Seminar Program in SD school district

[UCGal]

What GATE offers, in theory, is differentiation. Which *should* be offered to every student. What that means is that if a kid has mastered the topic being taught – they can be given material that either explores the topic more in depth, or moves on to a more advanced topic. This would benefit ALL kids – including those that are struggling – they could be offered a more remedial version of the topic, so that they get something out of it – rather than being assigned work that they don’t understand.

Unfortunately, GATE cluster teachers don’t always offer that.

My experience was very similar to KSM’s (probably a decade earlier…). I was not seminar – but many of my friends were… My “crowd” was the smart nerds. My best friend was never tested for GATE (they didn’t test every kid) but eventually they switched her to the high school counselor that handled GATE kids because she was in all the same classes, and excelling. At the time there was an assumption that GATE kids were college track, and the assumption wasn’t there for the other kids. (Some were… but it wasn’t assumed.)

I’m still friends with my high school crowd… so perhaps we were awkward and socially stunted… but the friendships remain. I went to my 30 year reunion last year – my friends didn’t. Looking at the success from a salary/fame point of view… my nerdy friends have done much better then the school population as a whole. (Harvard professor, JPL PhD, vp’s of various large tech companies… then lowly enginerds like me.)

GATE/Seminar… the program is only as good as the teachers. And some of the teachers are EXCELLENT. Others, truthfully, blow chunks.

[Anonymous]

I had the good fortune to attend the seminar program starting in grade 3 all the way through highschool. (Mira Mesa, La Jolla, Scripps) Here is a description about my experience:

http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/classical-education/

I’m still close friends with many of my Seminar friends, the socialization we received from each other was critical.

As someone who has taught school in the Bay Area, I just want to point out that San Diegans are very lucky to even have ANY gifted program. There are hardly any left in Northern California. Having the separation of GATE and Seminar is even more wonderful.

[Anonymous]

I had the good fortune to attend the seminar program starting in grade 3 all the way through highschool. (Mira Mesa, La Jolla, Scripps) Here is a description about my experience:

http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/classical-education/

I’m still close friends with many of my Seminar friends, the socialization we received from each other was critical.

As someone who has taught school in the Bay Area, I just want to point out that San Diegans are very lucky to even have ANY gifted program. There are hardly any left in Northern California. Having the separation of GATE and Seminar is even more wonderful.

[Anonymous]

I had the good fortune to attend the seminar program starting in grade 3 all the way through highschool. (Mira Mesa, La Jolla, Scripps) Here is a description about my experience:

http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/classical-education/

I’m still close friends with many of my Seminar friends, the socialization we received from each other was critical.

As someone who has taught school in the Bay Area, I just want to point out that San Diegans are very lucky to even have ANY gifted program. There are hardly any left in Northern California. Having the separation of GATE and Seminar is even more wonderful.

[Anonymous]

I had the good fortune to attend the seminar program starting in grade 3 all the way through highschool. (Mira Mesa, La Jolla, Scripps) Here is a description about my experience:

http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/classical-education/

I’m still close friends with many of my Seminar friends, the socialization we received from each other was critical.

As someone who has taught school in the Bay Area, I just want to point out that San Diegans are very lucky to even have ANY gifted program. There are hardly any left in Northern California. Having the separation of GATE and Seminar is even more wonderful.

[Anonymous]

I had the good fortune to attend the seminar program starting in grade 3 all the way through highschool. (Mira Mesa, La Jolla, Scripps) Here is a description about my experience:

http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/classical-education/

I’m still close friends with many of my Seminar friends, the socialization we received from each other was critical.

As someone who has taught school in the Bay Area, I just want to point out that San Diegans are very lucky to even have ANY gifted program. There are hardly any left in Northern California. Having the separation of GATE and Seminar is even more wonderful.

[Anonymous]

GATE PROGRAM IS STILL AVAILABLE I was also told that GATE was no longer available. Then I called the district and spoke to the GATE dept who told me that “They still were avaqilable and the dept was NOT cut.” The schools will tell you there is no GATE just to keep you from further investigation. DO NOT buy into that.
My daughter is at Hawthorn Seminar. It has been wonderful. Before going there, she was underachieving (average grades inspite of genius IQ). Now she gets all “A’s” and she LOVES the program. She does fencing, is in Latin club, math club and goes on overnight field trips. They get “hotchocolate in class, wear slippersw in class and sit on bean bags. She is soooo much happier in the SEMINAR. It is working for her. My other daughter attended seminar for a short time but due to Asperger diagnosis had a hard time. She is now at a District funded private school (which she LOVES). You have to find the place that is best for the individual child. People who say bad things about seminar probably have no experience with it.

[UCGal]

Suziebee –
I agree completely that Hawthorne’s seminar program is exceptional. (My son is now in your daughter’s class.) However, it is not necessarily indicative of the GATE program state wide, county wide, or district wide. Heck, it’s not even indicative of the seminar program district wide.

Seminar programs vary from school to school. Parents need to do research, go to the seminar open houses (even if you don’t have the GATE results yet for your 2nd grader), and figure out what teachers/programs will be right for their child.

Just a heads up to any parents of 2nd graders. Do your research and paperwork NOW.

* Put in a choice application to an out of cluster school just so you have one on file. You don’t have to use it – but you can change it to a different school if your child tests seminar AND you decide on a program outside your neighborhood cluster. It’s much harder to choice into a different cluster’s program if you don’t have ANY application on file.

