DCSD Gifted Education News

The Douglas County School District provides world-class educational opportunities for gifted learners who have demonstrated abilities that require differentiated programming to reach their full potential. Please visit our website for more information.

Email: misty.burkhart@dcsdk12.org
Website: https://www.dcsdk12.org/gifted-and-talented
Location: 620 Wilcox Street, Castle Rock, CO, United States
Phone: (303)387-0145

Happy Fall Break!

It's difficult to believe that first quarter is already over! We hope that you and your child/children had a successful beginning to a new school year. By this time you may have heard that there have been some recent revisions to Colorado State Statute regarding gifted identification, planning and programming. You may review the revised rules by clicking HERE.

In addition, we would like to reiterate that students may be referred for identification for gifted programming at any time by parents, teachers, support staff or themselves! Please visit our website HERE and look under the tab labeled: Who We Serve for more detailed information.

If you have questions about gifted identification or programming, please contact the gifted education facilitator at your child's school.

Best regards!

Gifted and talented students are those students between the ages of four and twenty-one whose abilities, talents, and potential for accomplishment are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special provisions to meet their educational programming needs. Gifted students include students with disabilities (i.e. twice exceptional) and students with exceptional abilities or potential from all socio-economic and ethnic, cultural populations. Gifted students are capable of high performance, exceptional production, or exceptional learning behavior by virtue of any or a combination of these areas:

• General or Specific Intellectual Ability
• Specific Academic Aptitude
• Creative or Productive Thinking
• Leadership Abilities
• Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Musical or Psychomotor Abilities

The mission of the Center for Bright Kids is to provide access and opportunities for K-12 students with high interest and/or high ability in quality enrichment and acceleration programming that encourage self-growth, social responsibility, and a positive view toward lifelong learning. See more details by visiting the website HERE.

Our Annual State Conference is held every October in the Denver Metro area. This professional conference has an annual attendance of 700 educators, administrators and parents. There is a Call for Proposals that is posted in February. We also invite interested exhibitors to register starting in March. During the Annual Conference there is also a Parent Institute and a Leadership Forum.

See more information and register HERE

Find out information about Parent Institute HERE

We call youth the next generation of leaders, yet young people are already creating significant change of the world. WAC youth in 2016 and beyond will harness their passion and skills to challenge global poverty. We are excited to announce WAC themes for next three years - Smart Villages, Smart Cities, Smart Planet. Click here to get involved!

Click HERE to see WAC 2015 stories of success!

Interested in broadening your mathematical knowledge and sharpening your analytical thinking? Join the Colorado Math Circle for exciting math talks and problem solving sessions hosted by the University of Colorado at Boulder. Speakers will include math professors and mathematicians from around the state. Topics are expected to include number theory, combinatorics, probability, and geometry.

Click HERE for more information and/or to join!

Multipotentiality is a fancy way of saying “good at many things.” It’s a defining trait of gifted kids, and you’ve probably seen it in action. A student writes beautifully, masters a musical instrument, excels in math, and gets picked first in PE.

Read more at HERE

Destination Imagination is an international creative problem-solving competition with challenges heavily anchored in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Last year DCSD Gifted Education Funds supported over 75 teams of Kindergarten through High School students with ten teams earning an invitation to Global Finals. To learn more about how to support DI teams at your school please contact:

Connie Ackerman

Douglas County Destination Imagination Coordinator

303-688-4496

connieackerman@comcast.net