Colorado Nesties
WonderRed
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Challenge School? (or moms with kids in GT magnet schools)
N was selected for admissions screening & testing at the Challenge School. Does anyone know anything about them and what, specifically, this entails? I'm not really worried about his actual skills & knowledge so much as how the screening is structured and him actually being willing to cooperate with it. He sometimes completely clams up in new situations if he doesn't know what to expect going into them and I at least want him to be comfortable.
Anyone have experience with this school or GT magnet schools in general?
TIA
ETA: I'm embarrassed at how behind I am on this. I sent his application in to get it out of the house before we moved but am not attending their information session until the week before his screening. Way to go mom. 
Re: Challenge School? (or moms with kids in GT magnet schools)
I just read up on the school based on your FB post - it sounds cool! and that application is intense! I would think (without having experience in this) that the testers would be experienced with different methods of dealing with GT kids as they have to see a whole spectrum. I would talk with N and maybe just let him know that someone will be asking him quetions and maybe asking him to write or tell stories... ??
We were behind the 8 ball as well for the GT program and unless you're actively searching for information I don't find the schools to publish the info in a timely manner. (at least for our Jeffco school)
Not sure this helps, but B's pre-K testing is the same testing they do for G&T (as the school phsych told us) and I believe was developed in Maryland, but I can't remember now.
Basically it was a test on memory, details, and how the brain works - not a true academic test. So like the tester would tell a story about a funny looking blue fish named Avy and then B would have to pick out Avy on a picture, then the next time they would add a story about an eel named Jem and B would pick out Avy and Jem on the next picture...this went on until I was confused and B was picking out 15+ different crazy looking/named characters and making up his own stories. There were other parts of the assessment also, but I wasn't there for most of the them (4 hours long at least). It basically is a verbal one-on-one check of what the kid knows and how they think with some math, letters, etc. mixed in. I guess most of these tests check everything from imagination to understanding of number theory.
I wouldn't worry about cooperation - if the tester is used to gifted kids, they will probably have no problem getting N to talk with them. B felt very special to get one-on-one with a teacher and his only complaint was that his "finger was tired from pointing so much."
ETA - I reread and didn't really answer your questions - I don't know about The Challenge School or their particular testing...just know that the testing B had to get into K early was also the same set of tests that our school district uses for admission into G&T.
Are you united with the CCOKCs?
Our assessment interview is only 30 minutes so I know they aren't doing a full blown, formal evaluation.
Ditto AugustBride. I worked at the DPS GT magnet last year and many of our kiddos were twice exceptional or just tended to be non-compliant at times because, like AB said, they are different. I'm sure the people you'll be meeting and working with will understand because they know that most GT kids don't always fit into society's typical box surrounding the rigidity of school.
Sounds very exciting, GL!