Just What Kind of a School Do We Think We Are???!

Children, and for the purposes of this blog gifted children, come in many different shapes, sizes, with many different issues and needs.  And it is for that reason that our school is not a one-size-fits-all gifted school.  Way back a million years ago (okay, I'm exaggerating, it was a year ago, but we've been busy!), a design team echoed the wishes of community and teachers alike:  do NOT make Harriet Bishop a school-within-a-school for gifted students.  We had a charge - to become a gifted magnet, but keep the attendance area families intact.  That was no easy task - and that meant that we really, really, really needed to take a look at best research in gifted education and put together a school that would benefit all students.
Harriet Bishop's mission is to create critical thinkers, and twenty-first century citizens.  We have designed a school which embraces the practices of gifted education for every one of its students (because gifted education has been and continues to be best practices education for all!).  Through purposeful and flexible clustering (both words are extremely important here!), and proactive and carefully considered differentiation, we are designing education for our students which takes into account the students' needs and interests, and takes all students to their next level of learning. 
Gifted students cannot be left to their own devices when it comes to learning.  Yes, some gifted students are very independent in their learning, but that doesn't mean that they should EVER be left to do the learning on their own while we put our time into others' learning.  Those students deserve the same opportunity to grow and stretch and learn as any other student, regardless of ability level, motivation level, talent level...any level.  Harriet Bishop has not ignored that; as a matter of fact, that exact point is at the forefront of our development as a school.  We believe that students need, crave, and eventually flourish given opportunity and challenge - and we are dedicated to bring those challenges to our students. 
So what kind of school do we think we are?  We are a school of widely varying students - and we'd be saying that even if we were a school-within-a-school or a school with only gifted students in it.  We're dedicated to recognizing that variation and building upon it.