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You Are Here: Home > School / Administrative Information > Gate Plan 2005 - 2012
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Manzanita Elementary School District is a single-school rural district located 65 miles north of Sacramento. Some children rarely leave the Gridley City limits. Manzanita is a Title I school and expands and builds on the curricula, by providing unique experiences for students to grow and extend their interests and knowledge. The program offers flexible services that provide students the opportunity to excel at academic, social, and emotional levels. Twenty-five percent of the population is limited English speaking.
The philosophy of the GATE program is to:
- improve the quality of all schoolwide programs,
- ensure full participation of pupils from economically disadvantaged and varying cultural backgrounds,
- ensure a variety of program options including creative ability, leadership, and visual and performing arts in meeting the variety of gifted abilities, needs and interests of our gifted students,
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provide for identification of gifted and talented pupils demonstrating high and specific achievement and
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provide a variety of approaches to meet the many and varied learning styles of each child balancing between the cognitive and affective learning.
The main goals of the GATE programs are to:
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ensure students are challenged to explore areas of study which cover and extend areas across the curriculum,
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enable students to develop problem solving skills, thinking skills, research techniques, and
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explore the arts in a variety of forms and mediums.
Each year the GATE advisory committee, which is our School Site Council, meets 4-5 times and discusses/develops annual programs and activities that align with the philosophy and goals stated above. During the school day students are grouped based on ability and interest. Parents are informed about the GATE program in the student handbook, parent newsletters, parent conferences, and on our WebPages.
A teacher/coordinator is hired from our current certificated staff. The coordinator works with the GATE advisory committee and administration to annually develop a breadth of classes, programs and activities that allow in-depth study in a child's area of expertise/interest. Opportunities will also be provided for the child to foster development in a weak academic area. Development of creativity will be provided through thinking skills and production. Experiences will also be provided in the development of good communication and leadership skills. In designing different class offerings, effort is made to articulate between teachers and grades to ensure a challenging and stimulating programs are sequenced between, within and across grade levels for the GATE student but not at the sacrifice of the core classes.
Program offerings include enrichment in the regular classroom, differentiated assignments and activities designed to promote in-depth study, individual project work/ independent study, accelerated instruction, advanced groupings in the regular classroom, and project presentation skills.
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The GATE Coordinator will continue to use the established
participation selection process for the 2-8 grade students. The
identification process for the MESD GATE program initiates several ways
to facilitate access and full participation for all students regardless
of ones linguistic, socioeconomic, or cultural backgrounds or
disabilities. Students have several entry points for consideration in
the GATE program. In addition to scores on the state mandated testing,
teacher, parent and SST recommendations all serve as entry points. The
GATE coordinator attends inservice to ensure that all potentially gifted
students are appropriately assessed for identification as gifted
children. The identification is annually reviewed to ensure that its
identification tools and procedures are based on the most current
research. Elevated test scores, parent or teacher recommendation,
student study teams, the site principal, school psychologist and the
GATE coordinator may all nominate a child. Students receive points for
each nomination as well as points for elevated scores on state testing.
Occasionally, students may participate in a program designed to match
their abilities and be observed for interaction.
Parents of all nominated children are notified requesting support and
commitment to the program. Once identified, the student remains in the
program. If a child is nominated, but not accepted in the GATE program,
the parent or teacher may file an appeal. The GATE Coordinator,
Principal, teacher, and previous teacher will meet to discuss placement,
additional testing, or denial. Parents are informed of the GATE
application and appeal process in the school student handbook. A
database is kept on al students nominated and those selected.
Interventions are in place for students qualifying for GATE that choose
to not participate in the program. Students are ability grouped for
math and language arts. Highly qualified teachers are selected to teach
the high ability groups. Interventions are also in place for students
who withdraw from the program. A student study team meeting, parent
meeting, or student interview may be conducted to ensure the needs of
the GATE child are met. To ensure all identified students are receiving
appropriate interventions, a GATE form has been added to district cum
folders.
