Academy for Gifted Children

Last updated
Academy for Gifted Children
Address
12 Bond Cres

, ,
Canada
Information
School type Private high school and elementary school
MottoKeeping Pace
Founded1993
StatusOpen
PrincipalJanice Gruchy
Grades 1–8 and 11–12
Language English
Tuition$17,500 – 21,500 CAD
Website www.pace.ca

The Academy for Gifted Children, known more commonly as P.A.C.E. (Programing for Academic and Creative Excellence)* [1] is a non-denominational primary school in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada founded by former teachers Dennis Reynolds & Barbara Rosenberg. Entrance is by a competitive examination called the WISC-V, or the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. This exam determines the intelligence quotient (IQ) of a child. The school has been designed to support intellectually gifted children, and it allows children from grades 1 to 12 to enter.

Contents

The school makes modifications to the system that Canadian public schools usually use. Rather than simply allowing the students to proceed through grades 1 to 12, P.A.C.E. has merged grades 7 and 8 into one year and added an extra year after grade 12. This allows students to graduate with significantly more credits than those graduating from public school; however, the students graduating from P.A.C.E. still graduate at the same age. Attending students have the option of selecting from a variety of extra-curricular activities the school has to offer outside of regular school hours.

* Some sources claim the acronym stands for Program for Academic and Creative Enrichment. Because P.A.C.E. is such a small school, it is impossible to know which one is right or wrong, considering it has very few sources to write about.

History

The school was founded in 1993 by former Earl Haig Secondary School teachers Dennis Reynolds, & Barbara Rosenberg. It started off as an elementary school for grades 1-8 with 25 students and has increased in admission since its inception. It currently has 330 students from grades 1 through 12. P.A.C.E. formerly supported grades 1 to 12, but now only supports grades 1-8 and 11-12. Along with this, P.A.C.E. also formerly had a more prominent building, but now has changed to a smaller one. P.A.C.E. apparently plans to bring back the old version of the building during 2024 or 2025, although plans have begun as early as 2020 to 2022.[ citation needed ] Rosenberg remained as the "director" (the term used for the principal) until the end of the 2018–2019 school year, when the vice-principal at the time, Janice Gruchy replaced Rosenberg as the director. Gruchy's role as the vice-principal was replaced by the former science teacher and head teacher, Caroline Corbit. The current school grounds were the former location of the Our Lady of the Annunciation Elementary School which moved to its new location east of Yonge Street in the early 1990s.[ citation needed ] The school has since been a school for the intellectually gifted, starting from grades 1-8 to 11-12.

Overview

P.A.C.E., as mentioned before, is a non-denominational coed private school in Richmond Hill that supports the intellectually gifted. In fact, it only allows for the intellectually gifted to enter their school grounds.[ citation needed ] Rosenberg was the original director of the school, but in 2019, Janice Gruchy, a teacher that joined in 1999, took over. The average tuition of the school is $18,500 CAD. [2] However, considering extra costs, the tuition may be as high as $21,500 CAD for new students in their first year. Curriculum may accelerated by up to 3 years because of its 'gifted' status. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Finland</span>

The educational system in Finland consists of daycare programmes, a one-year "preschool", and an 11-year compulsory basic comprehensive school. As of 2024, secondary general academic and vocational education, higher education and adult education are compulsory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Germany</span>

Education in Germany is primarily the responsibility of individual German states, with the federal government only playing a minor role.

Gifted education is a sort of education used for children who have been identified as gifted or talented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Singapore</span>

Education in Singapore is managed by the Ministry of Education (MOE). It controls the development and administration of state schools receiving taxpayers' funding, but also has an advisory and supervisory role in respect of private schools. For both private and state schools, there are variations in the extent of autonomy in their curriculum, scope of taxpayers' aid and funding, tuition burden on the students, and admission policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State school</span> Type of school funded in whole or in part by general taxation

A state school, public school, or government school is a primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-funded schools are global with each country showcasing distinct structures and curricula. Government-funded education spans from primary to secondary levels, covering ages 4 to 18. Alternatives to this system include homeschooling, private schools, charter schools, and other educational options

When children are young, schools begin to analyze the youngsters’ abilities and sort them into clusters based on their predicted success. The system labels the cream of the crop as gifted. Clark (2002) defines giftedness as “only a label that society gives to those who have actualized their ability to an unusually high degree or give evidence that such achievement is imminent”. The American government defines giftedness as “students, children or youth who give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such capabilities”. Gifted students learn in a different manner and at an accelerated rate compared to their peers in the classroom and therefore require gifted programs to develop and apply their talents.

The Gifted Education Programme (GEP) is an academic programme in Singapore, initially designed to identify the top 0.25% of students from each academic year with outstanding intelligence. The tests are based on verbal, mathematical and spatial abilities. Selected students will then be transferred to schools offering the GEP. GEP classes are designed to fit the students' learning ability, and may cover subjects in greater breadth and depth. The curriculum is designed by the Gifted Education Branch and eschews the use of textbooks for notes that have been prepared by GEP teachers. The programme has now been expanded to 1% of the students from each academic year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine View School for the Gifted</span> Magnet school in Osprey, Florida, Florida, United States

Pine View School for the Gifted, or simply known as Pine View School, is a public, college-preparatory, coeducational school located in Osprey, Florida. Pine View serves students from 2nd through 12th grades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transition School and Early Entrance Program</span>

The Transition School and Early Entrance Program are two subsequent programs comprising the original early entrance track at the University of Washington's Halbert and Nancy Robinson Center for Young Scholars. The one-year Transition School prepares students to enter the University as fully matriculated undergraduates in the equivalent of their tenth-grade year. Students apply during their eighth grade year and begin TS the following autumn, leaving the K-12 school system. Each year, a small cohort of students is accepted from a larger applicant pool. While at TS, students take advanced, college-level courses in mathematics, science, and the humanities.

