Gifted Program

Gifted Evaluation

 A student may be referred for evaluation of gifted education services by teachers, counselors, administrators, parents/guardians, peers, self and other individuals with knowledge of the students' abilities.  Parents may contact any of these school faculty members to discuss and request gifted evaluation for their students.  The testing cycle takes approximately 4 months to complete, parents will then be sent a detailed letter with the results of all testing.

Middle school students newly enrolled in Columbia County schools may be referred for the fall evaluation cycle.  Please speak with your child's teacher or guidance counselor by the end of August to make this referral.  All other students may be referred for the spring evaluation cycle. Please speak with your child's teacher or guidance counselor by the end of November to refer a student for the spring testing cycle.

 Transferring Students

Any student who meets the state eligibility criteria for gifted education services shall be considered eligible to receive gifted education services in any school system within the state. A student transferring from one school system in the state to the Columbia County School System shall meet the criteria for continuation of gifted services.

 There is no gifted program reciprocity between states.  Students entering Columbia County schools from another state must meet Georgia’s state eligibility criteria to be enrolled in the gifted program.  Testing data from other states may be used to determine eligibility if the tests meet Georgia DOE guidelines.  Students who are dependents of active military personnel will automatically qualify for the Georgia gifted program if they were being served in a gifted program from the sending school.

 Gifted Services

Gifted services in middle schools are primarily provided through advanced content classes.   In these classes, students are homogeneously grouped based on achievement and interest in a specific academic content area.  6th-8th grade students have advanced content Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language(8th only.)    

Middle school students may also be served through the cluster grouping model.  In the cluster grouping model, identified gifted students are placed as a group into an otherwise heterogeneous classroom with a gifted endorsed teacher.  The teacher makes curriculum modifications based upon the advanced learning needs of the students.