We live in Carmel Valley and have quite a bit of experience (from the parental point of view) on the topic of gifted kids’ education in San Diego. I’ll share my opinions/experience, please take or leave as you choose.
We bought in CV mostly because of the schools. However, when our oldest went to enter kindergarten, we were dismayed to find that there were no “gifted” or “gate” classes. We were told “all of our classes are advanced”. Therefore, we put our kid in private elementary school where he could get a more individualized curriculum. We have been very happy with that decision.
When he was in 2nd grade, he tested in to the “seminar” program in the SD Unified school district (top 1% using a standard pattern-recognition intelligence test). We visited 3 of the seminar classrooms. They have max 20 kids per class (at least they did at that time) and the curriculum did seem more challenging than the standard in the classes we observed in CV, although similar to what he was getting in the private school. However, we ultimately decided that the middle/high school options in SD Unified were not as good as those in CV, so we stayed where we were.
Our son is now in 7th grade, and after K-6th in private school, is attending CV Middle School. This has been an AWESOME experience for him. There is an “honors” curriculum, and the district allows them to test into classes at higher than the usual grade level if the honors level is not enough. But the biggest plus is the extracurricular math and science. There are lots of very motivated parents who run the Math League and the Science Olympiad, and they have a bunch of very smart kids. This peer group (and the mentorship of the parent leaders) has been just wonderful for my kid–I have never seem him so excited and motivated. I can’t imagine that any other school could have this much support for these kids who need that extra mental stimulation. And of course the fact that CVMS consistently places very highly (higher than any other SD middle school) in the math/science middle school competitions statewide is very motivating as well. I am just thrilled–no more need to pay private school tuition, but the best possible situation for my kid.
Couple more comments: Torrey Pines and Canyon Crest are some of the best high schools in the state/nation, and they are both in CV. Also, I have a couple of friends with gifted kids in the Poway school system, and they have been very unhappy with the lack of catering to this demographic.
Anyway, my vote for gifted kids is Carmel Valley by far over 4S ranch.
