The Butler School District’s Gifted and Talented Education program is intended to service the students within our school who are identified as being Gifted and Talented through multiple measures. 

Giftedness is an asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are characteristically different from the norm. (The Columbus Group, 1991)

According to National Association for Gifted Children, there are three major responsibilities of Gifted Programs (http://www.nagc.org):

• Provide pathways to accelerate standards-based instruction for gifted learners.
• Provide examples of differentiated task demands to address specific standards.
• Create interdisciplinary product demands to elevate learning for gifted students and to efficiently address multiple standards at once.

As a district, we believe that all students have unique strengths and talents, and we work to foster these in many ways.  Some children have skills and abilities that significantly differ in degree and dimension from their chronological age peers.  Our Gifted and Talented program focuses on providing a differentiated experience both in depth and scope of instruction in order to provide these students with the opportunity to maximize their demonstrated potential.  We offer a variety of enrichment services for our students from the primary grades through high school, all of which are outlined in this Gifted and Talented Program Overview and Curriculum Document.

We also recognize that giftedness can demonstrate itself in many ways. If a parent and/or guardian feels strongly that their child was missed within our identification process, they may appeal the placement decision. Please see this Appeals Process Document for more information.