| Sycamore School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 1750 West 64th Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46260 |
|
| Information | |
| School type | Private Gifted Education |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Head of School | Diane Borgmann |
| Grades | EC - 8th |
| Enrollment | 390 (June, 2011) |
| Language | English |
| Color(s) | Red and Blue |
| Team name | Sycamore Eagles |
| Website | http://www.sycamoreschool.org |
Sycamore School is a private independent school in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States for academically gifted children. It was founded in 1985.[1]
Sycamore is one of few schools in the nation, and the only private school in the state of Indiana, where all academics and activities are designed for gifted kids preschool through eighth grade. [2]
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Sycamore School exists so that academically gifted children can experience the enriched, accelerated education they need to reach their potential and to lead responsible, constructive, fulfilling lives.[3]
Gifted learners have special intellectual, social, and emotional needs. They need an open, enriched educational environment designed to develop superior thinking skills and the opportunity to complete a broad range of academic and artistic projects and products. The curriculum should offer greater complexity, more depth, and a faster pace than is typical. Students should have stimulating interaction with their intellectual peers and be encouraged to develop the skills and character traits of creative, productive, contributing members of society. Sycamore School values its positive, enthusiastic school climate that supports and nurtures school life.
Sycamore School provides a full-time educational program to meet the needs of academically gifted students. The faculty sets criteria for evaluating students' academic progress, and it promotes and expects the development of personal responsibility, task commitment, self-discipline, independent learning, and respectful conduct. High standards of behavior and performance, as well as high aptitude, are expected.
Sycamore has an ongoing commitment to leadership in developing and improving teaching methods, learning strategies, and curricula in gifted education. Its teachers are dedicated to learning from others in gifted education and to sharing their experience and expertise with the larger community for the educational enrichment of all children.
In 2010, the The Sycamore 7th/8th grade Knowledge Master Team ranked 1st out of 31 schools in Indiana, and 11th out of 700 schools internationally. Sycamore School is the reigning National Champions in the Small School Division.
In 2010, a group of Sycamore 8th graders competed in the annual State Spanish competition, or Concurso Academico, hosted by the Indiana chapter of the American Association of the Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. Even though there was a middle school division at the competition, Sycamore students competed at the high school level, in all High School Level 2 events, testing their Spanish skills against high school sophomores and juniors. In the "Scrambled Sentences" event two students placed first; in "Vocabulary" one placed third; in "Non-Stop Conversation" two paired groups won 2nd and 4th places; and in "Impromptu Speaking" one placed third.
The Sycamore 5th/6th grade team competed in the spring 2010 Knowledge Masters Open contest, and Sycamore, ranked first in the state of Indiana, finished third in the nation out of 368 schools, including some schools in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and Korea. Sycamore's team was only three points behind the first place team from a middle school with a student body of 1300 students. In the Winer, 2010 contest, Sycamore placed first in the state of Indiana, 3rd in the nation overall and first in the nation for the Small School Division.
In 2008, The Sycamore 7/8 Knowledge Master team earned the national championship title of the Small School Division in this year's Knowledge Master's fall competition. The team scored of 1553 out of 2000 possible points, ranking them 1st out of 27 schools in Indiana and 14th out of 700 schools internationally.[4]
At the Mathcounts 2007 event, the four person Indiana MathCounts team included two Sycamore students, Richard N. and Lyndon J., and came in 2nd place in the nation out of 97 teams.[5]