Gifted & Talented Program

The goals for Gifted and Talented and Highly Gifted and Talented programming at Swigert are:

  1. Ensure students are appropriately challenged and engaged academically.
  2. Support classroom teachers in continuing to develop tools and strategies to extend student learning.
  3. Develop students’ self-advocacy skills and awareness of their own learning needs.
  4. Ensure that social/emotional needs of students are supported and nurtured.

We know that our school-wide base model of International Baccalaureate is, in itself, a supportive model for gifted and talented learners. It encourages inquiry in a conceptual framework and supports deep thinking, analysis, problem solving, research, project based learning, and global connections—all important factors in engaging and developing student learning that challenges student thinking. 

Our goal is to provide positive learning experiences in each classroom as much as possible. We have deliberately and thoughtfully placed identified students. This allows our GT teacher to better support teachers and students inside their classrooms. This support can manifest differently depending on the situation and specific needs. Our GT specialist’s role includes pulling resources for classroom teachers, modeling lessons, co-planning and working with small groups and individual students.

We also recognize the social and emotional aspects that are often inherent within a gifted identification. As part of our GT programming, our coordinator helps teachers better understand these characteristics as well as work with individuals and small groups of students to support needs.

Please email Robin Bresnahan at Robin_Bresnahan@dpsk12.net if you have questions about the committee or are interested in joining.

GT at Swigert Information

GT Articles & Resources