DALLAS — Megan Howard’s son is the kind of kid who studies trigonometry for fun. His advanced intellect means traditional homework is rarely a challenge, yet for months, he was actively avoiding school altogether.
The morning routine became a daily emotional hurdle. He would get dressed, walk to the door, and then refuse to leave the house. When the family car finally pulled up to his public middle school, he would hesitate, gripped by an invisible barrier, unable to step out. His mother knew something fundamental had to change, ultimately making the difficult decision to pull him out of the conventional educational system.
Her son, who is diagnosed with autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), had no academic hurdles to clear. What was entirely missing from his daily life was a sense of belonging. Among the roughly 1,000 students attending his public school, Howard said, her son did not need special academic remediation—he simply needed one friend.
Her two sons fall into a unique demographic known as twice-exceptional learners, a term used to describe students who are intellectually gifted but also live with learning differences, neurodivergence, or developmental conditions such as dyslexia, ADHD, or autism. Nationwide, an estimated 360,000 students make up this specific population. For their families, navigating the educational landscape often means engaging in a frustrating search for a classroom environment capable of simultaneously catering to both a child’s exceptionally high intellect and their complex socioemotional needs.
That is the exact gap that a specialized private institution, the Sage School of Dallas, has stepped in to fill. It operates as one of the very few schools in the country explicitly dedicated to serving these unique students.
“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 exhausting search. “There was never a place that did both.”
Over the past few decades, society’s understanding of special education has deepened significantly, and the sheer number of students who qualify for these specialized services has jumped across the nation. Yet, even with this increased awareness, a pressing question remains for educators and parents alike: Are traditional schools truly equipped to offer the comprehensive support that twice-exceptional learners require?
“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 term “twice-exceptional learner” has gained broader traction in recent years as more academic research has emerged focusing on this specific group. The National Association for Gifted Children estimates that approximately six percent of all students receiving special education services nationwide 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.”
At the same time, the number of students identified with disabilities has shot up across the country, suggesting that educators have grown more adept at recognizing learning differences and that parents are increasingly proactive in seeking out professional support. In the 2014-15 academic year, Texas public schools taught 451,600 students with disabilities. By the most recent school year, that figure had climbed to 911,300 students enrolled in special education programs across the state.
Despite these growing numbers, twice-exceptional learners frequently fly completely under the radar. Their high intellect often acts as a cloak, masking their underlying learning differences and neurodivergence. Because their struggles are rarely reflected in standardized test scores, overworked educators may pay less attention to their hidden vulnerabilities, Michaelson explained.
“You get the impression: Oh my gosh, this person is really smart,” he said. “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 routinely struggle to figure out where to place them within the standard educational grid. Do they belong in an advanced gifted and talented program? Or should they be placed in a specialized education program tailored for learning disabilities?
Howard had no doubt that her oldest son would thrive academically 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 hesitation stemmed from a deeper worry that he would fall desperately behind socially and emotionally.
Meanwhile, her younger son deals with selective mutism, an anxiety-related disorder that prevents a child from speaking in certain social situations. For him, his mother wanted an environment featuring smaller group sizes where he could feel safe to communicate at his own pace.
“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 daily frustrations experienced by parents like Howard. Because her own child is a twice-exceptional learner, she understands firsthand how difficult it is to find a school capable of simultaneously meeting both academic and socioemotional needs.
That shared frustration is precisely why she helped start an institution designed to do just that.
“We always joke that 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 an ordinary October morning at the school, two high school students hovered around a table covered with worksheets, calculators, and pencils. As part of a hands-on physics lesson, the boys were tasked with constructing a functional projectile launcher. They leaned down together, carefully inspected their makeshift machine, and slipped a ball into the apparatus.
To their clear excitement, the projectile flew from the table all the way to the far side of the room. Even better, the distance it traveled matched their calculated estimates almost perfectly.
Learning at the school is explicitly inquiry-based, allowing students to explore the specific questions they ask as deeply and thoroughly as they wish, according to Mandi Skerbetz, the head of school. To round out the day, the afternoon schedule concludes with student-led clubs, ranging from chess and Pokémon groups to Dungeons & Dragons campaigns.
