DCSD Advanced Academics & Gifted Ed

Equity of Access ~ Opportunity ~ Agency ~ Empowerment

Vision: We seek out, surface, and nurture the potential in each student from all races, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, gender identities, and sexual orientations.

Mission: We partner with staff, students, families, and our community to design/refine/implement equitable and culturally responsive systems of identification and programming for high potential/advanced/gifted students from all demographic groups in all schools.

Email: gifted.education@dcsdk12.org
Website: dcsdk12.org/gifted-education
Location: 620 Wilcox St, Castle Rock, CO 80104
Phone: 303-387-0191

The Discovery Program Application Process for the 2025 - 2026 School Year is OPEN for parents/guardians.

Due date November 13, 2024

The DCSD Elementary Discovery Program is a center based gifted program designed to meet the needs of highly advanced gifted elementary school students (grades 2 - 6) who require intensity of instruction and acceleration beyond what can reasonably be expected from gifted programming and services provided through their school.

Want to know more about DCSD's Discovery Program?

Join us for an in-person informational night at one of our Discovery Program sites:

Pine Lane Elementary

6485 Ponderosa Dr, Parker

Thursday, October 24, 5:30 to 7:30 P.M

Renaissance Magnet School

3960 Trail Boss Ln, Castle Rock

Tuesday, October 1, 5:00 to 7:00 P.M.

Northridge Elementary

555 Southpark Rd, Highlands Ranch

Tuesday, October 1, 5:00 to 7:00 P.M.

Please use this Google Form to R.S.V.P for an in-person Discovery Information night. This will help us plan for the number of families joining us.

OR join us for a VIRTUAL information session:

Monday, November 4th, 2024

6:00-7:00 P.M.

Please R.S.V.P using this Google Form.

Information including the virtual link will be sent directly to you upon receipt.

Douglas County Association for Gifted and Talented (DCAGT) is an affiliate of the Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented (CAGT), which is an affiliate of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC).

DCAGT’s objectives are to:

• Support the efforts and activities of CAGT, the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), and neighboring CAGT affiliates.

• Present gifted resources and educational opportunities to families, caregivers, educators, and the community.Encourage advocacy and best-practices for gifted children.

• Reach and connect the gifted community with opportunities to share experiences and exchange information.

They are currently looking for passionate parents that would like to serve on the board or volunteer to support events. Contact them via email at info@dcagt.org.

Visit their website HERE.

The Douglas County Gifted Education Advisory Council (DCGEAC) is seeking members with a variety of backgrounds and expertise! If you are a parent/guardian of a student identified for gifted services OR a high school student who has been identified as gifted, please consider joining us by completing the DCGEAC Self Nomination Form.

DCGEAC meets quarterly throughout the year. This year's in person meetings are:

• Tuesday, September 17, 4:30 - 6:00 P.M, DCSD Legacy Campus

• Wednesday, November 13, 4:30 - 6:00 P.M, DCSD VALE Campus (Venture Academy of Leadership and Entrepreneurship)

• Thursday, February 20, 4:30 - 6:00 P.M, DCSD Legacy Campus

• Tuesday, April 29 4:30 - 6:00 P.M, DCSD VALE Campus

This year's priority is Gifted Programming:

• Developing gifted students’ strengths and interests... supporting their academic, developmental, and social-emotional needs. Our areas of focus: Elementary • Secondary • Twice Exceptional • Social-Emotional

All meetings are open to the public. See this flier for more information. Please send us an email at gifted.education@dcsdk12.org if you have any questions.

CONVERSATIONS WITH CAGT

Conversations with CAGT is returning this school year with an all-new season of timely, relevant topics by preeminent local, national, and international specialists in the field of gifted education! Conversations with CAGT is an incredible opportunity to get expert advice on topics regarding giftedness for FREE with time to ask your questions. Follow us on Facebook for the next Conversations with CAGT, coming soon to kick off the school year! We hope you can tune in live each FIRST Tuesday on our Facebook page to view our Conversations with CAGT in real time at 5:00. You will be able to ask the CWC guest speaker any questions you might have about their session. Please come join us! Click HERE to go directly to CAGT's page.

Interested in previous recordings? All the sessions from this season listed below can be found at this link at coloradogifted.org.

Join us for the 46th Annual CAGT Conference, Purpose & Passion, this October 20th-22nd! We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Temple Grandin is joining us again as a keynote for this year’s conference! We are also excited to have this incredible line-up of featured speakers: Dr. Kristina Collins, Richard Cash and Dr. Rick Olenchak.

We hope you join us this October to learn from and be inspired by these keynotes and to hear from over 80 presenters sharing their knowledge and expertise covering topics that impact our GT kids and their education! There are sessions for educators, special education providers, mental health support teams, parents, administrators and district leaders. As a bonus, if you register for the 2 Day conference registration option, you will also be able to attend our virtual conference for free!

Click here for the registration link!

Enter to Win $40,000 and $500 Scholarships

Take steps on your dashboard to qualify for scholarships through your senior year.

No essay, no minimum GPA or test score, or citizenship requirements. Just follow the steps for chances to win. The more steps you complete and the earlier you start, the more chances you have to win!

Earn entries in monthly drawings for $500 and $40,000 scholarships by completing the six qualifying steps on BigFuture. If you don’t win, your entry rolls over for the next month. To enter without creating an account see official rules.

Get all information HERE.

As announced to the AP community, the AP Program is accelerating the transition to digital testing to ensure the continued security of AP Exams.

• Students will take digital exams in the Bluebook app. AP coordinators and proctors will administer digital exams using the Test Day Toolkit web application.

• Paper exams in these subjects will only be available to students approved by the College Board to receive a paper exam for digital assessments.

• For math, science, and economics exams that require graphing or symbolic notation, students will view free-response questions and prompts in Bluebook and write their answers in paper exam booklets.

• All schools, including schools and test centers outside of the United States, must administer these 28 AP Exams digitally.

• Late-testing exams in these subjects, if offered by the school, are also in digital format.

Get more information at College Board HERE.