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Each year the GATE advisory committee, which is our School Site
Council, meets 4-5 times and discusses/develops annual programs and
activities that align with the philosophy and goals stated above.
During the school day students are grouped based on ability and
interest.
A teacher/coordinator is hired from our current certificated staff.
The coordinator works with the GATE advisory committee and
administration to annually develop a breadth of classes, programs and
activities that allow in-depth study in a child's area of
expertise/interest. Opportunities will also be provided for the child
to foster development in a weak academic area.
Development of creativity will be provided through thinking skills and
production. Experiences will also be provided in the development of
good communication and leadership skills.
Program offerings include enrichment in the regular classroom,
differentiated assignments and activities designed to promote in-depth
study, individual project work/ independent study, accelerated
instruction, advanced groupings in the regular classroom, and project
presentation skills. This year we have moved from a self-contained
middle school to a departmentalized middle school. One of the main
reasons was to allow teachers to teach to their strengths and to
increase the elective offering to meet the different needs of our
students. In designing the middle school program, elective courses of
WebPages, Honors Algebra, Honors Geometry, computer repair, drama, band
and art appreciation have all been added. This differentiated
curriculum is also aligned so that effort was made to articulate between
teachers and grades to ensure a challenging and stimulating program for
a GATE student but not at the sacrifice of the core classes. For
example, one of our fourth grade students with be taking 7th grade
standards-based math and one 7th grade student will be taking high
school Geometry yet not at the sacrifice of missing out of his other
core subjects. This differentiate curriculum will provide for both a
group of students or an individual student in a specific area of study.
This approach allows MESD to fulfill our program purpose to meet the
educational and emotional needs of the district's gifted and talented
students through a variety of settings and instructional strategies.
Our GATE program provides for educational needs that focus on
differentiated learning opportunities that allow in-depth study in a
child's area of expertise/interest. Opportunities are also provided for
the child to foster development in a weak academic area. Development of
creativity is provided through thinking skills and production.
Students are involved with projects and give oral presentations
providing experiences in the development of good communication and
leadership skills.
Student progress is monitored by the established district assessments.
GATE teachers monitor scores and watch for continued improvement.
Teachers also look for students that are not currently participating in
the program, but now might become eligible. We have also purchased
several new computers, three telescopes and have allocated more
financial resources to of science program.
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The goals for providing for educational needs will focus on
differentiated learning opportunities that will allow in-depth study in a
child's area of expertise/interest. Opportunities will also be
provided for the child to foster development in a weak academic area.
Development of creativity will be provided through thinking skills and
production. Experiences will also be provided in the development of
good communication and leadership skills.
Students identified for the GATE program are under the supervision of
the site administrator and GATE Coordinator/teacher. While we are a
small K-8 school of 250 students and do not employ a counselor, these
leaders work with the GATE teachers and School Psychologist to meet any
special needs for GATE students. A referral system for community or
school based counseling is in place. Student study team meetings or
parent meetings are called as needed. Emotional needs are also met by
offering a support system between teacher and student, student to
student, which will stimulate discussion and risk taking. The program
recognizes and values diversity.
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The GATE coordinator/teacher has had previous GATE training and
experience. Preference is given to teachers that have previously
demonstrated the ability to utilize a variety of teaching strategies.
The Coordinator/teacher attends inservice to ensure that all potentially
gifted students are appropriately assessed for identification as gifted
children. The identification is annually reviewed to ensure that its
identification tools and procedures are based on the most current
research.
The MESD Principal/Superintendent is responsible to work with all
teachers in meeting individual student needs. The GATE and
Principal/Superintendent Coordinator work together to plan articulation
and collaboration staff development. Our district has early release
days every Friday for staff articulation, collaboration, and in-service
training. At this time, staff reviews benchmark assessments for
possible review of recommendation to the GATE program. Staff discussion
regarding "best" teaching strategies to meet different learning
modalities and discussed regularly. Staff development time will be
designated for GATE placement procedures for classroom teachers, GATE
committee, and parents as needed. As a part of our in-service focus,
each grade level meets regularly to discuss curriculum development to
meet the needs of every learner. Staff in-services are conducted in
groups or on an individual's basis as needs arise. Ongoing awareness
training is provided to staff to ensure students who are at-risk, have
behavior problems, or are non-motivated, may have an avenue to success
through the GATE program by recognizing specific talents.
