Dick Kantenberger - Houston Gifted Education Examiner
It was infectious. The enthusiasm flowed out of the phone line like a torrent of water from a May mountain stream. Donna Hulsey co-founder of ACE Academy in Austin Texas the only school in Central Texas dedicated totally to gifted children could hardly contain herself; and rightly so.
Hulsey and co-founder Karen Langdon had started ACE Academy a mere four years ago with eight students in grades K-5. Today the school serves 85 gifted children including their first three-year-old class and a new eighth grade class; a whooping 1000 growth rate. Next year a high school will be added.
Hulsey and Langdon agree they are living their dream. But they both lived through nightmares in trying to bring up their very gifted daughters in the public schools. People not closely associated with gifted education constantly say how could gifted children be at-risk. If they are so smart they are bound to turn out great.
Other well intentioned critics naively say gifted education is elitist because it provide special services to the education of the gifted while at the same time these same people say special services are alright for children in special education. However both groups are equally at-risk
While Hulsey and Langdons experience with their daughters is not identical to the story below of one of their ACE Academy students it is quite typical of many gifted children. Sugandha Jain first related this incident in Parent:Wise/Austin two and a half years ago before Jack" came to ACE Academy:
It was the last straw for four-year old Jack (not his real name). His parents had been warned numerous times by the director of his Montessori school that his behavior was violent and destructive". He would hit the other children in his class and knock over teaching materials for no apparent reason" according to his teachers.
The preschool director suggested that Jacks behavior was due to improper parenting or perhaps something more sinister like a psychological disorder or abuse. The school expelled Jack saying he - and indeed the entire family - needed professional help. We kept telling Jacks teachers that he was not violent at home and that something at school must be upsetting him" said Jacks mother. Not only didnt they listen to us they said we were the problem."
On the eve of his preschool expulsion Jacks parents decided to have him tested by a professional. The results were nothing short of astounding: Jacks IQ was 146 which is considered genius-level. Jacks behavior was indeed a cry for help: he needed more stimulation more individual attention and more grown-up conversation than his preschool provided.
Langdon a trained psychologist was interviewed by Victoria Rossi in Austinwoman last year on a similar experience: Langdon meanwhile became a presence at the principals office returning time and again to discuss why school was not working for her (gifted) daughter. In fourth grade the first year of standardized testing things got really bad. After six weeks of studying for the TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) I watched her disintegrate into an angry depressed child hating school - the place she should love the most."
That summer out of desperation Langdon took her daughter from Austin to Worlds of Wisdom and Wonder a Chicago-based program for gifted students founded by Dr. Joan Franklin Smutny at National-Louis University. Within two weeks Langdons daughter blossomed again as the curious confident child who had faded away in regular (public) school."
With Dr. Smutnys blessing Langdon started Summer Wonders in Austin Texas modeling it after the Chicago program. In ten years Summer Wonders has grown to serve 450 gifted students Pre-K though sixth grade every summer. A number of the children come from out of state. It was named as Best Summer Camp" in The Austin Chronicles 2009 Readers Poll.
Hulsey sign on as a teacher in the Summer Wonders program and in time she and Langdon planned and initiated the ACE Academy. What had they done to achieve this phenomenal 1000 growth rate. Well pretty much what academicians in gifted education have been saying for years but generally ignored by public educators who have the power to implement programs and state politicians who have the money to do fund them. Remember we are not talking about overhauling the entire system. The gifted students only number in about the same proportions as special education students. However nationally the public schools are spending over 100 times as much on special education as on gifted education.
Public schools usually offer programs for gifted students that range from pullout programs to one or two gifted classes to clustering" gifted students together in regular classes. These measures often arent enough for students who are gifted all day every day" Hulsey wrote in Tempo magazine.
So what is Ace Academy doing? ACE classes are multi-age interdisciplinary and hands-on whenever possible. There are no standardized tests. There are few textbooks but many resources. Incoming students are pre-tested to determine their starting levels in math and language arts and those groupings may change during the year to match asynchronous surges" in individual students. Every child has an independent constantly changing curriculum. Classes are capped at 10 because we can not have a discussion with more than that said Hulsey.
Hulsey wrote in the Summer 2008 issue of Tempo magazine(Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented) Karen and I drew the plans for ACE with full understanding of how gifted children learn and how they function adapt and sometimes do not adapt in traditional classrooms. In addition to core courses in math science language arts and social studies ACE offers courses in robotics philosophy Latin and Spanish as well as enrichment/language labs in French German and Mandarin Chinese.
There are also courses in art drama and music in addition to physical education Tae Kwon Do Yoga and Chess. There is a course called Emotional Intelligence. This is a study of self-esteem and personal relationships such as their exhilaration perfection moral indignation and fear of failure problems particularly affecting gifted children.
Hulsey reports that our students come with the learning differences inherent in any group of children - ADD/ADHD dyslexia dysgraphia auditory processing difficulties visual processing difficulties and motor difficulties".
One limiting factor to Langdon and Hulseys dream is tuition. Right now low income children the most underserved students in the gifted population can not afford ACEs tuition. Which is why in addition to their administration work and teaching classes they are also writing grant proposals to drum up scholarship money.
At ACE said Hulsey we are not training" our students but working to inspire them. Frequent testing plenteous worksheets and hours logged with homework may show durability but they do not demonstrate a childs ability to imagine connect ideas or ask meaningful questions. We believe that our students will learn the most and show their knowledge best if they have the freedom to think to question and explore alternate possibilities. We give them the structure and tools to learn but we push them gently watching for their readiness and passion.
Learning is nor a race and we are not the gatekeepers to knowledge. Our goal is never to hold a child back from what he or she is ready to explore. At the same time life and mastery thinking are more than accumulation of facts. We want to help build and balance the whole child emotionally socially and intellectually. It is certain a dream worth pursuing."
ACE also has to contend with the notion that separating gifted students is elitist. But the parents now moving here from other cities so that their child can attend ACE arent making such a huge change because theyre snobsLangdon argues. They are doing it because the are desperate."
For questions and additional information about Ace Academy or Summer Wonders please contact Karen Langdon and Donna Hulsey at (512) 206-4070 or email
info@austingifted.org
