Midwest Academy for Gifted Education, NFP

Midwest Academy for Gifted Education, MAGE, is Chicago's only Private Gifted School located in the city proper. We are the only gifted school in IL focusing on the needs of children with IQ of 130 through profound. We are the only gifted school with no grades and no homework and the prioritization of the gifted children's unique social and emotional needs in an individualized learning environment with full differentiation in our state starting in Junior Kindergarten. We are the only JK-12 gifted school for 130+ students and their siblings exclusively in the state. We are the only equitable private education option in the City of Chicago for gifted students where the public school average class size of 28 children per 1 teacher does not work well for a given child. We are parent and educator founded and our costs are just a pass through to the enrolled families and that is our only current funding model. Our state does not have a funded gifted mandate. Chicago city's public district is out of compliance with the unfunded mandate to provide equitable gifted education. Gifted children in Chicago Public Schools, even when they have tested out of or above grade level material are with few exceptions required to complete age-grade equivalent work in the classroom and this can create behavioral challenges in the classroom as well as psychological issues for the child that has to comply and complete busy work that is not at their level. Chicago is the only city in the top 5 largest metro areas in the US without this option before us. There is not a single start-up incubator that wants to help a non-tech not for profit in Chicago, it appears. We are hoping that this network will expose partnership opportunities currently invisible to us.

Pls note, incorporated in IL as a 501.c.3 in March 2018; state 501.c.3 is approved in December 2018, Federal is pending submission by our pro-bono law clinic and we are told 1 year out from submittal date to approval via 1023 for IRS. There are little to no resources out there for start up organizations. It is unclear from your guidelines if this last bit needs to be complete prior to our being able to apply to be considered to be added here.