The High School Resource 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 model promotes optimum understanding of the needs of gifted students through the activities of a gifted resource teacher. The program provides a variety of offerings to meet the educational needs of intellectually, academically, and artistically gifted students.
Program offerings are designed to complement and enrich the high school curriculum. Students have the opportunity to take advanced placement (AP) classes in English, science, mathematics, computer science, social studies, and foreign languages. A gifted resource teacher is employed at each high school to serve as an advocate for all gifted and talented students. Communicating the needs of gifted learners as well as the choices available to these students is an integral function of the gifted resource teacher.
Gifted Program Credit Courses are offered for credit to intellectually and artistically gifted students. The classes may meet in the afternoons or evenings, depending on the individual course. All Gifted Program Credit Courses are not held in all the high schools. Specific class information is sent to those who register. All courses include independent study expectations. The announced schedule of class meetings for some courses may include field experiences to be arranged at the first class meeting. Transportation to these classes is the responsibility of the student.
Students must complete an approved Gifted Program Credit Courses Add/Drop Form, available from the gifted resource teacher in each school. Completed forms must be submitted to the Office of Gifted Education through the gifted resource teacher.
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. 
The 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, performing arts, 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.
For more information, please visit the above web site or call 757.451.4711.
The 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 web site 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 school or division selection committee chooses the nominees from each school or division and forwards the nominees to a state committee. 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 October, 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 a pair of 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.
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The Application and Referral Process
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. Should students be eligible for gifted services, parents/guardians will automatically be sent information about the gifted programs. Referral forms are available in all schools from the gifted resource teacher, the guidance department, or the gifted program contact person and may be submitted at any time during the academic year. Forms are also available through the school division Web site.
Students do
not need to have gifted identification in order to make application to academy programs. Please contact the program of interest for more specific information or visit their Web site.
Eligibility
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.
Screening and Placement
Once a student has been tested, an eligibility 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, and,
- 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.
Appeals Process
Parents or guardians may appeal the decision of the Gifted Eligibility/Placement Committee when there is additional pertinent information. An appeal form may be obtained from the Gifted Testing Office located at Old Donation Center. All appeal requests must be submitted to the director of the Office of Gifted Education within twenty-one business days of receiving the letter communicating the decision of the Gifted Eligibility/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 that has been 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.
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. If the parents/guardians do not agree with this decision, they may submit an additional appeal to the director of the Office of Gifted Education.
Local Plan for Gifted Education
Each school division is required to submit to the Virginia Department of Education for approval a plan for the education of gifted students. Copies of Virginia Beach's plan are available upon request. Copies and alternative formats of the document are available at the school administration building.
Community Participation
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.
