Katy ISD Gifted & Talented Program to Hold Program Awareness Session

Parents who are interested in referring their children for Katy ISD’s Gifted & Talented program are invited to attend a “G/T Program Awareness” session at 7 p.m., December 9 in Room 1200 at the Katy ISD Administration Building located at 6301 S. Stadium Lane (behind Katy High School). Parents should enter through the second set of doors facing the I-10 freeway marked “Staff Development.”

Starting in December, parents of Katy ISD students in grades one through four and six through 11 can be referred for screening for the 2009-2010 G/T program. To initiate a referral, parents must complete a Parent Checklist that may be obtained at all elementary, junior high and high school campuses beginning December 3, or from the Katy ISD Website at www.katyisd.org/departments/gt_advanced/default.htm.

Elementary parent checklists must be completed and returned to the counselor’s office by December 19 and secondary parent checklists must be returned to the counselor’s office by January 16, 2009. These deadlines will be adhered to so that students can be tested on designated testing days. Checklists not returned by the deadline will not be screened for service for the 2009-2010 school year.

The State of Texas requires that multiple objective and subjective measures be used to identify students for gifted programs. Screening instruments include the parent checklist, classroom observations, standardized ability and achievement tests. Elementary students may also take an intelligence test.

The G/T program for elementary students consists of a one-day-a-week pullout in the Challenge classroom with a teacher trained in gifted education, while the program for secondary students in grades six through 12 is a subject specific aptitude program that targets the language arts, math, social studies and science disciplines. 

Secondary students may be referred for screening in one, two, three or all four content areas. After identification, students are served within the Advanced Placement (AP) and Pre-AP programs. Secondary students currently identified as G/T may request screening for service in additional content areas. Requests must be made to G/T facilitator by January 16, 2009.

Parents may contact their campus counselors, elementary Challenge teachers, or secondary G/T facilitators if they have additional questions. Students already identified and experiencing success in the G/T program do not need to be re-screened. Transfer students who were screened in Fall 2008 must wait one full academic year before they can be re-screened.