DALLAS — Megan Howard’s oldest son is the kind of teenager who studies trigonometry purely for fun. Yet, despite his soaring intellect, he found himself regularly avoiding the very institution designed to educate him.
The morning routine followed a draining, repetitive cycle. He would carefully get dressed, walk out to the car, and then completely freeze, refusing to step out of the vehicle once it pulled up to his middle school. His mother knew immediately that something had to change, prompting her to ultimately pull him out of the traditional public school system.
Her son, who is diagnosed with autism and ADHD, has never struggled with the academic rigor of homework or advanced math. What was missing entirely from his daily educational environment was a fundamental sense of belonging. Among the roughly 1,000 students attending his local public school, Howard noted, her son simply needed one reliable friend to anchor him—a connection that never materialized.
Her two sons fall into a distinct demographic known as twice-exceptional learners, a term used to describe children who are intellectually gifted while simultaneously managing learning differences or neurodevelopmental conditions such as dyslexia, ADHD, or autism. Nationwide, an estimated 360,000 students make up this unique population. For years, parents within this community have struggled intensely to find classrooms and educational philosophies capable of simultaneously catering to both their children’s advanced intellectual capacities and their complex socioemotional needs.
That ongoing educational dilemma is precisely what motivated the creation of the Sage School of Dallas, a new private institution that stands as one of the few schools in the entire country dedicated explicitly to serving twice-exceptional learners.
"Either you can find a place that has rigorous academics, or you can find a therapy school that is really about social-emotional learning," Howard said, reflecting on her years of searching. "There was never a place that did both."
Over the past few decades, society’s understanding of special education has deepened significantly, and the overall number of students qualifying for specialized educational services has climbed sharply. However, even with this increased public awareness and institutional recognition, a pressing question continues to loom over educators and parents alike: Are mainstream schools truly equipped to offer the multifaceted support that twice-exceptional learners require to thrive?
"Until Sage was around, there wasn’t a school that met all of their needs, so you were always trying to make it work," said Jessica Rall, one of the co-founders of the Sage School. "These students and families need a place where they don’t just have to make it work."
An Unexpected Combination Within One Person
The terminology surrounding twice-exceptional learners has steadily gained traction as researchers have expanded their studies on neurodiversity. According to estimates from the National Association for Gifted Children, approximately 6% of all students who receive special education services are also academically gifted.
"It’s a phenomenon," said Jacob Michaelson, a psychiatry and neuroscience professor at the University of Iowa. "There is kind of this unexpected combination within one person of extreme ability in one aspect and extreme disability in another."
Simultaneously, the sheer volume of students identified with disabilities has shot up across the country, pointing to a trend where educators have grown more adept at recognizing specific student needs, and parents have become increasingly willing to seek out vital support systems. Contextual data from Texas highlights this massive shift: during the 2014-15 academic year, public schools across the state educated 451,600 students with disabilities. By the most recent school year, that figure had skyrocketed to 911,300 students enrolled in special education programs.
Yet, despite these rising numbers, twice-exceptional learners frequently fly completely under the radar. Their high intellect often acts as a protective shield, masking their underlying learning differences and neurodivergence. Because their daily struggles rarely manifest as poor test scores or academic failure, overworked and under-resourced educators may pay less attention to their hidden vulnerabilities, Michaelson explained.
"You get the impression: Oh my gosh, this person is really smart," Michaelson said. "Pero that masks the fact that they do have other deficits that are not as apparent."
Even when parents are fully aware that their child is twice-exceptional, they often find themselves trapped in a systemic maze trying to figure out where the child truly belongs. Do they belong in an accelerated, competitive gifted and talented program, or should they be placed in a specialized education program designed for learning disabilities?
Howard experienced this agonizing dilemma firsthand. She had no doubt that her oldest son possessed the raw intellect to thrive in the rigorous math classes offered at the School for the Talented and Gifted, a highly competitive magnet school within the Dallas Independent School District. Her primary fear, however, was that he would become entirely isolated and fall hopelessly behind from a social standpoint.
Meanwhile, her younger son lives with selective mutism, an anxiety disorder that paralyzes his ability to speak in specific social situations. For him, Howard desperately wanted a learning environment characterized by smaller, more intimate group settings rather than vast, overwhelming hallways.
"Academics was never the issue for my kids," Howard said. "I needed them to go to school more for social reasons."
A Private School Steps In
Kristen Dauphinais deeply relates to the exhausting frustrations felt by parents like Howard. Because her own child is a twice-exceptional learner, she understands intimately how difficult it is to locate a traditional educational facility capable of satisfying both high-level academic curiosity and delicate socioemotional requirements.
That shared frustration is precisely why she joined forces with other educators and advocates to build an institution that could bridge that divide.
"We always joke that, like, these kids just have to cook a little differently," Dauphinais said. "We’re the oven. We built an oven to cook these kids a little differently."
On a quiet October morning inside the school, two high school students hovered intently over a communal table dotted with worksheets, calculators, and scattered pencils. As part of an interactive physics lesson, the boys were tasked with constructing a functional projectile launcher. Bending down closely, they carefully inspected their makeshift machine before slipping a small ball into the apparatus.
To their visible excitement, the ball launched successfully from the table, soaring across the room and landing just short of their initial mathematical estimates. For these students, the moment combined applied mechanics with genuine joy.
