Kindergarten and First Grade Services
Kindergarten students and first graders are considered members of the school division's talent pool where the focus on gifted services is on the development of student potential. At kindergarten and first grade, the gifted resource teacher provides gifted instruction through whole group lessons in every kindergarten and first grade classroom on a regular basis throughout the school year. These lessons are designed to develop student abilities to think critically, creatively, logically, and to reason and problem solve. All gifted resource lessons are based on the Virginia Beach City Public Schools regular education curriculum, but are differentiated to increase the level of challenge for students.
While the gifted resource teacher models strategies and conducts lessons, the classroom teacher actively participates by observing students' responses or co-teaching lessons. The gifted resource teacher supports the kindergarten and first-grade teachers by offering support in the ongoing differentiation of the regular curriculum, by providing resources, and by training teachers in gifted education curriculum models and instructional strategies.
In first grade, all students are screened for gifted services. With parent/guardian permission for continued assessment, students who score at the 90% or higher on the screening instrument are automatically referred for consideration by the gifted eligibility committee. Any student can be referred for continued assessment, regardless of their score on the screening instrument. Parents, guardians, teachers, counselors, or anyone with knowledge of the child's abilities may refer the student for continued assessment and consideration by the gifted eligibility committee.
The Cluster/Resource Model
See individual schools.
Gifted services are available to elementary school children in their neighborhood schools through the cluster/resource model. Kindergarten and first-grade teachers, along with the gifted resource teacher and the building principal, collaborate to decide the appropriate level of instruction for the students. Instructional involvement may come through staff development services, extension activities, whole group lessons, or various configurations of small groupings of students. Identified students in grades two through five are placed in heterogeneous classrooms, in groups of six to eight, and are taught by a cluster teacher trained in gifted education. A resource teacher, endorsed in gifted education, assists the cluster teacher in delivering instruction at a depth and rate conducive to the intellectual needs of gifted learners. The cluster/resource program is grounded in general education curriculum but is differentiated, modified and expanded, to provide appropriate learning challenges. Students are required to demonstrate mastery of the state-mandated Standards of Learning and their instruction is differentiated to meet their intellectual needs.
Gifted Arts Programs at the Elementary School Level
Gifted Dance Education Program
The Gifted Dance Education Program is a pull-out model for identified students in grades three through eight and is housed at Old Donation Center. Admission into the program is determined through an application process.
Dance students are presented a comprehensive curriculum which emphasizes the areas of concepts and skill development, dance history and appreciation, and creativity.
Additional information about the Gifted Dance Education Program may be found on the Old Donation Center Web site.
Gifted Visual Arts Program
Identified students in grades three through eight may participate in the Gifted Visual Arts Program housed at Old Donation Center. Admission into the pull-out program is determined through an application process.
Instruction in the program is designed to challenge and meet the educational needs of artistically gifted. The curriculum integrates art history, criticism, aesthetic perception, creativity, theory, and skill development, as well as components from the core curriculum of knowledge.
Beginning in September 2010, all sixth through eighth grade students identified as gifted in visual arts and who wish to participate in the Gifted Visual Arts Program will attend Virginia Beach Middle School. Third, fourth, and fifth grade students identified as gifted in visual arts will continue to have the option of the pull-out model housed at Old Donation Center.
Additional information about the Gifted Visual Arts programs may be found on the Old Donation Center Web site.
Old Donation Center (ODC)
ODC is a centralized, full-time, gifted school designed to house students in grades two through five. Parents of children interested in attending this school must complete an application. All applicants are assessed in terms of determining the best educational environment to suit his or her academic needs.
The curriculum encompasses all of learning objectives determined by the school district and the Virginia Standards of Learning and expands and extends specifically to meet the needs of the gifted student. The content of the courses is both compacted and extended so students are not only accelerated, but also are covering material in more depth. Specialized lessons and units include research and independent study as major components of each subject area.
Old Donation Center offers art, music, physical education, and computer, in addition to English, math, science, and social studies. Extra-curricular activities include options such as Future Problem Solving, Destination Imagination, yearbook, student newspaper, SCA, and several other clubs in which students have special interest.
