Discovering, Expanding and Celebrating the Gifts and Talents of all Learners

The Federal Programs Department provides an increasingly comprehensive, challenging K-12 curriculum to meet the needs and enhance the talents of gifted learners. In order to achieve this goal, the gifted team has concentrated on the following objectives:

• Searching, refining and designing multiple screening and selection procedures and instruments to accurately identify gifted students;
• Developing, refining and implementing gifted curriculum and service differentiation with respect to content, process, product and environment;
• Collaboratively developing and supporting site-based programs and interdepartmental projects with administrators, teachers, parents and students to address the unique, diverse needs of gifted learners;
• Investigating assessment procedures to measure student’s growth and program effectiveness.

Gifted students in the Peoria Unified School District are served through a multi-age pull-out Enrichment model program for a minimum of 90 minutes a week.  This model may look slightly different at each school campus based on the numbers of identified gifted students at the school.

The multi-age structure encourages collaboration between students of different ages, creativity, friendly competition, depth & complexity.  The program will focus on problem-based learning opportunities, creative and critical thinking tasks, deductive and lateral thinking tasks, social & emotional learning opportunities, and student choice projects. This program will emphasize extending the learning of our gifted population and to ensure that they receive challenging opportunities to think in various ways. 

Teachers in our district instructing gifted students have received  training opportunities on the Problem-Based Learning project (a resource provided for teachers to use with students), Zones of Regulation (a curriculum that teaches students explicitly how to regulate one’s emotions in a positive manner), as well as an opportunity to take a 135 hour gifted course sponsored by the Arizona Department of Education.  Gifted training will continue to occur on district professional development days. These trainings will include further understanding of resources available to teachers such as: Primary Education Thinking Skills (PETS curriculum), Math Rules, and extension trainings on the Zones of Regulation and the PBL project.

If you have any questions, or need additional information regarding our two signature gifted programs at Apache or Copperwood Elementary, please email Katie Lukacsik, our district gifted program coordinator.

Gifted Scope & Sequence

Learn more about Choice Programs in Peoria Unified

District Vision - Every student, every day, prepared to shape tomorrow