Gifted & Talented

McAuliffe International School Programming Plan

McAuliffe International School is a high-achieving Innovation School within DPS and part of the Northeast Denver Innovation Zone. With a high percentage of identified students and a high number in the Talent Pool, teachers at McAuliffe teach to higher levels of rigor and scaffold down for students as necessary. Math classes use cross-grade grouping where appropriate and most classes offer extensions for a deeper conceptual dive. Teachers use ALP information to differentiate in their classrooms using a variety of rigorous academic strategies. Service learning trips will return this year, as well as academic enrichments. We have grade-level counselors, two social workers and a school psychologist to help with students’ social/emotional health as well as a yoga and mindfulness enrichment for additional SEL support.  Communication will be sent out in the school newsletter. Parents will receive a welcome letter and additional communication and instructions for students to complete ALP goals and for parents to provide input into their student’s ALP. The GT teacher will have office hours during which time students can come to get help with their ALPs and progress monitoring. There will be a GT folder on grade level homeroom pages on Schoology for information and forms around GT programming.  

Link to Procedural Safeguards

Link to ALP FAQ One-PagerWelcome Letter 2023

August 25, 2023

Dear Students and Families at McAuliffe International School,

I would like to introduce myself as the teacher/point of contact for gifted education services at McAuliffe International School.  I am excited to be starting my 11th year here at McAuliffe and wanted to reach out to let you know my responsibilities for Gifted and Talented (GT), my availability, and where to find more information about GT services in Denver Public Schools. 

As you may or may not know, a large percentage of our students at McAuliffe have been identified as GT and HGT. Therefore, we do not use a traditional “pull out” or “push in” model. Instead, the Advanced Learning Plan, or ALP, informs the classroom teachers of each student’s strengths so that the teacher can differentiate through in-class flexible grouping, content extensions, or whatever strategy teachers deem appropriate. This model works very well for our students. The way for your student to get involved with the GT program is to participate in writing and monitoring their goals for the year, staying engaged in their classes, and attend one or more of the GT academic enrichment activities that are happening before school. Participation in enrichments is optional and fun. This year, I would like to challenge all students identified as GT or HGT to participate in at least one academic enrichment activity per trimester. Examples of academic enrichments include Brain Bowl and Chess Club. We are hoping to bring Math Team back as well, so stay tuned. Please be sure to read upcoming newsletters for information on which enrichments will be offered as well as sign-up instructions.

Destination Imagination (DI) is back in full swing this year and we are looking for interested students to participate and parents who are interested in acting as Team Managers. Please reach out if you or your child is interested. We are hoping to have one team per grade level this year. Follow this LINK to learn more.

As the GT point of contact, my responsibilities this year will include:

In the next couple of weeks you will be receiving more information about the ALP process and how to help your student write their goals in their strength areas for the year.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or want to learn more about the program for gifted students at our school. I look forward to working with students, teachers and families. For additional information about gifted and talented services in DPS, please visit: http://gt.dpsk12.org.

Sincerely,

Becky Middleton

GT Point of Contact

McAuliffe International School

Email: Becky_middleton@dpsk12.net

Office Hours:  10:40-2:00 Mondays & Wednesdays