Question 4A - Facilities Improvements
Parent Advisory for Gifted Education (PAGE)
Become involved with PAGE (Parent Advisory for Gifted Education). This group of parents provides input on the gifted program plan, survey questions, fund raising, Unified Improvement Plan (UIP) targets, and programming for students. PAGE meets once a quarter to “advise” gifted specialists.
Provide input on family survey sent out every few years to provide input on the gt program.
PAGE Meetings:
Tuesday, September 26th
Thursday, November 16th
Tuesday, February 27th
Tuesday, May 7th
(6:00PM to 7:00PM) at the GATE office, 490 N. Diamond Ave. Door 6
Check out the UIP for Cañon City GATE here: https://cdeapps.cde.state.co.us/index.html
Adult Advocates for Gifted Children
Gifted children have needs that require special support as they grow, develop, and reach for their personal best. These children need advocates working in homes, schools, and communities to ensure their needs are met. In addition to advocating for day-to-day programming, it is important to advocate for laws and policies that create a supportive learning environment for gifted children.
Advocate for Quality Programming for Your Gifted Child
Parents often wonder when and how to approach their child’s teacher if their child seems unhappy or not challenged in the classroom. Even though there is no single recipe for how parents should work with their child’s teacher and school, there are some effective success strategies that work.
How Parents Can Advocate on Their Child’s Behalf
- Start with the teacher. Find out as much as possible about the teacher's perspective. If your child has been tested, gather information from the school psychologist, and/or other specialists. If your child would benefit from testing, insist on it.
- Get informed. Learn as much as possible from sites such as NAGC and SENGifted. The NAGC advocacy toolkit is a must-read with excellent advice.
- Pursue additional channels. If you hit a roadblock with the teacher, you may need to speak with the principal, gifted supervisor, director of curriculum, or other administrators. Sometimes parents even need to meet with school board members to initiate changes.
- Form a gifted children's advocacy group with other parents. There is strength in numbers, and each parent can provide a wealth of ideas that may propel the group to implement changes in the schools.
- Consider broader advocacy for gifted children. In addition to advocating for your child, consider lending a hand so that all gifted children can benefit. This may be as simple as speaking up to correct misinformation about giftedness in casual conversation, or as involved as advocacy on a state or national level.
