Understanding gifted learners

Gifted students have above average abilities and the potential to perform at high levels in certain categories—intellectual ability, academic aptitude, creative or productive thinking, leadership ability, or artistically.

The unique needs of gifted students, particularly those who also have one or more learning differences, often go unrecognized, usually due to one of three circumstances:

1. their strengths outweigh their weaknesses, and learning difficulties remain hidden or minimized,

2. students’ weaknesses outweigh strengths, so while learning differences may be identified, students aren’t properly recognized as gifted, or,

3. strengths and weaknesses cancel each other out, therefore students aren’t identified as being gifted or as having learning challenges.

These students are often the most challenging for schools to properly accommodate. While students with learning challenges know the frustration that comes with struggling to learn in traditional classrooms, those with learning differences AND giftedness often feel even more defeated. Because of the duality between their intellectual reasoning (“I should be able to do this” and “if I’m so smart why is this so hard?”) and the actual learning that happens in a non-traditional way, students can lose confidence in their academic abilities and become bored and unmotivated.

At the Jones-Gordon School, we provide gifted students an individualized, flexible, and balanced educational plan; one in which strengths are cultivated and areas of difficulty are supported and improved, and in which students receive appropriate advancement and challenge. Above all, JGS students experience a compassionate school environment where they feel understood—an essential component for all student success.

Helping gifted students reach their potential

JGS is uniquely positioned to enable kids who are gifted—and who may also have learning or attention challenges—to thrive socially and academically. We provide:

• Understanding of, and support for, students’ asynchronous development (uneven or “out-of-sync” intellectual, social-emotional, and physical development)

• Dyslexia remediation through multisensory language programs (Wilson Reading System®, Lindamood-Bell)

• The ability/flexibility to adapt individual schedules as necessary

• An infusion of technology across the curriculum

• STEM education purposefully designed to benefit high-achieving students

• Ability-based groupings (for each subject, students are placed into classes that are appropriate for them, regardless of grade level) and opportunities for academic acceleration and advancement (honors, AP, and college-level dual-enrollment courses)

• Differentiated learning, tailoring not only the instruction but also the program to meet each individual student’s needs

• An emphasis on critical thinking; creative problem solving; and engaging, hands-on learning using innovative teaching methods

• A progressive school setting with a “whole child” approach, fostering social, emotional, and academic growth

• Teachers who “get it!” Our team is comprised of intelligent, highly-educated professionals with masters and doctorate degrees, special education certifications, gifted endorsements, board certifications, and expertise with students who thrive with an out-of-the-box education model!