GT GA ZETTEJEFFCO

Volume 2 | Issue 3 | December 2017

The dates for SPARKS summer enrichment camp will move to June 18-29, for 2018. The location will continue to be at Golden High School, but will now permanently be held the last two weeks of June. We understand that this may inconvenience some families, but it came down to changing dates or not being able to hold the camp at all. Registration opens February 1st.

GIFTED PARENT ACADEMY

The Gifted and Talented Department is now offering four different online courses for parents through the Gifted Parent Academy including The Gifted Child, Social Emotional Needs, The Twice-Exceptional Child, and The Visual-Spatial (Non Verbal) Thinker. Courses are designed to help parents gain a deeper understanding of their gifted children and load up their tool boxes with effective strategies for greater success and well-being.

All classes are open enrollment and self-paced ? start anytime and work at your own pace. The cost is only $35 per family. See the website for a course tour and registration information.

CENTER APPLICATIONS

2018 JEFFCO WRITING CHALLENGE EDUCATION NON-PROFIT (ENC)

LAST CHANCE! GT Cent er Applicat ion Deadline is approaching for spr ing!

Jeffco Schools? GT Centers offer experiences that foster meaningful growth for gifted learners. We are now accepting applications for our GT Centers for the 2018-19 school year.  Our spring application window is open through January 16, 2018 with testing on Feb. 3.   Visit our Application and Testing Information page to apply.

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Have you ever wanted to change the way a book ended? Did you wish a character was still a part of a series? Did you feel the book ended too quickly? Would you have had the heroine or hero be someone else? Would there have been an epic battle or one more grand adventure? In 500 words or less choose a book and change the ending! For more information,click here.

To meet the needs of highly gifted children who have not yet entered kindergarten or first grade, Jeffco may grant early entrance to these grades, thus grade accelerating the child by one year. The application window for the Early Access process is open from January 4 - April 1, 2018. Please visit the Early Access web page for more information.

Ear ly Access Applicat ion

New Dat es for SPARKS

Hutchinson Elementary recently had the grand opening of its new MAKERSPACE!! Superintendent Dr. Jason Glass and Lakewood Mayor Adam Paul were both there to cut the ribbon and get creating! This new permanent space is where students will spend a minimum of 1 hr/wk working on creativity, problem solving, and collaboration with activities like carpentry, electronics, and experiments. The activities will supplement classroom learning and teach students how to persevere through projects and problems to reach success. The entire space and its contents - which include a bathroom! - cost the school...$0! The project was completed entirely with donations from and volunteer time spent by the community, and a bit of fund-raiser money. They are accepting donations of all kinds all year! Recycle everything by donating it! The school is also looking for community members with specialized skills to donate time working with students in the space...if that 's you, give them a shout!

6TH GRADE TRANSITION FOR GT CENTER SCHOOLS

Hut chinson Maker Space

As many of you may have heard, the majority of Jeffco 6th grade students will be transitioning to the middle schools for next year. (See the Jeffco 6th Grade Transition website for more information on this process.) Current GT Center students will be guaranteed a continuous GT Center experience:

Mountain Area GT Centers: Evergreen and West Jef ferson Middle Schools successfully transitioned 6th grade GT Center students several years ago.South Area GT Centers: Ken Caryl Middle School transitioned 6th grade GT Center students from Coronado beginning in the 2017-18 school year. West r idge will transition 6th grade GT Center students beginning in the 2019-20 school year.Central Area GT Centers: Creight on Middle School will host 6th grade GT Center students in the 2018 - 19 school year from Kyf f in, Devinny, and Kendr ick Lakes. Ever it t Middle School will host all 6th grade students in the 2018-19 school year, including those from St evens GT Center.North Area GT Centers: Nor t h Arvada Middle School will host all 6th grade students in the 2018 - 19 school year, including GT Center students from Hackber ry Hil l and Sher idan Green .

Current 5th and 6th grade GT Center students should have already submitted a letter of intent if they are planning to continue to a GT Center middle school. It is not necessary to reapply or re-test if students are continuing from a GT Center elementary to a GT Center middle school, but families must submit the letter of intent to the school. You may also see this GT Center Schools 6th grade transition FAQs webpage for more information.

