Welcome to the G&T Program

Program Overview

The Woodbridge Township School District provides a comprehensive, differentiated approach for students from kindergarten through grade twelve who meet the criteria for the Gifted and Talented Program. The program provides for the academically and intellectually gifted, the artistically talented, and the extremely gifted. Four major goals provide the underlying structure for the entire program: problem solving, critical and creative thinking, communication, and self-direction. These goals are supported with a technology enriched curricula which generates excitement and intellectual rigor for the students.

Enrichment K-12

Students enrolled in Enrichment programs engage in project-based learning through involvement in cross-curricular units. Elementary students are transported to G&T at Avenel Middle School for one half-day session per week. Middle school students attend a G&T class for one block per week in their home-school as a pull-out from a special area class. K-8 students are expected to make up all work missed at their home-school while they are attending G&T. High School students are scheduled for G&T as a regular elective course.

Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG) 3-5

Students enrolled in PEG attend PEG for two full days each week and receive all of their language arts and math instruction with PEG teachers. Language arts instruction is accelerated by two years and math instruction is accelerated by one year. PEG students also attend Enrichment classes and may choose to participate in an Arts class. Students must be enrolled in G&T Enrichment before being considered for PEG. All second-grade students enrolled in G&T Enrichment are evaluated for participation in the PEG program by G&T teachers as well as regular classroom teachers. In order to qualify for the PEG program students must exceed the expectations of the Enrichment program and must demonstrate maturity, independence, responsibility, an innate drive to understand and succeed, the ability to skip work and decipher concepts that have not been explicitly taught, self-motivation, self-evaluation, active participation, leadership, and consistent advanced proficient performance.

Arts

Students enrolled in Arts programs focus on an area of talent including Music, Visual Arts, or Creative Writing/Theater Arts and participate in G&T courses in Grades 3-8.  High schools offer additional opportunities for advanced learning in the arts including AP Programs in Art and Music.  Elementary school students attend Arts programs for one half-day session per week.  Middle school students attend for one half-day session every other week.  

Application Process

Students interested in applying for participation in a Gifted & Talented Program must submit an online recommendation form (available by clicking the blue banner below). Anyone can submit a recommendation form for a student (teacher, parent, student, peer...). The person submitting the recommendation form should complete all of the information available to him/her and leave other areas blank. Missing information will be obtained at a later date and will not exclude a student from being evaluated. After recommendation forms are received, families receive letters mailed to their homes with an invitation to test, testing date, testing time, testing location, preparation for testing and permission to test.  Recommendation forms also include criteria (multiple measures) for admission to the G&T Program including Advanced Proficient standardized test scores, a score in the range of 133 on the Cogat (Enrichment), a reading score two or more years above grade level, outstanding academic achievement, teacher recommendation, principal recommendation, portfolio evaluation (Arts Programs), performance assessment (music, CWTA), writing sample (CWTA), divergent thinking assessment (visual art), music history and theory  evaluation (music), and student evaluation form (characteristics of gifted). Recommendation forms must be submitted according to the established deadlines as indicated on each form and included below:

December Testing Deadline -- submit forms by the last Friday in October

June Testing Deadline -- submit forms by the last Friday in April

Forms submitted after the established deadline will result in students being scheduled for the next testing cycle.

After the deadline for submitting recommendation forms has passed, families will receive letters mailed to their homes with an invitation to test, testing date, testing time, testing location, preparation for testing, and permission to test. 

In addition to recommendation testing 2x per year, the WTSD will administer universal Cogat testing for all students in the Spring of Grades 1 and 5.  Qualifying students from this test cycle will be invited to join G&T in the following school year and continuing as long as they are successful in the program and continue to meet program requirements.

Christina E. Lugo Vreeland

Supervisor of Gifted and Talented, and Dance & Music Programs, and Advanced Placement (AP) Coordinator

Woodbridge Township School District

85 Woodbine Avenue, Avenel, NJ 07001

732-596-4081

christina.vreeland@woodbridge.k12.nj.us

G&T Informational Video:

(https://youtu.be/ItHtGA15cIQ)