GT Program Overview
District Program Overview
The Eanes Independent School District is committed to an educational program that recognizes the special value, needs, and talents of the individual student. Gifted students need a qualitatively differentiated program that provides time for work with other gifted students and time for work on creative self-directed projects. EISD provides appropriate educational services for identified gifted and talented students as part of its overall K-12 program.
The GT program provides a rich curriculum, which develops and reinforces skills in critical and creative thinking, logic and problem solving, divergent thinking, research, and communication.
The focus of the EISD GT Program is to serve students who have instructional needs due to exceptional potential in both intellectual and creative abilities. Because each district has different qualification guidelines, children, including students new to the district, will need to be assessed in order to be recommended for the Eanes ISD Gifted Program.
The gifted program incorporates core content areas of science, social studies, math, and language arts within interdisciplinary units of study in the elementary and middle school pullout programs. In high school, students are provided with multiple opportunities through academics (Pre-AP and AP courses), Fine Arts, Engineering, Independent Study Mentorship Program, Robotics, and other programs.
WRMS Program Overview
Goals
To help gifted and talented students develop a healthy self-concept about their giftedness so that they may interact effectively with other gifted students, peers, and society.
To allow gifted and talented students to employ creative, productive, and critical thinking skills along with in-depth contents to generate complex and intricate products appropriate to their giftedness.
To help gifted and talented students extend self-directed learning skills to become independent, creative adults.
Middle School Overview
The middle school gifted and talented program serves as a bridge between a curriculum of thematic units at the elementary school and the core subject area focus of the high school. At WRMS, interdisciplinary themes have been chosen as an organizational tool for delivering content. Students will review and practice creative, critical, and productive thinking skills and explore a variety of topics in weekly sessions with the GT Specialist.
Our theme for the 2023-24 school year will be "Sustainable Futures." We will examine this theme throughout the fall term using both the depth and complexity icons and interdisciplinary connections, including core subject connections. Students are also invited to complete a guided independent study on a topic of high interest to them in the spring.
Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade GT students are offered the opportunity to take advantage of activities such as Destination Imagination, academic contests, Future City Engineering, STEAM Days, Stock Market Game, Model UN, and other projects as they become available. More information about many of these activities can be found on the tabs on this website and on the WRMS website.
To facilitate the delivery of the gifted and talented program, 6th grade GT students will be grouped into a “GT World Cultures” social studies class (three class sections). The 7th grade GT students will be grouped together in “GT Texas History” classes (two class sections). The 8th grade GT students will be grouped into “GT American History” classes (two class sections).
An elective class (“Above and Beyond”) is available and recommended for gifted and talented students in grades 7 and 8.
Schedule
Students are scheduled to work with a GT Specialist once per week during their Social Studies class (grades 6/ 7/8). With the permission of the GT teacher and the classroom teacher, students may come to GT at other times to work on individual projects via Zoom appointments. Fridays, with a few exceptions, are designated "GT Open Door Days" (available periods 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 and all three lunches).
Carol Reese
Gifted and Talented Specialist
West Ridge Middle School
512.732.9240 (32924)
