The Thunderbird SOAR program is designed to challenge and inspire identified gifted and talented students in Mahwah.
The G&T Program helps students SOAR, or:
Seek rigorous intellectual pursuits and innovative endeavors.
Optimize learning experiences by fostering a love of creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.
Assess and enhance one's own perspectives and thinking patterns; learn skills needed to persist in the face of adversity.
Recognize local, community, and world problems and design systems to address and solve them.
Program Mission Statement
Mission
The mission of the Mahwah School District's identified gifted program is to inspire gifted students to engage in enriching learning experiences that develop and strengthen gifted behaviors. These behaviors are demonstrated when exceptional ability, task commitment, and creativity come together to produce original works, products, or performances that exemplify the highest standards of their respective fields. This is in accordance with the Strengthening Gifted and Talented Education Act.
Program Goals
Develop the academic potential of identified gifted learners.
Encourage and challenge students in their areas of specific ability and interest by providing opportunities for in-depth learning in their areas of talent and interest.
Develop thinking dispositions needed for future leaders, such as intellectual-risk taking, initiative, leadership and independent learning.
Encourage opportunities for interaction with intellectual peers to develop cooperation skills, in addition to self-awareness and self-efficacy.
Foster a sense of societal responsibility.
Encourage creative productivity through the development of higher order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Students will engage in frequent problem solving, decision-making and critical thinking.
Foster ongoing professional development to support classroom differentiation of content, process and product.
Definition
On January 13, 2020, Governor Murphy signed the “Strengthening Gifted and Talented Education Act” codifying school district responsibilities in educating gifted and talented students as referenced in N.J.A.C 6A:8-3.1. The district employs the New Jersey State Board of Education definition of giftedness as defined in N.J.A.C. 6A:8 as:
Those exceptionally able students who possess or demonstrate high levels of ability, in one or more content areas, when compared to their chronological peers in the local district and who require modification of their educational program if they are to achieve in accordance with their capabilities.
“Giftedness consists of an interaction among three basic clusters of human traits — these clusters being above-average general abilities, high levels of task commitment, and high levels of creativity. Gifted and talented children are those possessing or capable of developing this composite set of traits and applying them to any potentially valuable area of human performance. Children who manifest or are capable of developing an interaction among the three clusters require a wide variety of educational opportunities and services that are not ordinarily provided through regular instructional programs.”
“What Makes Giftedness: A Reexamination of the Definition”- Joseph Renzulli
Standards
The law states that school districts must establish a process to identify students as gifted and talented using multiple measures. These students require modification to their educational program if they are to achieve in accordance with their capabilities. The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) Office of Standards refers to standards developed by the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) to assist school districts in examining the quality of their programs and services for gifted learners in grades Pre-K to 12.
Resources for supporting gifted and talented students encompass a range of educational accommodations and programs tailored to meet their unique needs, ensuring they have opportunities to thrive academically and personally. Educators and families can access these resources through the New Jersey Student Learning Standards STAMP website or at the Resources link below.
The Gifted program has been developed to reflect the Exemplary Standards outlined in the Gifted Program Standards Pre-K-Grade 12 developed by the National Association for Gifted Children.
Program Description
Introduction
The SOAR program is founded on the belief that talents flourish when students are given opportunities to develop and showcase their abilities in their areas of aptitude and interest. This philosophy of talent development forms the cornerstone of our program. We believe that all students benefit from valuable enrichment experiences and should have access to such opportunities. When the students’ classroom teacher sees data points that signal a student’s readiness for above grade-level material, differentiated content, process or product will be introduced in order for the student to be challenged at their level. The SOAR program offers a variety of enrichment activities through small group instruction.
An ongoing identification process is in place to recognize students who exhibit exceptional general or specific abilities in one or more content areas beyond those of their peers. These students will have opportunities to participate in specialized programs designed to nurture their advanced abilities. Identified students may receive curriculum modifications, advanced out-of-class mathematics instruction, and support for independent projects, as determined through collaboration between the gifted and talented teacher and classroom teachers. Curriculum modifications may include compacting, acceleration, or enhancement to ensure maximum academic growth.
All students in third and fifth grade, as well as new students to the district, and recommended students in off-testing grades will take the CogAT for identification for the pullout program offered at Joyce Kilmer, Ramapo Ridge, and Mahwah High School.