Furthermore, socioemotional learning is directly woven into the core curriculum rather than treated as an afterthought, Skerbetz noted. Students take regular lessons focused on how to interact productively with others. They actively think through communication strategies, role-play tricky social situations, and consider practical ways to apply these behavioral instructions to their real lives outside of the classroom.
On that same morning, a student readily recited back to Skerbetz an acronym the class had studied earlier in the month: THINK. Before he says something to a peer or teacher, he trains himself to pause and ask a series of questions: Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind?
When the school first opened its doors last year, it began with just four students. Today, enrollment has grown to 11 students, supported by four full-time teachers and one part-time instructor. The accredited school, operating out of a church facility located in Far North Dallas, serves young people from the fifth grade through the 12th grade.
Prospective students must go through an application process to gain admission. School leaders evaluate cognitive assessments, historical academic records, parent reports, personal interviews, and campus visits. Tuition to attend the specialized institution is $35,000 per year.
How Do Other Schools Serve Twice-Exceptional Students?
Before founding the Sage School, the leadership team reached out to the handful of established twice-exceptional schools operating across the country, sharing ideas, frameworks, and operational concepts. Its closest aspirational peer is Bridges Academy, located in Southern California.
When that institution first opened its doors in 1994, it served just three students learning inside the home of its founder. Bridges Academy has since expanded significantly, growing into a comprehensive campus serving 200 students that also features an online school, a dedicated research center, and a media site.
Mark Long, the head of school at Bridges Academy, has noticed that terminology surrounding the community—such as “twice-exceptionality” and “neurodiversity”—has entered the mainstream and is being used far more frequently today than in the past.
“There’s an understanding around what it is,” he 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 designed to be highly flexible, Long explained. For instance, rather than forcing a student to write a traditional 2,000-word essay, an instructor might allow them to demonstrate their mastery of a subject by delivering an oral presentation or shooting a short documentary film. Similar to the model used at the Sage School, Bridges Academy schedules dedicated blocks of time during the school day to help students actively develop vital social skills, such as teamwork and public speaking.
Bridges Academy also comes with a significant price tag; annual tuition is roughly $61,200 for its in-person California campus and $37,500 for its virtual program.
Even so, Long emphasized that families who cannot afford private tuition should not be completely boxed out of receiving help. Bridges Academy offers consulting services to traditional public and private schools alike, finding itself “inundated” with inquiries from school districts stretching from coast to coast as educators figure out how to better serve twice-exceptional learners.
Public school systems have already made notable strides in certain regions. For example, Montgomery County Public Schools, a prominent district in Maryland, is widely recognized for offering some of the most comprehensive services for twice-exceptional learners, including specialized self-contained classrooms.
In the state of Texas, twice-exceptional public school students are legally permitted to participate in advanced gifted and talented programs while simultaneously receiving specialized accommodations outlined in their individualized education programs, commonly known as IEPs. An IEP is a legally binding document that details precisely how a school district intends to meet a child’s unique needs. Furthermore, state guidelines on serving gifted students dictate that educators are expected to modify standard curricula to support twice-exceptional learners.
Several North Texas school districts, including Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD and Arlington ISD, have implemented universal screening processes. Universal screening aids significantly in the identification of twice-exceptional learners because every single student is tested, rather than relying solely on individual referrals from busy classroom teachers.
“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
Before discovering alternatives, Howard considered homeschooling her children and enrolled them in traditional public schools. One of her sons even tried out a private college preparatory school. For the longest period of time, the concept of a “dream school” felt entirely out of reach, as if it did not exist.
Then, during a routine internet search, she stumbled upon information about a brand-new campus opening nearby and decided to give it a chance. The Sage School, she believed, might finally offer the environment required to support children like hers.
Naturally, she harbored initial concerns about shifting her children away from established educational institutions to join a brand-new program. The high cost of tuition caused severe sticker shock, particularly because the school does not yet offer formal financial aid. To make it work, Howard consulted with financial planners to determine if her household could manage the expense.
The personal sacrifices required to afford the tuition are entirely worth it, she said.
When she watches her oldest son independently studying calculus at home, she knows his mind is being properly challenged. When she observes that he has successfully made friends, she feels a profound sense of relief. And when she watches him stand up and advocate for his own needs, she feels immensely proud.
That is the primary reason why Howard ultimately wishes that every single student who needs this type of environment could have the opportunity to attend a school like Sage.
