Universal Screening: In Adams 12 Five Star Schools, 2nd and 6th graders who are not already identified GT participate in the Universal Screening process for potential gifted and talented identification. Find more detailed information regarding Universal Screening in the Five Star District.

Important dates for the Universal Screening process at our school: 2nd Grade Universal Screener will be administered on September 11, 2023 with makeups on September 12, 2023

Parent/Staff/Student GT Recommendation: All students can participate in the GT identification process by submitting a complete body of evidence. Find more detailed information regarding the GT recommendation process in the Five Star District.

If you are interested in having your child be considered for the GT identification process you need to contact your GT Advocate for school-specific information.

Important dates for the GT Recommendation process at our school:  

Parent Request for Nomination form link - Due no later than October 10, 2023

All Grades GT Testing will take place on November 6 & 7, 2023

Testing results will be emailed to families during the week of December 14, 2023

Advanced Curriculum & Extended Learning:  “The Vehicle”

Provides the depth and complexity needed to ensure meaningful academic growth

Our school offerings include: Differentiated classroom instruction and a variety of in-class and small group opportunities for application of skills through enrichment, acceleration, extension, and compacting of grade level curriculum. Classroom teachers collaborate and plan to meet the needs of gifted and talented students with the support school's Gifted and Talented Advocate.

Differentiated Learning Pathways:  “The Roadmap”

Provides an education at the appropriate level of readiness and challenge

Our school offerings include: Teachers strive to know Gifted and Talented students by their name, strengths and needs in order to determine how to best instruct at their "just right" level. Data about each student is gathered through formative and summative assessments, observation of student assignments, and regular interaction with peers and adults in structured and unstructured school settings. Teachers utilize this combined data set in order to determine what level of readiness and challenge is best suited for their learners, and design content and assignments that match.

Individualized Opportunities & Enrichment:  “The Customized Options”

Actively engages and motivates through interests and meaningful learning opportunities

Our school offerings include: Gifted and Talented students and their parents complete an annual interest and input form in the fall that is utilized to share the students' interests and hobbies. This, along with the aforementioned data set about the student, is utilized to create an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP). ALPs include goals around academic areas of strength and social emotional areas of need. All stakeholders, (the student, parents, classroom teacher, and GT Advocate) participate in the creation of and reflection around these important goals throughout the school year. This process allows students to take the lead in creating and reaching meaningful goals for the school year, and guides teachers in creating learning opportunities tailored to the each GT learner.

Social-Emotional Learning:  “The Destination” 

Focuses on developing the whole child by balancing empowerment and accountability

Our school offerings include: Classroom teachers collaborate with our GT Advocate, Mrs. Murphy, to differentiate SEL instruction specific to the needs of each student. In addition to weekly whole class SEL lessons, Gifted and Talented learners may partake in guidance to understand how they might think and perceive the world differently, and they learn strategies to guide them in their interactions with others.  GT students also receive executive functioning support as needed in areas such as organization, time management, multistep directions, handling distractions, goal setting strategies, and more.

News from Gifted & Talented at CRE 

Read on to learn more about what is happening with Gifted & Talented Programming at Coyote Ridge!

Social Emotional Learning for Gifted & Talent Pool 

An Extended Unit on Emotion Regulation and Social Emotional Wellness as a Gifted Person

During weekly meetings with Ms. Murphy, Imagineers in each grade level are learning about regulating emotions and what it means to be a gifted person. Students will learn that being gifted affects more than only their intellect. Gifted traits affect all domains of the self, and being aware of one's intensities can have an immense impact on self-esteem as learners understand and accept themselves in new ways, and in turn feel more open to developing a set of strategies to harness the power of said intensities in a positive manner. Students are working with grade level gifted peers on the following progressive learning targets and will utilize what they have learned in order to develop a project that demonstrates new learning and strategies. 

Imagineers Inspired

• 3rd grade - Weather Works
• K/1st/2nd grade - Fur, Feathers & Fins
• 4th/5th grade - Colorado Archaeology

Check out our CU Science Discovery photo gallery!

Classroom Teachers and GT Advocate (GTA) Collaborative Support of GT Students

In addition to the above extensions that take place outside of class, Melissa Murphy (GTA) also works with teachers to support students in the classroom. This collaborative effort is multifaceted, including professional learning about giftedness and gifted best practices, GTA classroom visits to stay connected with instruction and learning that is taking place, as well as monthly meeting structures designed to facilitate collaborative conversations in designing rigorous, differentiated learning experiences for advanced students in the classrooms. 

