Welcome to the adventure

There is no manual for parenting a gifted child.  If you’re like many parents we meet, you might have questions about what “giftedness” really means, and how to best nurture it.

There is no shortage of definitions or theories. But the U.S. Department of Education’s definition is as concise as any we’ve heard. It says, in part, that “gifted” kids are “children with outstanding talent who perform or show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared to others of their age, experience, or environment.”

At Seattle Country Day School, we further define “gifted” as children who score in the upper three percent on the Wechsler Intelligence Test appropriate for their age. Long-standing research has consistently shown that gifted children thrive in an educational environment suited to their abilities. Yet gifted kids are widely underserved. Nationwide, 60 percent of teachers lack training for working with gifted children. That's why SCDS exists and has thrived for over 45 years.

Says one teacher, “Once a student is here, we don’t talk about them being gifted. There’s no need, because they’re surrounded by kids just like them. Nobody sees them as different. They can just be themselves.”