Gifted Programs

Elementary School Gifted Resource-Cluster Program

Talent Development

During the 2024-2025 school year, all K-1 students participate in talent development gifted services as provided by the elementary GRT in partnership with classroom teachers. Collaboration between the K-1 teachers and the school’s GRT allows for the planning and delivery of extension activities, and whole group and small group lessons based on readiness, academic performance, interest, and/or learning profiles. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, K-2 students will participate in talent development lessons and K-2 teachers will collaborate with the school’s GRT.

Students are provided differentiated instruction to meet their diverse needs and ensure there is a match between a student’s capabilities and gifted services. Opportunities are provided for enrichment and extension, data-driven small group instruction, and differentiated independent learning experiences. The pace in gifted cluster classes is rapid, with students exploring subjects in greater depth, with additional intensity, and through a conceptual lens.

Emerging Scholars Initiative (ESI)

ESI is a multifaceted program designed to improve the identification of underrepresented student populations and the delivery of gifted program services in schools that qualify or have qualified for Title I services in the past. The ESI program identifies culturally, linguistically, economically, and/or diverse students with high academic potential using a strengths-based approach to prepare students to engage in challenging subject matter and rigorous courses in upper elementary school and beyond. Curriculum and instruction, teacher professional learning, parent/guardian education, and community partnerships are the core components of the ESI program.

In addition, VBCPS partners with local museums to provide cultural experiences for ESI students and their parents/guardians. The program, Students And Parents Learning INtellectual Growth Strategies (SAPLINGS) provides another avenue to observe, collect data, and provide opportunities to nurture and identify potential in students. Classroom teachers, GRTs, and docents in the museums observe students in this unique setting and provide anecdotal information as well. The classroom teachers and GRTs receive training on how to identify gifted characteristics prior to the field trip to assist in the identification of underrepresented populations of students.

Gifted Resource-Cluster Model

During the 2024-2025 school year, students identified as intellectually gifted in grades two through five receive services through the gifted resource-cluster program in their comprehensive neighborhood school. The gifted resource-cluster model provides differentiated instructional and curricular experiences with gifted cluster teachers who work with gifted-identified students and a GRT.

During the 2025-2026 school year, students identified as intellectually gifted in grades three through five will receive services through the gifted resource-cluster program in their comprehensive neighborhood school.

Middle School Gifted Resource-Cluster Program

Students identified as intellectually gifted in grades six through eight receive services through the gifted resource-cluster program in their comprehensive neighborhood school. The gifted resource-cluster model provides differentiated instructional and curricular experiences with gifted cluster teachers who work with gifted-identified students and a GRT.

Students have the opportunity to take advanced classes in English, science, and mathematics and may begin a foreign language. The pace in advanced and/or gifted cluster classes is rapid, with students exploring subjects in greater depth, with additional intensity, and through a conceptual lens. Successful completion of advanced courses in middle school enables students to take advanced classes in high school, whether as part of advanced placement coursework or at one of the high school's advanced academic or academy programs.

Old Donation School (ODS)

ODS is a school that houses a general intellectual aptitude program (grades 2-8 during the 2024-2025 school year and grades 3-8 starting the 2025-2026 school year), gifted dance program (grades 3-8), and gifted visual arts program (grades 3-5) for gifted learners who demonstrate advanced levels of performance and evidence of potential to be successful in a rigorous learning environment where the core curriculum and pacing provided are compacted and accelerated. Limited seats are available; therefore, enrollment at ODS is application-based.

Students in grades 2-7 are eligible to apply for consideration for enrollment at ODS for their third through eighth grade school years. Selection for enrollment is based on open seats and the rating assigned by the ODS Rating Committee. No single criterion determines an applicant's rating, and there is no guarantee a specific rating will result in a student being selected to attend ODS.

Curriculum and instruction encompass all objectives found in the Virginia Standards of Learning, expanding and extending specifically to meet the needs of gifted learners. The content of the courses is compacted and extended so students are not only accelerated but are also covering material in more depth, when appropriate. More information can be found on the ODS school website.