ALP Process: Where are

Your St udent s Now ?

At the beginning of the year, teachers and students met to set goals for their Advanced Learning Plans. Now, halfway through the year, teachers and students begin to evaluate the progress made toward these goals. By the end of February, teachers and students will report out how the progress is going. If students need adaptations to their goals, teachers work with them at this time to made adjustments.

Click on image below to enlarge and see details of the ALP Lifecycle.

Universal Screener Result s

PARENT SEMINARS

The CogAT 7 (Cognit ive Abil i t ies Test ) is one of the most commonly used cognitive tests in Jeffco to help us understand our students? thinking styles and identify gifted potential. In October, every second-grade Jeffco student takes the CogAT. Jeffco also administers the CogAT for other grade levels, as well as for gathering data for GT Center School placement. The CogAT 7 is comprised of Verbal, Quantitative and Non-Verbal batteries which give us a comprehensive measure of cognitive abilit ies. The CogAT 7 score reflects a student?s ability to discover relationships and demonstrate flexible thinking at this stage of cognitive development.

The CogAT 7 reports two scores: Percentile Rank and Stanine. Percentile Ranks range from 1 to 99 and indicate what percentage of grade-classmates or age-classmates a child out-performed on a particular sub-test. If a student scored in the 40th percentile, they scored better than 40% of grade-level and/or age-level students nationwide. Stanine scores are groupings of percentile ranks, ranging from a low of 1 to a high of 9. A higher stanine means a higher level of cognitive abilit ies development.

CogAT 7 takes the stanine and percentile scores and combines them into an individualized student profile. The individualized student profile allows us to see clear differences in how each student approaches learning and problem solving, interacts with various learning environments, and what kind of support they need to learn successfully. If you are interested in learning more about how to interpret the CogAT 7 results, please plan to attend the CogAT Parent Information meeting.

Underst anding t he CogAT 7 Assessm ent for Parent sTuesday, January 9, 2018

6:30 - 8:00pmJef fco Ed Cent er Board Room 5t h Floor

January 29, 2018 6:30-8:00 pm

Topics based on parent feedback:

- Social Emotional- GT Supports for Parents- Advocating for your Advanced

Learner- Early Access

Jeffco Ed Center 5th Floor Boardroom 1829 Denver West Dr., #27 Golden, CO 80401

January 9, 2018 6:30-8:00 pm

TOPIC: Understanding your Student 's CogAT Data

Jeffco Ed Center 5th Floor Boardroom1829 Denver West Dr., #27Golden, CO 80401

Make-up Date is January 10, 2018 in case of inclement weather.

February 26, 2018 6:30-8:00 pm

SPEAKER: Ian Byrd "Creating 21st Century Innovators"

GT students have the potential to make their own paths while earning a living doing something they love. Explore the nature & potential of giftedness with us!

Jeffco Ed Center 5th Floor Boardroom1829 Denver West Dr., #27Golden, Co 80401

CREATING 21st CENTURY

INNOVATORS

IAN BYRD

Rapidly developing technologies have empowered the creative, quirky, and obsessed (sound like anyone you know?) to use those traits to create their own careers. Gifted and talented students have the potential to make their own paths while earning a living doing something they love. We'll explore some case studies and look at new tools for communicating, publishing, and even getting paid.

Ian Byrd, one of the leading new voices in the field of gifted education and creativity, will be speaking. Ian is the author of the website byrdseed.com, which has a wealth of resources, articles and video clips on a variety of GT-related topics, including resources specifically for parents.

Monday, February 26, 2018

6:30 - 8:00 pm

Jeffco Education Center - 5th Floor Board Room

1829 Denver West Dr.

Golden, CO 80401

Parents of gifted children need access to a variety of resources , networking and support to help guide them through their child's academic journey.

The Gifted and Talented Department will be offering Parent Seminars in conjunction with JAGC (Jefferson County Association for Gifted Children. The presentations are prepared by various professionals on issues related to gifted children.

The parent seminars focus on supporting the children, parents and educators while offering the resources and networking that are needed.