MISSION GOALS | PROTOCOLS | WHAT’S NEW

The Gifted Services Program is designed as a rigorous extension of the standards-based curriculum used throughout the District. It is designed to provide students with opportunities to extend their thinking, develop their character, and enhance their leadership abilities.

The activities in the complete Gifted Services program are currently provided to students in grades K-8. The pull-out portion of the program is focused on STEAM-based learning, engaging students with activities designed to promote critical-thinking, creativity, and self-expression. Examples of our program include participation in Odyssey of the Mind, computer essentials and engineering design units through the Museum of Science at Boston, Makerspace and 3D printing, and working with our
LocoRobo drone program.

Our hybrid push-in/pull-out program provides the flexibility and support for our gifted students to meet their full potential. Students identified for the Gifted Services program receive a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) based on their needs, strengths, and interests. The Gifted Services teachers work with students, school staff, and parents to develop plans that will help students reach their academic, life, and career-oriented goals. In this capacity, Gifted Services teachers also serve as coaches, counselors, mentors, and advocates for their students.

The Gifted Services program is provided to students who show the potential to or consistently achieve above their peers and demonstrate a need for additional rigorous academic differentiation.

As a result of offering a pull-out option for a STEAM-based supplemental curriculum, as well as differentiated curriculum and personalized support, students receiving gifted services have the opportunity to achieve district goals at the level commensurate with their talents. They are challenged to apply their knowledge and skills in complex and
advanced ways so that they can continue to be academically challenged. When provided with the support that is needed, these students become highly productive citizens who contribute in significant ways to the well being of the broader community.

MISSION

Irvington Public Schools is committed to inspiring and equipping every student to think critically, act creatively and responsibly, embrace diversity, and pursue their dreams with purpose. Guided by our vision of “Building Our Community One Student at a Time,” our supplemental Gifted Services identify and support students who demonstrate exceptional ability in one or more content areas compared to their peers, and who require specialized program modifications to reach their full potential, as outlined in NJ Rev Stat § 18A:35-35 (2019).

GOALS

• Identify and support students who demonstrate exceptional abilities, ensuring
  equitable access to gifted services that nurture critical thinking, creativity,
  responsibility, and the pursuit of individual potential;
• To develop students’ capacities to become self-directed, confident in their
  abilities to access and process information, and communicate their learning;
• To enhance and refine the abilities of students to think abstractly, creatively, and
  critically while reflecting on their own growth as learners;
• To provide students with multiple opportunities to participate in targeted learning
  experiences that are differentiated in depth, complexity and range through the
  use of a variety of strategies.