GSMST

I took my kids to the information session for the Gwinnett School of Math, Science, and Technology. We've been considering putting my son in the lottery there for HS. I have to admit, I was already very interested in it to begin with. My son has decided he's interested now too. He enjoyed getting to listen to two of the current students (Senior/Sophomore) and the curriculum AP. He was impressed with their honesty toward the work that would have to go in. He also realized that being the only 8th grader at GOC to be taking ALL accelerated/gifted classes may not be such a bad thing after all. He's already taking accelerated algebra, so if he makes it into GSMST he'd be going into Geometry. From there he realized he'd be doing pre-calculus in 10th grade.

I had as much fun listening to him and watching his face as we listened as I did to the principal/AP/students talk. He doesn't care for the idea of having to STUDY quite so much, but he loved the idea of the 'extras' he'd get for doing so. By the end of the evening, we turned in his form for the lottery. Now we wait until Feb. 10th to see if he gets in.

On the other hand, I will mention that I was talking to another mom earlier this week. I mentioned putting him into GSMST and we ended up talking a bit. She had a friend who was looking at GSMST, but that student was more into the arts side of things than the science/math side. GSMST emphasizes the MATH side. If you have a student that is not interested in the MATH side, they may want to reconsider putting their name in the pot.

Also, there's only one chance to get in. Rising 9th graders are put into a lottery for 350 slots (they're expecting twice that number to apply). You either make it into the school at that point or you don't. You don't get a chance to get in after 9th grade. So here's hoping that we get in.

There's another information meeting in January. I may take hubby back next time so that he can hear the talk, we'll see. In the meantime, they do have the presentation they gave on their web site. If you have a rising 9th grader, you may want to consider looking at the site for information.