Gifted and Talented
Welcome to Salem City Schools Gifted Department!
Greetings,
We invite you to take a moment here to get some information about the Salem City Schools Gifted Department. Here you can learn about our philosophy, services, screening and eligibility, as well as who is on staff. The gifted department is committed to a growth mindset of constant improvement, and we realize that your input is vital to our work with your child so take some time to look around.
The cornerstone of Salem City Schools plan for gifted students is that classroom teachers differentiate lessons as they cover the material they are teaching. This means that teachers take the basic material, and “adjust” its difficulty level up and down to meet the needs of each individual student in the class. This is a tall order, but we can assure you that Salem teachers do a superb job with meeting their students’ learning needs. As Salem City Schools gifted education specialists, it is our job to support teachers by advocating for and providing support to their efforts to meet the needs of the most able learners in their classrooms. We do this by providing additional materials, resources and lesson components to teachers, designed to expand and challenge these unique learners’ minds. Much of this collaboration is “invisible” to most children, but it is happening!
The more visible part of our job with your child, however, will be our co-teaching in classrooms or our group work with these advanced/gifted learners by pulling them to join us for special group time. The work we do in group will depend heavily on teacher (and student) requests, but, generally, will involve language arts and math experiences. We will utilize materials designed specifically for gifted students to promote higher-level thinking and to provide an open environment for students to reflect and respond in more in-depth ways than may be possible in whole group classroom.
We believe that every student has gifts and talents.
The areas in which students excel vary as much as the students themselves. We offer a wide range of opportunities and experiences to meet the student’s individual needs and are always looking for new ways to do just that.
Check here for updated information throughout the school year progresses and again, in the meantime, peruse the links below for further resources.
Below is our contact information. We welcome your questions, concerns, kudos and collaboration.
Lauren Cundiff
Gifted Education Specialist
G.W. Carver, East Salem, and South Salem Elementary Schools
phone: (540) 444-1849
email: lcundiff@salem.k12.va.us
Chris Taibbi
Gifted Education Specialist
West Salem Elementary, Andrew Lewis Middle School, Salem High School
phone: (540) 444-0848
email: ctaibbi@salem.k12.va.us
We invite you to take a moment here to get some information about the Salem City Schools Gifted Department. Here you can learn about our philosophy, services, screening and eligibility, as well as who is on staff. The gifted department is committed to a growth mindset of constant improvement, and we realize that your input is vital to our work with your child so take some time to look around.
The cornerstone of Salem City Schools plan for gifted students is that classroom teachers differentiate lessons as they cover the material they are teaching. This means that teachers take the basic material, and “adjust” its difficulty level up and down to meet the needs of each individual student in the class. This is a tall order, but we can assure you that Salem teachers do a superb job with meeting their students’ learning needs. As Salem City Schools gifted education specialists, it is our job to support teachers by advocating for and providing support to their efforts to meet the needs of the most able learners in their classrooms. We do this by providing additional materials, resources and lesson components to teachers, designed to expand and challenge these unique learners’ minds. Much of this collaboration is “invisible” to most children, but it is happening!
The more visible part of our job with your child, however, will be our co-teaching in classrooms or our group work with these advanced/gifted learners by pulling them to join us for special group time. The work we do in group will depend heavily on teacher (and student) requests, but, generally, will involve language arts and math experiences. We will utilize materials designed specifically for gifted students to promote higher-level thinking and to provide an open environment for students to reflect and respond in more in-depth ways than may be possible in whole group classroom.
We believe that every student has gifts and talents.
The areas in which students excel vary as much as the students themselves. We offer a wide range of opportunities and experiences to meet the student’s individual needs and are always looking for new ways to do just that.
Check here for updated information throughout the school year progresses and again, in the meantime, peruse the links below for further resources.
Below is our contact information. We welcome your questions, concerns, kudos and collaboration.
Lauren Cundiff
Gifted Education Specialist
G.W. Carver, East Salem, and South Salem Elementary Schools
phone: (540) 444-1849
email: lcundiff@salem.k12.va.us
Chris Taibbi
Gifted Education Specialist
West Salem Elementary, Andrew Lewis Middle School, Salem High School
phone: (540) 444-0848
email: ctaibbi@salem.k12.va.us