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In this small district, parents are involved in all aspects of their
child's education. The GATE staff reports information annually to the
school board and to the school site council. A yearly parent survey is
sent out to all GATE parents to provide feedback about our GATE
program. The GATE staff communicates with parents regularly on a formal
and informal basis. Regular written communication goes home to parents
in the form of newsletters and lesson plan outlines. Parents are
invited to attend GATE activities.
Each year the GATE advisory committee, which is our School Site Council,
meets 4-5 times and discusses/develops annual programs and activities
that align with the philosophy and goals stated above. During the
school day students are grouped based on ability and interest. Parents
are informed about the GATE program in the student handbook, parent
newsletters, parent conferences, and on our WebPages. The Committee is
representative of the student population.
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On-going Assessment
Evaluation of the program will be embedded within the program; for
instance at the end of each session students will review progress, and
respond to questions about what worked and what changes need to be
made. Adjustments will be made to the program, as they become
necessary. Communication is vital and regular classroom teachers will
give their input regarding student presentations or schedule conflicts.
Interventions may be needed for students that show an area of
weakness. Interventions may include program participation before,
during or after the school day. Parent conferences or student study
teams may be called to meet individual student needs. The GATE
Coordinator/teacher will assess to see if each child is appropriately
placed.
Annual Assessment
The GATE Program is evaluated annually by the
Superintendent/Principal. The results are reported to the School Site
Council, which serves as the GATE Advisory Committee. The evaluation is
a written report consisting of:
- Key outcomes for GATE pupils,
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Annual GATE Parent Survey,
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Delivery of GATE services is evaluated through an analysis of the
GATE calendar, class activities, student enrollment data, student
attendance data, parent survey results, verbal feedback, as well as
research and creative projects which are a part of the program.
Evaluation questions will be given to all students and parents at the
end of each year to ascertain whether the program is meeting the needs
of the students. Questions will be based on the program goals and other
open-ended questions will ask what other ideas/needs students/parents
have. All parents will be asked to evaluate the program through school
improvement questionnaires. Students will be asked to evaluate the
program each year and describe how their needs have been met. Yearly
parents, teachers, and the community will be asked to evaluate the
program based on how it is meeting the needs of the students. Analysis
of collected data will tell us whether the program is meeting the needs
of a diverse group of students.
District identification procedures and criteria are annually evaluated
through an analysis of feedback, GATE calendar, student enrollment data,
student attendance data, and annual staff and parent surveys.
Program administration is evaluated by an independent audit each year.
The GATE coordinator maintains GATES student and program files.
Required reports, surveys, and applications are completed in a timely
manner and reported to the School Site Council. The GATE Program is
integrated into the School Based Coordinated Program, under advisement
of the School Site Council with at least one GATE parent representative
serving on the council. Programming results and presentations will be
made to the GATE Parent Advisory Committee. Procedures for modifying
the program based on the annual review will be place. The staff and/or
committee will discuss concerns and solutions. Changes within the
districts financial and time constraints are put into place as soon as
possible.
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| Currently the budget has few categories. The GATE
coordinator/teacher is paid a $3,513 stipend for program coordination
and instruction of up to 120 student contact hours. Half of her salary
is to teach advanced math, like AP Algebra and Geometry to gifted math
students in the middle school setting. The remaining portion of the
budget is set aside for student materials. The established GATE
allocation does not meet the fiscal needs to provide a comprehensive
curriculum of services and program options responsive to the needs,
interests, and abilities of the gifted students at MESD. The MESD School
Board is committed to provide a quality GATE program to meet the
established Philosophy and goals of the program. GATE and District
monies help make these goals a reality. Being a single school district,
the Superintendent/Principal has authority over all District funds to
meet the needs of all students. Other restricted and unrestricted
monies are also used to meet the annual GATE goals.
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