Gifted & Talented

Academic

• Cluster grouped into content classes based on areas of strength
• Teacher Professional Learning and coaching on differentiation for depth and complexity

ALP & Enrichment

• Student ALPs have a content goal and a social emotional goal. Written collaboratively and reviewed three times per year with a resource teacher
• Students engage in and reflect on a minimum of one enrichment activity per semester (DI, TSA, Writing Competitions, Science Fair, independent projects)
• Alignment of MS programming to HS programs for math and Career and Technical Education
• Offered open library/lab time by grade level during Advise once a month to work on tasks related to their goal or other individual or small group activities

Social Emotional

• SELC facilitates groups to address executive functioning and emotional regulation 
• SELC provides in-classroom support around executive functioning and emotional regulation

Students that qualify via math placement tests given in the spring may accelerate faster than the traditional math pathway followed in our district via compacted math courses, Accelerated 6 and Accelerated 7, that allow students to take Algebra in eighth grade (one-year acceleration) or Algebra in seventh grade and Geometry in eighth grade (two-year acceleration). Please see the Curriculum page on our website for more information on math pathways.

The district offers just one application window for GT Center placement in the following school year. The 2026 GT Center application for the 2027-28 school year is open from early August 2026 through 4 pm on October 23, 2026. More information and the application are available on the district's Gifted & Talented page.

Jeffco Gifted & Talented publishes a quarterly newsletter with articles of interest about GT programming in Jeffco, helpful ideas for families of gifted learners and information on upcoming GT-related events. The latest issue is made available in English and Spanish on the GT Resources page of the Jeffco Gifted & Talented website.

The Jeffco Public Schools Gifted and Talented (GT) Department’s vision is Igniting Bright Futures: inspiring gifted students to innovate, to create, and to pursue their dreams. We are committed to identifying, supporting, and challenging gifted students by providing access to tailored programming, individualized opportunities, and a community that fosters academic and social-emotional growth.

Each year, every second grader in Jeffco takes The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) which measures reasoning skills with different types of verbal, quantitative and nonverbal questions. The results of this test inform teachers which students may be identified as gifted and talented. 

What Is A Gifted Student?

GT students are learners between the ages of four and 21 whose abilities, talents or potential for accomplishment are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special educational programming. Children under five who are gifted may also receive early childhood special educational services. 

Gifted students include students from all backgrounds who have exceptional abilities or potential. Gifted students are capable of exceptional performance,  production or learning behavior and have one or more of these areas of giftedness:

Areas of giftedness

• Intellectual abilities
• Specific academic skills
• Creative or productive thinking
• Leadership abilities
• Visual arts, performing arts or musical abilities
• Physical skills

Please contact your GT Resource Teacher with questions regarding GT Center.