G&T Welcome Letter

G&T December Calendar

The Linden School District provides formal programming for academically gifted students in grades one through five. Students in grades six, seven and eight participate in accelerated courses. In grades nine through twelve, honors and the International Baccalaureate programs are provided. Students in kindergarten are selected for special programming to meet their exceptional abilities through an evaluation by the district’s department for the gifted and talented in conjunction with the classroom teacher.

As a district, ALL students in kindergarten and 3rd grade are given a cognitive abilities screener as the primary step to be accepted into the G&T program followed by the format established by the supervisor of the gifted and talented program. The reason all students are given the screen is to create an equitable opportunity for all students in the Linden School District. Identified kindergarten students will be provided with enrichment activities within their classroom. The program, for those students identified as gifted in grades one through five begins each year in September. The overall shift in emphasis to lower grades is consistent with the mandate as specified in the New Jersey educational regulations.

Gifted students in grades one through five meet once a week on a rotating schedule in their school with one of our full time gifted and talented teachers. Generally, the classes have about four to eight students participating in the program per school, per grade. Overall this represents about 8 -10% of the district’s population for each grade. Keeping the elementary program in the students’ home school helps keep the relationship between the G&T teachers, students, classroom teachers, and community accessible. The half day program allows for extensive study and exploration as well as the development of new research-based projects/products.