Our daughter received psycho-educational testing when she was six. She was found to be a gifted learner, though not the standard kind we read about in the media, as she had some variation in her learning strengths and weaknesses. She is now 11 and the intervening time has been marked with frustration (and occasionally heartache) with Vancouver’s private school system for gifted learners. With heartfelt thanks to Roger Brunson and Kristin Harbut and the entire staff at Magnussen, our story has a happier ending than we ever thought possible.

Before we found Magnussen, we were beginning to despair of ever finding a school that was able or willing to implement the specific recommendations of our testing psychologist, despite claims made of gifted expertise and individualization. In our experience, the other schools are surprisingly unfamiliar with the research of the last 20 years on what works best for these children (the Lower Mainland in general seems to lag inexplicably behind the times). Despite an extensive body of literature on these kids, we were repeatedly confronted with outdated ways of thinking about giftedness that adhered tightly to the stereotypes.

Having tried all of the other schools, we have found that Magnussen is the only school in Vancouver that genuinely understands and nurtures the talents of gifted learners, especially the majority who don’t fit the gifted stereotype. Magnussen combines innovation, depth of knowledge and genuine vision with a deep caring for children in all their different varieties. Some gifted programs clearly value the high achievers over the children with high potential. At Magnussen, all the children are valued and the staff works diligently to unlock the potential of each and every one.

While many other schools for gifted learners tend to take standard public school material and simply pile on more and more of it, the teachers at Magnussen excel at presenting genuinely interesting, intellectually advanced material in a way that the children can assimilate and understand. From the Shakespeare study to the hands-on high school level science, to the innovative approach to math, to writer’s festival field trips and the enriched art program, in so many ways Magnussen has kept our daughter wonderfully engaged and interested.

Our testing psychologist led us to understand that non-standard gifted children thrive best emotionally when the emphasis is placed on the child’s gifts and strengths. In practice we found that, if a school is to accomplish this, the teachers must be able to carefully observe each child and to individualize their programs. We are so delighted to have found Magnussen because it is the first school our daughter has attended that actually does this, and we are overjoyed to see what a difference it has made in our daughter’s happiness and self-confidence. This confidence has extended itself to her motivation to work and as a result her grades have never been higher.

The students at Magnussen are valued for who they are, not just for what they can do. The teachers and administration create a truly exceptionally warm, friendly, nurturing, accepting environment. Like many gifted children, our daughter is very sensitive and an emotional learner, and the atmosphere they strive to create is just right for her. I believe that Magnussen feels to her like her family away from home. I have never seen her so enthusiastic to go to school every day, and in such a good mood when she comes home. Magnussen also does an outstanding job of encouraging positive peer relations.

We have been at Magnussen for nearly a full school year, and we’ve been so impressed with the way they are supporting her for her transition to high school, in one more year. They’ve been so alert to her passions and talents, have already in grade 6 provided us with some wonderful suggestions for specific mini-schools, and have shown their desire to help prepare her for her applications. The overwhelming feeling is of how much they care about her and about setting her on the right life’s path. I can’t thank them enough for how much they’ve gone above and beyond. My only regret is that we didn’t find them sooner.

“Our son hated getting up in the mornings, and going to school was a nightmare. He was bored and underperformed at school. After getting him assessed by an educational psychologist, we discovered that he has not only a learning disability, but he is gifted as well. His school was not able to accommodate such a “twice exceptional” learner. We tested a few schools in the Lower Mainland. After his second test day at Magnussen, he was sold. What a difference! He likes going to school; he likes to learn. The teachers at Magnussen are outstanding. The teaching approach simply works. We are very happy with Magnussen!”