Upper Dublin School District’s Gifted Program is dedicated to maintaining a comprehensive set of strategies for the identification, education, and guidance of gifted students.  The District seeks to provide appropriate educational experiences and enrichment opportunities to meet the distinct and diverse needs of gifted students. The District views effective gifted education as a shared, collaborative effort involving educators, parents/guardians, students, and the community.

Annual Public Notice

Gifted Programs

Elementary School

Students at the elementary level receive enrichment in the general education classroom, as well as instruction in a weekly itinerant pull-out program with gifted peers.  Within the general education classroom, enrichment activities and above grade level instructional materials are developed in collaboration with the reading specialists, instructional support specialists, and curriculum leaders. The itinerant pull-out program focuses on strengthening problem-solving skills for critical and creative thinking.

Middle School

Students at the middle school level will receive gifted services through enrichment opportunities embedded into core content areas and will have the opportunity to engage with gifted peers in small groups. Project options will be a collaboration between core content area teachers and gifted support teachers and will allow for input from students.  

High School

At the high school level, gifted students have the opportunity to participate in honors and advanced placement courses to meet their instructional needs.  If additional challenge beyond honors and advanced placement is found to be necessary, Gifted Individualized Education Plans (GIEPs) are established to meet individual student’s needs.  In addition, all gifted students have the opportunity to participate in an independent study project, under the guidance of a mentor from the faculty. Independent study courses are assigned credit based on the amount of time dedicated to the independent study.

Child Find and Referral Process

The Upper Dublin School District utilizes multiple methods for the child find of potentially gifted students.  These methods include parent/guardian, student, and staff referrals, review of data collected through curriculum-based assessments, benchmark diagnostic assessments (CBM) in reading and math, and review of annual PSSA scores and curriculum-based assessments. Additionally, at the end of first grade, each student is administered a district-wide assessment of aptitude. Upper Dublin has adopted The Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) as this measure. The NNAT is a nonverbal test of general ability commonly used to identify gifted children. Once a student is identified through the Child Find process, the school-based team meets to review the available data and teacher input.  If the student meets the criteria for further evaluation, a comprehensive gifted evaluation will be conducted. When a student is determined to be eligible for and in need of Gifted Education Services, a Gifted Individualized Education Plan (GIEP) is developed. 

Notice of Parental Rights for Gifted Students

RESOURCES:

Pennsylvania Association of Gifted Education (PAGE)  http://www.giftedpage.org/

Gifted Summer Institute  http://www.giftedstudy.org/newsletter/

Center for Talented Youth at the Johns Hopkins University (CTY)  http://www.jhu.edu/gifted

National Resource Center on the Gifted & Talented  http://gifted.uconn.edu/

The Gifted Child Society  http://www.gifted.org

National Association for Gifted Children  http://www.nagc.org/

Gifted Support Teachers

Elementary 
Susan Parsons, Send Message    (MGES, JTES)
Alexandra Pixton, Send Message    (MGES)
Jeffrey Dillon, Send Message          (TFES, FWES)

Sandy Run Middle School
Rob Albert, Send Message     (6th and 8th grade)
Jennifer Lankin, Send Message     (7th grade)

Upper Dublin High School 
Jennifer Leszcynski, Send Message