DALLAS — Megan Howard’s son is the kind of kid who studies trigonometry for pure enjoyment. Yet, despite his advanced mathematical aptitude, he found himself facing a daily hurdle that threatened his education: he was actively avoiding school.
The morning routine became a grueling emotional battle. He would carefully get dressed, walk toward the front door, and then flatly refuse to leave the house. When his mother managed to get him into the car and pull up to the curbside of his middle school, he would freeze, visibly hesitating to take a single step out. Recognizing that the environment was inflicting a heavy psychological toll, his mother knew something fundamental had to change. Ultimately, she made the difficult decision to pull him out entirely.
Her son, who is diagnosed with autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), has never had any trouble keeping up with homework or mastering complex academic concepts. What was missing from the traditional public school equation was a basic sense of belonging. Among the roughly 1,000 students walking the halls of his public school, Howard recalled, her son did not need special treatment or extraordinary accommodations—he simply needed to find one single friend.
Her two sons fall into a unique and often misunderstood category known as twice-exceptional learners. These are students who are intellectually gifted while simultaneously managing learning differences or neurodivergence, such as dyslexia, ADHD, or autism. Nationwide, an estimated 360,000 students make up this distinct population. For their parents, navigating the educational landscape is an ongoing struggle to find a single classroom capable of simultaneously catering to a child’s advanced intellect and their complex socioemotional needs.
That is the exact gap that a new private school, the Sage School of Dallas, has stepped in to fill. It stands as one of the few institutions in the entire country dedicated specifically to serving this niche population of 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 exhausting search. "There was never a place that did both."
Over the past few decades, the nation’s understanding of special education has deepened significantly, and the overall number of students qualifying for specialized services has climbed. Yet, even with this increased awareness, a pressing question remains for educators and families alike: Are typical 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 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 steadily gained traction as researchers have expanded their focus on neurodiversity. The National Association for Gifted Children estimates that 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 raw number of students diagnosed with disabilities has surged across the country, suggesting that educators have grown more adept at recognizing individual needs while parents have become more proactive in seeking out institutional support. In the 2014-15 school year, Texas public schools served 451,600 students with disabilities. By the most recent school year, that figure had skyrocketed to 911,300 students enrolled in special education programs.
However, twice-exceptional learners routinely fly under the radar. Their high intellect often masks their learning differences, meaning their daily struggles are rarely reflected in standard test scores. As a result, overworked and under-resourced educators may pay less attention to their hidden vulnerabilities, Professor Michaelson noted.
"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, deciding where to place them remains a daunting puzzle. Do they belong in an accelerated gifted and talented program designed for high achievers, or a special education program tailored for developmental needs?
Howard had no doubt that her oldest son would thrive academically in the rigorous math classes 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 fall desperately behind on a social level. Meanwhile, her younger son deals with selective mutism, an anxiety disorder that prevents him from speaking in specific social situations. For him, she desperately wanted an educational setting with smaller group sizes where he felt safe enough to communicate.
"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 frustrations voiced by parents like Howard. Because her own child is a twice-exceptional learner, she understands firsthand how grueling the search for an appropriate school can be—one that balances advanced academics with intentional socioemotional development.
That shared frustration is precisely why she helped launch a school built 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 a quiet October morning at the school, two high school students hovered intently over 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 side-by-side, carefully inspected their makeshift machine, and slipped a ball into place.
To their visible excitement, the projectile launched across the room, hitting its mark. Even better, the distance it traveled fell just short of their mathematical estimates, giving them fresh data to analyze.
The learning model at the school is entirely "inquiry-based," allowing students to dive as deeply into their own questions as their curiosity dictates, according to Mandi Skerbetz, the head of school. To round out the day, the schedule concludes with student-run clubs ranging from chess and Pokémon to Dungeons & Dragons.
Crucially, socioemotional learning is not an afterthought; it is baked directly into the daily curriculum, Skerbetz explained. Students participate in targeted lessons on how to interact productively with peers, work through communication strategies, role-play tricky social scenarios, and discuss ways to apply those interpersonal tools to their everyday lives.
