What the Greenwich Public Schools 2E Handbook Means for Your Family

By Aron Boxer, M.Ed., S.P.E., Founder and CEO, Diversified Education Services

Your child is bright. Everyone says so. Homework still ends in an argument, the two-week project surfaces the night before it is due, and the teacher's comment says "not working to potential." Greenwich Public Schools has a handbook written for exactly this child, and most parents have never heard of it.

The Greenwich Public Schools 2E Handbook is a guide for staff and families on twice-exceptional students, the ones who are both advanced learners and have a learning challenge or disability. I grew up in Greenwich, taught special education in Greenwich Public Schools, and have worked with bright students who struggle since 2009. This handbook is one of the most useful documents the district has put in parents' hands, and it is worth your time to read.

Here is what it covers, what I would pay attention to as a parent, and where support at home fits in.

The Greenwich Public Schools 2E Handbook puts real weight on what parents notice and support at home.

What the Greenwich Public Schools 2E Handbook Covers

The handbook was written by a district committee of administrators, teachers, and parents. It is organized in four parts: an overview of 2E learners, school resources (interventions, IEPs, 504 Plans, accommodations, and assistive technology), guidance for students and families, and a list of outside resources.

One note on language. GPS does not use the word "gifted." The district refers to intellectually, cognitively, or academically advanced learners, and the Advanced Learning Program (ALP) serves those students. The handbook uses "gifted" only because that is the term the research uses. If you are talking with your child's school, "advanced learner" and "ALP" are the terms you will hear.

What Twice-Exceptional Means

The handbook uses the research definition: a student who shows the potential for high achievement or creative productivity in one or more areas, and who also has one or more disabilities as defined by federal or state eligibility criteria. Both parts matter. A bright child who is having a hard time with homework is not automatically twice-exceptional.

The most important idea in the Greenwich Public Schools 2E Handbook is masking. A child's strengths can hide a disability, a disability can hide strengths, or the two can cancel each other out so the child looks average and gets neither kind of support. The group I see most often is the first one. A bright student uses ability to compensate through the early grades, does well, and may be in advanced classes. Then the workload grows, compensating stops working, and grades slip. By then the child is often described as unmotivated or lazy. The handbook is clear that good grades alone do not rule a student out of special education eligibility, and that teams consider the whole child.

Many of the Warning Signs Involve Executive Function

The Greenwich Public Schools 2E Handbook lists possible signs of twice-exceptionality. It is careful to say the list is not a diagnostic tool. Read through it and a pattern stands out. A number of the signs involve executive function:

• Trouble organizing, prioritizing, and starting tasks
• Strong in class discussion but weak on follow-through
• Can focus for hours on a favorite subject but has difficulty staying with less preferred work
• Remembers a huge amount about topics of interest but has trouble holding on to the steps of a multi-step assignment

If you are reading that list and recognizing your child, you are not alone. These are the families who call us most.

GPS Does Not Formally Identify Students as 2E, and Students Can Receive Both Kinds of Support

This is the practical detail parents need to understand. There is no 2E label in Greenwich Public Schools. Eligibility for advanced learning services and for special education or a 504 Plan is decided separately, by the ALP office and by the Department of Special Services. A student who needs both can receive both, and the handbook says plainly that one does not rule out the other.

That puts real weight on what parents notice and document. The handbook encourages families to keep records showing both the strengths and the areas of weakness, and to advocate for an evaluation for advanced learning services, special education, or both. A simple folder works: work samples, teacher comments, report cards, and notes on where homework breaks down at home. If you have concerns, the handbook says to start with the teacher most directly connected to the issue (our guide to parent-teacher communication can help you prepare for that conversation). Some families also choose a private evaluation, which can add to the picture the school team has.

What the Schools Provide

The handbook describes a real set of supports inside the schools. GPS uses a multi-tiered system of supports, with needs-based instruction in the classroom, targeted programs, and intensive programs for students who need more. It offers specialized programs for reading, math, executive functioning, and social-emotional needs. For students with IEPs, the handbook says teams may write goals around executive functioning, social skills, and self-regulation. Accommodations for executive function, such as using a planner to track assignments, reminders of due dates, checklists, and breaking large assignments into smaller units, are listed as examples.

Parents should know those supports exist and ask about them.

The Home Side of the Partnership

The handbook returns again and again to the partnership between home and school. It also makes a point that is easy to miss: the structures that support a 2E student during the school day may be different outside of school, and parents bring information from home that the school does not have.

Planning the week, breaking big tasks into steps, and setting checkpoints work best when they carry over from the classroom to the kitchen table.

Home is where the long-term project gets started or does not. It is where the planner gets checked or ignored, and where a two-week assignment can turn into a Sunday night crisis. The organization strategies the Greenwich Public Schools 2E Handbook recommends, such as recording assignments in a calendar, breaking big tasks into steps, setting checkpoints on long-term assignments, and practicing time management in real situations, work best when they carry over from the classroom to the kitchen table. We cover the home side in more detail in Organization at Home.

Where Executive Function Coaching Fits

This is the work we do at Diversified Education Services. An executive function coach meets with the student every week, builds a plan for the week ahead, gets the student started, keeps the student on the plan, and holds the student accountable from week to week. We work from the student's strengths, which is the same approach the handbook recommends, and we give the student a place to practice the skills the school is teaching, in the setting where they most often fall apart.

The handbook also puts a lot of emphasis on self-advocacy, and its examples are practical: emailing a teacher about classwork, asking for extra help, and writing down next steps after a meeting with a teacher. Those are habits a coach can practice with a student every week until they stick.

What You Can Do This Month

1. Read Part I and Part III of the Greenwich Public Schools 2E Handbook. Part I explains who 2E learners are. Part III covers families and the social and emotional side.
2. Start a simple record. Collect work samples and note where things break down at home.
3. Talk with your child about how they learn best. The handbook stresses student voice. Kids often know more about what works for them than adults expect.
4. Reach out to the teacher first if you have concerns, as the handbook recommends, and ask what supports are available.
5. Connect with other parents. The Greenwich PTA Council has a 2E committee, which you can reach at 2e@greenwichptac.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does twice-exceptional (2E) mean?

A twice-exceptional student shows the potential for high achievement or creative productivity in one or more areas and also has a disability as defined by federal or state eligibility criteria, such as a learning disability, ADHD, autism, or an emotional disability. The strengths and the disability can mask each other, so the student may not look like either.

Does Greenwich Public Schools formally identify students as 2E?

No. The Greenwich Public Schools 2E Handbook is clear that GPS does not use a 2E label. Advanced learning services and special education or 504 services are determined separately, and a student who needs both can receive both.

Can a student with good grades receive special education services?

Yes. The handbook states that grades are not the sole indicator, that teams consider the whole child, and that no single measure decides eligibility.

Is executive function coaching a replacement for school services?

No. Coaching works alongside an IEP, 504 Plan, or ALP services and the supports the school already provides. It focuses on the home side: planning the week, getting started, staying on the plan, and accountability.

You can learn more about our executive function coaching for gifted and 2e students. Related reading: My Child Is Smart but Won't Do Their Schoolwork and When Good Grades Hide Executive Dysfunction.

For more background before you call, our Executive Function Knowledge Center and FAQs explain how coaching works, and Why Families Choose DES explains our approach.