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Students in David Mueller\u2019s physics class complete predictions on their projectile launchers at the Sage School of Dallas in Dallas, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Megan Howard\u2019s son is the kind of kid who studies trigonometry for fun. So why was he avoiding school?\u00a0<\/p>\n
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He would get dressed, then refuse to leave the house. The car would pull up to his middle school, then he would hesitate to step out. His mom knew something had to change, so she pulled him out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Related: What is a twice-exceptional learner? A Dallas private school wants to serve them<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Her son, with autism and ADHD, has no trouble with homework. What was missing was a sense of belonging. Among the 1,000 students attending his public school, Howard said, he just needed one friend.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her two sons are considered twice-exceptional learners<\/a>, which means they are intellectually gifted but also have learning differences, such as dyslexia, ADHD or autism. An estimated 360,000 students nationwide<\/a> make up this population. Parents may struggle to find a classroom that can cater to both their child\u2019s high intellect and socioemotional needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s where a new private school, the Sage School of Dallas, steps in. It\u2019s one of the few in the country dedicated to serving these students.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEither you can find a place that has rigorous academics, or you can find a therapy school that is really \u2026 about social emotional learning,\u201d Howard said. \u201cThere was never a place that did both.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: Thousands of Texas students with disabilities returned voucher funds<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Over the past few decades, the country\u2019s understanding of special education has deepened, and the number of students who qualify for these services has jumped. But with increased awareness, a pressing question remains: Are schools equipped to offer the support twice-exceptional learners need?\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUntil Sage was around, there wasn’t a school that met all of their needs. So you were always trying to make it work,\u201d said Jessica Rall, one of the founders of the Sage School. \u201cThese students and families need a place where they don’t just have to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n An \u2018unexpected combination\u2019 within one person<\/p>\n The term \u201ctwice-exceptional learner\u201d has gained traction, as more research emerged on the group. The National Association for Gifted Children estimates approximately 6% of students receiving special education services are also academically gifted.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a phenomenon,\u201d said Jacob Michaelson, a psychiatry and neuroscience professor at the University of Iowa. \u201cThere is kind of this unexpected combination within one person of extreme ability in one aspect and extreme disability in another.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n At the same time, the number of students with disabilities has shot up across the country, suggesting educators have gotten better at recognizing needs and parents are more willing to seek out support. In the 2014-15 school year, Texas public schools taught 451,600 students with disabilities. In the most recent school year, there were 911,300 students in special education programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n But twice-exceptional learners tend to fly under the radar, because their high intellect hides their learning differences. Their struggles aren\u2019t reflected in test scores, so overworked educators may pay less attention to them, Michaelson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou get the impression: Oh my gosh, this person is really smart,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that masks the fact that they do have other deficits that are not as apparent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Texas\u2019 first year of school vouchers is starting. Students with disabilities find hope, but face obstacles<\/a><\/p>\n Even if parents know their child is twice-exceptional, they may struggle to figure out where to place them. Do they belong in a gifted program? Or a special education program?<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Howard had no doubt her oldest son would thrive in the rigorous math classes at School for the Talented and Gifted, Dallas ISD\u2019s competitive magnet school. She just worried he would fall behind socially.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her younger son has selective mutism, an anxiety disorder that prevents him from speaking in certain situations. His mom wanted him to learn in an environment with smaller groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAcademics was never the issue for my kids,\u201d Howard said. \u201cI needed them to go to school more for social reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n A private school steps in<\/p>\n Kristen Dauphinais relates to the frustrations of parents, like Howard. Her child is a twice-exceptional learner, so she knows how hard it is to find a school that can meet both the academic and socioemotional needs.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n That\u2019s why she helped start one that could.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe always joke that, like, these kids just have to cook a little differently,\u201d Dauphinais said. \u201cWe\u2019re the oven. We built an oven to cook these kids a little differently.\u201d<\/p>\n Students in David Mueller\u2019s physics class complete predictions on their projectile launchers at the Sage School of Dallas in Dallas, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026.<\/p>\n Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n On an October morning, two high school students hovered around a table dotted with worksheets, calculators and pencils. As part of a physics lesson, the boys constructed a projectile launcher. They leaned down, inspected the makeshift machine, and slipped a ball in.\u00a0<\/p>\n To their excitement, it flew from the table to the side of the room. And even better \u2014\u00a0 the distance it traveled was just short of their estimates.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The learning is \u201cinquiry-based,\u201d so students can explore the questions they ask as in-depth as they want, said Mandi Skerbetz, head of school. The school day ends with clubs, ranging from chess to Pokemon to Dungeons & Dragons.\u00a0<\/p>\n The socioemotional learning is built into the curriculum, Skerbetz said. Students take lessons on how to interact with others. They think through communication strategies, role play tricky social situations, and consider ways to apply the instruction to their real lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n That morning, one student recited back to Skerbetz the acronym the class had pored over earlier this month: THINK. Before he says something, he asks himself: Is it true? Helpful? Inspiring? Necessary? Kind?\u00a0<\/p>\n When it opened last year, the school had four students. Now, there are 11 students, four full-time teachers and one part-time teacher. The accredited school, housed in a church in Far North Dallas, serves fifth through 12th grades.\u00a0<\/p>\n Students must apply to gain admission, and the school leaders consider cognitive assessments, academic records, parent reports, interviews and visits. It costs $35,000 each year to attend.<\/p>\n Teacher Anna Smith leads a discussion during a English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies seventh and eighth grade class at the Sage School of Dallas in Dallas, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026.<\/p>\n Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n How do other schools serve twice-exceptional students?<\/p>\n Before starting the Sage School, the founders reached out to the handful of twice-exceptional schools that existed across the country, trading ideas and concepts. Its \u201cclosest aspirational peer\u201d is Bridges Academy in Southern California.\u00a0<\/p>\n When that school started in 1994, there were only three students learning in the founder\u2019s home. Bridges Academy has since grown to 200 students, with a campus, an online school, a research center, media site and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Mark Long, head of school, has noticed that terms \u2014 like \u201ctwice-exceptionality\u201d and \u201cneurodiversity” \u2014 are used more frequently nowadays.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an understanding around what it is,\u201d he said. \u201cThere might not be an understanding of what to do with it, but there\u2019s an awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n The college-preparatory school\u2019s curriculum aims to be flexible, he said. For example, instead of a 2,000-word essay, the student could give an oral presentation or shoot a film. Similar to the Sage School, Bridges Academy blocks out time during the school day to help students develop social skills in areas like teamwork or public speaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bridges Academy also comes with a hefty price tag, with annual tuition<\/a> coming in at roughly $61,200 for its in-person campus and $37,500 for its online school.\u00a0<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean families who can\u2019t afford tuition should be boxed out, Long said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bridges Academy offers consulting services to public and private schools. It is \u201cinundated\u201d with inquiries, as districts \u2014 from coast to coast \u2014 figure out how to better serve twice-exceptional learners, Long said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Public schools have already made strides. For example, Montgomery County Public Schools, a district in Maryland, is known to offer some of the most comprehensive services for twice-exceptional learners, including self-contained classrooms<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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