Re: “Instead of ‘GT’ for gifted and talented, how about an ‘M’ for mediocrity?” Feb. 22
What public school principal would turn away an obviously gifted and talented student with documented academic accomplishments? Try Paulette Smith, principal of Montgomery County Public School’s Cabin John Middle School, who this week informed the parents of a 10-year-old girl that she was not welcome.
This was after Cabin John officials had already interviewed the girl, tested her, welcomed her to the school and recommended a suitable math placement. (“Caitlyn’s scores suggest that she should be in… an 8th grade pre-algebra class,” the school’s math teacher told them.) In a July 22 email to Dr. Kumar Singam and his wife Aki, Tamara Bishop, the school’s registrar, told them that their daughter “will be a great addition to Cabin John Middle School this coming school year.”
But just two days before orientation, the Singams got a disturbing email from Principal Smith informing them that their daughter would not be going to Cabin John after all. It apparently took an entire month for Smith to realize Caitlyn was a year younger. “Your daughter’s birthday… indicates that she is nine (9) years old. Therefore she is the age of elementary students,” Smith told the Singams in an Aug. 17 email, recommending that they enroll their academically precocious daughter in the nearby elementary school instead.
However, MCPS’ policy on “Placement, Promotion, Acceleration, and Retention” clearly states that placement and promotion based on age applies only up to grade two. “In grades three through eight, placement and promotion should be based on academic progress and attainment of objectives assigned to the student. The needs of the whole child must be considered in making these decisions.” Principal Smith obviously did not take into account the needs of this particular child, or she would not have turned her away. A call to the principal went unanswered.
“The school told me that she should be taking class with 8th graders. Why the sudden change?” Dr. Singam wondered.
Maybe it has to do with the fact Caitlyn’s parents had enrolled her in a private school because they felt that MCPS was not addressing her academic needs. Or the fact that her father, a former physics and mathematics professor, made waves earlier this year representing the Asian-American Parents Advocacy Council in its opposition to MCPS’ attempts to eliminate gifted and talented programs so nobody would feel left out.
The Singams now have to either bear the expense of keeping their daughter in private school, enroll her in the local elementary school where she will not be challenged academically, or homeschool her when all they really want is for MCPS to provide an appropriate placement based on their daughter’s academic record and MCPS’ own policy. That doesn’t sound like too much to ask. But apparently it is.
“My daughter has quietly surmounted every hurdle thrown in her path and I only look for MCPS to treat her as they do other children of similar accomplishment,” Dr. Singam told me. “ I am deeply concerned at the long-term consequences of her having to deal with the way MCPS is treating her. She was personally present to provide the school with her enrollment documents and take the test. She was personally welcomed to the school by Tamara Bishop. Now she has to deal with the consequences of their sudden rejection.”
The real reason the schoolhouse door is being slammed right in little Caitlyn’s face? Her family is too outspoken, and she’s too smart, for MCPS’ tediously pedantic educrats.
