The EGUSD program for gifted, talented, and high potential students will discover and nurture students with an exceptional level of performance in diverse areas of expression. The program will equitably and collaboratively engage students and their families to access rigorous instruction with support for intellectual, social, and emotional needs

The gifted and talented represent a segment of the student body whose learning capacity and thinking ability requires a unique educational program designed to meet their needs.

GATE students at Katherine L. Albiani Middle School have the opportunity to attend a variety of accelerated and honors courses. These classes address California standards while engaging students in challenging environments that emphasize independent learning, cooperative learning, and promote high level thinking skills. GATE and other advanced achieving students are challenged with a curriculum based on in-depth and high-paced subject study with increased subject complexity and creativity throughout the program.

Parents and students are responsible for working with teachers and counselors to determine the classes which will help the student realize his or her utmost potential.

Honors and accelerated classes have an open enrollment policy and are not limited to just GATE students.

Students identified as GATE have shown exceptional achievement in one of the following abilities: Cognitive, Academic, Leadership, Creativity, or Visual & Performing Arts.

Honors English/Language Arts (ELA) goes beyond grade level expectations with extended learning activities that require students to increase their use of critical thinking skills to include analysis, synthesis, and problem solving. Students will study various genres including the short story, novel, drama, biography, poetry, and informational materials, as wells as strengthen their writing skills in narrative, expository, and argumentative.

These courses provide rigorous and challenging curriculum that is enriching for high achieving students. The curriculum moves at an accelerated pace with a more concentrated focus. Honors students are involved with more in depth thematic research units, engage in many Pre-AP (Advanced Placement) strategies, debates, Socratic Seminars, as well as study more challenging texts and concepts surrounding censorship, the Holocaust, and William Shakespeare’s comedic plays.

Honors History/Social Science courses will probe deeper into the causes and effects of historical events through the use of critical thinking skills. These skills will be developed through supplemental readings, primary and secondary sources, analyzing artifacts and written sources, argumentative writing, and addressing various points of view.

7^th grade: Students will study the social, cultural, and technological changes that occurred in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas in the years A.D. 300–1789. All units will be taught within a structured format to present the essential elements of government, religion, economics, achievements, and geography.

8th grade: Students will view American history through the lens of a people who were trying—and are still trying—to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Students will confront the themes of freedom, equality, and liberty and their changing definitions over time. This course will also explore the geography of place, movement, and region, starting with the Atlantic Seaboard and then exploring American westward expansion and economic development, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and Industrialization

This placement will prepare students for success in both rigorous Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high school.

• KAMS currently offers its GATE community an after-school series of enrichment courses that are student selected and focus upon their areas of interest! Each month, students have the opportunity to sign-up for a different enrichment course/topic. The sign-up form, cancellation form, and monthly calendar listing the enrichment courses can be found at the Opportunities Section of this website.

• Electives are another way for GATE students to expand their learning and challenge themselves. Here are some electives offered at KAMS:

  • Academic Strategies

  • Advanced Academic Writing for Success

  • Agricultural Science

  • Art

  • AVID (application required)

  • Band (beginning & jazz)

  • Computer tech

  • Dance

  • Design-Thinking

  • Digital Photography

  • Exploring Science

  • Film Studies

  • Forensics

  • Geography Around the World

  • Guitar

  • Honors Program Success

  • Languages: Spanish, French, Japanese

  • Leadership (application required)

  • KAMS TV Journalism

  • Pre-Engineering (Future Quest)

  • Public Speaking

  • Robotics

  • Sports, Games, & Fitness

  • Theatre Arts: Drama, Stagecraft, & Musical Theatre

  • Video Production

  • Writing Out Loud!

  • Yearbook (application required)

• CSU Sacramento Academic Talent Search

• KAMS Clubs

• Math Olympiad (8^th graders)

• Mathlete Competitions

• PSAT (offered to all 8^th graders in the fall)

• Spelling Bee

• MESA

• Spoken Word & Poetry Contests

*For opportunities outside of those provided through the school, be sure to visit the "Resources" section of our site!