Gifted & Talented
Enrollment in honors-designated courses in the core subjects – Language Arts – is reserved first for GT Center students. Students with Advanced Learning Plans (ALPs) may enroll in honors-designated courses pending available space in the course.
Sixth and seventh students with an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) may take an elective once per year that is specifically tailored for the affective and academic needs. They are also 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.
Course Designations
While all students receive differentiated instruction, the only course offered with an Honors designation in the course name is English/Language Arts.
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.
GT Center Application
The district offers just one application window for GT Center placement in the following school year. The 2025 GT Center application for the 2025-26 school year is open from early August 2025 through 4 pm on October 24, 2025. More information and the application are available on the district's Gifted & Talented page.
GT Gazette
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.
Gifted & Talented in Jeffco
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.
Advanced Learning Plan
WJMS develops an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) to guide programming for every identified gifted student.