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| Greetings!
I have to admit, even as an advocate of public education, I held some of the biases that are described by our Myths & Truth section regarding programs for "gifted students." How could these advanced students need our help?
And then, I started to do the research. (Special thanks to Austia De Bonte a Northshore parent and the president of the Northwest Gifted Child Association).
I started remembering my own experience in the classroom and also the experiences of the thousand of students that I have interacted with throughout my career.
What once seemed counter-intuitive, was actually something that I could relate to.
How many of my friends in junior high advanced math dropped out only to turn to drugs? How many times did the class clown get straight A's and distract the rest of the class from learning? How many students, sabotaged themselves by not turning in their homework, because they were "bored" and under-challenged.
These kids really do need our help.
Since the inception of the Foundation, we have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to to support our struggling learners. Through classroom grants, funding for McKinney-Vento students and providing leveled books for struggling readers, we have worked to provide our disadvantaged students an equal opportunity for success and the viable opportunity to graduate ready to be successful in the career or at the college of their choice.
While the needs of highly capable students needs have been on our radar for some time, as a foundation we have consistently underfunded those requests. When we spoke with District leadership about their needs, they asked us for more help in this area.
We need to raise $44,000 to meet the current District request to support math programs for Highly capable students in fifth and sixth grades.
With an eye on the numbers and our mission to support district goals, our investment of Foundation dollars to this important and sometimes overlooked student population, is part of our commitment to "excellence and success for all Northshore Students."
Best,
 P.s Pl
P.S. School Board performance measures 1.15 and 1.17 specifically address the desire to decrease drop out rates. Nearly each of the performance measures in School Board Goal 1: "Student Achievement and Success at Grades Pre-Kindergarten - 12 and Beyond" makes a case for ALL students to excell.
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Some alarming facts about advanced students
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Myth:
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Advanced Education Programs Are Elitist
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Truth:
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Advanced education programs are meant to help all high-ability students. Advanced learners are found in all cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic groups. However, many of these students are denied the opportunity to maximize their potential because of the way in which programs and services are funded, and/or flawed identification practices. For example, reliance on a single test score for gifted education services may exclude selection of students with different cultural experiences and opportunities. Additionally, with no federal money and few states providing an adequate funding stream, most advanced education programs and services are dependent solely on local funds. This means that in spite of the need, often only higher-income school districts are able to provide services, giving the appearance of elitism.
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Myth:
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Hi-cap Students Are Happy, Popular, And Well Adjusted In School
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Truth:
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Many hi-cap students flourish in their community and school environment. However, some hi-cap children differ in terms of their emotional and moral intensity, sensitivity to expectations and feelings, perfectionism, and deep concerns about societal problems. Others do not share interests with their classmates, resulting in isolation or being labeled unfavorably as a "nerd." Because of these difficulties, the school experience is one to be endured rather than celebrated. It is estimated that 20 to 25% of hi-cap children have social and emotional difficulties, about twice as many as in the general population of students. [4]
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Your charitable donation to the Northshore Schools Foundation can save you money at tax time!
If you itemize on your tax return your donation is tax deductible!
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 By the Numbers
- 5-7% is the nation-wide average estimate for how many highly capable students are in our school systems.
- 18-25% of gifted learners drop out of high school
- Up to 20% of the prison population is gifted
- 68% is the nation-wide average of teachers who have not received training in the last 3 years on how to deal with gifted students in the classroom
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 Equally Likely to Be High Achieving Students who are high achieving are represented across all socioeconomic groups, nations, ethnicities, race, cultures... Girls vs. boys - But girls are less likely to be referred for testing
Poor vs. rich - But poor rely on public gifted programs more, "the rich have other options"
English speaking vs. non-native speakers - But assessments favor native speakers
The Northshore Schools Foundation raises funds and builds partnerships to support academic success and excellence for all Northshore Students, in alignment with District priorities. Make your end-of-the-year donation in support of highly capable and college affiliated high school programs today and you can help us meet that goal! Or make a year end tax-deductible general gift to support the many programs of the Foundation! |
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Your charitable donation to the Northshore Schools Foundation can save you at tax time!
If you itemize on your tax return your donation is tax deductible!
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