High School Resource-Cluster Program
See individual school listings.
Within the general school population there are many students whose educational needs are beyond the scope of the regular high school academic program and for whom curricular modifications must be made. The gifted resource-cluster model promotes optimum understanding of the needs of gifted students through the activities of a gifted resource teacher working in collaboration with classroom teachers. The program provides a variety of offerings to meet the educational needs of intellectually and artistically gifted students through a model that combines cluster grouping with a resource component.
The high school gifted program provides an on-site gifted resource teacher who develops and implements educational services to students through direct teaching of seminar courses and collaborative work with teachers, administrators, and parents in the school. These services provide resources, support, guidance, specialized curricula and instructional strategies, as well as whole group and small group instruction. Carefully planned curricula provide experiences that extend the regular education curriculum to meet the specific learning needs evidenced by gifted students who have demonstrated mastery of skills through pre-assessment activities.Program offerings, including gifted seminar courses and differentiation in the regular education classroom, are designed to add depth and complexity to the high school curriculum. The gifted resource teacher serves as a facilitator, designer, trainer, and coach at each school site. The gifted resource teacher collaborates with the school’s administrators to assist teachers in understanding the needs and appropriate educational services for gifted students through staff development workshops, collaborative planning and sharing sessions, and by providing research-based resources.
For the most recent listing of Gifted Program Credit Courses, please see the Gifted Education section of the current Student Guide for High School Students. 
Governor's School for the Arts
http://www.gsarts.net
Students in Virginia Beach City Public Schools, in grades 9-12, are eligible to attend the Governor's School for the Arts in Norfolk, Virginia. Students must complete an application and audition for the intensive programs in dance, music, musical theatre, theatre, and visual arts. The applications are available from the school all year and the adjudication process takes place in January.
Students take academic classes at their regular high schools in the morning and attend the Governor’s School for the Arts for three hours every afternoon during the regular school year. For each year they attend, students may earn three credits.
Students in Virginia Beach City Public Schools are identified as gifted in the visual and performing arts upon acceptance to the Governor's School for the Arts.
For more information, please visit the above website or call 757.451.4711.
Governor's Summer Residential Programs
Summer Residential Governor’s Schools provide gifted high school juniors and seniors with intensive educational experiences in agriculture, foreign languages, the humanities, life science and medicine, mathematics, science, and technology, or the visual and performing arts. Students also may consider a mentorship experience in engineering or marine science.
Any tenth- or eleventh-grade student meeting the requirements may apply for the Summer Residential Governor’s Schools. Applications are made available in October. Applications may be obtained online at the website above. Based on the September 30 student enrollment, each school division has a specific number of nominations it may send to the Virginia Department of Education.
Nominations may be made by teachers, guidance counselors, peers, or by the students themselves. A Virginia Beach City Public Schools selection committee forwards the nominees to a state selectioncommittee. Consideration is given to students’ academic records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, honors and awards, creativity, original essays, and teacher recommendations.
Students applying for the Visual and Performing Arts Summer Residential Governor’s School program must participate in the local audition, usually held late in November, in order to be considered for possible nomination from the Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Nominated students participate in a statewide adjudication in early January. Students join with other Virginia school districts and audition or present portfolios for review before professionals in the specific arts field.
Because of the limited number of residential placements available, not all students who are nominated by their schools can be accepted for participation. Students are notified of their acceptance status for all summer programs in April of each year.
Students may be considered for gifted identification through referral by parents/guardians, students, teachers, themselves, and other persons who may have knowledge or expertise to make such a referral including community members, or by any other appropriate school personnel (e.g., student support teams). Referral forms are available in all schools from the gifted resource teacher, the guidance department, or gifted program contact person and may be submitted at any time during the academic year. A Parent Information Referral Form is also available. Detailed information on the referral process.
Student eligibility for citywide gifted services is determined through the use of multiple criteria, and students must demonstrate potential for exceptional performance and academic needs that cannot be met through general education curricula. The Virginia Department of Education has established the following categories of giftedness:
- General Intellectual Aptitude: Students with advanced aptitudes as demonstrated by advanced skills and creative expression in general intellectual ability;
- Academic Aptitude Specific: Students with specific aptitudes in an academic area: math; the sciences; and/or the humanities as demonstrated by advanced skills and creative expression in those areas;
- Technical and Practical Arts Aptitude: Students with specific aptitudes in selected technical or practical arts as demonstrated by advanced skills and creative expression in the technical and practical arts; and,
- Visual and Performing Arts Aptitude: Students with specific aptitudes in selected visual or performing arts as demonstrated by advanced skills and creative expression and who excel consistently in the development of a product or performance in any of the visual and/or performing arts.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools identifies students in the areas of General Intellectual Aptitude and Visual and Performing Arts Aptitude.
Once a student has been tested, an identification and placement committee reviews all information submitted to determine the best placement for the student. Criteria for selection will include data from a combination of the following elements:
- academic achievement
- teacher recommendations
- ability test scores
- achievement test scores
- parent checklist of behaviors
- an interview with the student
- an audition or portfolio of student works for visual and performing arts programs.
Notification Procedures
Applications for citywide gifted services are reviewed periodically throughout the year. Parents/guardians are notified of the committee's decisions by letter.
Parents or guardians may appeal the decision of the Identification and Placement Committee when there is additional, pertinent information. An appeal form may be obtained from the Gifted Testing Office. All appeal requests must be submitted to the director of the Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development by the deadline provided within the letter communicating the decision of the Gifted Identification and Placement Committee. The parents or guardians will be notified by letter of the director's receipt of the appeal.
At the initial meeting of the appeals committee, all data collected, including additional, pertinent information submitted in the appeal, are reviewed. The committee will decide if additional assessment data are needed or the committee may determine that, based on the data that has been submitted, no additional data are needed. Any additional assessments must be initiated by the committee and administered by Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Assessments not conducted by Virginia Beach City Public Schools will not be considered by the committee.
The committee's decision may include one of the following:
- Uphold the original decision of the eligibility/placement committee
- Reverse the decision of the eligibility/placement committee
- Gather additional or updated data
The parents or guardians will be informed of the appeals committee’s decision by letter.
The Gifted Education Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is appointed by the division superintendent to offer advice regarding gifted services. The CAC is comprised of parents, gifted education teachers, administrators, gifted students, and the business community. The makeup of the committee reflects the various school levels and populations, geographic, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the community.