* The seminar programs often have “open house” nights BEFORE you have the Gate test results. This is your chance to assess the programs, and express interest in programs outside your cluster. Use the links below to identify seminar programs that look like a good fit.

The different seminar programs are described here:
http://www.sandi.net/cms/lib/CA01001235/Centricity/Domain/89/SeminarProgramDesBooklet1112.pdf
and here
http://sandi.net/cms/lib/CA01001235/Centricity/Domain/89/SeminarBrochure11-12-Eng.doc

If you identify a seminar program you like – talk to the teacher, find out about their open house, sit in on a class. The programs vary and what works for some, doesn’t work for others.

Again – don’t just look at API scores. Look at specific seminar teachers and programs. API scores are school wide. Seminar programs are limited to 1 teacher per grade at the elementary school. The teacher is the key part. A bad teacher can set a kid back significantly. A good teacher can make a lifetime change in a student.

[Anonymous]

The GATE Program was ridiculous at Patrick Henry High school. Especially the Seminar Program which was so fortunate to have the worst teachers who didn’t change the curriculum from the regular AP classes, or really care for us as people or students. It got to a point where I wanted to drop out and switch to another teacher who was actually teaching their kids, but the counselor refused to switch me out even after sessions of crying and bringing in my parents because our school was afraid of losing funding for the seminar program. I wasn’t dropping out due to grades, everyone had an A in this particular Seminar Class, but I had learned nothing except that on the AP Lit test, there would be a section on poetry thus we should spend a whole year annotating poetry and occasionally reading a Steinbeck or Shakespeare. If you’re wondering this is the only AP test I failed.

I don’t understand how some teachers can pass off as Seminar teachers, and I wonder on a greater scale why is government so blind to the importance of education?

For the schools I attended , there was nothing special about Seminar except that you were known to be somewhat smart, and that you were stuck with the same group of kids for far too many years. Yes I made some great friendships, but I just wish I got a better education that promoted math and science. I know I’ve only just graduated high school but if I ever were to have kids, I would not put them through the Gate/Seminar Program. I would think a combination of a specialized academy plus homeschooling would be better since I’ve lost faith in CA’s public education system.

[Essbee]

Passingthrough,
When did you attend Patrick Henry? I attended in the early 1990s, and at that point, it did not have a seminar program. Several of the feeder schools did (Lewis JHS and several local elementaries).

I started in seminar at Hearst Elementary and also Lewis Junior High. When we finished 9th grade, our class dispersed. A few went to private schools and a few went to other seminar programs (Point Loma HS, La Jolla HS) but most of the Lewis seminar class stayed on and attended PHHS. We had some fantastic AP classes there mixing mostly the old seminar crowd and some of the kids who used to be in “cluster” at either Lewis or Pershing. And yes, many of the “cluster” kids were nearly as high achieving as the seminar kids. I thought the AP prep was great. I personally took 8 AP tests and got seven 5’s and one 4 (Spanish IIRC).

I am still in touch with almost all of the Lewis seminar group and about 30-40 of my PHHS classmates on Facebook! Most are very successful. My former class has 7 MDs, as well as multiple PhDs, lawyers, journalists, etc etc.

I am sorry to hear that your experience at PHHS was not as good as mine!

[enron_by_the_sea]

Does anyone have any good/bad opinion or experience about the seminar program offered in Dingeman Elementary (Scripps Ranch, SDUSD)?

My kid is able to enroll into that one, so I need to make a call on that…

Thanks

[UCGal]

I’ve heard good things about the program from a mom who considered that program.

I’ve heard excellent things about Marshall Middle and their seminar program. A mom I know looked at all the middle school options for her seminar kid and is considering moving if her choice application doesn’t happen. Dingeman feeds into Marshall, IIRC.

[Anonymous]

You have it all wrong. Both of my kids tested into Gate Seminar. That means they scored 99.9 percent on the raqven test. They both have IQs over 120 (at age 8). I am not bragging, I am saying that is what they are. People think it is so easy to have a genius kid. What happens to a genius kid who is put in a regular class? Do they go to the top? Do they kick butt? No, they often become bored, because their brains process info so quickly, and because they already understand higher concepts. So, these genius kids end up not trying, getting bad grades, getting introuble becuase they “correct” the teachers, and being socially isolate4d from others. Along with the genius comes a whole host of problems from ansyncronous development to social problems. These kids are picked on and bullied also. My daughter refused to even go to public school. So, the GATE seminar program understands all these factors and helps these kids. Without the GATE program, my genius kid would most likely drop out of school eventually. Does that help you understand?

[CA renter]

While an I.Q. of 120 is above-average, it is nowhere near the 99.9th percentile. It doesn’t even qualify for Mensa, which accepts people at and above the 98th percentile.

That being said, I agree that high-I.Q. kids think and act differently than the norm, and should receive the same amount of resources that kids on the other side of the “average” spectrum do. They are indeed “special education” students, even if they are gifted.

[njtosd]

[quote=suezbee]

Along with the genius comes a whole host of problems from ansyncronous development to social problems. These kids are picked on and bullied also. My daughter refused to even go to public school. So, the GATE seminar program understands all these factors and helps these kids. Without the GATE program, my genius kid would most likely drop out of school eventually. Does that help you understand?[/quote]

Hmm – does finding out that the word is “asynchronous” help YOU understand your children’s difficulties better? Spelling it right always helps with the Google searching.

Also – IQ generally does not change with age, so whether they’re 8 or 88 doesn’t matter.

[Author]

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