Program for Gifted Won’t Be Established
Much to the disappointment of some parents, Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s trustees have decided not to establish a new program for gifted students this fall.
Board members earlier this summer endorsed an idea to redesign the district’s GATE program by September. But they said earlier this month that officials would not have time to evaluate students and design a curriculum before school starts.
Parents raised the issue with the board in June, saying they felt their children were not spending enough time doing accelerated work. The GATE program meets twice monthly for several hours in the afternoon.
The parents had even hired Carol Smith, a consultant who designed a gifted-student program for Irvine Unified schools, to help with planning.
The aim, they said, was to model Newport-Mesa’s program after Irvine’s, in which students spend all their school time in advanced classes.
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