Program Overview
The Greenbrier School District continues to offer a program in grades kindergarten through twelve for those students who have been identified as having needs above and beyond what the curriculum in the regular classroom offers. The major goal of the school district is to respond in significant ways to the unique needs and characteristics of these students. Support from administration, parents, and community contributes to reaching this goal.
In grades kindergarten through two, students meet with the gifted and talented specialist every week for a fifty-minute enrichment lesson. Enrichment lessons consist of higher order thinking skills, problem solving, creative thinking, and research. Identified students in grades three, four, and five are pulled out of the regular classroom each week for 150 minutes to meet with the gifted and talented specialist.
Students in grades six through twelve are serviced through the implementation of an honors/academic acceleration program, for 250 minutes a week, in the four basic core classes – English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Advanced Placement classes in Studio Art, Calculus, Statistics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Spanish, Music Theory, English Literature, English Language, World History and U.S. History are offered at the High School. Advanced classes in English, Social Studies, Science, and Math are offered starting at the Middle School level. Dedicated teachers receive training through the College Board Advanced Placement Summer Institutes for Pre-AP/AP Teachers.
Students are given numerous opportunities for competitions, such as art and poster contests, essay and poetry contests, Invention Fair, Science Fair, History Day, Spelling Bee, Quiz Bowl, Chess tournaments, Destination Imagination, Stock Market Game, Knowledge Master’s Open, and math competitions. Students are also given the opportunity to participate in Jr. Honor Society, Beta Club, Math Club, Science Club, field trips, Writers in the Schools, and the civic education program, “We the People”.
Definition of Giftedness in Arkansas
The state of Arkansas defines "gifted" in the following way:
Gifted and talented children and youth are those of high potential or ability whose learning characteristics and educational needs require qualitatively differentiated educational experiences and/or services. Possession of these talents and gifts, or the potential for their development, will be evidenced through an interaction of above average intellectual ability, task commitment and /or motivation, and creative ability.
This definition is based on Joseph Renzuilli's model.