Earlier that morning, a student eagerly recited back to Skerbetz an acronym the class had studied throughout the month: THINK. Before speaking in a group setting, he explained, he pauses to ask himself a series of guiding 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 operated with just four students. Today, enrollment has grown to 11 students, supported by four full-time teachers and one part-time teacher. Fully accredited and housed inside a church building in Far North Dallas, the institution serves students spanning fifth through 12th grades.
Admission requires a thorough application process, with school leaders evaluating comprehensive cognitive assessments, academic records, detailed parent reports, student interviews, and campus visits. Tuition is set at $35,000 per academic year.
How Other Schools Serve Twice-Exceptional Students
Before launching the Sage School, its founders reached out to the handful of established twice-exceptional schools operating across the country to exchange operational ideas and educational frameworks. They identified their "closest aspirational peer" as Bridges Academy, located in Southern California.
When Bridges Academy first opened its doors in 1994, it started modestly with only three students learning inside the founder’s living room. Over the decades, it has expanded into a comprehensive institution serving 200 students, featuring a physical campus, an online school program, a dedicated research center, and a media site.
Mark Long, the head of school at Bridges Academy, has observed that terminology surrounding the field—such as "twice-exceptionality" and "neurodiversity"—has entered the mainstream lexicon much more frequently in recent years.
"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 maintain high levels of flexibility, Long noted. For instance, rather than forcing a student to write a traditional 2,000-word essay to demonstrate mastery, an instructor might allow them to deliver an oral presentation or produce a short film. Much like the Sage School, Bridges Academy schedules dedicated blocks of time during the school day specifically aimed at helping students develop practical social competencies, such as teamwork and public speaking.
That level of tailored programming, however, also comes with a significant price tag. Annual tuition at Bridges Academy runs roughly $61,200 for its in-person campus and $37,500 for its online division.
Long emphasizes that high tuition costs should not mean that families lacking financial means are entirely boxed out of specialized support. To address this, Bridges Academy offers consulting services to both public and private school systems. He noted that the institution is constantly "inundated" with inquiries as school districts from coast to coast struggle to figure out how to properly identify and serve twice-exceptional learners.
Public school districts, for their part, have made measurable strides. For example, Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland is widely recognized for offering some of the most comprehensive public services for twice-exceptional students, including dedicated self-contained classrooms.
In Texas public schools, twice-exceptional students are legally permitted to participate in advanced gifted and talented programs while simultaneously receiving specialized accommodations outlined in their individualized education programs (IEPs). An IEP is a legally binding document that dictates how a public school district must accommodate a child’s specific needs. Under state guidelines for gifted education, Texas educators are also expected to modify standard curricula to support the unique profiles of twice-exceptional students.
Furthermore, several North Texas districts—including Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD and Arlington ISD—have instituted universal screening programs. Universal screening is considered vital for accurately identifying twice-exceptional learners because it requires testing every single student rather than relying solely on individual teacher referrals.
"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 finding an institutional fit, Howard weighed numerous options, from homeschooling to enrolling her children in standard public schools. One of her sons even tried out a private college-preparatory school. For a long time, the concept of a "dream school" felt entirely out of reach, as though it simply did not exist.
Then, during a routine internet search, she stumbled across a newly established local campus and decided to take a chance. The Sage School, she began to realize, might actually be the place capable of supporting children whose minds work like her sons’.
Initially, she harbored understandable anxieties about pulling her children out of established schools to gamble on a brand-new institution. The high cost of tuition also brought a degree of sticker shock, particularly because the school does not yet offer financial aid programs. To make it work, Howard consulted with financial planners to determine if her family could shoulder the expense.
Ultimately, she concluded that the personal and financial sacrifices were entirely worth it.
When she watches her oldest son dive into studying advanced calculus at home, she knows his intellectual curiosity is finally being challenged. When she sees that he has successfully made friends, a profound sense of relief washes over her. And when she watches him stand up and advocate for his own needs, she feels an overwhelming sense of pride.
That is why Howard ultimately wishes that "every student could go to a Sage who needs it."
