Do you have a gifted child? These resources in Boise, Idaho can help you, your student
The thought of having a child who’s gifted academically can be exciting. What parent wouldn’t want a youngster considered to have advanced comprehension skills and understanding?
But having a gifted students comes with its challenges, too. In many cases, it’s necessary for these children to be provided with special education services and other programs to help support and develop their potential talents.
In some cases, gifted children may also have learning disabilities, such as ADHD or dyslexia, or be on the autism spectrum, according to the Davidson Institute, a nonprofit that supports the development of these kids.
Gifted children with a learning disability are called twice-exceptional students, and they are one of the most underserved and under-identified populations in school settings, according to the Davidson Institute.
The organization states that a large reason for twice-exceptional students being so underserved is a lack of school programs that identify and support them. That can become a headache for parents.
The state of Idaho and Ada County have multiple programs and services to assist both children and parents.
School district programs
All three school districts in Ada County — Boise, Kuna and West Ada — offer programs for gifted children.
Boise School District GATE: The Gifted and Talented Education program in the Boise School District is geared toward students at or near the 95th percentile in their math and reading scores, as well as classroom assessments.
The program focuses on several learning characteristics, such as leadership skills, creativity and communication. More information can be found by emailing the gifted program supervisor, Helga Frankenstein, at helga.frankenstein@boiseschools.org.
Kuna School District Gifted and Talented Program: The Kuna district has a designated gifted and talented team that works with general education teachers to create instructional strategies and resources to help gifted students reach identified goals.
The Kuna School District begins its referral process for the program in second grade, through parent and teacher referrals as well as assessment data. More information can be found by emailing the district coordinator, Kelly Walton, at kwalton@kunaschools.org.
WASD Gifted and Talented: The West Ada School District begins testing students for its gifted and talented program in first grade and continues testing through eighth grade.
In first and second grade, students are shuttled once a week to a GT center to work on projects that are aligned with their learning goals. From third grade onward, students can either continue to work in the GT centers or work in the self-contained gifted program, which provides further academic challenges than the traditional classroom.
Parents can email the program coordinator, Cara Hinkson, at hinkson.cara@westada.org for more information.
Idaho Talented and Gifted
Idaho Talented and Gifted is an advocacy and support group that works to promote the needs of gifted children and connect families to educators across the state.
ITAG offers professional development events for gifted children and runs a monthly advocacy group, called Treasure Valley Parent Advocates for Gifted Education, to offer support to parents new to the educational process for their gifted students. It also informs parents how to support and promote legislation that can help their children.
National Association for Gifted Children
The National Association for Gifted Children is a national advocacy group that aims to help families with gifted children in grades K-12. NAGC touts that it helps families by empowering and encouraging parents and educators to implement effective practices at home and in the classroom to best nurture these students.
NAGC works closely with ITAG as one of its primary sources of advocacy in Idaho. Parents in the Treasure Valley can get involved and learn more information by reaching out to ITAG’s president, Ingred Jungen, at ingrid.jungen@boiseschools.org.
Edufest Conference
Edufest is a summer conference that focuses on gifted and talented education in the Northwest. The 2022 conference will be held July 25-29 at Boise State University. The conference focuses on learning about the unique characteristics that gifted children exhibit, as well as teaching and learning strategies that can be used for gifted children.
The conference will feature keynote speakers Tom Hébert, a professor at the University of South Carolina, and author Ian Doescher.
Registration for the 2022 conference will open later this year.
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This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