High School Gifted Resource-Cluster Model

The high school gifted resource-cluster program offers services to students through coaching and collaborative planning with teachers and by facilitation of elective courses. These services provide resources, support, guidance, specialized curricula, and instructional strategies as well as whole-group and small-group instruction.

GRTs in each of the comprehensive high schools and academies serve as advocates for gifted learners as well as instructional coaches for teachers. The formation of cluster classrooms is at the discretion of the high school principal, who must determine the most appropriate teachers, courses, and sections for cluster classrooms. While cluster grouping of gifted learners is expected in grades nine and ten, it is an option for schools to extend clustering to grades eleven and twelve.

GRTs also teach elective courses in an online, blended format, allowing students to research and discuss selected topics. Think Tank (grades 9-10) offers students the opportunity to think critically about current social, political, economic, and environmental issues. S.P.A.R.K.S. (grades 11-12) allows students to engage in a course designed to encourage the discovery and discussion of new and invigorating ideas, the development of critical thinking skills, and the synthesis of complex issues. Online and face-to-face discussions encourage students to make connections and explore relationships among different disciplines. Independent Study (grades 9-12) is an option that allows students to pursue self-initiated, academically advanced study projects in their identified special interest areas. Principal and GRT approval are required for students to participate.

Students at the high school level have access to career and technical education centers, academies and advanced academic programs, honors and Advanced Placement courses, and college-level dual enrollment courses. Advanced academic programs and academies provide a rigorous curriculum and authentic learning experiences. Applications for these programs do not require gifted identification. More information about the high school academies in VBCPS can be found here: https://www.vbschools.com/academics/academies.

Advanced placement and dual enrollment courses allow students the opportunity to further develop requisite post-secondary skills and earn industry credentials along with college credit while attending high school.

Governor's School for the Arts

Students in grades 9-12 who attend the Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA) in Norfolk, Virginia spend the mornings at their comprehensive neighborhood school or high school academy. They are given the option to provide transportation or use transportation provided by the school division to attend GSA for the second half of the school day. Students attend classes at GSA daily and receive instruction in their area of focus that builds in rigor and complexity over time.

Note: Although gifted identification is not required for application to the program, students who are accepted will automatically receive gifted visual/performing arts identification by VBCPS. For more information, visit the GSA website at http://www.gsarts.org.

Summer Residential Governor's Schools (SRGS)

Summer Residential Governor’s Schools provide high school juniors and seniors with intensive educational experiences in visual and performing arts; humanities; medicine and health sciences; mathematics, science, and technology; or through mentorships in marine science, or engineering.

Each Summer Residential Governor’s School focuses on one special area of interest. Students live on a college or university campus for up to four weeks each summer. During this time, students are involved in classroom and laboratory work, field studies, research, individual and group projects and performances, and seminars with noted scholars, visiting artists, and other professionals. In the three mentorships, students are selected to work side-by-side with research scientists, physicians, and a variety of other professionals. A director and a student-life staff provide supervision of students 24 hours a day, throughout the program.

Any tenth or eleventh grade student meeting the requirements may apply for the Summer Residential Governor's Schools beginning in the fall. Nominations may be made by teachers, school counselors, peers, or by the students themselves. A VBCPS selection committee forwards the nominees to a state selection 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 participate in a statewide adjudication in January. Students join with other Virginia school districts and audition or present portfolios for review before professionals in the specific arts field.

Students are notified of their acceptance status for all summer programs in April of each year.

E.E. Brickell Scholarship Program

The Office of K-12 and Gifted Programs, in partnership with the Virginia Beach Rotary Club, sponsors the E.E. Brickell Scholarship Program at all high schools. The Brickell scholarship is awarded to one high school senior for their exceptional academic achievement and school involvement, including exemplary community service. Brickell Scholars are selected from each VBCPS high school during the spring of their junior year. The students participate in "scholar seminars" centered on various social and civic issues that impact society and their local community. Twenty-four students compete for the prestigious Brickell Scholarship which is typically awarded during the annual Virginia Beach Rotary Club Scholarship dinner.