1. How much time do students spend outside of their homerooms if they participate in the elementary level gifted support classes?
2. How much work will students have to make up because they are missing time in their homerooms to participate in the elementary level gifted support classes?
3. What should I do if I think my child should be considered for the gifted program?
4. How does the screening process work?

How much time do students spend outside of their homerooms if they participate in the elementary level gifted support classes?

Identified students in grades 2-3 receive a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes of small group pull-
out classes during a five-day cycle. Identified students in grades 4 and 5 receive two hours of 
small group pull-out classes during a five-day cycle. Typically these times are split into 
two equal periods during the week. Schedules are arranged so that students do not miss the 
same subject twice in a week. The specific times and subjects for each grade level are discussed 
at the GIEP conferences.

Back to Top

How much work will students have to make up because they are missing time in their homerooms to participate in the elementary level gifted support classes?

When students are pulled from their homerooms to participate in 
the elementary level gifted support group, they may have a little 
bit of work to make up particularly in the upper grades, however 
they do not have an entire period's worth of work to complete. 
Pennridge supports that the students are responsible for 
demonstrating that they have an understanding of the skills 
missed during that period, but not necessary every assignment. 
Each homeroom teacher works out a plan that works best for 
his/her students.

Back to Top

What should I do if I think my child should be considered for the gifted program?

A good place to start is to have this discussion with your child’s classroom teacher. Your child’s 
teacher can give you feedback about your child’s performance in the classroom and whether or 
not 
it appears that adding additional challenges to your child’s daily program would benefit him or 
her.

If you are interested in making a parent referral, please see the Gifted Education Program 
Summary page of this website, and click on the link that says, "Gifted Referral Information" at the 
top. It will explain the process for you.

Back to Top

How does the screening process work?

If a child is being considered for the gifted program, the guidance counselor first must have 
written parental permission to start the screening process. The screening process starts with the 
guidance counselor collecting data on the child including school academic records and parent 
and teacher checklists. The (s)he will also administer a screening tool to help predict how likely a 
child is to perform well at the next phase of identification. Once this information is collected the 
guidance counselor discusses the results with the parents and counsels them on how the next 
phase of the identification process will take place with the school’s psychologist.

To view more specific details of this process, please go to the Gifted Education Program Summary 
page of this website, and click on the link that says, "Gifted Referral Information" at the top.

Back to Top