Julian Cecil Stanley was an American psychologist. He was an advocate of accelerated education for academically gifted children. He founded the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY), as well as a related research project, the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY), whose work has, since 1980, been supplemented by the Julian C. Stanley Study of Exceptional Talent (SET), which provides academic assistance to gifted children. Stanley was also widely known for his classic book, coauthored with Donald Campbell, on the design of educational and psychological research - Experimental and Quasi-experimental Designs for Research.

The Academia Británica Cuscatleca (ABC) is an established and highly regarded international bilingual school in El Salvador. It is a community of some 1400 students and is fully accredited by Council of International Schools (CIS), the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO), the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) and the Values-Based Trust for Education (VBFT).

<i>Gymnasium</i> (Germany) Type of secondary school in Germany

Gymnasium, in the German education system, is the most advanced and highest of the three types of German secondary schools, the others being Hauptschule (lowest) and Realschule (middle). Gymnasium strongly emphasizes academic learning, comparable to the British grammar school system or with prep schools in the United States. A student attending Gymnasium is called a Gymnasiast. In 2009/10 there were 3,094 gymnasia in Germany, with c. 2,475,000 students, resulting in an average student number of 800 students per school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuition centre</span> Variety of cram schools

Tuition centres are cram schools. They are private educational institutions which offer tutoring in various subjects and preparation for specific tests and examinations. Cram schools with the title "tuition centre" are predominantly found in Malaysia or Singapore. In other countries they may have different names, such as hagwon, buxiban, or juku. Asians find that tuition classes are necessary for children to keep an edge in the competitive environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Academic acceleration</span> Moving students through education faster than typical

Academic acceleration is moving students through an educational program at a rate faster or at an age younger than is typical. Students who would benefit from acceleration do not necessarily need to be identified as gifted in a particular subject. Acceleration places them ahead of where they would be in the regular school curriculum. It has been described as a "fundamental need" for gifted students as it provides students with level-appropriate material. The practice occurs worldwide. The bulk of educational research on academic acceleration has been within the United States.

Grade skipping is a form of academic acceleration, often used for academically talented students, that enables the student to skip entirely the curriculum of one or more years of school. Grade skipping allows students to learn at an appropriate level for their cognitive abilities, and is normally seen in schools that group students primarily according to their chronological age, rather than by their individual developmental levels. Grade skipping is usually done when a student is sufficiently advanced in all school subjects, so that they can move forward in all subjects or graduate, rather than in only one or two areas. There are alternatives to grade skipping.

Seoul Foreign School is a Pre-K/Reception to Grade 12 international school located in Seoul, South Korea. The school was founded in 1912 by Christian missionaries to Korea and emphasizes Christian values. The Elementary, Middle and High Schools offer an international curriculum within the International Baccalaureate framework of PYP, MYP and DP. The High School offers the IB Diploma Programme. The British School offers the English National Curriculum - Key Stages 1–3. Seoul Foreign School has been located in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, since 1959.

Cluster grouping is an educational process in which four to six gifted and talented (GT) or high-achieving students or both are assigned to an otherwise heterogeneous classroom within their grade to be instructed by a teacher who has had specialized training in differentiating for gifted learners. Clustering can be contrasted with other ability-grouping strategies in which high achievers fill their own dedicated class, entirely separate from other students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pritzker School</span> School in Chicago, Illinois, United States

A.N. Pritzker School is located in the Wicker Park neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. Pritzker School serves grades K-8 with its neighborhood magnet-cluster school focused on fine and performing arts and a Regional Gifted Center. Pritzker also offers a Pre-K for all program. The school is part of the Chicago Public Schools, CPS, system. The students and its mascot are referred to as the Wildcats.

San Francisco Waldorf School (SFWHS) is an independent preK–12 school in San Francisco, California. The school is based on the principles of Waldorf education. The kindergarten and grade school are located at 2938 Washington Street and the high school is located at 470 West Portal Avenue. About 50% of students at the high school also attended the grade school, the rest coming from public, parochial, and other independent schools. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA).

Inclusive Classroom is a term used within American pedagogy to describe a classroom in which all students, irrespective of their abilities or skills, are welcomed holistically. It is built on the notion that being in a non-segregated classroom will better prepare special-needs students for later life. In the United States, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guaranteed civil rights to disabled people, though inclusion of disabled students progressed slowly until the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, after which almost half of US students with disabilities were soon in general classrooms.

References

  1. "P.A.C.E. Homepage" . Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  2. "Academy for Gifted Children - P.A.C.E. TUITION AND FINANCIAL AID". ourkids.net. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  3. "Academy for Gifted Children - P.A.C.E. Academics: Curriculum, Culture, and Support". www.ourkids.net. Retrieved 2023-09-09.