Living Documents/Advanced Learning Plan (ALP)

Advanced Learning Plan goals are part of a “living document” that is shared with parents, students, and all teachers who work with the gifted student. At this time, Living Docs are created for students who have been identified as Gifted. Teachers share this living document digitally with parents and guardians as commenters. This Living Document is a tool to make sure that all stakeholders know each student well, and that students know their goals and have the opportunity to revisit them in order to reflect and revise with their teacher’s support and guidance. If you, as a family, have things to add, please do so by commenting and the teacher will transfer it to the doc. K-8 ALP goal attainment data will be made available to parents in the IC Parent Portal on May 18.

CRE Gifted & Talented In the Know

Suggested Reading for Parents

• Asynchronous Development NAGC Tip Sheet
• 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids by Christine Fonseca
• Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students 3rd Edition by Christine Fonseca 
• Overexcitability and the Gifted By Sharon Lind *senggifted.org
• Overexcitabilities: Five Unexpected Intensities 
• All About Intensities (a bit of a rabbit hole of interesting articles)
• Three Images to Explain Giftedness
• Embracing the Whole Gifted Self by Patricia Gatto-Walden, Ph.D

Upcoming Events from the Adams 12 GT Parent Group

• April 22nd, Monday - Leadership & Liaison Meeting
• April 26, Friday - Parent Education Series: GT 101 on Zoom
• May 6, Monday - CAGT Family Institute at Legacy HS

After School Clubs

• Destination Imagination Club  - That's a wrap for DI Club at CRE this year! Congrats to all of the teams for their hard work this year! Following are the team rankings for the regional and state tournaments.

• Cactus Huggers - 1st place at DI5280 Regional Tournament

• Pinball Adventure - 3rd place at DI5280 Regional Tournament

• Exploring Elephants - 4th place at DI5280 Regional Tournament & 2nd place at CO State Affiliate Tournament 

• Egypt Wildcats - Wildcard at DI5280 Regional Tournament

Check out our Destination Imagination photo gallery!

We hope you'll consider joining us for this incredible learning experience next year! There are lots of changes in the works for year three of DI at CRE. We will be looking for volunteer team managers for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Reach out to Melissa Murphy at Melissa.D.Murphy@adams12.org if you are interested! More information will be shared in the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.

• Girls Who Code Meeting Dates

• 3D Printing Club NEW (4th/5th invitation only at this time) 

In case you missed it...

• Recommended Listen:  Mind Matters Neurodiversity Podcast Episode 12  All the Feels (And Then Some) “Emotional intensity varies from person to person, but among gifted people, it’s often markedly higher, and more of a challenge to understand and control. Critically-acclaimed author and former school psychologist Christine Fonseca joins us with her insight into emotional intensity among gifted people, on episode 12 of Mind Matters.

  • About the guest - Christine Fonseca works to help children and adults explore the authenticity of their own voices. She’s the author of several books in the area of giftedness and emotional intensity, including Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students. Christine provides professional development to help educators understand the social and emotional needs of the gifted. She has worked as a school psychologist in the elementary, middle, and high school levels, and currently works as a consultant to school districts on the behavioral and social-emotional needs of students.”

• Booklist for Kids - Looking for multicultural, engaging book recommendations for your gifted readers? Be sure to bookmark We Need Diverse Books for some great suggestions! 

• Recommended for parents -  Embracing the Whole Gifted Self by Patricia Gatto-Walden, Ph.D  I listened to this audiobook on my way to and from Glenwood Springs over fall break. It is a short, but highly informative read that provides a window into the minds of gifted people, and how they are more than just their intellect. I highly recommend reading or listening to this eye opening book.

Helpful Links & Resources

• Parent Portal - GT Identification results

• Parent Portal - ALP Process

• CRE GT FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Speaking of acronyms, click the link to view explanations for the many Gifted & Talented acronyms.

• Adams 12 GT Parent Facebook Group

• CRE GT Page 

• AD12 GT Page loads of great info and resources

• Adams12 GT Parent Group 

• Mental Health Wellness

• Learning Management System with resources & enrichment activities for members of the Imagineers via Imagineers at CRE Schoology Group - students access from https://myaccount.adams12.org/ui/dashboard

• Code.org Parent Letter & Scratch - For Parents  Students may go to these free coding sites for enrichment by choice with permission from their teacher or at home