Admission
Student Profile
In addition to being gifted, most FlexSchool students are also twice-exceptional.
Students Thrive at FlexSchool
When considering prospective students, we keep in mind the following Columbus definition of giftedness:
We define twice-exceptionality, or 2e, as being gifted and also have a learning or other challenge. Students are evaluated based upon psychological and educational testing as well as interactions with staff and students during pre-application campus visits.
Students who thrive at FlexSchool will benefit from a cross-curricular, experiential curriculum led by teachers/facilitators and have the capacity to grow within a relationship-based school model.
Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching, and counseling in order for them to develop optimally. (The Columbus Group, 1991)
We define twice-exceptionality, or 2e, as being gifted and also have a learning or other challenge. Students are evaluated based upon psychological and educational testing as well as interactions with staff and students during pre-application campus visits.
Students who thrive at FlexSchool will benefit from a cross-curricular, experiential curriculum led by teachers/facilitators and have the capacity to grow within a relationship-based school model.
Characteristics Of A Successful FlexSchool Student
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Applicants are evaluated for personal qualities; intellectual abilities; learning and emotional challenges, if applicable; love of learning (at some point in their lives); and desire to benefit from FlexSchool.
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Applicants’ learning challenges must be those that FlexSchool can accommodate, and remediate where possible. (Students on the spectrum, for example, must already desire to make friends and participate in discussions, even if they aren’t always successful yet.) Learning specialists join the admissions committee to evaluate our ability to support the student.
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Applicants with emotional dysregulation, anxiety, and/or depression are considered when the student has an outside support team or if the issues are secondary to their former school environment. These issues are often significantly improved once students immerse themselves into FlexSchool's strengths-based, accepting environment, which includes art or writing therapy and emotional support.
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Applicants with behavioral issues are welcome when they can self-regulate most of the time and when our environment and built in supports reduce negative coping skills.
Considerations For The FlexSchool Community
The Prospective Student will benefit the FlexSchool community socially, intellectually, and/or creatively. If other admissions standards are met, we desire diversity of thought, culture, economic background, race, gender, sexuality.
