The Weiss School: Molding Gifted Children into Future Leaders

One concept can be absorbed in a variety of ways. It could be learned auditorily, visually, kinesthetically (acting out a concept) and tactilely (through hands-on lessons). A typical classroom will utilize all four of these learning styles. The time and effort required to teach one lesson in a way that everyone will understand will overwhelm many teachers and increase the likelihood that a student will get left behind. Not at Weiss.

The Weiss School, located at 4176 Burns Rd. in Palm Beach Gardens, works to meet its students’ academic and social needs through individualized programs of study. The school accepts gifted students from 3 years old to 12th grade.

“We’re trying to create the future leaders of tomorrow and cultivate them,” said Weiss Head of School Dr. Denise Spirou.

Spirou exemplifies how the people within The Weiss School grow. She began at the school as a third-grade teacher in 2000, advanced to become the Director of Admissions and Public Relations in 2006, was promoted to Assistant Head of School in 2008, and this year became Head of School.

Spirou explained that she has happily invested more than a decade of service to the school thanks in large part to the quality of Weiss’ students, its philosophy, and its teachers’ high capacity for collaboration.

One guiding principle of Weiss is to encourage different learning styles. Teachers discuss students’ approaches to learning and work to meet their needs whether it’s through subject or grade acceleration or by highlighting a student’s particular strength in a project.

All students take traditional electives such as Spanish, art, music and physical education. These classes – the first to be cut in many schools – are as important as the academic curriculum at Weiss.

“These support courses do exactly what they say: they support the academic curriculum,” Spirou said. “It’s been proven that children who play an instrument and have music incorporated [into the curriculum] score higher on their standardized math and science tests.”

The Weiss School also offers Taekwondo in addition to physical education. Administrators found that Taekwondo’s tenets – courtesy, perseverance, integrity, self-control and indomitable spirit – fit well with one of the school’s guiding principles, which is to uphold the dignity of fellow human beings.

“It’s a way to incorporate character education within the school climate,” Spirou said.