Students may be considered for gifted programs through referral by parents/guardians, students, teachers, themselves, other persons who may have knowledge or expertise to make such a referral including community members, or by any other appropriate school personnel e.g. student support teams. In addition, the division screens all first graders to determine their eligibility for gifted services. Parents or guardians will be notified by mail only if more testing is deemed necessary and will be sent information about gifted programs accordingly. Referral forms are available in all schools from the gifted resource teacher, the guidance department, or gifted program contact and may be submitted at any time during the academic year to the assessment committee at the individual school. Detailed information on the referral process.
Old Donation Center requires a separate application process and is deadline sensitive. Parents of students who are interested in the full-time school in grades 3-5 must be certain that completed applications are received by the first of February each year. Rising grade 2 student applications are due on the first workday in March.
Student eligibility for citywide gifted services is determined through the use of multiple criteria, and students must demonstrate potential for exceptional performance and academic needs that cannot be met through general education curricula. The Virginia Department of Education has established the following categories of giftedness:
- General Intellectual Aptitude: Students with advanced aptitudes as demonstrated by advanced skills and creative expression in general intellectual ability;
- Academic Aptitude Specific: Students with specific aptitudes in an academic area: math; the sciences; and/or the humanities as demonstrated by advanced skills and creative expression in those areas;
- Technical and Practical Arts Aptitude: Students with specific aptitudes in selected technical or practical arts as demonstrated by advanced skills and creative expression in the technical and practical arts; and,
- Visual and Performing Arts Aptitude: Students with specific aptitudes in selected visual or performing arts as demonstrated by advanced skills and creative expression and who excel consistently in the development of a product or performance in any of the visual and/or performing arts.
Once a student has been tested, data is compiled and forwarded to an eligibility committee that reviews the data submitted to determine eligibility for gifted services. Criteria for general services includes a combination of the following elements:
- academic achievement,
- teacher recommendations,
- ability test scores,
- achievement test scores,
- parent checklist of behaviors,
- an audition or portfolio of student works for visual and performing arts programs.
Referrals for the cluster/resource program and other citywide gifted programs are reviewed periodically throughout the year. Parents or guardians are notified of the committee's decisions by letter. Applications for grades 3-5 at the Old Donation Center program are accepted through the first of February of the current year. Rising grade 2 students applications are due on the first workday in March. Parents or guardians are notified of the committee's decisions by letter.
Parents/guardians, teachers, or counselors may initiate the consideration process for a change in program placement. The evaluation committee considers the criteria previously used for program placement, and any additional information that may be available such as performance in gifted program activities and classes. After the committee reviews all information, it will recommend one of the following actions:
- continued placement,
- change in placement, or
- initiation of exit procedure.
The committee chair notifies parents or guardians at the initiation of the reevaluation process and of the committee's decision.
Parents or guardians may appeal the decision of the Gifted Eligibility/Placement Committee when there is additional pertinent information. An appeal form may be obtained from the Gifted Testing Office located at Old Donation Center. All appeal requests must be submitted to the director of the Office of Gifted Education within twenty-one business days of receiving the letter communicating the decision of the Gifted Eligibility/Placement Committee. The parents or guardians will be notified by letter of the director’s receipt of the appeal.
At the initial meeting of the appeals committee, all data that has been collected, including additional, pertinent information submitted in the appeal are reviewed. The committee will decide if additional assessment data are needed or, the committee may determine that based on the data that has been submitted, no additional data are needed. Any additional assessments must be initiated by the committee and administered by Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Assessments not conducted by Virginia Beach City Public Schools will not be considered by the committee.
The committee's decision may include one of the following:
- Uphold the original decision of the eligibility/placement
committee - Reverse the decision of the eligibility/placement committee
- Gather additional or updated data
The parents or guardians will be informed of the appeals committee’s decision by letter. If the parents/guardians do not agree with this decision, they may submit an additional appeal to the director of the Office of Gifted Education.
Requests for appeals for admission to Old Donation Center are first addressed by the principal of Old Donation Center.
Local Plan for Gifted Education
Each school division is required to submit to the Virginia Department of Education for approval a plan for the education of gifted students. Copies of Virginia Beach's plan are available upon request. Copies and alternative formats of the document are available at the school administration building.
The Gifted Education Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is appointed by the school board to offer advice regarding gifted services. The CAC comprises parents, gifted education teachers, administrators, gifted students, and the business community. The makeup of the committee reflects the various school levels and populations, geographic, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the community. Parents have formed an active PTA chapter at Old Donation Center that meets monthly. The PTA is very active in school activities and plays a large part in fund-raising efforts and special projects. All parents are encouraged to join.