(Taken from the National Association for Gifted Children website, www.nagc.org)

Gifted and talented children have demonstrated abilities that are significantly advanced compared to other children of the same age, experience, and background.

Gifted and talented children can demonstrate advanced abilities in any domain.  They may have advanced abilities in math, music, or dance, for example. Some gifted and talented children have the potential to perform at remarkably high levels but might not yet be demonstrating it.
Gifted children may not perform at high levels in every academic area...or any academic area.  Giftedness is NOT about school success, although some gifted students demonstrate their giftedness through academic achievement.  Rather, being an identified gifted person is more about demonstrating a different way of thinking and perceiving. 

Gifted and talented children need appropriate academic and social-emotional opportunities to develop their potential. 

During the gifted testing process, the data we collect may not qualify a student for gifted services.  However, Garfield RE2 includes students whose scores range between 85%ile and 94%ile on all data collection measures in the Talent Pool.  Talent Pools students demonstrate advanced ability in a particular area.

Often students in the Talent Pool are provided advanced academic programming in their area of strength.  As students are presented with additional levels of challenge and rigor, increased achievement may occur.  Our department will retest and collect data as necessary 2 years after their initial Talent Pool designation.  If the student qualifies for gifted identification and services, you will be notified. If the student does not qualify for gifted services after retesting, the student will remain in the Talent Pool and continue to receive academic opportunities in their area of strength. 

Most of your child’s direct instruction will still occur within their regular classroom. Our district focuses on programming-the process, content, and products students experience and create every day, rather than a program, which focuses on pulling gifted students out of class for completely different work.

Several times per month, your student will meet directly with a member of the Gifted and Talented team in their school to receive social/emotional support as well as opportunities to work on specific higher-level skills and creative and critical thinking.

It is important to discuss your student's academic and social needs with the building GT coordinator, administration, and staff to ensure that your student has the best possible experience at school throughout their academic careers. No one knows your child better than you. We value your input!

Helping with homework is always a great way to support your student. (Keep in mind, however, that if your student truly does not seem to understand the homework, it is important to alert his/her teacher by sending the homework back with a note. Otherwise, the teacher will not know that the instruction method used was not effective.) If you feel that your student needs something to enrich their learning, talk to your child about any intense interests he/she may have. Many gifted students focus on a single topic of interest and want to learn as much about that topic as possible, and many times the topic is not even something being studied at school. Sharing in that interest is a wonderful way to connect with and support your student.

Start with your child’s teacher. Direct communication with the person spending the most instructional time with your child not only makes the most sense, it is essential to keeping communication timely and positive.

If you still feel out of the loop, ask if you can meet with the teacher and another member of the school support system: the principal, academic coach, or the gifted coordinator for your building. Sometimes a mediator is all that is needed for a meeting of the minds to occur.  If you still feel that your questions or concerns have not been addressed, please contact the Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment Directors.

Regardless of with whom you are meeting, be prepared to provide some solutions to the problem, but also have an open mind about what is academically and realistically feasible for the school and your child. Everyone in the room wants your child to succeed at the highest level. As a positive group, we can find a way to ensure this happens.