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Topics: Grade Level: Elementary School , Grade Level: Middle School , Grade Level: Preschool

Website:	Summers-Knoll School (Ann Arbor, MI)
URL:	http://www.summers-knoll.org
Description:	Summers-Knoll School is a private coed day school for gifted students in grades K-8, located in Ann Arbor, Mich. Through individualized instruction, students can progress at their own academic pace and are not pitted competitively against each other, but challenged to improve relative to their own performances. Summers-Knoll students learn to take on increased responsibility for their own learning as they mature.
Comments:	Contributed by: Parent on 2/10/2010 Summers-Knoll is a fantastic environment for gifted children. The learning is highly individualized and inclusive of key skills that gifted children need to be successful. The math curriculum is outstanding, even hiring a Ph.D. to work with truly accelerated students. The all-school immersion learning themes tap into a gifted child's ability to synthesize data, think abstractly, develop creative problem solving and encourage children to work cohesively on teams. The staff is top-notch and really get gifted children. Highly recommended from this parent of a first grader! Contributed by: Parent on 4/2/2007 Summers-Knoll is a great school for a bright, creative child. It has a caring community of learners and families. However, it is not a school exclusively for gifted children nor is the curriculum challenging. They do not individualize curriculum. We were very disappointed with the math curriculum and reading curriculum. There is also no cohesive curriculum from K-8. Contributed by: Parent on 11/29/2004 Why we like SK: (1) it offers excellent program that allows kids to learn at their own comfortable pace, including opportunities to pursue more advance topics of interest that are typically taught several years above their so-called "grade level"; (2) ratio of teacher to students are typically 1:3 (or at most 1:4) in Math, and 1:12 in other subjects (3) students learn not only from their homeroom teacher, but other teachers, staff, friends, even parents and other community members who oftentimes pitch in to volunteer teaching kids interesting things in their unique fields. (4) theme-based curriculum helps kids learn and understand more deeply how things are inter-related, and how they work together in the real world. (5) It's probably the closest thing to homeschool there is, with its cozy and loving atmosphere, and everybody's helping each other. (6) learning is actually fun, because kids are not pitted against each other; they love to share what they know with each other. (7) SK doesn't always give fish to the hungry kids, but teach them how to fish. kids are not just fed with facts; but actually how to analyze them and deduce new things from them. Contributed by: Parent on 9/21/2004 SK has been the answer to our quest to find a school that can accomodate our bright, spirited :) child. The school challenges each child and brings out their natural love of learning, but never makes them feel stressed about whether they measure up to other classmates or whether they will get into the best Ivy League college. The focus is on engaging students in the intrinsic rewards of learning, not on simply using education as just a means to and end (e.g., a high paying job). Contributed by: Parent on 4/16/2004 Summers-Knoll has helped my child grow immensely. They really do try to meet each child's needs. Show All CommentsShow Less Comments

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