The Mirman School

Mirman School for Gifted Children
Contendite Ad Astra "Reach for the Stars"
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Information
Type	Independent
Religious affiliation(s)	None
Established	1962
Headmaster	John Thomas West III
Enrollment	Lower School: 210 Upper School: 110
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Blue, White, Gray, and Maroon
Athletics	Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, Soccer, Flag Football, Track & Field
Mascot	The Mustang
Website	http://www.mirman.org

Mirman School for Gifted Children is an independent, co-educational school for gifted children located at 16180 Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles, California, United States with 330 pupils aged 5 to 14. Mirman School is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges WASC for grades 1-9.

History

The Mirman School was founded in 1962 by Dr. Norman and Mrs. Beverly Mirman, who started the school in their home. A year later, the school expanded to a facility on Pico Blvd. and classes were held there until the current Mulholland campus was opened in 1971. Soon after, at its new location, the school expanded to contain a middle school located on the same campus.

School structure

Mirman is one of a handful of schools for the highly gifted (IQ of 145 or above) in the United States. Instead of having traditional grade levels, Mirman School consists of a lower school and an upper school; the lower containing rooms 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 and the upper consisting of four years. Each lower school classroom contains approximately 18 students in Rooms 1 to 25 students in Rooms 5. Some of these students leave after the second year of Upper School and matriculate to a conventional seventh grade class. However, the administration of the school encourages students to stay through Fourth Year Upper School when they can matriculate to either 9th or 10th grade, or in some instances seek early admission to various colleges.

Lower School

At the Lower School, there are two classes for each academic level (or grade). Each class has a primary teacher and assistant teacher who instruct the students in reading, mathematics, English, history, social studies and other miscellaneous subjects. In addition, there are additional teacher/specialists who teach separate classes covering science, drama, music, computer skills, and Spanish. There is a strong emphasis on community service, good citizenship and diversity. For example, each Room 1 student is paired with a Room 4 "buddy." Throughout the year, the "buddies" share classroom activities and special events together. Similarly, upper school four students are required to work one period a week in a lower school classroom acting as both a mentor and aide.

Upper School

The Upper School, in contrast, has no main teacher. Instead, each student takes eight different classes and moves among the classrooms throughout the day. Rather than storing all school supplies within a fixed desk, as the students do in Lower School, Upper School students receive lockers as an area to store books and school supplies. The classes for the Upper School are: Science, a foreign language (either Spanish, Latin, or French) History, English, Mathematics, P.E., Art, an elective, and Upper School 1 and 2 students have the choice of either Music, Drama or Computer Math. Upper School 3 & 4 students are required to take Drama. As for electives, students may choose to attend one elective which meets four days a week, or two different two day a week electives. On Wednesday, the Upper School has a program called LEAP (Learning Enhancement Academic Program) which allows students to choose which classes they attend from a list of about 8 choices each period. The primary purpose of LEAP is to provide students time for working on independent projects, but it can also be used for taking missed tests, or working on assignments.

Trips

Field trips are common at the Mirman Lower School. In rooms 2 and 3, there are several field trips throughout the year. Students of Room 4 visit Sacramento, as well as visit local areas of California throughout the year. In Upper School, daily field trips are scarce. The uppermost grades, Third and Fourth Years together take an overnight educational trip early in the school year. These trips help build close relationships between those students in the two grades.

Notable alumni

• Nathan Myhrvold^[1]
• Crispin Glover^[2]
• David Dorfman^[3]
• Masi Oka
• Nick Sagan
• Madalyn Aslan ([1])
• Benjamin Karney
• Sho Yano
• Philippe Cousteau, Jr.
• Kristy Wu

References

1. ^ "Where Bright Minds Can Shine", Elaine Woo, Los Angeles Times, 22 November 2000
2. ^ Crispin Glover - Filmmaker's biography, accessed 23 October 2008
3. ^ http://alumni.mirman.org/newsletter/index.asp?id=109

• [2]
• [3]

External links

• Mirman School website
• "Where Bright Minds Can Shine" by Elaine Woo, Los Angeles Times - 22 November 2000.