Douglas County School District - Gifted and Talented Programs

DCSD – Gifted and Talented Programs

Important dates for gifted and talented programming

• September – CogAT Testing in all schools for all students in third grade and in their final year of elementary school (fifth or sixth grade). Parents can request their child be tested in any year of school.

• Fall – Parent workshop “Gifted and Talented 101” Natasha Straayer from Douglas County School District talks about the process involved in identifying your child as having the need for GT programming. Information is listed here.

• First week of December – Application for Discovery Program due to district. Find the application here. The Discovery Program is needs based, so this isn’t a hard deadline. However, if you want your child to attend a particular school, turning in your application sooner is better.

• December 1st – The portfolio for early access is posted here between December and March. This process is for 4- and 5-year olds who are highly advanced and classified in the top 2% of gifted learners.

• April 1st – All early access applications must be turned into the district. This is a hard deadline. The state does not allow the district to review any applications submitted after April 1st.

Important resources for gifted and talented children and their families

• Discovery Program
The Discovery Program provides academics geared toward gifted and talented learners. If your child is not being challenged at their neighborhood school or charter school, you can apply to the Discovery Program for a schooling program that is more intense in instruction and acceleration. Applications are located on the Douglas County School District’s page for Gifted Education.

Discovery Program Locations:
• Renaissance Outward Bound Elementary School in Castle Rock
• Acres Green Elementary School in Littleton
• Northridge Elementary School in Highlands Ranch
• Pine Lane Elementary North in Parker

• Douglas County Association for the Gifted and Talented (DCAGT) – This is the local chapter of CAGT (below) and provides programming to assist families to advocate for their children and meet the needs of their gifted children.

• Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented (CAGT) – This is the state organization that advocates for children identified as gifted and talented.

“Psychologists like Dr. Veronica Johnson provide us with the basic understanding that transforms parental intuition into concrete information about a child’s intellectual, academic, social, and emotional world.”

Gouri Ponduri

Gouri Ponduri (3)

“Veronica is very down to earth and easy to talk to. As parents we had a lot of questions, and she was very knowledgeable and open to any questions that we may have had.”

Erin Parrill

Erin Parrill

“Dr. Johnson established a great rapport with our son who actually enjoyed the testing and even hugged her when we left!”

Jessica Lewis

Jessica Lewis (1)

“She has a talent of putting people at ease; making them feel so comfortable and well understood… Dr. Johnson took time and answered all our queries and we can’t thank her enough for everything she did.”

Gouri Ponduri

Gouri Ponduri (1)

“I had left messages all over town looking for help and guidance and when Dr. Johnson returned my call I knew immediately we found the place for us.”

Jessica Lewis

Jessica Lewis (2)

“We were a little worried about how our daughter would react to testing and whether it would be too much for her but we were amazed to see how comfortable she felt during the whole testing process.”

Gouri Ponduri

Gouri Ponduri (2)