The academic approach at the school is entirely inquiry-based, allowing students to investigate the questions they naturally ask and explore topics as deeply as their curiosity demands, according to Mandi Skerbetz, the head of the school. To cap off the academic day, students participate in specialized clubs that cater to their specific niche interests, ranging from chess and Pokémon to strategic tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons.
Crucially, socioemotional learning is not treated as an afterthought; it is intentionally baked into the core curriculum, Skerbetz emphasized. Students regularly engage in structured lessons focused on interpersonal communication, working through interactive role-playing exercises to navigate tricky social scenarios, and discussing concrete ways to apply those communication strategies to their real-world lives outside the classroom.
During one morning session, a student easily recited back to Skerbetz an acronym the class had thoroughly analyzed earlier in the month: THINK. Before speaking or reacting, the student explained that he pauses to ask himself a simple series of questions: Is what I am about to say true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind?
When the Sage School first opened its doors last year, it began with a modest cohort of just four students. Today, enrollment has grown to 11 students supported by four full-time teachers and one part-time educator. Operating out of a designated space within a church located in Far North Dallas, the accredited private institution serves students ranging from the fifth grade all the way through 12th grade.
Gaining admission requires a comprehensive application process, with school leadership carefully evaluating cognitive assessments, historical academic records, parent reports, individual student interviews, and campus visits. The specialized education comes with a substantial investment, requiring an annual tuition of $35,000 per student.
Navigating the Broader Educational Landscape
Before launching the Sage School, its founders reached out to the very small handful of established twice-exceptional schools scattered across the country, exchanging pedagogical concepts, administrative ideas, and foundational philosophies. Among those institutions, its closest aspirational peer is Bridges Academy, located in Southern California.
When Bridges Academy was originally founded in 1994, it started small with just three students learning inside the founder’s living room. Over the decades, the institution has expanded dramatically, growing into a comprehensive campus serving 200 students while also operating an online school, an academic research center, a media site, and various community outreach programs.
Mark Long, the head of school at Bridges Academy, has watched the conversation surrounding neurodiversity evolve significantly over the years, noting that terminology like "twice-exceptionality" and "neurodiversity" has entered the mainstream lexicon with increasing frequency.
"There’s an understanding around what it is," Long said. "There might not be an understanding of what to do with it, but there’s an awareness."
The college-preparatory school’s curriculum is intentionally designed to be flexible to accommodate different learning profiles, Long explained. For instance, rather than forcing a student to demonstrate mastery through a traditional 2,000-word essay, an instructor might allow the individual to deliver a comprehensive oral presentation or produce a short documentary film. Mirroring the philosophy of the Sage School, Bridges Academy intentionally blocks out dedicated time during the regular school day to help students systematically develop essential social skills, including teamwork, emotional regulation, and public speaking.
Like its Texas counterpart, Bridges Academy carries a significant financial barrier to entry, with annual tuition costing roughly $61,200 for its physical campus and $37,500 for its virtual learning program.
However, Long stresses that this high price tag should not mean that families lacking financial means are entirely boxed out of specialized support. To address this, Bridges Academy regularly offers dedicated consulting services to both public and private school districts. The institution is frequently "inundated" with inquiries as school systems from coast to coast struggle to figure out how to properly identify and serve twice-exceptional learners within their existing structures, Long noted.
Public school systems have undeniably made strides in recent years. For example, Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland has earned a reputation for offering some of the most comprehensive services for twice-exceptional learners in the country, including specialized self-contained classrooms.
In Texas public schools, twice-exceptional students are legally eligible to participate in advanced gifted and talented programs while simultaneously receiving the specific accommodations outlined in their individualized education programs, commonly known as IEPs. An IEP is a legally binding document that mandates how a public school district must fulfill a child’s unique educational needs. Under state guidelines regarding gifted education, Texas educators are also expected to actively modify their standard curricula to support twice-exceptional students.
Furthermore, several North Texas districts—including Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD and Arlington ISD—have implemented universal screening programs. Universal screening is widely considered a vital tool for properly identifying twice-exceptional learners because it tests every single student in a grade level rather than relying solely on individual referrals from teachers, which often miss neurodivergent children who mask their difficulties.
"These kids are clever. They’re game-changers," Long said. "We have a moral obligation to make sure that every child across the United States and beyond reaches their potential."
Finding the Dream School
For Megan Howard, the search for an educational home felt exhausting and endless. She seriously considered homeschooling her children, enrolled them in traditional public schools, and even sent one of her sons to a private college-preparatory academy. For the longest time, the concept of a "dream school" that could handle her children’s complex needs felt like a complete myth.
Then, during a routine internet search, she stumbled across the newly formed Dallas campus and decided to take a chance. The Sage School, she cautiously hoped, might finally be the place capable of supporting children just like hers.
Initially, she experienced natural anxieties about pulling her children away from established educational routines to enroll in a brand-new, unproven school. The steep tuition also brought a wave of sticker shock, particularly because the school does not yet have a robust financial aid program in place. To make it work, Howard consulted with financial planners to meticulously evaluate whether her family could sustain the cost.
Ultimately, she concluded that the financial and personal sacrifices were deeply worth it.
When she watches her oldest son independently studying advanced calculus, she knows his towering intellect is finally being appropriately challenged. When she sees that he has successfully forged genuine friendships, she feels an overwhelming sense of relief. And when she watches him confidently advocate for his own needs, she feels immense pride.
It is precisely for these reasons that Howard wishes every family and student who needs it could find access to an environment like the Sage School.
