Options for students

At present, I am sick with a cold, and plowing through the referrals that I receive from schools.   I have just figured out the group for The Built Environment Challenge Centre Program being offered in December, and did I ever have a large amount of referrals!  I have a huge wait-list for this program, and I always struggle with letting the schools and eventually the parents know that the student, their child, did not get in.   Basically, the answer they did not get in is because there are so many referrals and so many students need to be serviced, and some have been applying for two years and haven't been able to get in, and others are in grade 6 or 7 and need to get in, and well there are just not enough spots!  

I receive a lot of emails from parents, asking about options for their children.  If they can only get into a program, maybe once or twice during their elementary schooling, what else is there for them?

I try not to make it a complicated answer, but eventually it is....I lay out the options from other public schools with special programs (French Immersion, Montessori, Fine Arts), to district services (challenge centres, mentorships, the multi-age cluster class), and finally, special targeted schools for gifted students, that usually come with a tuition fee...(now this is complicated because I work for the public school system and I believe and support a publicly funded system, but sometimes, parents need to find what is right for their child).  So it is complicated...and frustrating.

Sometimes we have too many options....and these options paralyze us.  Although times have changed, I remember my parents picking my school because it was up the street and we could walk there.  Going to another school was not even an issue - you supported your local school, come what may.  And, the same went for high school.   But, that was in the 1970's, and the world is a very different place.  Our students' needs are different.  Our society is different.

So, there are many options for students, just keep exploring them and asking questions and being mindful of what your child or student needs. I will try my best to get them a place in a program!