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The education of exceptionally gifted children requires curricular adaptations that are difficult to implement in regular classrooms. In addition, such children are found so rarely that educators are often unfamiliar with their special learning needs. In St. Louis, Missouri, an innovative program has operated for 10 years to identify exceptionally gifted children from area school districts and bring them together in a full-time, articulated program that blends acceleration and enrichment. Currently, approximately 50 students in grades I through 12 are enrolled in the Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students (PEGS).
Few children who score at the extreme top end of measures of intelligence can be appropriately educated in regular classrooms, or even in typical gifted education programs that only meet for a few hours each week. In addition, few educators have encountered extremely gifted students, so most schools are ill-prepared to provide meaningful learning for these children. Parents of exceptionally gifted children express concern when their child refuses to go to school, complains that there is nothing to learn, or develops other inappropriate or disruptive behaviors in response to a school program that is a poor match for the child's academic level and learning needs. Many families have tried home schooling or private schools without finding a comfortable match of resources and needs. In St. Louis, Missouri, a group of visionary educators has developed a public school partnership to address the diverse and unusual needs of such children. The Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students, PEGS, is in its 10th year of providing challenging education for 50 students in grades 1 through 12.
Jamie
Ten years ago, Jamie entered kindergarten in the Lindbergh School District in suburban St. Louis. Before the end of the first day, the teacher realized that Jamie was vastly different from typical kindergartners. Jamie was reading on the fifthgrade level and bubbled forth with an amazing array of information. She not only knew the entire periodic table of the elements, she could describe each element, give the date it was discovered, and name the scientist who discovered it. She could solve algebra problems, and possessed an extensive vocabulary. When conversing with Jamie, it was easy to forget that she was only 5 years old, developmentally and socially. placing Jamie in a...