Gifted and Talented
Overview of GT Programming at Legacy High School
GT Programming Is:
Very individualized for students
Where students set individual goals through their Advanced Learning Plans (ALPs) each school year in conjunction with the iCAP work they do with counselors through Naviance.
A loose structure students may access for guidance on courses or college and career planning or life or for anything else they might need
A place where they may apply for mini-grant funds to use toward class, extension, or passion projects
In the past, the mini-grants have funded projects like the following: helping with ThesCon attendance costs; funding L2K Research and Development Projects; sponsoring the Robotics Team; buying Russian literature books for a student who wanted to read them independently; helping a student enroll in a Front Range CC course as an extension opportunity; taking a group of students to see the Lion King at the DCPA; buying books for the Legacy LMC; supporting Model UN with conference attendance fees.
A resource for those students who may request additional GT testing or recommendation letters for talent search programs or college admissions
Another set of caring adults in these students’ corners
GT Programming is Not:
A set of tracked classes only for identified students
A collection of pull-out moments that will disrupt classroom learning
A full-program club or field trip organizing body
How Most Classroom Teachers Interact with the GT Program:
Modifying or extending or individualizing instruction for students in our on-going roles as classroom teachers
Supporting and understanding the wide variety of intellectual and affective needs represented within this community
Consulting with me about what the AAGS flags mean in Infinite Campus and how those identifications may manifest themselves in reality
Encouraging GT students to complete their ALPs each fall (through Naviance)
Reminding them that GT mini-grants exist where they can apply for funds to apply toward class, extension, or passion projects
Applying (as teachers) for those same GT mini-grants for funds that you may need and that are not covered by other school or departmental accounts (more info to follow about mini-grants for students and teachers!)
Commonly Asked Questions About the GT Program at Legacy High School
What honors or AP courses are available for my freshman student?
Each department has its own flow chart of classes, so reaching the AP level depends on the subject. If a student has the prerequisites for AP Calculus as a freshman, they can take that course, for example. For freshmen, though, most students take the regular course load while maybe differentiating with CP Biology. Many students begin taking AP coursework their sophomore year with AP World History or AP Human Geography.
When my student is ready for AP, how does that work?
Again, each subject and department is a bit different in terms of prerequisites, but Legacy is an open AP enrollment school - students may take any AP class they would like, as long as they have taken the prerequisites and regardless of the grades they earned in said prerequisites. Some students will start taking AP courses their sophomore year; most start taking them during their junior year.
My student is or will be VERY busy with athletics and activities, does GT take up a lot of time?
At the high school level, the GT programing becomes very individualized. Because we have close to 450 identified and exceptionally busy and committed students, we tend not to try to organize large field trips, pull-out-of-class meetings, or mandatory whole-GT community events. Everything (aside from the ALP survey) is optional and to any student’s individual commitment level of comfort.
Does my student have to do an ALP at the high school level?
Yes . . . but the ALP process is significantly different from that in middle or elementary school. At the high school level in the fall, students will be asked to take a four-question survey in Naviance where they reflect upon their gifted identification and where they set some general goals for the year. This survey and the iCAP work students will do with counselors at Legacy serves as their ALP for the year. This process is to be student-driven, and parents are not asked to sign off or review those student ALPs. The process typically happens from late August to the end of October.
What benefits, then, are there for my GT student (above and beyond what other students receive)?
GT students receive the individualizing and differentiating efforts of all classroom teachers who strive to meet students’ specific gifted needs. Additionally, GT students have access to GT Mini-Grants. Students can apply for small grants to apply toward in- or out-of-class projects; passion projects; or learning extensions. Most students interact with the GT programming through these mini-grants. Finally, GT students have access to me, the GT Coordinator. I often counsel students in their academic pathway choices; serve as a meeting facilitator between students and teachers; and coordinate additional in- and out-of-school GT opportunities for students.
College Bound?
Heading to College - A Parent's Perspective
Helpful Links and Resources
Legacy GT Mini-Grant Application
Job Description and Expectations of the Gifted and Talented Advocate
Legacy High School Course Catalog