During the first month of school, we will be giving students a chance to settle in and then we will begin identifying which students might qualify for GATE Intellectual and arts assessment. Anyone (parents, teachers, etc.) may recommend a student for consideration, but a school screening panel (which includes administrators, teachers, and other qualified personnel) will evaluate the student's qualification to make a final decision on who should be submitted for testing. If a student is selected for assessment, we require a parent consent form be signed before the process can continue as it is illegal to administer an intelligence test or an arts evaluation without parent permission.

Intellectual Assessments:

After we submit the paperwork, a district psychologist is assigned to administer the test. The district is generally quite overwhelmed with applications, and in the past there has been a backlog of 4-8 months before the psychologist actually comes to test. (I find this wait is generally shorter if we submit applications in bulk, so I generally wait until we have completed the site evaluations so that we can submit everyone’s application at the same time.) Once testing is completed, it has generally taken me another 1-2 months to get the results, so do not be frustrated if it takes some time before I can get you the results.

PLEASE NOTE: Students will be tested in the order in which they were referred (with those students who were scheduled to be tested on March 16, 2020 to be the first ones tested ).

Arts Assessments:

After we submit the paperwork, the district GATE program will contact families directly with the details of the GATE test. (This is NOT done through the school!) If you do not hear from the district within 10 days before the exam date, please let me know or contact the GATE Department directly at 213/241-6500. Please note that in some cases, arts evaluations made be deferred to the next testing date because of the number of applicants exceeded the testing capacity.

Fall and Spring auditions dates may be held virtually (depending on the COVID situation around the time of testing).

A bit about Walter Reed's GATE program:

I work with the administration and the counselors to try and ensure that everyone is placed in an appropriately challenging academic schedule. Any child who is identified gifted should be placed in honors and/or S.A.S. (Advanced Studies) classes for the subjects in which they have been identified. (For example, a child who is gifted in math is entitled to an honors math class, but they may not be able to handle the rigors of an honors English class.) The teachers in these classes are trained in the needs and teaching techniques for gifted students. This training is updated annually.

Please note that a student does not require GATE Identification to be eligible for participation in any of our GATE programs; if they have evidence of potential qualification (i.e. academic records such as report cards/standardized test scores, etc.), teacher recommendations, and/or other such evidence), we may be able to enroll them in one of our GATE programs even without an LAUSD GATE identification.

Thanks for all of your support, and if I can help you in any way, please let me know at millerihp6@gmail.com.

Parent

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