A:  Your child’s present school is responsible for screening your child for the gifted program. Parents, teachers, or the child may initiate the screening. If screening shows gifted potential, Pupil Appraisal Services, a division of East Baton Rouge Exceptional Student Services, conducts the evaluation, once parental permission is given. It takes 60 operational days for this process to be completed. The completed evaluation is mailed to the parents. Parents are encouraged to contact the Gifted and Talented Office for information about the schools in the program. Parents may choose private testing for the gifted program, at their expense. Private evaluations must be sent to Pupil Appraisal Services where additional assessment is conducted. The procedure for the talented program is the same as above, except the evaluation is conducted by a Pupil Appraisal Services representative as well as a state-approved evaluator for each discipline. There is no option for private testing for the Talented Arts Program at this time. Parents should be prepared to provide evidence of the child’s work; i.e. portfolio, recital programs, etc. All schools, including private and parochial schools, have a Pupil Appraisal contact person assigned to each school. For the name of a contact person, call Pupil Appraisal Services at 225-929-8600.

A:  A written evaluation is mailed to the parents and to the Gifted and Talented Office from which parents are contacted for placement.

A:  There are three disciplines of talented arts and they are: Theatre, Music, and Visual Art.

A:  The Gifted and Talented Office will make all placements and students will be assigned to Gifted and Talented sites for services using the following:

• Living within the school’s home attendance zone with space availability.
• A school closest to their home address as reported in eSchool with space availability.
• A school with space availability in the program.

Middle School students are assigned according to attendance zones.*

• Glasgow Middle – All students whose home attendance zone is Glasgow Middle.
• Woodlawn Middle – All students whose home attendance zone is Woodlawn Middle.
• Westdale Middle – All students whose home attendance zone is any other middle school.

High School students are assigned according to attendance zones.*

• Woodlawn High – All students whose home attendance zone is Woodlawn High.
• McKinley High – All students whose home attendance zone is any other high school.

A:  Gifted and Talented students are afforded several opportunities for acceleration. Below are the most commonly used strategies for acceleration available for advanced students.

• • Advanced students are eligible to take high school level courses for credit prior to entering high school.  Participation in these courses is based on the student’s readiness for the course.
  • Advanced Placement (AP) Courses – These are advanced courses most commonly taken in high school through the AP Program.  These courses allow students to receive both high school credit and college credit if they score high enough on the AP Exam.  There is a fee for taking the AP Exam. In order to earn college credit the student must score a four or a five.  For more information visit https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/home.
  • Dual Enrollment – Students who have completed the highest classes offered in the core curriculum may be eligible for dual enrollment.  Current juniors and seniors must meet current admission criteria of the program they choose.  Students may have fees and tuition to pay with this strategy.  For more information visit
    http://www.louisianabelieves.com/courses/dual-enrollment.
  • Early Graduation – Students who complete all credit requirements by the end of their junior year can graduate early.

A: 

Gifted

If a student was identified by Pupil Appraisal personnel as gifted during the 2019-2020 school year, the identification and school placement offer remains active and valid.

Talented

If a student was identified by Pupil Appraisal personnel as talented during the 2019-2020 school year, the identification and school placement offer remains active and valid.

A: If a student had not completed the evaluation process for talented identification with Pupil Appraisal personnel, the evaluation will be given during the 2020-2021 school year.  The student will remain at the current school site until the evaluation process is completed. If the student is identified as talented, a placement offer will be made by the Gifted Office.

A:  Scholastic Academy

• If a student was in the evaluation process for gifted identification with Pupil Appraisal personnel, the identification process will resume after the new school year opens.  If the student qualifies as gifted, the student will remain at the school site. If the student does not qualify as gifted, the student will remain at the school site as a Scholastic Academy year 3 student until the end of the school year and will return to the home school the following year.

• If a student had not begun the evaluation process for gifted identification with Pupil Appraisal personnel, the evaluation process will be given during the new school year.   If the student qualifies as gifted, the student will remain at the school site. If the student does not qualify as gifted, the student will remain at the school site as a Scholastic Academy year 3 student until the end of the school year and will return to the home school the following year.

A: If a Great Scholars Academy student was placed on probation following first semester, the student will be exited from the program if the unweighted GPA is below a 2.0 for the year. The student will return to the home school for the beginning of 2020-2021 school year.