Achieving Program Goals
1) The students are identified as gifted through credible measures and it is clear that the child's educational needs would not be met in the regular classroom.
2) The gifted program parallels and is in place of the regular program.
3) The gifted program offerings are full-time in the areas in which the student has been identified as gifted.
4) The gifted program groups gifted children full or part-time with their intellectual peers in accordance with the field research on grouping.
5) The enrichment differentiation for gifted programs is focused on the degree of difficulty of the material and on the curriculum being studied in greater depth.
6) The acceleration differentiation for gifted programs is focused on the faster pace of classroom instruction and on the earlier introduction of various subject matters into the curriculum.
The Bell School Regional Gifted Center provides a program that reflects and supports these philosophical concepts. Students whose academic needs are not being met in regular classrooms are identified through validated citywide testing.The Bell School Regional Gifted Center is identified as an academic program, and offers a full-time, comprehensive program that parallels a regular program but emphasizes both enrichment and acceleration.
By fourth grade, students are consistently working two years above grade level in every subject area, and that acceleration is maintained through graduation to high school. Enriched classroom activities require students to pursue subjects in depth, and to produce results that reflect creative and analytical thinking.
An advantage continually noted by students and parents is the opportunity for gifted children to work full-time with their intellectual peers. The positive results of students working with their peers in this accelerated and enriched program are reflected in top standardized test scores across grade levels, in the overall stability of the student population through the eight years, and in the acceptance and successes of graduates in highly competitive high school programs.