They are some of Reno's best and brightest, students at Sage Ridge School take classes designed to challenge them.

For some, ordinary school assignments just weren't engaging enough. "It was still coloring pictures in biology... find different things in a book... it felt really unchallenging," student Heber Lopez said.

Many of the students attending Sage Ridge have impressive academic records. "Currently I have about a 4.06 GPA and I'm taking four AP classes," Senior Keri Trechok said. The school is listed as on a Web site featuring schools for the gifted and talented.

Upper School Head Gaye Nickles said the curriculum is designed to prepare students for college.

But even some top academic performers said they feel pressured sometimes.

"My parents don't pressure me a lot, but I feel pressured myself because I'm really motivated" Alex Mitchell, a sophomore said.

"There are some days that I wake up, especially towards finals or when I'm gonna have a test, where I feel like everything's, the world's crashing down on me," Lopez said.

Students said they benefit from an extremely supportive environment at Sage Ridge however. A teacher said small class sizes also allow students to get the help they need.

But Clinical Psychologist Stephen Mayville said sometimes kids can be put under too much pressure. Mayville said parents can have unrealistic expectations, such as: "(kids) need to go to some kind of elite school in order to be successful in life, I think... you run a risk of crossing a line there."

Tuesday, in part two of this report, find out more on how to encourage your kids to do well in school, without putting too much pressure on them. Tune in to News Channel Eight the evening of Tuesday, November 21.