Gifted Identification

Gifted and Talented Students

Gifted and talented students are those students between the ages of four and twenty-one whose abilities, talents, and potential for accomplishment are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special provisions to meet their educational programming needs. Gifted students include students with disabilities (i.e. twice exceptional) and students with exceptional abilities or potential from all socio-economic and ethnic, cultural populations. Gifted students are capable of high performance, exceptional production, or exceptional learning behavior by virtue of any or a combination of these areas:


Gifted & Talented in Douglas County School District

If a student is identified as Gifted and Talented, he/she may go to his/her neighborhood school (Sage Canyon) or apply for the Discovery Program which is housed at Renaissance Elementary Magnet School in Castle Rock. The Discovery Program is designed for those students who have needs so intense that they cannot be met in a regular classroom. For more information about the Discovery Program, feel free to contact me, Heather Pepper, or visit the DCSD Gifted Education website linked here. All students in Douglas County are given the CogAT, Cognitive Abilities Test, in second & fifth grade as a universal screener for early intervention. If there is a need for a student to take the CogAT in another grade due to teacher recommendation or parent request, that is possible at grades 1, 3, 4 & 5. Testing at these levels is solely for the purpose of possible GT identification. At this time, the CogAT is given to fifth grade students in the fall and second grade students in the spring.


GT at Sage Canyon

My role at Sage Canyon is to collaborate with classroom teachers and provide resources to support their advanced learners.  Along with students and parents, we create Advanced Learning Plans for students that have gone through the GT identification process and qualify for GT programming.  I help these students reach their academic and affective goals by supporting their teachers, working in their classrooms and providing small group support, as needed. I also coordinate CogAT testing sessions and data collection.


Identification

If you would like to initiate the Gifted Identification process for your child, please complete this form. Please be sure to complete document and submit -  it will take approximately 30-45 minutes to complete with no option to save.  There is also a section of the form for your child to fill out.