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Paving the way toward success

Prague school for gifted youth opens this September

By Hela Balínová
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
August 22nd, 2007 issue

VLADIMÍR WEISS/THE PRAGUE POST
Students at Cesta k úspěchu Elementary must pass a test in order to be admitted to the school, which will open next month.
VLADIMÍR WEISS/THE PRAGUE POST
Parents have been trying for years to open a Prague-based elementary school campus for their gifted children.
Cesta k úspěchu Elementary School

Pod Marjánkou 2
Prague 6
Tel.: 602 450 472
Web: www.skoladetem.cz

After years of failed attempts to get a private elementary school for gifted youth approved by the state, a group of parents has finally succeeded. Cesta k úspěchu Elementary School, which translates as “the way toward success,” is heading into its first official year this fall with about 30 students in two grades.
The schoolhouse in Prague 6 is run and financed by the Škola dětem Association, which was founded four years ago by parents who were dissatisfied with the level of education available in the country.
“Our children didn’t fit into the majority group at schools, and this is still considered something bad, even evil,” says Stanislav Svoboda, chairman of the association. “They were marked as ‘hyperactive’ and ‘problematic,’ as they still demanded some further explanations and discussions, and also represented an ideal target for bullying.”
The association submitted its first school plan to the Education Ministry in February 2004. The initial excitement of the project turned into disappointment three months later when then Minister Petra Buzková marked the project as “elitist” and didn’t approve the school’s charter.
But the families didn’t give up, and their school was finally given the green light by Miroslava Kopicová, who was appointed education minister last October.
“Obviously, with every new minister, the [aim] of the ministry’s conception changes slightly,” explains Karolína Svobodová, spokeswoman for the Education. “The tolerance for alternative methods and schools is highly individual.”
The ministry’s main goal, Svobodová adds, “is to support the integration of these kids, not their segregation.”
In Prague, there are only four elementary schools that feature a special first grade for gifted students, according to ministry records.
“The goal of our association was clear — to initiate and set up the first elementary school for gifted children with special educational needs in the Czech Republic,” says Svoboda, whose son David, now a high-school student, was transferred to home schooling after spending only six months at elementary school.
During a recent visit to the Cesta k úspěchu campus last June, a group of excited children, all speaking at once, were seated on the carpet in one of the classrooms. Their teacher, Zdeňka Dostálová, was patiently trying to explain the rules of a domino game. Later that day, each of these students would be taking a test to determine whether they’ll be accepted into the school.
“The test is suitable for children with communication difficulties,” says Jiří Tyl, vice-chairman of School to Children Association and a psychologist.
Students like the five playing dominoes on this particular June afternoon are considered children with “double exceptionality,” according to Tyl.
“They are extremely gifted and intelligent,” he explains. “On the other hand, they can suffer from ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder] or other learning disabilities.”
Markéta Příbrská is intimately familiar with the struggles associated with being the parent of a gifted child. She has a 7-year-old who learned the alphabet by the age of 2 and read his first words a year later.
“We can count ourselves lucky as our son David has no problems in the first grade, because he recognizes authority,” Příbrská says. “But he has been bored at school for more than half a year. [So] we decided not to waste his talent any more and we looked up this school online.” David is slated to enter a co-educational class at Cesta k úspěchu in September.
Just 16 new first-graders — eight girls and eight boys — will be admitted to Cesta k úspěchu this fall, administrators say. The school will also open one co-educational class for students who intend to transfer to the campus from a mainstream, public school.
Once a child is accepted into the school, they take a second test that helps administrators gauge the student’s academic level.
“Based on the results of the second test, we will put together an individual study plan for each child, and we will mainly focus on developing the talent, but at the same time, we will work on the disabilities too,” says Lenka Malířová, the school’s principal.
The school team includes two teachers, a psychologist and his assistant and a nurse.
“I want a young, dynamic group to be in charge of these children,” Svoboda says. He adds that their salary will be above-average and he plans to send them for special training regularly.
“The children need to feel on the move all the time, that they are still learning something,” says Eva Vondráková, a psychologist who has experience dealing with gifted children.
Svoboda points out that one of the main characteristics of the classes will be a large variety of activities. “They will work in small groups or individually, sit on the carpet and talk, then watch videos, then run around the courtyard,” he says.
The school charges 2,900 Kč ($140) a month in tuition. Almost all other costs for running the campus will be picked up by the Škola dětem Association. School leaders say they are currently looking for sponsors to help support Cesta k úspěchu activities.
 

Hela Balínová can be reached at hbalinova@praguepost.com


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