On the destruction of America’s best high school
I&#x27;m not a fan of having dedicated &quot;gifted&quot; schools at any level. I attended a small magnet middle school that was ranked as the best public school in the state, but it was still the most toxic experience of my educational life. It&#x27;s false to assume that gifted students don&#x27;t bully other gifted students, and it&#x27;s false to assume that the teachers at these schools care more about students than they do about their own sense of status. When I went to a high school where half of my classes were with the &quot;gifted&quot; kids from middle school, and others were with &quot;normal&quot; students (especially electives like debate) - I realized that many of the &quot;normal&quot; kids were actually pretty cool and more relatable to me in many ways (similar economic class, having divorced parents, more open to punk&#x2F;hippy&#x2F;counter-cultures). I still learned fine in classes with these kids, and nobody bothered me for being &quot;smart&quot; (ie, getting good scores on tests). Probably because I wasn&#x27;t a condescending jerk who only ever socialized with other kids in the gifted program (like some of my other post-magnet school peers were).<p>The truth is: kids who are able to go to these specialized gifted schools, regardless of if the schools are merit-based or lottery - are frequently the same people who would have academic success anywhere. It&#x27;s people who have learned to pass tests, and people who have parents who take an active role in advocating for their child&#x27;s academic success.<p>All this said, one program I&#x27;m a huge advocate of having available for gifted kids: the option to attend community college instead of High School. Since community college students are there by choice, they tend to be both motivated and more mature than average high school students. They also tend to reflect the diversity of a community better than highschools which often serve specific, segregated areas.  Many of the community college professors I&#x27;ve had are extremely talented people (Retired professors from 4-year schools, working professionals) who only teach 1 or 2 small classes per semester, and do it out of love for teaching. In fact, I&#x27;ve taken probably 8-10 CC classes in my life and can&#x27;t remember a single bad professor. The same cannot be said from my experiences at a very well-regarded state university. Also, community college credits transfer easily to a 4-year college down the road. Even the non-transferable, vocational-type courses can be extremely rewarding for the experience, and they are often much better quality than what you can get at a high school anyhow.