a son in Laurel's class, who is also gifted and also has some of the same behavioral traits, so she understood. She convened a meeting of the Powers That Be In Gifted Ed. The district considered moving Laurel up to a higher grade, but didn't think she was socially ready for that. We agreed. We knew something about this, because I had been moved up a grade level when I was young. The gifted coordinator decided to give Laurel a full-scale IQ test. Her scores were "off the charts." They decided the best option for Laurel was to apply for PEGS, the St. Louis Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students.
We attended a preview, a sort of open house for PEGS, in January. The assistant superintendent in our home district also attended, and afterward decided to support the move because our district, though moving in the right direction, does not have the resources for a child of Laurel's degree of giftedness.
In my quest to better understand giftedness and all the pros and cons associated with it, I joined several giftedness associations, including SAGE, GAM, and SENG. I plan to be as active in my support for gifted education as possible. Greg and I both feel the government has neglected giftedness when it comes to education, and we desperately wish a program like PEGS had been available to us when we were young. The opportunities this presents for Laurel are boundless.
Today, after a series of psychological and IQ tests and interviews, followed by much hand-wringing and second-guessing our interview answers, we got the news. Laurel has been accepted.
Congratulations, Laurel. We love you, and we knew you should be there. We are very proud of you, and we hope you are very proud of yourself. You deserve it.
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